problogger’s challenge to write about the Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers has
resulted in a great many thoughtful posts; mostly, of course, about professional blogging, rather than the personal and idiosyncratic blogging in which I indulge.

I was hoping for some truly eccentric suggestions. You know, like turn three
times clockwise, then bow to the west twice; or put on your FEAR THE POET T-shirt, burn sage incense, chant "I am creative" thirteen times. Something.

But no, pretty much the expected good advice, with a few not-so-typical good
ideas; and some of the usual, unusually well-expressed.
To the extent there is a common theme, it is: Passion. Persistence. Patience. To which I would add: Play!

One writer managed twelve P’s: The 12 P’s of Successful ProBlogging.

I did a very quick
look-through, and offer below some brief excerpts. The excerpts are linked with
Deep
Quote, which, I discovered too late, links to the
Deep Quote site instead of the
originating site — so I’ve linked each blog title to the relevant post as well — and
will use Deep Quote with more discretion
in future.

Cotton
Pickin Days:  

Carry
a notebook . . . Inspiration strikes at the oddest
moments.

Good advice for any writer. Carry your camera, too.

Communication
Overtones:

Develop
content based on principles and values. While a blog cannot deliver
“key messages” in a canned and contrite manner (this isn’t a soundbite medium),
it can be written from the values and principles of its writer or company.
Knowing these values for yourself is the key to developing a “voice” for your
communication.

This one struck me because I so rarely see it said quite this
directly, though some others, below, speak about specific values.

Blog
Republic:

Be
generous in your attributions and never be afraid to link out.
People who are selfish about linking generally don’t rank as well as websites
who link out a lot. If you found an idea interesting, make sure you’re fair to
the source of info. Any pictures you may download, etc, should be clearly
sourced to wherever you commandeered them from. If you smile at the world, the
whole world smiles back.

Yes yes yes!

Why
My Blog Stinks:

Hav[e]
an outlet. I wrote an
article a while back about good bloggers are not always blogging. Effective
bloggers need to be reading, writing, going for walks, visiting friends, and just
giving your brain a rest. Too many times bloggers don’t have an outlet. I think
of your brain as a muscle. A large part of building a muscle is actually
resting. You can’t just lift weights all day long every day.
You need to do other things for a while.

Interesting metaphor. Descriptive. A good reminder for me, since I
tend to get a bit obsessive and single-minded at times . . .

Real
Estate Snippets:

.
. . [be] willing to expose yourself to a bunch of strangers. I have no
control over who is reading my thoughts and that makes me vulnerable to the
weirdos while gaining new friends at the same time; That exposure also includes
the danger of sometimes being misunderstood.

Or of being understood and then embarrassed about it . . .

Freshblog:

Help
if you can. Fess up if you can’t.

Well put.

Cockrum
Publishing:

Use
habit. Don’t let it use you. Your daily routine is the framework you use to
live a creative life, but it is a framework, not your life itself. Don’t let
your habits become ruts. They are there to serve you, to free you to focus on
creation. Periodically examine your work to make sure you aren’t just working
out of routine, but are actually putting conscious thought into what you are
doing.

Good advice in general, not just blogging.

Bald
Man Blogging:

Do
What You Can, Get Help with the Rest  . . . ask for help. You don’t
have to know it all. If fact, I think it’s better if you don’t even
try. Know what you know. That is, get really good at whatever it is you can
and want to do. Then, ask for help on the other stuff. You can’t master all
things.

Being willing to not
know is really important, I think. In fact, when I used to hire folks,
this was one of my criteria — the willingness to admit ignorance.

JasonBagley.com:

Use
technology efficiently – From the blogging platform you use, to
your RSS feeds, effective bloggers know what works for them, and what doesn’t.
Also, being able to adjust to the ever changing environment which is the
internet, is key to blogging success.

Toys, toys, toys. [Oops, sorry — did I say that out loud?]

Consultant
Journal.com:

Link.
People like the web because it’s non-linear. I still remember the joy
I felt when I visited my first web page in 1994. It was a hypertext version of
Hamlet. I was thrilled to be able to click to other parts of the play – and to
related articles, notes and dictionaries. Keep that feeling alive. Link.

I remember this excitement, too. I love how multi-dimensional the
internet is, how deep. It’s part of what I’m still learning.

writingUp:

. . . use the
social
bookmarking services to take your blog posts to a wider audience.

It has never occurred to me to bookmark my own sites — good idea,
this.

Skrocki’s
Weblog:

Brevity
is good. Expanding on this one will dilute my point.

Yep.

Case
Notes from the Artsy Asylum:

Pay Attention: Notice what you like and what you don’t like while you’re reading. Your own blog will benefit.

 

Pay attention all the time. Look, listen, taste, smell, touch.

Brem:

I
linkback to my own previous articles on the blog related to the same
topic. Whether it’s a follow up story, or even if it’s only
somewhat relevant to the current article, I try to linkback to previous article.
It allows new readers to have access to older material, as well as giving search
engines a link closer to the “root” of the website, which is a good thing

I do this, too — though I know it annoys some folks who view it as
self-promotion.

May
from Palm Discovery:

Make
sure you have several posts that can easily or quickly be published at any
time. This is my “idea” because I find that sometimes things come
up that was unexpected. By finishing or somewhat getting some posts that are
close to be “ready” for publishing, you can save yourself when the unexpected
happens.

And I do this, to accommodate unpredictable energy levels.

Men In Aprons:

  Eat!
  … Cook! … Go beyond recipes … Stand Out! … Be an information junkie
  … Post regularly … Be human …

This just seemed like a great metaphor for lots of things. Besides, I love the title of the site.

Fitness Mantra:

Hooks
and Suspense: The post title and the first line are sometimes all
it takes for a reader to decide if he/she will finish reading the post and/or recommend it to others. I like to post bold headlines
and start off with a hook. It could be a joke, an incident or a story, but I
find that grabbing the readers’ attention and taking them along works almost
always.

 

  Writing good titles is a gift and a skill — one I keep forgetting to develop.

a.marquart design, llc:

When looking at all the blogs I like, not just like but visit ONCE A DAY, all
  have in common? 

1.     New Posts Everyday
2.     Consistent
3.     Pictures
4.     Links to the original Story
5.     Clean Design

I think some variation on this can work — publishing
regularly, for example, even if that is weekly rather than daily. Some
folks don’t like pictures and graphics, because they slow loading; some
of us are addicted to them and think blogging is a visual medium.

I’m one of those who feel that links and comments are essential elements of blogging — not that sites without either aren’t worthwhile, I just don’t think of them as blogs.

Two other posts I enjoyed were Effective Bloggers are Learners, Thinkers, Explorers and Dreamers, and Highly Effective Blogging: Just Like Highly Effective Writing.

A final
principle I believe in is that one can’t review the basics too often,
and this has been a good exercise in that — both writing my own post,
and reading others. Though I don’t plan to participate every week, I
look forward to reading the next in this series.