Keeping the Blogging Fires Burning

March 5, 2008 · Comments

typewriterkeys Bryce from A Bite of Sanity asked me about how one might continue to care about blogging once the fires have dimmed a bit. I’m not sure of Bryce’s specific circumstances, but I will tell you about how I keep up such a prolific schedule of blogging and give you some tips on how to keep it moving.

Write for Your Audience

I write every post as if I’m telling you something that I hope will be useful. If I were writing just to please myself, that’s easier to stop doing. I write with you in mind, and that keeps me motivated to give you more quality and a certain level of quantity, too.

Writers are Readers

Read constantly. I blaze through over 1000 blog posts a day. I don’t read them all, but I process about 1000. How? Quickly. I skim through, find points that interest me, and then REALLY read the ones that matter to me. Along the way, I hit Shift-S in Google Reader and share them on my feed with you.

The point is, the more I read, the more I’m exposed to good ideas. Ditto with podcasts. I heard four blog posts in the most recent episode of This Week in Tech.

Keep a Text File of Topics

I’m stumped from time to time on what to write next, and then, at other times, I can churn out 100 blog topics for a single post (most comments and trackbacks to date on that post, by the way). But having a text file I can open and peruse gives me plenty of material to choose from. Mix this with my first point about writing for the people who matter to me, and I’m fairly well-managed.

See What Mainstream Magazines Do

Disclosure: I’m stealing this tip from Brian Clark at Copyblogger. He does these posts where he dissects an issue of a popular mainstream mag and then shares how you might translate those article titles into blogging topics.

If It’s Because You’re Feeling Unheard

That’s another matter altogether. One way to get heard is to be relevant. I say this to people all the time when they complain that no one reads their blog. Relevant to whom is an important point, by the way. What matters to me isn’t what matters to others. But if you find the people who you think will love your stuff, keep writing ( podcasting, whatevering) to THAT group, because they’re like minded.

And other ways to be heard are to encourage the conversation in other places, including reposting your RSS feed to your various social networks (the old “use networks like Facebook as outposts” trick), and inviting people in to comment and/or guest post.

Keeping it Burning For Me

For me, I’m fueled by comments. Not just “hey, great post,” but comments (or even better are blog posts that reference something I wrote and expand on it) are what drive me. My wife calls me up sometimes at work and says, “Wow! 23!” And I never know what she means, but then, she’s talking about some blog post. Ask Liz Strauss about comments. She knows her number.

And besides, I have to blog. I have too many ideas to just let them stay in my head. And after I complete the Social Media 100, you’ll see where I go next with all this stuff. I think you’ll like it. I hope you will. Because it’s going to be another evolution of what keeps my own blogging fires burning.

Photo credit, Lainey’s Repertoire

The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.

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  • Along the lines of keep a text file, you can keep an audio file. If you happen to be driving in the car, working out at the gym, etc. you could use a service such as http://jott.com for example. You call in and leave yourself a message with your idea for your next blog post. "Jott converts your voice into emails, text messages, reminders, lists and appointments."
  • Hi Chris,
    So much here and so much of you in every word.

    When I think that there's nothing to say, I look to my experience in the last 24 hours and ask, "What would I tell a friend who wondered what I've learned?" I blog my experience. Someone has shared something, like you did here that's worth passing on. When I do pass it on, someone I know writes something they see about what I wrote that makes me smarter about what I thought I already knew.

    It's hard to be burned out and growing at the same time.

    I know the number, and like you, I know the name that goes with every comment that number stands for. :)
  • PG
    I am still fairly new to the game having started my blog, in earnest, last fall but when I feel a bit dried up I usually go the route similar to Liz - think of something to educate people about, things that might not quite be everyday stuff, but should be.

    I have also started a project 365 (photo a day) so that keeps me going through days with an eye always on content.

    Oh, and lastly - I believe in expectation setting.... thus I name my blog "Annoyingly Boring?", not Super Exciting Must Read Stuff.
  • Hi Chris,

    Wish I had more time to devote to blogging. I do try and keep a track of ideas, mainly in draft format in Live Writer; and then try and work then up into a finished item every now and then... it's the day job that prevents more blogging LOL!
  • I've been asked the same question and have given some of the sames answers, the best of which is your first point, write for your audience.

    Of course, you can't divorce what motivates you to blog (your passion) just to gather an audience. Hopefully, the topics that interest you are also those that interest others.

    Add to that the need for what I refer to as a taking "a long journey in the same direction." (It's a takeoff on the title of a book by author Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.) By that I mean, you've got to stay with it over the long-haul. Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. Most of those who've gained a degree or notoriety have been blogging at the same place for a number of years.

    Further, and this borrows from the magazine industry, create a posting calendar (similar to an editorial calendar) and a posting schedule, then stick to it. That's not to say you can't be extemporaneous in your posting, just that you have a group of topics which you cover religiously.

    Blogging takes discipline, time and keen sense of what resonates with others.

    Let me close by saying that, for me at least, blogging has never been about accruing a large number of readers, but rather, gathering the right readers. Blogging is "influencers influencing other influencers."

    Oh, and drink a lot of Red Bull, cause you'll need it. Bloggers don't get much sleep!
  • Perfect timing for this. Today was the first day that I didn't post a new blog entry since I started my blog in November because I started feeling like "who cares anyway".
    I feel better now and inspired again. I am like you in that I have to blog because it's such a release for the flood of ideas and thoughts that flood my mind. I just need to stay focussed on my audience (however meager the numbers may be at this point).
    I love using google docs to dump blog ideas and research info on the fly and even post straight from google docs to my blog when I complete a piece. I have over 100 blog posts started at different stages so I will never run out of ideas. I just need to keep the fires burning as you've discussed here. I need to keep relevent.
    Thanks!

    Pai
  • I use Twitter Favorites in conjunction with text file to flag interesting tidbits/sayings. Looking at friend's Twitter Favorites also gives me insight to what my readers crave.
  • Yet another great post - although I think it could be titled "Put Another Blog on the Fire". ;)

    Identifying audience is certainly critical but it is not always easy to know who that audience is - or should be. In the year since I started blogging I've considered myself to be speaking primarily to people (potential clients) I have already met and who may be interested in finding out more about what I do. In that sense the Blog does not necessarily act like a *Log* in that my posts are not particularly time sensitive.

    So I'm coming to think of my 'Blog' as more of a 'Blook' because the content is designed for a longer duration. Having said that I realize that the Blog form is quite inadequate for the kind of random access I would like so that is on the agenda for change some day. I think it calls for some invention and a bit of "thinking outside the Blox".

    Love your stuff Chris. Thanks.
  • If this comment sounds too much like an inappropriate commercial please delete it.

    The key to keeping the fires burning is to be passionate about what you do. Chris is passionate since he says, "I have to blog. I have too many ideas to just let them stay in my head".

    But, the second part is about Feeling Unheard. In other words, how do you remain passionate when you are writing for readers and very few are reading your creation? Assuming you have good content, the rest is a numbers game.

    Of all the people that arrive to your site only a portion will stay for awhile, and an even smaller portion will come back, or subscribe. So, if your numbers are say, 100 visitors equals 10 readers which equals 1 subscriber, then you just need a lot of visitors. It is what it is. With about 200 Million blogs out there, there must be a ton of visitors and readers available, and you have to just go get your share.

    Having a lot of readers, and seeing your subscriber base grow, will probably keep most bloggers passionate. There are a lot of ways to get free traffic and you are reading one of them right now. So just go get a lot of traffic to your blog. While you are at it you can click our link above and we'll send you some free traffic.

    You are in charge and are responsible to to keep your motivation high and make it happen for you.
  • This was a good post, it helped clarify for me how to end a post that I've been writing on similar topics.
    http://originalcomment.blogspot.com/2008/02/blo...

    Writing is not easy work. And writing on a blog, which goes beyond just putting words on the page, is even more difficult. I think your advice on how to keep the fires burning is important. The people in social media for the long-haul are going to reach the point where they have to ask if it's worth all the work they put into it. Those that can't keep the fires going will drop out, and losing those voices means there are fewer people to talk to and fewer things to talk about.
  • Nice! I have a notebook for post ideas, and it's filled with sticky notes, actually, haha. If ever I get slow then I just refer to it for some ideas and see which one I like best. I also check which posts are doing great and write follow-ups.

    Your blog is really interesting, actually. I took the liberty of subscribing via RSS. :) Hope that fuels your blogging!

    I actually have a social media challenge going on at Diligent right now. (check my name for the post link) Since I commented today, you can expect to see your site linked tomorrow.
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