I have read, over and over, that blogging is hard. That it’s difficult to stick with a topic.
If you’ve ever failed at a blog and quit, and yes it’s happened to me, then you picked the wrong topic. Learn from your mistake. Brush yourself off, and start again. I did, and your blog will be a lot better the second time around.
If your blog’s name is broad enough, you can perhaps save yourself from starting over again. Simply, add a couple more topics that your interested in to your blog. Maybe tweak the design and enhance your bio.
Still, the best bet for bloggers is to make a list of two things:
1) Things you like
2) Things you want to learn about
Then, simply hone in on the items under list number two and decide whether or not you really, really, want to learn about them.
After that, the best bet is to find a blogging name, or philosophy that is broad. One that doesn’t pigeon-hole you into a certain category or sector. Because if you intend to grow throughout life, it’s likely your passions may change a bit. I mean, blogs about social media are great…Right now. But 6 years ago, no one knew what social media was.
Is there likely to be a new movement? Yes.
So, when that movement does come about, what will you do? Will you keep blogging about a field that was hot a year ago? I doubt it.
I don’t see a lot of web 1.0 blogs getting huge hits right now.
So what am I trying to say?
One thing: focus on yourself.
In life, if you want to be successful, it’s neccessary to focus on others.
Don’t get me wrong; I think many aspects down the road focus on others. Like cultivating your community, knowing what your community wants to hear.
But if you’re a republican and you choose to blog about liberal topics, it’s going to be hard to captivate an audience. So, again, focus on yourself.
But in the blogging sphere (whatever that is…), it’s all about you because, if it’s not about you, people will get bored. Your wasting everyone’s time. And on the net, people don’t have time.
People don’t read stuff on the net like they read books and newspapers. When you’re reading offline, it’s usually with coffee, a glass of wine, your wife, or all of the above. People don’t have time to read stuff that was regurgitated from another author.
And that’s the strangest secret of blogging; unlike life blogging is not about others, it’s about you. Express yourself, and godspeed.
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This is a timely reminder for me, as I reflect on my blogging experience so far over Xmas/NY and think about where to take it next.
The other strangest blogging secret, possibly related, is that blogging makes you more reflective. The business of thinking about what you will write about, and writing about it regularly, with an audience in mind, makes you think about yourself and your subject more deeply than you would otherwise.