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Wow – it’s been far too long since I’ve posted to my blog – three weeks at least!  That breaks one of the blogging rules I set for my clients, and there are more that I break as well.  Here are the three blogging rules I break, and why you really shouldn’t.  I’ll take my own medicine as soon as I press “publish”.  Really.

1. Stick to a publication schedule. You can blog weekly, twice a week, even every day.  But do your best to be consistent.  On average, I post once every week or two, and really, that’s not enough, in frequency or consistency, for someone in the communications field.  It’s difficult enough to build up a readership without making it extra challenging for your reader to find new material from you.  This is the rule that makes me feel like a “bad mommy” blogger.  So there you are – post something – anything that makes your heart beat a bit faster will do.  And post consistently.
2. Understand the difference between blogging and writing an article. This is going to help immensely with point #1, because ultimately, blogging is easier and more free-form than writing an article.  You can make your post whatever it wants to be, including some recent pictures, a comment on someone else’s blog, or a top 10 list.  If you are blogging for a business purpose, then I would suggest that you remember the keywords that work for your business, and try to stay on topic.  But don’t feel that you have to write a Pulitzer Prize-winning article.  You just have to share what you know, or have experienced. Content is definitely more important than style.
3. Try to keep your posts on the short side. When we read on the web, our attention spans are shorter than when we read in print – or so I’m told.  Frankly, some of my favourite bloggers create very lengthy, literate posts (Karen Rivers of iSpuddle is guilty of this, but so funny that it’s worth persevering through 400o words of her latest synopsis of The Bachelorette.  Speaking of which, Karen, where is Episode 10?  Were you camping or at the beach again when it was on?).  But for your average person who does not write for a day job, you are doing yourself and everyone else a favour when you stay within 500 words, and highlight your points with a bulleted or numbered list.  These are much easier to write, and easy to scan quickly for information as well.

There!  See?  Blogging isn’t all that scary – just get your information out there and let people know that you are someone they can do business with, or at least find interesting enough to make a return visit.  And once you are done, remember to blow your own horn by letting the social networking world know that you have launched another little nugget of wisdom into the universe.  Share it on Facebook.  Tweet it out there. You can even ask me how to set it up so your electronic online places talk to each other and do the publicity work for you.

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Tags: Blogs