How Often Should I Write?
I hear this question a lot, the short answer most experts will give you is, “Minimum once a week,” but that answer is tricky because all people tend to hear is, “Once a week”. I would recommend you aim for more than that, two to three times a week if you can.
You don’t have to this alone
A heavy load is easier to carry if you have someone helping you. Now if you don’t like advice that sounds like a fortune cookie I sympathize with you but the principle still applies. I work in a three person office, and there are two of us who are responsible for updating the blog: Victor writes about web analytics, because that’s what he’s good at and I write about blogging, because that’s what I’m good at.
Working with a colleague will also allow you bounce ideas off each other and it gives you someone to be accountable to. You count on each other to make sure you write regularly, so you’ll be more likely to do it just to not let the other person down.
Set a Schedule
This is where most blogs will fall by the wayside, people will get excited at first and write a lot at the beginning, but as the first few weeks pass they’ll lose all momentum. The easiest way to avoid this is to set a schedule and organize your thoughts ahead of time.
This will not only keep you on track but it will make writing easier. What I do is at the beginning of the month I plan what topics I want to cover over the next 4 weeks. Then I write down:
- Title
- Message
- What value am I trying to offer to my readers
- Tone of Copy
- How serious or relaxed should my writing be?
- Main Talking Point
- What is my main piece of advice
- Secondary Talking Points
- What can back up my main talking point and message
- Tags
- How do I categorize my post
- Call to action
- If any... If you want your reader do something you have to tell him/her.
To be successful at blogging you have to give people value on a consistent basis. But just as important as having a constant flow of information is having good content and that means offering value to your readers. More on that next week.