Blogging Your Life: The key to staying fresh and happy
I’ve been blogging now for three years. I’ve run out of steam on several occassions. No, not just a little bit of steam. A lot of steam. Two months worth of steam. Seriously, I’ve gotten so tired of blogging in the past that I’ve gone on a two month hiatus.
During the past three years, I’ve learned quite a bit about what and what not to do as a blogger. In this post, I want to share with you what I think is the key tip for successful long-term blogging.
Blogging Your Life
The key is to blog your life. Do you have a dog? Then start a dog blog. But don’t blog every day, or even every week. Blog when you have something to say about your dog experience.
Do you love video games? Then start a video game blog. But don’t blog every day, or even every week. Blog when you have something to say about your video game life. Get a new system (Wii, baby!) or a new game (Wii controlled Madden!)? Then blog about it.
Are you starting to get the point? Don’t force your writing. Blog about the things you know and care about. Keep an eye on your real life for blogging ideas. Pay attention to what’s important to you, and start blogs about those topics. Over a few years, you’ll have a portfolio of blogs that will have built some nice equity plus not been a hassle to maintain.
Aim to blog weekly, not daily
Unless you’ve got a very unique talent for keeping fresh on a daily basis, don’t burn yourself out by posting daily. In fact, some of the best blogs often only update a couple times a month. Did you know that PostSecret only updates once a week, yet it’s one of the top 10 most viewed blogs on the internet? Or, check out Chris Pearson’s fantastic blog. He only does a few posts each month, but each one is a gem.
Longer, more in-depth articles are better
Rather than quantity, totally focus on quality. This isn’t always easy, and we certainly don’t always live up to it here at College Startup, but it is a goal for the future. Make your posts meaty, and people will link to them and readers will keep coming back to them as references. Give tips that are meangingful and practical, and soon enough, you’ll find that you have a huge reader base that keeps checking back at your site…in other words, your aim should always be to establish yourself as an authority on your subject matter.
Keep yourself happy
In the end, the key to blogging over the long haul is keeping yourself interested and happy. Don’t burn yourself out. Post on a variety of topics that you find interesting. If you follow these simple tips, you’ll find that three years down the road, you’re just as pumped up about blogging as your were when you just got started.
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Great advice. I believe Steve Pavlina takes that approach, but he’s able to post very often.