At the start of the year, I signed up for the WordPress Post-a-Week challenge. My thinking was that publicly committing myself to a weekly posting would be an incentive to really delve into my own business blogging (rather than writing blog posts for clients).
We’re more than halfway through the year, and it’s been a terrific experience. I wanted to share my insight — knowing full well that there’s no one ‘right way’ to blog. (See Mack Collier’s post on creating your own blogging path.)
To sum up, here’s what I’ve learned so far — lessons that probably apply to personal blogging as well as business blogging.
Commitment is important
Without the commitment to post once a week, I certainly would have missed many weeks – and perhaps stopped altogether. Consistency is important, whether it’s once a week, daily, or even once or twice a month for meaty posts. Without a commitment, you will not be consistent.
Blogging isn’t so solitary after all
All of my blogs are inspired either by interactions with clients, with other blogs, or something else in my life. And many postings have generated discussions in comments and other places. If you don’t know what to write about, get out and talk to people, or visit the other great bloggers out there for inspiration.
Titles matter
Yep, you knew that already. But they make a huge difference in how many people find or read your post. It’s always worth taking time on the blog title. I confess, that’s something I leave for the end and often rush.
Just start writing
Sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to write about until you’re partway down the page. The cure for ‘I don’t know what to write’ is simply writing. Perhaps a new idea will hit and you’ll abandon the first pass, but that’s fine.
Keep the end in mind
It’s important keep sight of your objective for blogging, or you could easily get caught up on statistics, subscriptions, and links but lose sight of what matters. For me, the blog is about putting a real-time writing sample up on the web, interacting with others, and learning about business blogging. And it’s been successful on all fronts.
Finally, thanks to anyone who has ever read this blog! And double thanks to anyone who has commented.
Anne Janzer 