Blog Basics - Chapter 1: Should I start a blog?
This post is part of The Vacant Cubicle Blog Basics Series
Well, even though I would love to be able to answer this question for everyone, it’s not a straight forward answer. Blogs, as defined by dictionary.com are: a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; which is a fancy way of saying an online journal. The answer to the question on whether you should start a blog can only be answered by yourself. Review the questions below; if you can answer yes to a majority of them then you have my vote to start a blog.
- Do you have something to write about?
A blog should consist of constant content (articles, ports, reviews, gossip, etc…) so if you can’t think of things to write about maybe you’re better off reading blogs instead of writing them. - Are you passionate about a topic?
Anyone can find something to write about at some point but what makes a blog good is your passion for the topic. If you’re writing about random things just to get hits on your site your readers will be able to detect this. Everyone is passionate about something, pick one thing you love doing and see if you could tell others about that. - Do you really know about the topic or just think you do?
Even though you may be passionate about something does not mean you know a lot about it. Do you know enough about the topic so people will be interesting in reading it? Are you bringing something new to the table? - Do you have the time?
Running a blog is a lot of work, well; it is if you want to be successful at it. To run a great blog you should post at least a couple times a week if not more. Blogs often start off great but soon dissolve either because people realize what a time sink they can be or they lose interest in the topic(see question 2). - Can you communicate your topic well?
I’m not the best writer in the world, in fact if it wasn’t for spell-check everyone would probably think I was in the sixth grade, but I think I can communicate my points pretty well. When you write a blog which is usually intended for others to read you have to be able to give your message so it doesn’t bore or irate your readers.
So how did you do? After reading these questions do you feel like you still want to start a blog? Do you think you should? Take some time and think this over and if you’re still interested then please read on.
Comments, Questions, Suggestions...
Great point Jesse, if you’re passionate about something you can make it work and learn along the way. I would be honest with your readers though so they know that what you’re saying might not be from experience but from what you’ve learned so far.
And Jesse, this series was inspired by your email. ;-)
Great article! I totally agree with item 4 on the list as I run two blogs and finding time to write and market two blogs is very difficult.
However I do think that if you are passionate enough about a topic you can still write a good blog without knowing much about it. My home brewing blog (http://www.thefrostedbrew.com) has four subscribers and receives about 20 visits a day and I know very little about the topic. Just be honest and upfront about what you do and don’t know - it just may encourage reader interactivity and raise your level of guest posts.
Knowledge is important, yes, but passion is the deal breaker. No one is better qualified to write to beginners in a topic than a beginner. Just don’t pretend to know a lot about something you don’t.