How I Blog

So, here are my secrets:

• I write about what people are interested in. At least I hope I do. I often base my blog posts on questions people ask me, in e-mail, at my speaking appearances, and other places. When I don’t get a question, I ask other people what they are doing and what they are interested in.
• I keep the ideas organized. Sometimes I have three ideas in one day, but then I’ll go a couple of days without any ideas. I write pieces of posts when they occur to me and each day I look at the list and finish the one that inspires me at the moment.
• I cheat. I have a staff of writers who write a few posts a month for me, and I am actually looking for more. (If you want to write regularly for Biznology, let me know and I will be happy to talk to you.)
• Every day is my deadline. If I didn’t promise myself that I’d post every day, I wouldn’t post a lot. In fact, I had a really busy day today–I wouldn’t have posted except that I promised myself I would.
• I make sure it doesn’t become a burden. Besides getting others to write for me, I allow myself days off when I am not working (and I think I work less than most people). That lets me recharge without making it feel like I have to be blogging all the time.

Image by churl via Flickr

I’ve been running into a lot of people lately who “admire” the fact that I post a blog entry each day. I’m not sure why they react that way–I know lots of bloggers who post more than I do–but they always talk about my “dedication.” It’s nice to get complimented, but I wonder if what I do has much to do with dedication. I started to think about how I get my blog posted each day, and I thought it was worth sharing. If you’ve been wondering how to write a blog, maybe it will help.

If you blog, I’d love to hear how you do it, because I admire it. But when you share your secret, just don’t tell us it’s your dedication.