Entries for Sunday July 01
Blogging 101: Post Your Passion
I see tweets, Facebook posts, even whole chats given over to the topic of “What should I post on my blog?” To me, this seems a little bit odd - and a bit broad. What if what people want to see is not what you want to post about? Then what do you do? It’s one thing if you’re trying to take your blog pro - then, you should be talking with the people who pay you and see what they will pay for, or you should hire a consultant to tell you what’s popular, what are the trends, help you build your editorial content. (Or research that on your own, whatever.) But throwing out a totally open ended question like that? How do you expect to get a satisfactory answer? Everyone will have different opinions - and even if you get a consensus, it may not be the answer that will help you reach your particular goals.
My best advice is: write about what you’re passionate about, in your own voice. That combination will make your blog unique from anyone else, but it will also be the most enjoyable to maintain, and the least work to polish and improve (if you are taking this to a pro level, you’ll want to make sure that your writing, structure, and grammar are spot on.) If you love talking about the science behind why something works, talk about that! If you like comparing and contrasting products or techniques, do that! If focussing on techniques instead of individual products is what catches your interest, but product reviews make your teeth itch, then write about techniques! You’ll love what you’re writing, you’ll keep writing because it will rarely be “a chore”, and the audience that wants to read what you’re writing about will find you. (This, of course, doesn’t necessarily apply if you’re consciously trying to build The Biggest Audience Possible. If that’s your goal, then you’re probably looking to be a pro blogger, and you’ll want to hire a consultant. There’s only so much information that crowdsourcing can get you; and if you’re relying on your blog to make money, you probably want to invest wisely rather than relying on fortune and chance.)
