I started blogging eight years ago as a way to share information and pictures with my long distance family members. A couple of years after that I created another blog as a way to share some of my stories and songs. It was a couple of years after that before I started to think that I could actually write for money. Since I already had a blog devoted to writing, it made sense to stick with it.

Now that I’ve got nearly 300 articles under my belt and a few novel rough drafts finished, my blog is more important than ever (because people other than my family now read it). With over 100 followers (and a desire to gather more), my blog needs to be relevant and entertaining.

I’ve spent most of my time blogging about writing, but my Blog Master tells me that I should also blog about blogging. That’s an interesting concept, but it makes sense. Lots of people write books about how to write books.

Just because a person can write doesn’t mean they can (or should) blog. I’m going to start devoting one day a month to sharing some blogging secrets, tips, advice, and interviews to help me (and you) produce the best possible blog.

I don’t want to let you go empty handed today, so I’m going to start with the most important rule for blogging:

Content is King*

Just because you can blog doesn’t mean you should … at least not right away.  Too many people get excited about being able to share their thoughts with the world that they start a blog and just start posting anything they want. That’s a great way to put things on the internet, but if you want to draw a crowd, it won’t work. A good blog has a theme, well-written (and edited) posts, nice graphics, great style – it’s more than just opening a blogger account and typing. You need good content.

It’s okay to reserve a blog address or domain name, but be patient before your post. Make sure you give people something to read or they won’t come back later. Think about it for a while, then join me again next month to chat about more blogging basics.

*I didn’t coin this phrase, but I can’t remember where I first heard it (it’s been around for a while). If this is yours, please let me know so I can give you the credit!