An interesting post providing a series of distinguishing characteristics that provide “fame, fortune and loyal followings”. Apart from some interesting aspects of blogging, there are a load of great blogs referenced in there (as you might expect).
For me, blogging has always been a haphazard affair, and the purpose has changed over time, from education, to conversation, to catharsis and varying combos of those things. As a tech, I’m not sure how I’d operate without some form of social media outreach these days – though that wasn’t the case not so long ago. As an evangelist – well - it’s the tool of the trade. Some obvious stuff works immediately: be consistent with a post or two a day and drive increased reach (and ultimately long tail search around specific items). The reverse of that is temporal relevance which drives a lot of immediate traffic, though possibly at the expense of long tail over time. We see these effects in our traffic analysis frequently – amongst others.
Across my team, I see the traits listed below in different measures depending on the person and their outlook. (Sometimes, their Outlook – which hampers us all…) Here’s my own view. How do you fare?
- Consistency. I’m working harder at this and it is increasing traffic.
- Eloquence. Never really been a core skill of mine.
- Uniqueness. In aggregate perhaps.
- Specific. No – I’m the arch-generalist.
- Personal. Interesting – I do write personal stuff every now and again, but actually the thoughts are always my personal views.
- Analytical. Sometimes.
- Detail. Not often.
- Thought-Provoking. Hopefully. Every now and again. (Consistency with this requires time and space.)
- Passion. I’m not sure I appear passionate. But I am.
- Instructional. Used to be. Not so much any more.
- Networked. Getting there.
A way to go (by my own judgement). A useful report card and/or direction for any blogger though.
Have a look at the post for a the full detail.
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