It's time to do some work on your blog

When it comes to blogging, what a difference a day makes -- especially if it's the first one of the month.

I've adopted the policy of updating all of my blogs come the start of each new month. The previous post may be only a day old -- maybe even a few hours old -- but that item sinks into fish-wrap waters the second the month rolls over.

Maybe readers don't care. I'm betting they do. At the very least, it's good motivation to update -- and lord knows we all need that.

Don't have an idea? You'll think of something. I just did.

How to be a guilt-free slacker

Blogs need to be fed. Sort of like kids. You may not be feeling it, but that's tough. The content has to go up if you're serious about building an audience and a reputation.

Imagine a daily newspaper not coming out one day because the editorial staffers had the blahs. (Fortunately for readers, no one ever puts this to a vote in newsrooms.)

There are ways to get around grinding out a post as pure duty. One is the perfectly respectable method of pointing to someone else's great post, giving the writer the props and tossing in a few sentences of your perspective. Another is the "speed linking" post -- basically a roundup of the good stuff you've read in the past few days. Some bloggers make this a regular feature. I'm guessing most readers are like me -- they like seeing these once in a while, say weekly. Any more and you're just freeloading.

Look for opportunities to recycle some of your work done for other media. This assumes, of course, that you've done some writing in the past about your blog's subject matter. (You haven't? Hmmm.) I find my DVD reviews quite handy for this, since so many movies go through multiple editions on home video. Today and Friday, I got lucky -- I had decent material on "Masters of Horror" and "Gunsmoke" that plugged right in to the current info. (Be careful about reusing content from your blog, however. Search engines aren't big fans of that technique.)

Then there's the "guest blogger." The big boys and girls like to do this -- offer lesser-known bloggers a chance to get exposure via their higher-profile sites. Win-win. Or you can shop around for a like-minded blogger who's up for a "vacation content share" -- she posts on your blog when you're gone, you do the same. We did this recently on Life and Fitness Coach.

Blog posts: How long is too long?

Darren Rowse, the guy who writes ProBlogger, takes a reader question today, basically, "Is it better to mix up the length of posts or should I just keep them short."

His short answer:

I believe a blog can be successful based around both short and long posts. ... I think the key is to develop a rhythm in the style and focus of your blogging so that readers come expecting to get what you offer them.

Rowse gives some advice I've seen several times: If your blog is relatively new, you want some cornerstone articles that give people robust, useful content -- and a good idea of where you're coming from. In list form if possible. Then link to those articles as an ongoing reader resource. Here's another good take on initial posts from Dosh Dosh, whose blog/email/RSS I highly recommend for anyone wanting to make money writing on the Web.


My first post on my first blog, DVD Spin Doctor, was a roundup of the year's top 10 DVDs. Good content for that blog, mostly in list form. My new readers could tell immediately if we were a match.

The comment string on Darren's article about the length of posts is a must-read as well. I agree with the gent who says don't worry about it -- the key concerns are the quality of the post's headline and lead (first sentences). The way it's always been in publishing. See you shortly.