Don’t click that publish button!
Blogging seems so easy in some ways. Hey, you just splat something out onto the screen and click Publish, right?
No.
Hell, no.
Consider:
- Did I just write something for my target audience?
- Did I just write something they really want to hear?
- Am I adding to my legacy? (in other words, am I compiling a large collection of content over time for the people I’m trying to reach?)
- Did I just break the mold? Or did I write the same old garbage repeated all throughout the interwebs?
- Did I just write something that makes my current customers glad they chose me?
YOUR BLOG IS NOT ABOUT YOU.
Photo by Brainware3000
8 Comments
Amen! But then how do some (many, actually) egoblogs do so well? I’ve seen some formerly lovely blogs and email newsletters to into an egofest. I don’t read them anymore.
Scary because it could happen to me. I try to remember I’m in it to help readers not myself (except to provide fresh content to my site and network).
This is exactly why it can be well worth it to take days or weeks or even longer to craft and finally publish a post. It’s probably gonna be accessible forever. May as well take the time to make it sparkle.
Yes, it’s important not to forget about all these questions, though it seems to me that sometimes it’s helpful not to focus on them this much. May be this is how you can try to find out what your readers want to hear most.
@ Meryl - A successful egoblog is giving readers what they want. Egoblogs are a cult of personality. The blogger’s personality is the content. If someone else tried to do the same things, it would fall flat.
@ Easton - That is a very important point. Your posts will be around forever, creating your legacy. A long time ago I wrote about a craft blogger who made dolls. For years, I got a lot of searches for “dollmaker.” When you know about this effect, you have to use it deliberately for long-term benefit.
@ July - I wouldn’t say that we should focus on these questions with this level of intensity every single time we post. But by posting this now, I certainly mean to put these questions foremost in your thoughts for the time being. We simply cannot maintain a high level of attention to the same things constantly. But right now I want your attention to spike for these points!
Great questions, Michael!
I have to admit to one blog that is a total indulgence, my playground, full of random posts and pretty pics, but the others are aimed at people with the sole intention of being helpful. I try hard to provide something someone will find useful and am going to check your questions every time I post something now.
I’m not sure how much I ever say that is ever fresh and mould-breaking, though! And have never thought of it as a legacy, very interesting ….
@Easton The thought of it being “accessible forever” is at the same time exciting and terrifying!
:o)
Michael,
As a fairly new blogger (100 posts as of yesterday), I thank you for your questions.
Keeping focused on the reader is definitely the key.
Thanks for the post!
Cheers,
Steve
Dianne, I hear ya! The terror tends to emerge when I dwell for too long on that fact (that is, that what you put online may stay there forever).
Michael,
Well said. My favorite is this: “Did I just write something that makes my current customers glad they chose me?”
Bloggers spend a lot of time trying to write the post that attracts new readers, or if it’s not your main business (as for me), new customers. The returns are much greater, in the long run, for delighting current customers. That is a critical point that’s often forgotten.
Sometimes the shortest posts make the best points. I love this one!
Regards,
Kelly
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