For the last 2 weeks, I’ve done something I vowed I would never do.
If you are regular PS reader you may have noticed what I’m talking about.
I’m blogging every weekday.
This is a radical change for me because I secretly disdained daily blog writers.
I was skeptical that they could maintain a high level of quality. I thought they were overwhelming their readers. I feared that they were blessed with a talent that no one else had; like savants whose unique ability was writing blog posts.
I would have continues with my once-a-week schedule if it hadn’t read an article by Om Malik the founder of GigaOm. GigaOm is a super-blog that is a leader in the technology blogging space. I was curious how Om was able to grow the blog in a relatively short time.
This is what he said:
“I wrote every day and every day traffic went up”
Seriously?
Om, seemingly aware of my skepticism offered his proof from the last 10 years of blogging. His stats covering a decade of writing are humbling:
- 11,165 posts
- About 3 posts a day, every day for roughly 10 years
- About 2 million words
- About 215 words per post
He kept up his gritty ritual for a decade. GigaOm is the result.
Inspired, I committed to write every day. I’ve always known that if you want to get someone else’s results , you must be willing to work as hard or harder.
On November 29th, I committed to writing every day and publishing at least 5 times a week. I didn’t announce my intention because I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep up the pace.
Thankfully, I was wrong. Here is what I learned -
Surprising Lessons
Inspiration follows Intent:
I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to generate new ideas every day. Thankfully the FEAR was exactly that – False Evidence Appearing Real. I struggled for 2 days and then my brain kicked into gear. Knowing that I MUST write a good post, my subconscious started storing ideas and clues for new posts.
The fascinating part is that it’s easier to write every day than it is to write once a week. (I would love to talk about this more in the comments)
Quality is the Boogeyman:
Quality is a top priority. However, I feared the temptation to write filler articles to meet my self-imposed quota. The temptation did surface several times but was easily banished. I sincerely believe that If you care about your readers you will stick with a post until it meets your standards. A quality post is one that is genuinely helpful, entertaining, and relevant to the audience. Length may vary but sincere writers won’t allow themselves to publish crap.
Traffic will increase:
It looks like magic but traffic does increase immediately. Here are Pushing Social’s traffic numbers from Google Analytics:
Two weeks of writing once a week:
Unique Visits: 2,131
Pageviews: 3,180
Two weeks of writing every day:
Unique Visits: 5,558
Pageviews: 9,935
That’s a +171% increase in unique visits and a +212% jump in pageviews.
I’m curious to see if this trend holds. If Om Malik is any guide then I’m sure it will. Increasing your publishing frequency, however, does not insure new readers. You still need to promote your blog posts. You still need to create an email list. You still need to work hard on creating attractive headlines that grab attention on Twitter and in RSS feeds.
Loyal Readers Crave More Content
Over the last two weeks I’ve met my loyal readers. These folks love PS and want more. They were actually frustrated by my conservative publishing schedule:
@LeoWid He’s one smart dude Leo, was actually getting pissed he wasn’t posting more. LOL @pushingsocial
— Matt Browne (@MatthewLiberty) December9, 2011
These readers didn’t raise their hands until I made it clear that I was delivering more content. I’m sure this is the case for all bloggers. Readers who love your style naturally want to see more. Rationing content may be the exact wrong strategy for growing your blog.
The Creators Mindset
As a daily publisher, I am constantly searching for something new. The world has become one giant topic laboratory.
I’ve reconfigured my RSS feeds to send me general, technology, and marketing news. I’ve set-up google alerts around specific search terms. Evernote is filling with idea fragments, pictures, charts and other post-starters. I’m no longer sometimes creator, I’m full-tilt boogie all the time. This is as thrilling as it is nerve-wracking.
Getting Good
Daily writing is paying dividends. I am becoming a much better writer. No surprise, consistent and purposeful practice leads to expert level performance. Daily writing is the best way to differentiate your voice from the pack.
Om Malik says it best:
“When I was working for Forbes.com during the early days of the dot-com bubble, I learned a vital lesson – you had to write every day to be any good and to have a complete handle on the beat. There was no way around the plain-old beat the pavement reporting.”
In your case, pavement reporting is covering your niche with the intensity of beat-reporter. Your goal is to offer a different perspective for your readers or future customers. Daily writing seems to be the key to rapid proficiency (as painful as it may sound).
Will I Keep This Up?
Yes. I’m having too much fun.
The real question is…Will you try it?
If you do, consider this:
1. Get Committed and Stay Focused
Writing every day won’t be fun at first. It will feel like a job but your brain will will get with the program and you will start to enjoy it.
2. Get Your Idea Sources Ready
Use Google Alerts, Twitter Searches, Advanced RSS Readers like Feedly, and a daily reading regimen to curate content and generate ideas. Never start with a blank page. You can’t write what you don’t have.
3. One Day At A Time
Focus on writing tomorrow’s post. That’s all. You’ll freak yourself out if you dwell on writing the next 365 posts.
4. Be Realistic
I decided to write 5 out of 7 days. I ended up writing every day since I have extra time on weekends to write for the weekdays. Five days is realistic for me. I need the two days off on the weekend. Find the level of activity that makes the most since for you.
I’ll keep you updated on my progress throughout the year. I would love to hear what you think and if you are ready to make the daily publishing commitment. Talk to me in the comments.
About Stanford
I posted on my blog six times a week for the first 20 months. It was fun and I didn’t find it hard, but I realised that it was distracting me from my other writing. Now I post three times a week – and it’s harder!
This is an excellent article that helps to give bloggers a good swift in the pants to post more often. I like how you pointed out that “sincere” writers do care about their posts’ quality.
“The fascinating part is that it’s easier to write every day than it is to write once a week.”
This brings to mind that age-old saying, “Practice makes perfect.” If something isn’t done often, it’s easy to forget or to lose greatly honed skills. Writing is no different. Move it or lose it:)
Very interesting analysis. I started off blogging five times a week on weekdays. Some readers loved it, others complained they couldn’t keep up. Now I blog 4-6 times a week and have spread out my posts into the weekends.
Sometimes I have more traffic on days I don’t post than on days when I do. Yesterday I didn’t post and had my second highest traffic day ever.
I have found some articles need time to ripen. They generate more traffic as word spreads on Twitter, Facebook, etc. I have begun to sense when that is happening and I wait a day to post the next article.
I write on personal technology so I am never stuck for a topic. I can’t get to all of the subjects I want to write about.
I’m glad you’re publishing more often. Just don’t feel constrained by your schedule. Take a day off if you feel that your readers might enjoy an extra day with your latest post.
I’m delighted to have discovered your blog! Carolyn
I’ve been writing daily for the past..um…8 days now. Mostly because I thought it would be a good idea to help promote a class I’m offering early next year. My “12 Days of Branding” series is 2/3 of the way through, and I concur with you — writing good quality posts gets easier as you make it a regular routine. I’ll check my stats officially when I’m done, but I can definitely say that my weekend traffic numbers were bigger than normal. I think if folks are afraid of publishing too often on their own blogs, they should take all that extra energy and offer them up as guest posts elsewhere!
Offering your excess posts as Guest Posts is a terrific idea!
That’s amazing effort and results! The dedication to write everyday is definitely something. Keep up the awesome work
Stanford thanks, yes. I know. A teacher I once had used to criticise my writing harshly. At the end of the day this is a lame excuse. Must just get on with it.
I always thought content was king and now you have proved it with this Post.
Thanks for your very informative post Standford.
Interesting Post!
Will try out your idea. I have always thought daily posting would be too much for busy readers. But I think what you said makes sense: more writing, increase in proficiency as a writer.
Do you have a post regarding getting ideas? generating content using technology, etc? A detailed tutorial on setting up advanced RSS feeds, Evernote and Google Alert.
Thanks Stanford!
I am a big fan of blogging daily for all of the reasons you listed and more. It can help you become a better writer and it helps you improve your ability to develop ideas for content.
More than one ‘expert” has suggested that if you write daily your content is going to suffer but I think that they lose sight of some things. You may not hit a home run with every post but that doesn’t mean that what you produced isn’t good or valuable.
If we take our baseball analogy a step further we can argue that most games are won because the team hit lots of singles and played solid defense. In other words, you don’t need your posts to go viral every time you just need them to provide value.
@TheJackB I don’t agree with most of the experts on this one. Post frequency isn’t a concern for most people. The key issue is writing enough to write well.
Thanks for giving a peek inside your experiment and what has worked for you. This is especially interesting since there have been a number of bloggers who have said the exact opposite – post less. However, the bloggers who tend to say that have been at a long time and benefit from the search traffic of all of their old content. It just proves, different strokes for different folks!
I think there is something to the rhythm of posting regularly. I always have more ideas than time to write them. But, when I am regularly posting 2-3 times a week, I do find that the ideas come much easier. When you get out of that routine, it’s much harder to get back into it. It’s much like running and exercising – a body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest, stays at rest. The same goes for blogging.
Well done, Stan!
You’re welcome.
Funny thing is that DATA usually reveals a different perspective than hunches. Plus I absolutely agree with your POV that most of the bloggers who are pulling back can afford to. I would pull back to IF I had legions of people willing to offer high quality guest posts to fill my editorial calendar.
@lauraclick I got out of the routine of publishing (once a week) and I darn near shut down the blog because I couldn’t get motivated to write! Writing frequently definitely put me on the right path.
Hi Stanford, I am still figuring out wordpress & yet to have my Hallo World post written…what do you recommend to people in my position? I have 4 people subscribed…I know, I have a looong way to go. Another concern is that writing daily, posts get lost and forgotten.
Your opinions would be much appreciated! I love your blog, thanks for all the work you put into it.
Catharina
This is going to sound blunt.
But….write the darn post.
@Catharina Catherina, let me give you a kick in the butt here. The only thing you should be worried about is publishing your first post. Everything else is a distraction
Interesting…I side with don’t post unless you have something interesting to write, and everyday and quality usually don’t fall in the same sentence…Early this week Danny Brown had blog talking about three things he would do differently if he started blogging today. #1 Post less Frequency. Posting everyday is at least worth a trail.
@GeeklessTech I had all of the same concerns until I actually tried for myself. The results were radically different from what I thought. I’ve had the most success when I’ve focused on my results rather than assuming someone else’s experience would match my own. I respect Danny Brown a ton, but he isn’t me. So try for yourself then you will no for sure what works.
@Stanford I agree, don’t knock it until you try it…5 days a week, for two weeks, seems like a realistic goal. One full of daily challenges and moments of exasperation. Thanks Stanford.
I definitely want to hear more about how the more you blog, the more you find to say (that’s good). Wow. How do you refill the well, so to speak??
@jennwhinnem Jenn, you know how when you buy a red car all you notice on the road are other red cars? I believe blog topics work the same way. When I started blogging every day, I found great topics in almost any topic.
Hey there Stanford…as you could tell from the tweets you captured, I am glad you are posting more. I was checking back often and finding no new material which was a bummer because you are only one of a few blogs I have not gotten tired of…good stuff. Cheers!!
@MatthewLiberty Glad that made the change then!
This was the right post at the right time for me. As I’m considering my “2012 strategy,” it’s been in the back of my mind that I should start posting more than once (or maybe twice) a week if I really want to start increasing my presence. But I suffered from the exact same worries you did–will I be able to keep it up, will my content quality go down, will my readers get sick of me?
Your experience and data have given me the kick in the tail I’ve been needing. I think I just might start trying this! I’m completely terrified to admit that, but so be it! Let’s give it a shot!
@CordeliaCallsIt Super cool!
Hi, it’s me (again)….
I could not publish my entire comment below, so here’s PART 2 of my comment!
OK I’m really going to ramble on here….
You wrote: As a daily publisher, I am constantly searching for something new. The world has become one giant topic laboratory.
How true. The more I write, the more I find to write ABOUT!
You wrote: The fascinating part is that it’s easier to write every day than it is to write once a week.
Yes! It’s like a dam opens up for me. I can’t stop “talking”. And to be honest, I really can’t believe there are LISTENERS!!!!! LOL…. It’s funny!! I give them a lot of credit to read my ramblings!
You wrote: This is a radical change for me because I secretly disdained daily blog writers.
My comment: Ditto.
You wrote: A quality post is one that is genuinely helpful, entertaining, and relevant to the audience. Length may vary but sincere writers won’t allow themselves to publish crap.
I agree. So for my “mommy blog” (and I really hate calling it that…) I feel my posts are entertaining (even if it makes them cry and not laugh) and relevant to my audience.
One tip I have for bloggers or people who want to increase their content and posts: When you have an inspired thought or opinion, stop everything you are doing and head to your dashboard immediately! If, like me, you cannot post on your blog at work, open up a note pad, email, text document, whatever (I use IA Writer… check it out, pretty cool http://www.iawriter.com/) and get my thoughts down. Often times, THOSE are the greatest posts. I can then edit it a bit later. There is nothing like an inspired thought. If I don’t write it down as soon as possible, later when I sit down to write about it, the passion is gone and I feel almost as if I am writing a term paper instead of something from my heart.
OK enough said for now. Thanks Stanford! This was a really great post! And congrats on the daily pubs!
@Andrea Zehnder Holy Cow Andrea, you get the Comment of The Year award! Thank you so much for giving me a look inside your thought process around your blog. The main point is that it sounds like you are having fun with your blog. With loyal readers you really have the foundation to do something wonderful for your audience.
Stop back often to tell me how you are doing.
OK I have to comment. I have a blog too. (Personal “Mommy Blog” of course!!) And I have been asked by my loyal readers to post more often. Now granted, how interesting can a blog about making cupcakes and taking MY only child to the zoo really be to others. Really. It’s boring! B O R I N G (except to me of course!!)
My goal is not to get a zillion readers, altho that would be nice. Maybe then I could sell ad space and get a book offer!
But I totally agree with your post. I have started blogging whenever I want to. Daily if need be! And if I don’t blog for a week, people start emailing me to write or to ask if I’m ok! Seriously! My stats say that there are a ton of people who visit my blog DAILY!
Stanford, I have been visiting your blog (almost) daily lately. I guess I must have somehow subscribed to email alerts or something. (Do you know how that happened? I don’t mind it. I like it.) Getting the alerts lets me know you have posted. Each email alert lets me know the blog topic. If I have time, and if it sounds interesting, I do click on it. (I’m at work now…. shhhhhh)
Back to my blog…. (OK, it’s RaisingPeanut.blogspot.com) I agree with you. The more often I post, the more my readership went up. The more I wrote, the better writer I became. The more I wrote, the more confident I felt about what I share. And to be honest, my blog is not a professional blog, so when I shared more personal stuff about marriage and pending divorce, my readership REALLY went up! Wow! (I think they like the drama!)
I’m not sure exactly how but I get readers from all over the US and the world! Pretty cool. A lot of them tell me that they really like the personal stuff, love seeing pix about my son, and love my honesty. And, when I can’t get a post written out (I work full time and I’m a single mommy)…. I give them a little teaser. A photo and a short blurb and let them know I’m writing a post which will publish soon. The photo then is the post. I love photography and I like to publish a lot of photos alongside my posts. [Which, Stanford, remind me to talk to you about yours some time.
]
Now, are little teasers good for professional blogs? Maybe not. Maybe you don’t want to say, “Hey guys. I’m still here. I promise, I have a post in the works.” No, that would not be good. But it works for me. My market is not the same as yours.
(more in next comment)