Seth’s Godin’s post Driveby Culture and the Endless Search for Wow really touched on something that had been nagging me from within. The daily demand for fresh content compels me to post every day, and sometimes it’s draining, because I really put my heart into what I’m writing. I’m not trying to simply add to the fluff, I want to inspire and teach others, not simply take up space and absorb a profit. I’m sure you’re probably trying to do the same.
Whether my topic is one someone else has written about or not, I feel motivated to add my thoughts to the conversation when I believe something has been ignored or left out, but each and every post I write doesn’t always receive the same amount of attention. Some posts deserve more; some less. Some days I write a post passionately, feeling excited; pumped thinking, “Yes, this is the one!” only to be disappointed when hardly anyone seems to notice or comment.
On other days, posts I don’t feel as strongly about end up getting all the buzz. Why is that? When I write on trendy topics, yes, my page views shoot up, but it is often fleeting and not lasting more than a day or two. Those people who were into the trend don’t return; they don’t become fans; they don’t change their habits or learn anything new. Yet, if chose to listen to the majority of the advice that’s floating around, it would seem as if that’s the goal – to drive traffic, any traffic – and the more the better.
Who cares about the quality of those visitors so long as you get the views?
Optimize your content for them; pour out your heart for them to step on and then disappear. Yes, give them your all. But, for what?
While, I definitely believe in blogging with passion and giving it every effort, it’s not for those fleeting readers, but instead for those few who really are looking to learn, to expand their knowledge and to act on the strategies that have been presented.
That means that sometimes my great content won’t get discovered until days; maybe weeks or months later. But that’s okay – you know your content is of value when people can still read it months later and find that it’s still relevant. No trendy content can survive that test.
Of course it would be foolish of me to tell you to avoid writing trendy content altogether – there are certainly times when you’ll need to chime in on those issues, especially when shallow or inaccurate information is being spread at a rapid rate. Often people are so drawn to extremes that they ignore the complexities of things. So yes, write about trendy topics, but in a way that inspires and challenges thought.
So how do you write as if you have a million subscribers?
Write with tomorrow in mind
Even as you write on those hot topics, write with the future in mind – ask if what you’re saying can stand the test of time. Will the advice you give still be relevant or will it expire and curdle the minute something new arrives?
Revive the old
Whenever possible, go back and revive those old posts – especially those that you notice people are still reading. Give them new life by adding new examples and personal experiences. Organize an ebook from your revived archived posts.
photo credit: Jakob Montrasio
Write as if the entire world is reading
With every new post you write, regardless of how many subscribers you actually have, write as if you are writing for an audience of millions – you never know, maybe one day you will be. Just because people don’t read your posts today doesn’t mean they won’t discover them and find value in them tomorrow.
What do you think about this? Do you think most people have such a microwave-split second attention span that you have to pull out all the stops and perform cheap tricks for every post? Are you writing solely to fulfill your daily post quota or are you writing passionately from the heart with your readers of tomorrow in mind?
I recently started a new blog and I know the feeling, you know you can write but there is no audience there yet. You just have to pretend there are a million subscribers and go for it, the few readers you have will be impressed and think they are reading a really popular blog
.-= Jorgen Sundberg´s last blog ..How to Change Googlemail to Gmail for UK Users =-.
Hi Jorgen!
When I started my Christian Blog, there was literally like 5 people following the blog, but I wrote every day as if everyone was listening – to this day, those posts are still getting traffic from Google and are bringing me new subscribers.
It’s not about faking it, it’s about confidence.
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
That’s frustrating indeed! You publish a post that took a lot of thought and effort and then get little to no feedback. I’ve had it the other way too where a post takes me completely by surprise with the response it gets.
You’ve got it exactly right though. For longevity, nothing beats helpful, useful content. It’s a hell of a lot more fun to write too, which helps us stay with it for the long haul.
.-= Carlos Velez´s last blog ..How to Build an e-Book: A Professional Writer’s Guide for Beginners =-.
Hi Carlos!
It can be frustrating, but that’s because we expect that everyone will respond to the post the day it was published – sometimes people find and respond to outstanding old posts. Just the other day I got a new comment on a post I did a couple of months ago – when I went back I was astounded that there were tons of other comments that had trickled in that I needed to respond to. You never know when this is going to happen, so you’ve got to provide good content whether you believe anyone is reading or not.
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
Thankfully it’s really fun to write good content, at least what we think is good, so it’s not a total loss if no one is reading it.
.-= Carlos Velez´s last blog ..The Conscious Man, Intro: Nice Guys and Jerks Both Finish Last =-.
Hey Kiesha,
I can understand the dilemma – and I agree long-term is definitely the better strategy. While it’s hot to write about trendy stuff, and you certainly get more pageviews – it’s mostly superficial traffic – and there’s no real gain in that. I shifting to writing valuable, Mars Dorian style articles. But I have to disagree with the “imagined” million readers. I rather visualize my hardocre fan – the one that wants me to be as authentic as possible. If you focus on a million readers, you tend to polish your style and may lose your edge.
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..How to Expand Your Online Presence, and make people come back to YOU ! =-.
Hi Mars,
You’ve got a good point – plus imagining one raving fan allows you to write more personally and from the heart. I like it!
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
Writing as if there are millions reading, now that is an interesting thought. I’m prepared to give it a go.
*gosh, I already feel the pressure…*
Reviving popular old posts in the ebook form is a great idea and something I’ve been considering for a while, even digging out some tools that can be used for such a thing.
.-= Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last blog ..Cheap Dutch Lager =-.
Hi Mo!
I guess one could see it as “pressure” but I choose to see it as confidence boosting. If you don’t think anyone is reading you might get tempted to be sloppy, but if you believe everyone is reading, you’ll take the time to write more carefully. But don’t let it intimidate you. Go ahead and dig out those old posts!
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
I’m so glad you wrote this, Kiesha, because those quality posts do make a real difference. The catchy things may get the buzz, as you say, but it’s the meatier posts that generate the personal emails from readers saying they were helped in some way from an older post. Trendy is fun once in a while, but quality is a lot more satisfying to both reader and blogger in the long term.
.-= Jean Sarauer´s last blog ..What Trips Your Unsubscribe Trigger? =-.
Hi Jean!
Writing trendy content can be fun, especially when it naturally relates to what you’ve been doing lately and you can put a personal spin on it.
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
Great thoughts Kiesha! I love the idea of putting your old posts in an ebook. I am going to have to look into that!
.-= Kevin M.´s last blog ..Favourite Links Friday 5/7/10 =-.
I definitely recommend it, because you could add more content and sell it, or you can give it away for free as a subscriber incentive.
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..If you knew back then, what you know now, would you’ve still gotten married? =-.
Thanks Keisha. Some excellent advice indeed. I say write your ass off and put your heart into it. Some posts will be better than others but don’t dwell too much on it. It’s a marathon.
.-= Mike Roosa´s last blog ..Motivated As Hell – The Review =-.
Hi Mike,
Yes, that how I like to think of it: some will be better than others, but at least if you’re aiming for quality you won’t fall to far from it, you’ll still be in the vicinity.
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
Hey ,this happens to me too.posts that i expect to be popular are most times not popular.i guess we should all do our best and kep at it…i am working on putting some post into an e-book…thanks
.-= mk akan´s last blog ..10 Online Tools That Will Help You With Your Writing =-.
Hi Mk,
Yeah, we can’t win ‘em all, but we at least have to try
.-= Kiesha @We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
Hi Kiesha,
I have heard Seth Godin’s name several times now, but I have yet to visit his blog. Perhaps today will be that day.
Anyway, I can relate to what you are saying here. So far, it seems that the (relatively) popular posts are always those that I hit the button thinking that they could use a little more work if only I had the time.
Though, I am talking about comments there. When I looked at the statistics, they were about even.
I suppose that I would prefer a smaller, but more consistent community to a constantly shifting population of temporary readers. I have no idea how to get that, so I have just been following whatever advice I can find on the Internet. That is funny because I can think of no other subject where I would just blindly follow advice on the Internet.
BTW – “Often people are so drawn to extremes that they ignore the complexities of things.” That really sums up the way that I have been feeling about so many public debates lately. It seems that many people only read the headlines in the paper.
I think that the idea of writing with a broad, unknown (but interested in your niche) audience in mind is a great idea. No one can be right all of the time. But thinking about multiple view points can only serve to make you more thorough, more precise, and more honest.
I think we can all use more of those things.
Have a great day!
.-= mark´s last blog ..A Few Productivity Tools You Cannot Live Without =-.
Hi Mark!
You’ve got to check out Seth Godin – he’s super insightful – he’ll have you pondering one sentence for a whole day! His writing is that intense and that concise – but don’t take my word for it, go check it out.
I’m with you on the smaller consistent community – I’ve always been that way – I’d rather have 2 extremely close friends than dozens of friends who really could care less about me. The other thing about that is when I find people like that, I hold on to them. I’ve been knowing one of my best friends since the 2nd grade and the other since 7th. I’ve been married to 1 man for 16 years. Call me crazy, but I like relationships, the same way I like my content – it’s gotta be QUALITY – it’s the only thing that can stand the test of time.
.-= Kiesha @We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
Yes, sometimes it’s hard to judge which posts will be popular, but it’s important to keep posting because you never know which ones will get you a ton of new traffic (and potentially a higher income.) I also love the attitude of “writing as if you had a million followers.”
If your site is relatively new and you don’t have many visits per day, it’s important to add content to attract new readers, but you don’t want to post several times per day “just to do it” and have sloppy work. As with other things in life, it’s important to strive to do your best with your site / blog.
Hi Steve!
I definitely agree with you – I’d rather a small amount of quality content, than a large amount of crap any day!
.-= Kiesha @We Blog Better´s last blog ..Write better for a better blog =-.
Hey Keisha,
First nice, cool graphic. I like it.
I like the view of blogging for a million people. I also think I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I try to hit my quota. I think most bloggers do have a goal. Perhaps that’s a better term than quota. As long as your quota doesn’t dilute your quality and direction…good to go.
BrandonBurgh
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..TheInfoPreneur Blogging Conspiracy =-.
Hi Kiesha,
You wrote this just for me!
I’ve been playing around with how often to post, because I feel it is demanding, but you have now given me that push I need to post more valuable content with readers of tomorrow in mind. Thank you!
.-= Evelyn´s last blog ..How To Make Almond Butter Using The Magic Bullet =-.
Hi Evelyn!
I’m glad you found this to be encouraging – especially since you’ve got an extremely valuable site. The principles you share are timeless – just keep pushing forward. Try publishing short posts everyday for 30 days, then evaluate which ones bring the most traffic and see what you can do to create more like it.
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..Purpose Driven Life Book Drawing Results =-.
Hey Kiesha,
Great advice here, particularly about making sure that our articles can stand the test of time. The internet is forever so you never know who (or at what time) your posts will be read. I would hope that the information is eternal so that we can attract new readers. I’m like you though in that I would rather have a several quality followers who I’m helping to have a meaningful existence rather than a horde of temporary readers who come and then go to the next site.
Karen
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Friday’s Links =-.