After a year of blogging, I’ve established a “blogging schedule” that has enabled me to post twice daily, while avoiding burn-out or writing too many pointless posts.
To create a blogging schedule, I’ve organized my content into three basic types.
Post Type 1: Short term, highly time sensitive posts. These could be called “breaking news” or reaction to something another blogger wrote that requires a fast response.
Examples: Yahoo! buys Facebook. Steve Jobs cancels the iPhone. Blogger X said Y and this is why they’re wrong.
Comments: High
Traffic: Short bursts of highly variable traffic, mostly coming from news aggregators like Techmeme or social news sites like Digg, Stumleupon.
Writing Difficulty: Low
Post Type 2: Self-contained, less time sensitive posts. These are longer articles that aren’t time sensitive and hence can be published at a future date.
Examples: Movie and music reviews.
Traffic: Steady over the long term.
Comments: Low
Writing Difficulty: Medium
Post Type 3: “Series” articles. Several posts on a specific subject that can be spread out over time.
Examples: Episode reviews of a currently running television show. Several album reviews by the same artist. Movie reviews of a certain genre.
Traffic: Steady over the long term.
Comments: Medium
Difficulty: Hard (if only in terms of persistence)
(One advantage of “series” posts is I’m never at a loss for something to write about. At this point in time, I have a long list of subjects for future posts.)
So here’s my blogging schedule: I set aside a few hours set aside each Saturday and Sunday morning for writing blog posts intended for the work week. These posts are for types 2 and 3 and “pre-publish” them, usually for the mornings before I wake up. I then have the liberty of scattering the more time-sensitive type 1 posts during the week.
Here are some takeaways from my analysis:
- A variety of writing styles can attracts a variety of traffic. These are the three I’ve settled on, but other types could be guest posts, contests, satire, or memes.
- Publishing posts in advance is a good strategy so you’re not constantly under the pressure of generating new content.
- Planning ahead with a list of ideas for future posts keeps writer’s block at bay.
Anyhow, this is just what works for me. But I’m sure by analyzing the types of content you like to write, you may be able to find a way to develop a blogging routine around it.
Here are some additional posts on the subject of creating a blogging schedule:
- Problogger: Plan Your Next Week’s Posting Schedule
- Prevail PR: Set our Blog Schedule
- Smart Wealthy Rich: The Blogging Schedule
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