We’re Watching A Bunch of Other People Blog

I recently read Gini Dietrich’s post on Spin Sucks about her blogging process. Apparently, there’s this fun trend going on among the Creme de la Creme of bloggers where they document for their readers how they are able to churn out great blog content on a daily basis. In Gini’s article, she referenced a few other people who have written similar articles, including Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel and Mark Schaefer.

I found a couple more posts like this here and here.

Content Nerd Alert!

So this process stuff is like candy to me. We are obsessed with editorial process and pretty much geek out about how different people and companies execute their content strategy…so these posts make me just giddy!

I admit that I need a better writing process…If I were to write a post about “how I blog” it would be more of a, “don’t do it how I do it” post. I tend to always be running to catch up, committing random acts of writing instead of disciplining myself with a routine. When the inspiration hits, I write. This can be inconvenient, however, because it hits in the shower, the car, while I’m talking with a customer, etc. So sometimes I get my ideas jotted down in my Parking Lot, but alas, sometimes they don’t get written. It’s tragic.

I LOVE these posts because they give me some straightforward goals to shoot for and they’re written by people who are getting it done. We can all benefit from learning how the pros do it. One of my goals this year is to get a better personal writing process. After reading all 6 of these posts, it was easy to pick out some things they all have in common.

So here you go. Straight from the bloggers’ mouths:

5 Power Blogger Tips to Make You a Better Blogger

1. Read. A lot. Become an avid consumer of other people’s content. Vary the topics you read about, from business to finance to education and politics. Then research your topic and what others are saying about it (link those references in your post).
2. Get inspiration from everyone and everywhere. Most of these bloggers have other interests besides their day job, where they pull inspiration. Then, when they get an idea, they have a place where they keep them organized and in one place.
3. Write early. Write Everyday. Shhhhh! It’s interesting. Most of these writers get up before the chickens to get their writing done. It makes sense, though. Write before your day happens. They also write every day and most need their environment to be completely quiet, although a couple prefer children or coffee talk in the background.
4. Obsess over providing real value for your readers. This is a biggie. These power bloggers all admit that not every post they deliver is pure gold, but it does provide value. I love the way Gini put it in her post, “‘How do we change the perception of the PR and marketing industries?’ If we can answer that question through everything we produce, we’re doing what we set out to do.”
5. Stay on top of your comments. In Mark Schaefer’s post, he states, “The best part of the blog is the community commentary. Here is my philosophy on comments: Comments are an opportunity to celebrate the people in your community….” A couple of these bloggers even noted that they don’t launch their posts on days they know they’re going to be too busy to reply to people’s comments. Those are they days they fill in with guest posts or curated content.

So…What’s your content production process like? How do you blog? Let’s keep the research going!

Hey, John Jantsch, Erica Swallow & David Meerman Scott, how do you blog?