Quit Fighting it--Write it (NY Times Blogging Tips)
The NY Times posted a list of blogging tips from veteran bloggers, some well known (Mark Cuban), some not ("So You Want to be a Blogging Star). Some of these are a little overly simplistic--example, Cuban says to "blog about your passions. Don’t blog about what you think your audience
wants. Post because you have something you are dying to write about.”
Well, this is ok but you might wind up writing for an audience of one if your interest is too narrow (example: the study of Victorian door knobs). You'd be better off doing a little research on similar topics and sites and developing a topic you're interested in that also has a reasonable following.
One that stands out for me on the corporate side is: Just Post it Already
Many corporate folks still approach blogging as if they're writing an article or book chapter. This is all part of "letting go," which so many people struggle with--particularly marketing people (messaging is still God). I personally have trouble with this one too, having come out of a traditional journalism background. There's something in us that wants to lay out the entire argument, polish it, add transitions and so on. Posting is really more about getting the idea out there in an informal, top of mind way vs polished prose. Think of it as a work in progress, which is never really finished.
" Xeni
Jardin, who juggles blogging at the quirky alternative-news site BoingBoing.net
with a career as a freelance journalist for NPR, Wired magazine and
others, resists the urge to polish her blog prose the way she would a
radio script. “Don’t bottle up your ideas forever believing you have to
hit the same kind of mature, complete, perfect point as you would with
a magazine or newspaper article,” she says. “Blogs are always in
progress.” Boing Boing’s bloggers are known for going back to posts to
update them, adding new information and striking out factual errors."
The full list (with a few comments)
- Don't expect to get rich (THERE GOES MY EARLY RETIREMENT PLAN)
- Write about what you want to write about, in your own voice
- Fit blogging into the holes in your schedule (WHAT HOLES?)
- Just post it already!
- Keep a regular rhythm (2 to 3x at week minimum--although easier said than done).
- Join the community
- Plug yourself (CUBAN HAS NO PROBLEM WITH THIS ONE)
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