June 10, 2012 91 Comments

A Primer for Blogging

Old books

If you would like to get further into blogging, here is a brief primer:

  1. Get a blog. (Easy: tumblr.com, wordpress.com, blogger.com. Better: host your own -affiliate link.)
  2. Pick an area of focus, but one that has broad sides. (Mine: helping people do digital business in a human way.)
  3. Start writing.
  4. Start by planning to publish 1 post a week.
  5. Get daring and try for 2 posts a week (eventually).
  6. Make the posts more than 100 words and less than 1000 words most days.
  7. Spell-check.
  8. Delete the sentences that don’t matter.
  9. Realize that posts that are helpful to others get shared more than posts that are merely interesting.
  10. Never write a “sorry I haven’t written” post. Ever.
  11. Posts that just comment on other people’s posts and sum things up aren’t all that interesting.
  12. Do NOT get hung up on the tech. Get hung up on passion.
  13. The best way to write better is to read more. Second best: write more (often).
  14. Don’t try to copy other people’s style. Try to copy their proliferation.
  15. My best (most popular) posts were the ones I spent the least time writing.
  16. My least popular posts were the ones that took me more than a half hour to write.
  17. Pictures are a great place to start a post idea.
  18. Inspiration is a verb and a muscle.
  19. Lazy is, too.
  20. You’re doing it wrong. So is everyone.
  21. There’s not a single rule on this list that isn’t breakable. Break all the rules you want and enjoy yourself.

There. Write. Stop what you’re doing. Don’t comment. Don’t even share this post. Go write. On whatever came to mind. Delete it, if you hate it. But write. Now.

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  • http://twitter.com/EmilyMMerkle Emily Merkle

    thank you!

  • http://profiles.google.com/dyannlyon Dyann Lyon

    Thank you Chris. I have wanted to start a new blog as my previous one feels too narrow and I have not revisited it in quite some time. Thanks for the wonderful list…it will help me get started again.

  • tracy

    I love #10. I probably have broken it but you’re absolutely right.

  • Claudene (@RunnerBliss)

    TY :D
    p.s you forgot to mention poop…or did I miss it/them?

  • http://twitter.com/jeffreyreidy Jeffrey Reidy

    Wouldn’t rule #1 be unbreakable, since you have to have a blog in the first place in order to blog? :)

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      Well, smarty-pants, you could log on paper. Or, you could take this advice and use it to write a book. So no. I’m still right. :-) You can still break the rule number one. :-)

  • http://www.nuwomb.com Scott Webb

    Sorry I havnt commented in a while…

    • http://DaddyLife.net/ Hank Osborne

      Thanks Scott. Your comment answered my question. I don’t know why that did not click when I read it the first time. 

  • http://DaddyLife.net/ Hank Osborne

    “10. Never write a “sorry I haven’t written” post. Ever.”

    Chris, Would you please elaborate? 

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      See above. What purpose does it serve? Who is it helping? Mostly, it is drawing attention to the fact that you aren’t doing your job. I see no value in announcing that.

  • http://www.turndog-millionaire.com/ Turndog Millionaire

    “You’re doing it wrong. So is everyone”
    love this :) I wasn’t going to leave a comment, because you said not to, but then I thought: “You can’t tell me what to do”

    I feel like James Dean right now

    Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      Oh you rebel! You should now go run with scissors, and then leave the refrigerator door open a little longer. :-)

      • http://www.turndog-millionaire.com/ Turndog Millionaire

        They were plastic, toy scissors, but I did it :)

        I feel rather refreshed now. This anti christ lark is easy

    • timothyodell

      You probably run with Scissors too :-)

  • http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog Ryan Biddulph

    Hi Chris,

    Practice writing keep reading. 2 gems from an awesome post. Simple advice works the best.

    We all do it wrong. My longest posts feel good to me, so I stick with them. Short posts I feel like I am rushing. The feeling behind the posts matters most, as your inspiration and passion – or lack thereof – creates the nature of the outcome.

    Thanks for sharing Chris!

    Ryan

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      I think of it like songs. There are 20 minute jam songs that I would die having to listen to them. But, there are also songs that run for less than two minutes to give me lots of joy. It really isn’t the link so much as it is a question of whether or not you’re writing just to write, or writing to tell the story the way it needs to be told.

      • http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog Ryan Biddulph

        Yes that difference is THE difference Chris. We chatted about this in a prior post; the energy behind your act.  ”Supposed to do” versus “doing something with the needs or wants of your audience in mind”. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://lacreatureandyou.wordpress.com/ Raphaele

    From a very bad blogger: I like your post, I am commenting on this, I am about to tweet just because you said not to. But maybe you told us not to because you knew this way we would? Or the other way around? Anyway, thanks for good post: so simple we tend to forget about this.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      I will neither confirm nor deny my intentions. :-)

      • Linda Wilson

        Paradoxical intent works wonders, doesn’t it, Mr Brogan ;)

  • http://twitter.com/johnmcduffie John McDuffie

    8, 10, 19 and 20 are the best in my opinion. I believe 20 is the best advice anyone that wishes to become a blogger could ever get.

  • http://remarkablogger.com Michael Martine

    Not bad.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      But not remarkable! :-)

      • timothyodell

        I would have remarked… but you told me not too

  • http://twitter.com/Oz_DragonCookie Oz du Soleil

    #20 is my favorite!

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      Mine, too! How do you think I got where I got? :-)

  • http://blog.momekh.com/ Momekh

    A lesson in brevity indeed! :) 
    One of my posts – 400 comments & counting – took me 20 minutes to write. Maybe less.Each of your points here are 140 characters or less. Nice.When you are ‘trying’ to make it useful, it becomes harder. When you are ‘living it’ and ‘doing it’ and then writing about that, it comes within 20 minutes or so :) 

    But all rules can be broken. And sometimes, should be, just to prove the point.

    Rock on hat-hater! :)

  • http://www.michaelcarrasquillo.com/ mjcarrasquillo

    Brilliant! Chris, sometimes you drop posts like this right at the time I need to hear (read) them. Serendipitous.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      And that is why I do it, Michael. To be of service to you. :-)

  • http://twitter.com/BradBlackman Brad Blackman

    Why #10? (Never write a “sorry I haven’t written” post. Ever.) I’d like to know more about that. I’ve written a few. I know they sound lame, but why?

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      Have you ever seen one in a magazine? Does it serve any particular purpose? What it does mostly is draw attention to the fact that you haven’t been doing your job. Why not just keep going from where you started last?

      • http://www.lornepike.com/pikespeak Lorne Pike

         It’s an excellent point. Our posts will quite possibly still be there years from now. Whether or not we had a few days or weeks or even months between posts will be pretty much invisible then… unless we pointed it out. As much as we may feel bad about the delay, everyone is best served when we just push ahead and put out our best

      • http://twitter.com/BradBlackman Brad Blackman

        Great point, Chris, and Lorne made a good point about it as well from the future point of view.

        What if you decide you want to start over? Like a reboot? As in, “from this day forward, I’m going to do a new format” and leave out the part about being quiet for a while.

  • http://www.GirlsBestFriendandcoBlog.com/ GirlsBestFriendandCo

    Ugh!! I am mentally blocked. Thanks for this post, I need all the help I can get. 

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      Want to unblock? Write me the story of what I should know if I am utterly new to your blog and your world. Make this day one of class. 

      • http://ashworthpartners.com/blog/ Giovanni Isaksen

         Wow Chris that should be tip #22, it’s so powerful! Thanks-

  • http://socialfreshacademy.com/ Jason Keath

    I think you got 13 switched. Writing is better, but great advice. 

    The best advice I have heard on the point of becoming a better writer was from Seth Godin: “Write every day, and put it in front of someone. It doesn’t count if no one else sees it.”

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      No. I actually mean that it’s more beneficial to read more. If you’re writing into the wind but don’t have any outside influence or reference, you can suck in a vacuum. 

      • http://socialfreshacademy.com/ Jason Keath

        Yeah, I suppose it is a chicken and egg. If you read all day and never write, there is no writing to get better. I think a lot of people consume content on a regular basis. I think many fewer people actually practice writing down their own thoughts.

        Both are key. We weight them a bit differently but in the same spirit. And perhaps it is just semantics.

        great post Chris.

        • timothyodell

          Its an input output thing. You can’t share from an “empty cup”

  • http://twitter.com/ICCopywriting Indigo Creations

    I used to do “sorry I haven’t written posts” but then I forgot to write them when life had served me a huge plate of “WTF” and I couldn’t write on my blogs. Now, I don’t bother. If I can’t write, I don’t write. I don’t waste the time or space for “I’m sorry.” My followers are loyal, and slowly growing in number. They don’t care as long as I post something sometimes. :)

    Great list, Chris!

  • http://twitter.com/rajesh_ran Rajesh

    I stopped writing my blog thinking that people are not interested in reading it anymore… Realized that I starting writing it for my sake and not because I expected some followers.. Its fun to write your heart out.

    Thanks Chris for the lovely list.

  • http://www.thejackb.com/ The JackB

    Just write and then write some more.

    • Paul O’Mahony (Cork)

      … and put 3 dots after you last word to show you’ll be continuing…

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/ Ryan Hanley

    10. 
    Never write a “sorry I haven’t written” post. Ever.

    Should have been in BOLD…

    There is nothing that gets an unsubscribe quicker…

    Thanks CB.

  • http://www.espacego.wordpress.com/ Hubert

    Thanks Chris. It helped me write my next post. (This comment was written AFTER my post, not before. I swear!)

    By the way, I’m about to finish Trust Agent. It is very good. Even if (I thought) I knew a lot, I now better understand how social medias work.

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  • Schaffer71

    Inspiring! 

    • Paul O’Mahony (Cork)

      We have something in common

  • Nick Westergaard

    Great post, Chris! Though I am defying your final note by both commenting and sharing :) Great talking with you last night on #blogchat, too. Writers write. Period. Hope all is well with you.

  • johnmurphyinternational

    Thanks, Chris, I guess the message is not to overthink it!

  • http://www.jeromeibuyan.blogspot.com/ Jerome Ibuyan

    Chris your words are really powerful and you inspire me  a lot. Break the rules. Now. =)

  • http://propertyagents.co/real-estate-lead-generation-course Muhammad Ayaz

    Thanks Chris! I always inspires from your style of using words and I like the message that don’t overthink just do what you want to. ;-)

  • http://twitter.com/ArtilleryMarket Douglas Burdett

    Chris, I know you said not to comment, but I must – this brings to mind the golf pro who says “You’re concentrating too much on your swing. Just hit the ball.”

    • Oliver Gassner

      Actually exactly that golf advice helped me. we just had a lesson on hitting the ball and the pro said to concentrate my mind not in my arms or hips but to put my ‘brain’ at the tip of the golf club. worked. So maybe Chris’ advice is exactly what is needed.

  • Oliver Gassner

    Hi.
    I’d love to do a German translation/version of this (not sure all puns (#18 & 19) work or that I get them (will ask ;) )).PLs drop me a line at og@carpe.com Thanks ;)

    • oliverg

      Chris?

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  • Paul O’Mahony (Cork)

    You never know how your words might help others… The most frivolous phrase may be the breakthrough the reader grabs…
    Trying to be helpful is great – so long as you aren’t trying to be helpful. Being helpful is a way of being…
    Don’t believe me, believe in yourself. Love your story.

    All the odd numbers are wise… The even one’s profound

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  • jpaterna49

    About the most succinct, practical advice on blogging I’ve heard – and that’s saying a 
    lot, since I said in a recent blog post that there are more social media experts than bedbugs in NYC.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com/ Chris Brogan

      No question. : )

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  • Bev Blumer

    right on

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  • http://twitter.com/ValerieDeveza Valerie Joy Deveza

    Apologies, but I cannot help but make this comment.  I wouldn’t want to break these rules, that
    is, if I can help it.  Wonderful post!  Enough said… I’ll
    go back now to writing now.  Cheers!

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