I received a comment on Monday's post that I should consider abandoning my rigid blogging schedule of posting every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday at 6am. The idea is to focus on quality posts and not worry about quantity. I agree that quality is critical, but isn't quantity important as well?





Comments


Written by m4bmarketing
5033 days ago

Hi Pat,

Consistency is important, however it must work for you as well as your readers. Why not ask them for feedback and that one comment is good as it means the person actually took time to contact you. Did they give you any suggestions or reasons for their comment?

Also think about why you are blogging and how it fits into your overall marketing plan. One suggestion is have a look at your stats as they can guide you to see what is working and perhaps you do not need 3 posts per week.

I enjoy your posts anyway.

Susan



Written by ShawnHessinger
5033 days ago

Both inspiration and consistency are important. I'd say it depends on your audience. But posting regularly is critical. The key is that if you fail to keep up, don't give up. Try again. Always recommit.



Written by globalcopywrite
5034 days ago

Hi Pat,

As a fellow blogger, I understand your dilemma. However, I can't help thinking that everything old is new again. Writing a blog is a lot like being a newspaper columnist from the age when everyone read at least one daily newspaper, in print. Even the best columnist struggled to put a column out every day. One thing was certain, they had to meet deadline interesting or not.

The real question here is what do you want from your blog? Is it there to build authority and make you a recognized resource? Or, are you blogging as part of your sales and lead generation cycle? The reason I ask is that if you're simply building authority, I think it's probably better to slip a deadline than regularly produce uninspiring work. If your goal is of a commercial nature, you'd better stick to that schedule.

Also, how many readers do you have? The huge bloggers like Problogger's Darren Rowse have so many readers he would lose authority if he didn't have a strict schedule. That's when discipline is really a vital factor to blogging.

I have two suggestions. The old daily columnists had tricks to help them make deadline. I took a page out of their book and developed a BRIEF format for times when I'm having difficulty getting my post out. My BRIEF posts are little nuggets of information in 200 words or less. I can whip one up pretty quickly. The other thing to do is to consider guest posts. The top guys do it all the time.

My last piece of advice is to consider the criticism you received from your reader a gift. While it's nice to get compliments, we learn best from constructive advice on what needs to change.

Keep at it!



Written by yoni67
5034 days ago

I hate to digress to sex (intimacy) but I will. The worst thing that couples can do is "schedule" romantic encounters i.e. "Let's meet in bed on Thursday night..." It's best, at least as far as I'm concerned (my wife probably agrees) when it's spontaneous. Blogging is the same. Without inspiration and spontatneitym blogs fall flat 99% of the time.

Part 2: Quality and quantity don't need to be mutually exclusive as long as one pours their his or her heart and soul into each post. The worst thing for a reader though (again in my opinion) is to read a blog post and feel that the person just wanted to post. That they really didn't care about saying something meaningful, they just wanted to say something. It's like the person who speaks to hear his or her own voice. They're boring.

Blog readers are a finicky bunch. Excite them and they'll come back. Bore them and they'll simply find another blog to read. A blog has to excite.

Yoni



Written by amabaie
5034 days ago

If it does, and the reverse is true, then I must have the highest quality blogs in the world!



Written by yoni67
5034 days ago

David L.

There is no shortage of folks around here who love your posts, myself included!

You hit the "Hot Topics" page 81% of the time...it doesn't get much higher than that!

Keep on postin' and I'll keep readin'. "Eh" :)

Yoni



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