A blog post each day? Watchout!
As I was scrolling around the blogosphere, I noticed that
few bloggers have resolved to write one blog post a day, all through the year
of 2013. At first thought it looked like a good resolution, but on second thoughts,
I felt it will have more negative impact than positives. In this post I am
publishing my thoughts, why forcing oneself to publish one blog post a day is
NOT a good idea.
Reason 1: No one asked for it.
There’s enough content on the net and there’s no need to
forcefully add more content. No reader is dying for a new post from you
everyday (unless you’re highly popular
blogger with huge reader base eagerly waiting for your next post). So the value
addition from forcefully added content is very low. I’d rather publish 5 posts
many people care to read, than publish 30 posts no one bother to read.
Reason 2: Quality will suffer
No one said writing too many blog posts will make you popular/rich.
Only quality sustains the race and not quantity. It is not easy to publish high
quality posts. Publishing 1 high quality post per day is even difficult, since
each post may need time, effort, research. If we commit for a higher quantity,
quality will suffer as we’ll publish posts purely to keep up with our
resolution than serve any other purpose. In a month if you publish 30 posts,
usually on an average 10 of them might be good, another 10 OK-OK type and
remaining 10 will be “could have been done away with” type, which are published
just for the sake of meeting daily target. A reader may not have time to read
all 30 posts and will not be able to differentiate which is good and which is
not. He may altogether avoid your blog.
Also, some posts which are good, deserve to be on top/visible
prominently for some time. When too many posts are published, earlier posts get
sidelined too fast, denying them the attention they deserve.
Reason 3: Spare a thought for your readers
You may be enthusiastic to publish several posts a day. But
is your reader base enthusiastic about it? Do they have the time and interest
to read all that you’ll publish? If not what’s the point? A regular reader
might be subscribing to 20-50 blogs that he wishes to read regularly. Now
imagine all these 50 bloggers publishing one post a day. Can a regular person (for whom reading
blog is not a full time work as he needs time for his work/study etc) manage to
go through 50+ blog posts every day? In all probability he’ll stop reading the
overcrowded blogs.
Reason 4: Possible impact on real life
Unless you’re working full time blogging, earn money from it
and have a support team, spending too much time on blogging will impact your
real life. If most of your time is consumed in thinking what to publish
today/tomorrow, you’ll have less time for real life job/family etc. Unless the
returns justify it, allowing blogging to compromise real life is not a good
thing.
Reason 5: Win – Loss analysis
Assume you manage to keep up with your resolution and
publish one post every day. What will you achieve end of one year?
- More readership? Not sure- you may earn a few, but you’ll also loose readers who feel you’re spamming with unnecessary posts
- Better search engine ranking/positioning? May be, if your content is good
- More Money? Likely, but not guaranteed
- More comments per post? Absolutely NO
- How will the blog look? Highly crowded, making search for quality content difficult
- The satisfaction of keeping up with your resolution: Yes
- Will there be a single reader who read all 365 posts? I seriously doubt.
Do share your thoughts.
Related: Paid tweeting and blogging- Some thoughts * Why I didn't take up blogging fulltime * Best posts of 2011 * Promoting university twitter account * Relevance of Blogging * Live blogging conferences- tips *
This is really an amazing piece of work from your side. I have read your some of other blogs they are also good but this one is really outstanding.
ReplyDeleteyou have managed to put the pros and cons really well... these are practically the same things that crossed my mind before i decided to try and post as much as i could this year... yeah, i too am trying to hit 365 this year :D but there is one factor you havent mentioned here.. and that is the intention to write.. and write regularly. As someone who spends most of her time at home and with my son, I realised last year that i havent been writing as much as I set out too... and writing for pleasure (since i hardly earn anything from my blog), i have no deadlines, no boss, and no pressure to write... which ends in me becoming lazy.. wanting to write more, but ending up not writing at all.... a clear goal helps set the tone for the year.. and thats what i am hoping for.. whether it will work is something i have yet to see! But in any case, I do intend to catch up with all that i missed out writing last year, and in the process, i may just keep my resolution too :D
ReplyDeleteMahi: Thanks
ReplyDeleteAnuradha Shankar: I agree with your point about passion to write. But the writing should serve some purpose and shouldn't annoy the reader- this was my opinion.
Thanks for taking trouble to give detailed comments
You are absolutely correct.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I did a postaday challenge in 2011, which went okay, just cz it was only for a month. It helped me loads, but I am glad I ended it!
ReplyDeleteA agree with you. I figured out that I can not write a post a day, at least not do justice to it. But then lot of people are shifting to posting only pictures and a few sentences which is easier than writing pure content.
ReplyDeleteAnuradha Goyal: Yes, shortcuts are not a good idea...
ReplyDeleteSowmyatta: Yes, 1 month is manageable, not one year
Ravi: Thanks