5 Blogging Resolutions for 2008
I know I'm a little late with this, but I've been thinking a lot lately about the future direction of this blog. All things considered, 2007 was a great year for User Effect: I'm nearing 200 subscribers, comment volume is decent, the writing is coming together, and I've been connecting with some great people online and learning a lot from them.
The upshot is that the blog has reached a critical mass where I'm starting to see the benefits in a tangible way. So, it's time to redouble my efforts, and in the spirit of New Year's resolutions, I'm going to publicly commit to the following:
1. Twice the Posts; Same Low Price
Last year, I decided to stick to one entry per week and really put time and thought into it. This was a good goal, and I believe in quality over quantity, but the reason for just doing one post was because I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the time on two, and that's just plain lazy. So, this year, you'll get two posts/week, and I'll do my best to put real effort into both of them.2. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel
I've been reading a lot about consistency in blogging, and as a usability guy I ought to appreciate the value of setting expectations. So, I've decided to make my posting schedule consistent. Unless I'm out of town, you'll see new posts on Monday and Thursday. As of yet, I don't have a theme for each day, but that may evolve as the year progresses.3. Just The Facts, Ma'am
By far my best and most successful posts are the ones that I develop out of client data or research, even if it's just mini-experiments. Expect more entries this year based on original data, and (slightly) less opinion and speculation.4. Getting Back to My Roots
Before (and after) I was a psychologist, I was a coder and my brain wiring is a bit closer to a techie than an academic. I've done a lot of original coding on this site and others, and I'm going to talk more about that this year, sharing techniques on more technical topics, especially as they pertain to usability and SEO.5. Giving Back to the Community
I've made a strong effort to participate on other blogs, and have (IMO) contributed to a couple of online communities. I haven't done a good job, though, of engaging social networks that have contributed traffic to my site. This year, I'm going to put more time into giving back, especially on Stumbleupon and Sphinn.Consider Yourself Tagged
I'm not a big meme guy, but just this once, if you read this and have your own blog, consider yourself tagged. I'd love to hear what other bloggers have planned for 2008.
Mike Maddaloni
· Monday, January 7Good to hear more is coming from the great doctor!
For myself, I am working on overall planning for myself and my business, and once completed I will have a clearer picture of the next steps for The Hot Iron.
Peter
· Tuesday, January 8Definitely looking forward to two posts a week from usereffect. Best of luck for 2008!
Dr. Pete
· Tuesday, January 8@Anthony: I've definitely seen the value of commenting on a wide variety of blogs. Meeting new industry folks has probably been the biggest benefit of blogging for me.
@Mike & Peter: Thanks, although maybe you should be careful what you wish for until you see what twice/week does to my quality level :)
Kevin
· Wednesday, January 9As a webcomic artist, I'd have to say that you'll need to be very careful implementing both 1 and 2 simultaneously. Consistency and quality, I find, are easily the two hardest things to keep up when publishing content on the web. There are going to be some days when you're too busy to update, or when you just don't have anything really useful to write about. Then again, publishing non-fiction content might be a bit easier to do than attempting to put up epic stories.
Hoping for a great, update-filled 2008.
Dr. Pete
· Wednesday, January 9@Kevin: I tend to agree, it's a difficult balance. I don't think I can make a trade-off in this case; it's just going to mean committing more time to the blog. The only thing I worry about is running out of ideas, but somehow that never seems to happen. In terms of consistency, it'll probably mean pre-writing some pieces that I can release on a schedule.
Peter
· Thursday, January 10Yeah, the balance is very fine. You could also take the Spiekerman route and "post whatever you feel like and from wherever you'll be" ;-)
(http://www.spiekermann.com/mten/index.html)
Hjortur Smarason
· Tuesday, January 15Great blog you've got here, Pete, and great ambissions for the new year. This is my first visit but definitely not the last. I've been reading your posts and comments on SEOmoz.
As for my own blog, I was thinking about that consistency and choosing maybe two days a week, which I think is good quantity to still be keeping up the quality. But I can't stick to a schedule. I don't know if its genetic or what, I just don't have that ability. But I have an "at least once a week" policy and since my topic is quite broad, I can always find something to write about.
I'll be back :)
Dr. Pete
· Tuesday, January 15@Hjortur: Thanks; I've seen you over on SEOmoz as well. I think that the rigid scheduling can be a bad fit for some people, and I balk at it a bit myself, but finally decided I needed a bit more disciplined approach. We'll see how my promises are coming along in June :)
Joshua Ledwell
· Tuesday, January 15Right on, Dr. Pete. I haven't been brave enough to commit to a blog posting myself. Maybe when I'm done with grad school!
Joshua Ledwell
· Tuesday, January 15a blog posting *quota,* I should say!
Dr. Pete
· Tuesday, January 15I was just thinking thinking that you have, in fact, committed to a number of blog postings :) Yeah, I may regret this later.
Anthony a.k.a. Old School
· Monday, January 7Dr. Pete, it's still January so it's definitely not too late to talk about new years resolutions. I'm with you on increasing blog posts this year, but as you read in my latest blog post, I am going to also do my share of commenting which is a great way to network. After all, that's how I ended up here. All the best for 2008!