Blogger’s Ball
I attended a meetup for local bloggers last week and it’s always nice to finally connect the faces behind the screens. Some had personal blogs, while others had sites geared towards webdev and technology, travel, business, food, and what have you. The main requirement for starting up any sort of blog is a keen interest in the subject, so we were united not as much by our topic niches but by our commitment and passion for what we wrote about. If you think about it, you might as well like what you’re going to be writing about if you’re going to stay committed and expend all that time and effort on it.
Which brings me to the next point: a lot of people were in agreement on some sort of discipline in blogging. Lauren of Creative Curio maintains a set schedule of new posts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Others blog once daily, and others blog hourly, it seems like. I don’t have a set posting schedule, but I do post at least twice a week between Monday and Friday so you’ve got something to read when you have 5 minutes or so and you feel like taking a quick but still productive break from that big project you’re working on.
Actually, LP sums it up quite nicely when he says:
Most people start writing a blog, they post every day, then they post every two or three days, then once a fortnight, and then they haven’t posted for so long that they don’t even know what their password is anymore.
Then something incredible happens in their lives (e.g. there’s a funny announcement by the train driver on their way to work, their Mum sends them some pictures of when they were little riding the family dog in the back garden flashing a toothless grin at the camera) and they can’t log in to tell us.
As far as writing frequency actually goes, there are writers who prefer numerous, pithy updates and there are writers (like me) who go for less-frequent but more substantial posts. Now, whether you go for quantity or length, it’s pretty common advice that writing should be conversational. But take that advice a step further and think about how you sound to your readers.
Think about your favorite bloggers: each of them has a unique voice, and even if you’ve never met your favorite blogger, you can almost hear what they would sound like in your head, right? It’s the unique character of their writing style that draws you in and hopefully engages you in a conversation with them.
And lastly, one more tip from my new blogger friends: don’t become too long-winded. You don’t really know how much time someone has to read what you’ve written, so keep that under consideration when writing a new entry up.
Do you blog?
If you have any tips you’d like to share, leave a comment and help other bloggers out! And if you’re in the San Diego area, come hang out with fellow bloggers at the next meetup.
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August 5th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hey that sounds cool! Maybe if ya’ll come up north a bit I can join you! 2 hours’ drive is a bit far. Still, it’s pretty incredible that we are so close.
Anyway, I thought of exactly what LP said when I first started blogging, which is why I decided to keep a schedule. If I’m going to put time into this, I didn’t want to give it my all for three months and then completely lose steam. And CC readers have expressed that they enjoy the frequency (3x/week) and don’t want more and some even say going down to once or twice per week would be suitable, too. I find as a reader that too many articles (multiple posts/day) will make me unsubscribe or, at the very least, rarely read, and I don’t mind once/week posting blogs.
As for the comment about post length, I need to keep this in mind more! I’m really good at cutting other people’s content down to stick only to the point and to what will benefit readers when I edit for guest posts on CC, but I’m not quite so ruthless with my own stuff.
Oooo, and I noticed you have that “Free updates” that Kristarella suggested! That does definitely sound better than “subscribe.”
LaurenMarie - Creative Curio’s last post… My Adventures in Letterpress Printing, Part 3
August 5th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
That would be pretty cool if we met up. :) I hope we do get the chance to meet up someday!
I like the MWF schedule because I know to look for your posts during those days. I was thinking of upping my quota to 3 posts a week, actually, but I’ll definitely be taking your advice on not overposting.
I think it was with David that I had a discussion about the semantics of “free updates” vs. “free subscription.” I like updates better because for me, subscription has the connotation of junk mail inserts.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:40 am
LOL, I think for me “subscription” is associated with something I have to pay for, which is why the “free updates” sounds better.
LaurenMarie - Creative Curio’s last post… Enhance Your Designs with the Principle of Contrast
August 7th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Gio,
Great post! I am glad you enjoyed the last SDBloggers meetup. I look forward to seeing you at future events.
- Matt