There are two things that prompted me to write this post. The first are all these Blog365 badges that I see popping up everywhere. It seems a whole lot of bloggers are committing to blogging at least once a day for the entire year. It also seems that many of them are worried that they will not be able to do it.
The second thing is that it seems that quite a few bloggers in my blogroll have been calling it quits lately, whether because they feel burned out or have nothing more left to say or have developed other interests. In some cases they disappear with no warning, leaving the rest of us scratching our heads and, frankly, feeling a bit cheated that we were not allowed to achieve some sort of closure.
I think Posties are lucky, in that we seem much less likely to run out of things to say. Of course, a big motivator in that is money. If we quit, we lose a source of income. I can’t think of a single Postie I know that has quit blogging. And Posties are more likely to not only blog every day, but to have multiple posts per day. We are like…the Iron Men (and Women) of blogging.
I take pride in posting every day. On my main blog I am working on a streak of about 25 months without a missed day. You may feel free to call me the Lou Gehrig of blogging if you wish. Please don’t get me anything monogrammed with those initials though, as that’s not my real name. Actually, please don’t get me anything that is monogrammed as if my name were actually Mr. Fabulous. That “MF” can stand for more than one thing, you know…
If you do happen to find it daunting to post every day, especially if the current temporary dearth of opps for some seems to be cramping your style, please allow me to share with you a few tips that might make it a little easier and less stressful for you. After all, above all, blogging is supposed to be fun.
- Develop a regular feature. For example, on every Saturday on my main blog I do a sculpey post, and on every Sunday I do a post promoting that night’s Pointless Drivel Live radio show. These are easy posts for me to do, and knowing what I need to write for the weekend posts takes a lot of pressure off me and leaves me free to concentrate on what I am going to write during the week.
- Memes. Some people love them, some people hate them. At one time or another most of us have done at least a few. I don’t go out of my way looking for them, but they can prove useful. Whenever I get tagged with one I usually grumble inwardly for a few minutes until I realize that I can put my own spin on it and *poof* with very little trouble I have a post ready for publishing.
- Videos. I have begun to do more of these. Sometimes I’ll have an idea for a post that seems tailor made for a video, and so I’ll shoot it instead of write it. I have found video posts to be a lot of fun to do, and a nice change from all the prose.
- Special Days. A lot of folks join themed circles like Thursday Thirteeen and Blog Your Blessings Sunday. They won’t write the post for you, but they will provide you with a direction and a little nudge to get you started, rather than you having to come with an idea and a topic out of the blue.
- Ask your readers. Another good idea to to periodically offer to answer questions posted by readers. I usually have a lot of fun with this on a semi-regular basis.
- Check your sitemeter. We all have discovered some pretty goofy search words that have led people to our blog. Those discoveries can make for a very entertaining post!
Those are just a few ideas to get you started. Maybe you have some of your own that you would like to share. Please don’t let blogging get to be a grind. I think a lot of people have a natural tendency this time of year to let things get to them. They look ahead and see nothing but long cold winter days and barely any holidays during these next few months…I think it’s natural to perhaps get a little down and retreat inwardly to a degree. Don’t let your blogging suffer because of it. Instead, embrace blogging as the creative outlet that will allow you to shine during this time!
Wow…am I getting a little “Dr. Phil” here?
And if you feel you need a break of a day or two, don’t be afraid to ask a fellow blogger to do a guest post for you. In most cases I am sure they would be happy to help, after all, they may need you to do the same for them one day. Also, guest blogging helps you out in that you still are providing new content every day, and it helps the guest blogger get their name out there a little bit more.
Pep talk over. Keep on bloggin’!