Ask HN: What advice do you have for a first time blogger?
2 comments
On having an engaging blog:
1. Be topical. The best blogs in my feed reader stick to broad-ish topics I'm interested in. i.e. Rails, Package Design, App Reviews.
2. Be consistent (frequency). This is simple to understand, difficult to execute. Find a schedule and stick to it.
3. Be consistent (structure). Once you've found a blogging style that suits you, stick to 1-2 styles (perhaps a short-form and a long-form). 37signals SvN lost it's spot in my feed reader for mixing snippets, quotes, long insights, and code-heavy posts together.
4. Quality over quantity. The blogs I respect the most are the ones who have thought out, relevant posts - even if they only come once a month.
On building a community:
- Look to see what Seth Godin & Tim Ferris have done to engage their blog readers beyond the comments.
- Remember that blogging is still very much a broadcast medium. Don't expect more than 1% of your readers to engage you on any particular level.
1. Be topical. The best blogs in my feed reader stick to broad-ish topics I'm interested in. i.e. Rails, Package Design, App Reviews.
2. Be consistent (frequency). This is simple to understand, difficult to execute. Find a schedule and stick to it.
3. Be consistent (structure). Once you've found a blogging style that suits you, stick to 1-2 styles (perhaps a short-form and a long-form). 37signals SvN lost it's spot in my feed reader for mixing snippets, quotes, long insights, and code-heavy posts together.
4. Quality over quantity. The blogs I respect the most are the ones who have thought out, relevant posts - even if they only come once a month.
On building a community:
- Look to see what Seth Godin & Tim Ferris have done to engage their blog readers beyond the comments.
- Remember that blogging is still very much a broadcast medium. Don't expect more than 1% of your readers to engage you on any particular level.
I saw this item a week or so ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=485592 But it seems as if everyone was off on different tangents rather than discussing how to build a compelling blog.
All advice is very appreciated. Thanks.