March 26th, 2007

9 More Lessons for Would-Be Bloggers

A follow up to 9 Lessons for Would-be Bloggers. A few more lessons learned in 7 years of blogging.

Write Follow-up Posts

This post is an example of this lesson in action. Two weeks ago I wrote 9 Lessons for Would-be Bloggers and it got a good amount of traffic: people seemed to enjoy it. Darren Rowse of Problogger, who I’ve read for some time, embraced it and added his own thoughts. I had some great comments left on my blog and I thought about them and considered other lessons that I’ve learned. I kept writing them down as I thought of them and eventually built up 9 more of them to write this here post.

So when something resonates with folks, keep paying attention to it. There might be openings for a follow-up post. When you do write up a follow-up post, link back to the original, assuming that some people will have never read it. And if the follow-up works, maybe start a series of posts on the topic. And then, a book. And after that…well you get the idea.

When you screw up, say so immediately

Admitting idiocy is one of the most important things a blogger can do. It completely diffuses a situation that could quickly turn ugly. For some reason we have an assumption that admitting a wrong is like kicking a puppy…some people would do almost anything to avoid it. But I remember listening to a podcast of Adam Bosworth, who is a damn smart guy (VP at Google), in which a point he made was quickly refuted…and instead of defending his position he said immediately: “Yes, you’re right. I stand corrected.” As a listener I was completely disarmed…when was the last time someone said they stand corrected? The result is that I’ve ended up having more respect for Adam than I did previously. So pay attention to people who admit when they’re wrong…they’re the type of people worth listening to because you know they’re not trying to spin anything. And the funny thing is, that if you admit you’re wrong, people might just start assuming that in the other cases you’re right.

Know when to take it offline

Several times I’ve had folks come to my site and try to embarrass or criticize me personally in the comments on a post. Whenever this happens, you have to immediately take it offline. Send them an email and explain your situation. More than likely, they’ll cool down after that.

I recently ran into this with my Death of IA posts…I had some IA folks come and really lay into me, trying to insult me in front of my audience. It’s fine to argue the points of a post, but its another thing to let someone criticize you outside the bounds of your writing on a personal level. In these cases I simply wrote them an email stating that I would be glad to consider their points as long as they stuck to the content of my post…sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you just have to stop the discussion and move on. So remember that its your blog and your audience…you’re the editor and you decide what is worth arguing and what isn’t.

Link back to your good stuff

Some folks don’t link back to their good stuff enough. Hopefully you have a greatest hits section on your site, but in addition to that refer to something you’ve previously written. If you wrote it well, it will be easy to do, because your post will act as a reference for the topic. Others will pick up on that and perhaps link as well.

One caveat…rarely quote yourself. For some reason it’s a big turnoff…maybe too much self-flattery or something. Instead, simply repeat the idea in a slightly different way, resetting the context for the idea that you want to talk about again. But please, don’t quote yourself…quoting is an activity we should reserve for people other than ourselves.

Reread to yourself

Blogs aren’t books, poems, or even journalism. They’re conversations, so they need to be conversational. Make them read like how you talk. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written something that wasn’t conversational that didn’t resonate…because I was trying to be too formal. Then, I’ll write a post very quickly and conversationally and it will lead to something. That’s a funny thing about blog posts…people do treat them as a conversation. And, except for being asynchronous, they are.

Treat every post as a possible later reference

This is something that I’ve only realized of late. Treat every post as a reference going forward. If you’re a programmer, think about the DRY principle: Don’t Repeat Yourself. Write something once, write it well (revise until necessary) and then feel free to refer back to it later. One of my frustrations is when I’ll have a couple posts on the same idea that don’t work very well…because I put them up too hastily. Better to write it once, take your time, and make it something that not just you, but others can reference later on.

A good example of this is my post The Dangers of Judging Web Design Superficially. I wrote this almost three years ago, and recently linked back to it. Someone picked it up just the other day, linked to it from a well-trafficked blog, and sent a whole bunch of readers my way. You never know when stuff like this will happen, so treat every post as a target.

Keep updating your best posts

This goes along with the previous one. If you take your posts seriously, and you treat them as an reference archive, then people will link to them and send traffic to them over time. So, if the post could use pruning, or additions, be sure to go back and add them. It’s OK…this isn’t paper we’re publishing on. Just go back and change it, and maybe add a note that you’ve done so.

Name things (e.g. The Del.icio.us Lesson, The Chanel No. 5 Lesson)

This one I learned with The Del.icio.us Lesson, which I had actually written about before I named it. After I named it, it became my most read post of all-time. The idea is also a relatively clear one, so people could easily understand it, but I think that naming really drove it home and associated the idea with the Del.icio.us name…which is a very popular and well-known site. Of course, don’t name things just because you can, and make sure that if you name something that there is a real importance to the idea you’re naming. I knew it was important because people kept repeating it to me over and over…I just happened to be the person who wrote it down.

Link to the quiet, unknown ones

I know because I am a quiet one (or used to be). Link to people who nobody has heard of, just to give them some exposure. They’re just as smart as anybody else, they’ve got just as much to say. They just don’t have the attention yet. I remember reading Noah Brier back before either of us had much of an audience and were working out our blogging kinks…linking back and forth every once in a while. Well, Noah’s now kicking some serious butt and he’s got a good audience…his Likeminds meetups are growing and growing.

It works like this: people expecting company clean the house. If a blogger is expecting company (readers), they’re much more likely to work on their blog and make it better. Conversely, if they are unknown, they’re not really expecting anybody, and this lowers their own expectations of what and how they write. My guess is that any blogger out there, if they were told they could have a spot in an upcoming edition of the New Yorker alongside Malcolm Gladwell and James Suroweiki, would rise to the occasion and write their very best. They would care more, pay much more attention to what they write, and really knock one out of the park.

Any editors of the New Yorker reading this…? I’m waiting.

Translations: Hungarian

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Comments ( 38 Responses so far )

1. Danahli on March 26th, 2007 (Comment) #

Great post once again, Joshua. The last one was helpful and so was this one. The points you make are so very true, especially the last one hits home for me. With just starting my blog a few months ago, finding exposure can totally beef up your blog and make it much better. Thanks for the insight.

2. Julian Schrader on March 26th, 2007 (Comment) #

Great post!

I’m eager for the next follow-upp on this topic

3. Tony Wright on March 26th, 2007 (Comment) #

Another gem. I think you’ve held onto something that a LOT of bloggers lose track of (or never knew in the first place). Your job, as a blogger, is to provide VALUE to your readers. And you do it admirably.

Wish I’d managed to run into you at SXSW.

4. bLiNdLuCk on March 26th, 2007 (Comment) #

Well said. I especially liked the rereading and reference points.

Thank you for the useful advice.

5. Noah Brier on March 26th, 2007 (Comment) #

I like to think I’m still very much working out the kinks.

I don’t think it addresses a big hole I see in the blog world: Where are the social tools to allow people who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to share their work? I have been thinking a lot about building tools for my own blog to help the underexposed and generally foster more of a community.

6. Noah Brier on March 26th, 2007 (Comment) #

I’m not exactly sure what “I don’t think addresses that big hole . . . ” Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in retrospect, sorry about that.

7. Best zune converter on March 27th, 2007 (Comment) #

Excellent work. Easy to understand.

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8. Josh on March 27th, 2007 (Comment) #

Noah…good question. Obviously, linking is a start. But I’ve run into so many folks who say “I have nothing to share” and things like that…when that’s not true at all. Time will help with this, but maybe there are tools that could help, too.

Perhaps a mentoring program…made up of bloggers who can mentor new bloggers as they get started…maybe a guest blogging program to get folks feet wet.

Great issue, though…and a tough challenge.

9. Justin Thorp on March 27th, 2007 (Comment) #

How do you make the buiz case that it is okay to admit that you were wrong? In a large organization if someone made a mistake, it seems like they’d get the blogging “car keys” taken away from them so fast they wouldn’t have the opportunity to admit the fact that they were wrong.

10. Shimon on March 27th, 2007 (Comment) #

Thanx for post! I must give this link to few people as an advice.

BTW it’s easy to read.

11. Tiffehr on March 28th, 2007 (Comment) #

Great post, and great series of posts, Joshua. I really appreciate any thoughts directed at us newbies to blogging. It was really great to chat with you about it all at SXSW, too!

12. Johan on March 28th, 2007 (Comment) #

When you have articles but no comments section, you are not a blog, is it not?

13. Marc on March 28th, 2007 (Comment) #

Great stuff. Insightful and pratical to the point of common sense. Which goes a long way.

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14. kazim on April 8th, 2007 (Comment) #

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/

THE TV PRESENTER WITH THE BLACK HAIR IS A KIND OF CRUEL BITHC STOP DOING WHAT THE DUMB FUCK POLICE FAT BASTARDS ARE DOING WHICH IS JUST LIVING SHIT LIVES AND LIES. BECOMES A COMOPLETE HOAX NOW THAT ALL KNOW WHAT YOU ARE. I FEEL INCREDIBLY SAD ABOUT THE WAY YOU TREAT YOUR OWN COUNTRY. NEVER MIND I KNOW YOU NOW -YOUR RUBBISH.

P.BAY.. WAS AN ATHEIST. BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD LUCK. FATTY.

SO STOP PAYING IDIOTS LIKE THE POLICE TO COOK THE SHIT UP OR GET INTERPRETATIONS ON FLOWERS VA AV ETC. ITALY WHATEVER- WHICH IS PROBABLYTHE LOGICAL EXP. BEHIND THIS SHOUTED AT HIM. DO I WANT THIS TO RUN. RACIST IS NOT THE WORD ITS DEHUMANISOR TELL THOSE FUCKING SECURITY PEOPEL TO FUCK OFF AND TELL YOUR COUNTRYMEN TO SHIT ON THEMSELVES TOO AND TELL ANYONE ANYWHERE WHO WANTS ME TO FUCK THEMSELV.ES ASIANS ARE NOT GOOD LOOKING WOMEN. AND YOU DID FUCK UP MY UNC.S BOTH OF THEM WITH THE HELP OF HTE POLICE. DUMMY. IF PAUL WERE HERE, HE’S NOT AND HE’S NOT MY BIOLOGICAL FATHER, HE WOULD THINK IAN BLAIR A THICKSHIT WITH DICKHEADS WHO HURT NICE PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF AND WE ALREADY KNOW HOW BEAUTRICE HARROP WAS FUCKING HIM UP. I DONT NEED AN INVESTIGATION GIVEN YOU’BVE KILLED 600.000 AND THAT YOU DID IN A FEW MONTHS. I TRUST THE ACADEMICS AND THAT’S THAT. YOU ARE CORRUPT BECAUSE YOU MUST HAVE KILLED YOURSELF HAVING MEN LIKE THIS IN YOUR NATION. THE POLICE KNOW FOR INSTANCE LAURA, A FRIEND AND NOT A GOOD ONE, THINKS THEY’RE THICK AND DIM AND USELESS AND BECCI GASH, AGAIN A FRIEND BUT NOTHING THAT GREAT AND A DUMB CHRISTIAN I MEAN MAD, THOUGHT DES BROWNE WAS A VILLAIN. SO THEY CAN BOTH SHUT THE FUCK UP, MY COUSIN, SHE SAID THAT THE LABOUR PARTY WERE THICK AS PIGS AND THAT LIKE THE WORKING CLASSES THEY WERE JUST FUCKING STUPID AND FUCKED UP THEIR KIDS AND CAME UP WITH CRUEL AND SADISTIC WAY TO MAKE THEMSELVES FEEL GREAT.. I GOT NOTHING AGAINST THE LIB DEMS OR GREENS. BUT 999 ON HTE PHONE CAN ALL FUCK OFF.
KAZIM ABIDI©COPYWRIGHT 2007

15. kazim on April 8th, 2007 (Comment) #

http://kazimdreamkazim.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_handle=cns!762DFC832EF00005!148&_c11_BlogPart_blogpart=blogentry&_c=BlogPart&_c02_owner=1

the bbc are sh” esp. that woman with black hair.

16. Vietnam travel agency on April 12th, 2007 (Comment) #

Vietnam, a country made famous by war, has a unique and rich civilisation, spectacular scenery and friendly people. From the Red River Delta in the north to the Mekong River in the south, the scenes throughout Vietnam are timeless, with green rice paddies tended by labourers in conical hats.

17. kazim on April 18th, 2007 (Comment) #

THE VERY GOOD AND WONDEROUS PEOPEL ARE ALWAYS USED FOR HTE WRONG THIGNS AND I AGRE WITH SOME OF PROFFESSOR DAWKINS INSIGHTS BUT I AM NOT ATOTALLY ONTHE SIDE OF ACADEMICS BECAUSE THEY SEEM NOT TO HAVE THE MEANS TO SECURE THE POEL WHO CARE FOR IDES. i DO NOT THINK IDEAS IN THEMSDLVES MAKE A SOCIETY ALHTOUGH WHEN A CROUPUS LETS SAY A CULUTRE IS BORROWED OR MOVES IT CAN BE COPED AND ADDED TO AND MADE SCIENTIFIC THAT IS TO SAY IT CAN BE MADE BECOMES AND INVARIABLY DOES IN THE MINDS AND HEARTS AND THE SOUL OF MOST A VERY GOOD OPTING STRATGY OR BAHAVIORUAL LIFESTYLE TECHNICIAN;S BLOOMING THOUGHT FELT SPEED ACTION TAMIGN RUSE FELT LIGHT SPEED INCEASING TIME PSPENT LITEL FALING SAVING LINE HEIGHTENED LOVE CARE INSTEINCT MORE THAN SURVIVAL WHICH CAN BE ONLY EXPRESSED AND DOES ONLY SEEM TO COME INTO QUESITON WHEN PEOPLE LOOK AHEA AND REALISD WHY ELOQUENCE OF THE CONDTION NEEDS A COMPLETE AND SUSTAINED BORROWING COME COMLPLETE SYSTEEMATIONASTION OF THE COMING UP.
i THOUGHT TO TEELL THEM ALL THAT THEIR IDEAS WOULD BE UED WRONGLY IF THEY CAME UP WITH THEM. hERE I HAV S EOMTHIGN FAR DELETERIOUS AND SAVING LIKE TUORED FROM INFORCED LAOURIOUSNESSES. tHAT IS TO SAY THAT I CANNOT QUTIE EXPRESS IT: IT IS NOT LIKE FAMILIATL THING IT IS SIMILAR TO HORROR BUT DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING BUT SIKNESS WRITTEN INTO IT. wHEN THE ASTRONOMOER ROYAL SAID THE LAB INVENTED THE DISEASES AND THEN I TUREND TO INDIA NA IRAN AND PAKISTAN AND JAPAN FOR HLP I REALISED THAT I WOULD BE HATED BECAUE I DID NOT HAVE THE PORROF WHICH IS SIMPLY THE MINDSET OF A FEW: ROVE I IT IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT WHICH DETAIELSS A THOUGHT LIKE FAHTMOLESS WATER MONSTERS THAT IS THESITIC. i AGGREE BUT I AM WASTED. SO CAN I JUST SAY THIS I FIND I AM BEING MURDERED NA HAVD OTHERS IN THE FAMILY SEE THE SAME FATE BY SOMETHING I AM NOT AWARE IS PUSIHING HTE BUTTONS. I FIND OUT TODAY THEY ALL KNEW ABOUT IT AND THAT I WAS SIMPLY A NON ENTITY AND THEN I WONDER IF IT IS THE DOCTOR WIHTUT FALLING INTO A TRAP OF BLAC AND WHITE SPORT AND POLITCIS RELIGION OR WAR AND I CANNOT SEEM ESCHEW THE PROBLEM WIHTOUT FAILING PREY OF HTE WICKED.
I SEE IT THOUG IF THAT IS ANYTHING. IT STILL MEANS THERE IS NO WAY TO LEAVE UNHAMRED AND THAT IT IS MORE ABOUT THE ANTICIPATORY THINING IN PEOPEL WHIHC CANNOT BE ENCAPULAUTED TO ANY EXTENT. I BEIEBENOW THAT THERE IS A DEATH INSTINCT IN THESE PEOPELES BUT I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENT CULTURES I MEAN HERE. DEATH INSTINCT CAN BE WHERE IT IS IF AND ONLY WHEN THREE IS SOME MEASURE OF SUCCESS AND ACCRODIG TO THE SKIE SELF-VALIDATION. TO PICK UP A FINE PERSON AND LEAVE ASIDE THE RACE HATE TPAST WHICH IS LOOMING OBVER US MEANS WE HAVE TO QUENCH THE PAIN FROM INSIDE. I DO NOT WANT A MARLOWE OR ENISTEN NOW I KNOW THAT BOTH ERE FALIBLE FRO TOYING WITH IDEAS THEY TERM MYSTERY WHICH I TERM DREAM. THE THREAD THT RUNS THROUGH ALL OF THIS IS NOT ROBOTIC IT IS SIMPLY THE ONE THAT KNEW ALONGSIDE THE THOSE THAT DID. ITS IS SIMPLY ANOTHER PLEA I KNOW BUT I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE SO ADVANCED AD BELABOURED WITH SUCH DISGUST AND PAIN. I WISH THERE ERE MORE PEOPEL WHO WERE GOOD AND CONSCIENTIOSUS ALTOUGH I DOD NOT THINK -RELIGOIN HERE IN THEIS NATION ASIDE- THE CONSCIENC IS AS GREAT AS THE PREANTICAPTORY SONSCEINCE.

18. kazim on April 18th, 2007 (Comment) #

http://www.editorsweblog.org/print_newspapers/2006/07/france_government_shocked_by_newspaper_c.php

I wont be used as a political, religious or sporting fixture.
I wont allow what has happened to me over the last decade or so to ruin my life because I realise how the British were aware they were using me as fodder for interntational relations and I loved them and they simply abused me and said put up.
I know enough to realise that the eu was right and that was the main aim.
I agree with some of the insights in the sciences; many of them in fact.
I realise the police state is moulded by war and needs it and that also the police state is alive only in the most warring and intensely consumptive nations.
I do not think I am ill. I am being manipulated and used by the woman who lives above me who keeps on doing what I have asked her not to do.
I have made an appeal to a lawyer as well to help.
I know now, harrowing as it becomes, that this ‘plan’ is executed upon the ethnic minorities and that this kind of planning feeds the European countries and the US, and trade and the media.
I am not responding or doing sport or news with a book or unknowingly writing anything. There is no connection between what I said I thought of something in the past and the single truth that I was and am being used while I see this seething hatred for the self and for children as some kind bargaining chip or sacrificial agent. This is the most important point.
I have nothing to say about religion but it hurts that some religious people knew. The same goes for the council and worst of all the academics.
I do not see a way out of these problems and the pain that is thrown at me becomes a question: I am hit and I ask the beater ‘why are you so sick’. And now I see the beater is something that inculcated at a point and in more of them than can be counted.
I am a good and loving person.

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19. syahid ali on June 23rd, 2007 (Comment) #

i always link up to my good stuff. works for me all the time.

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20. Alex on July 10th, 2007 (Comment) #

Constant updating is a key to blog success.

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21. bygstyck on October 15th, 2007 (Comment) #

i find the information intriguing. amazing how some people can never discuss issues as well as they can find fault with them. criticism should be constructive and never to infer that each opinion is the final thought. speaking of designed societies, i think that this (the comments/views/criticisms) represents some the nefarious by-product of the very thing that they refuse to admit to. i realize now that my thinking, even from a young lad, has been in observation of societies structure upon the individuals and his place in that structure. if they are not meeting certain criteria then they are dispatched to another realm or another paradigm of societies structure, and in some cases held down, never to reap the fruits of society’s produce. productivity is paramount in all design. i’m freelance in everything i do, (non-conformist),fortunately i’ve done well enough to provide and reap, but the reasons for that are varied. thanks for the confirmation in a long held thought process. this would include the blogging aspect as well as the societal design. i’ve obviously been doing alot of reading here.

22. Elizabeth on November 13th, 2007 (Comment) #

Yo, thanks for the “Greatest Hits” tip… Great idea, since my Gordon Ramsay hits are my most popular. I am still learning my way around Wordpress, but I think it’s a great idea. I have been offered work as a blogger so now I am going in search of advice for blogger-for-hire… how to write the right contract and get fair pay v. exposure!

Cheers!