Part VII is the third part of this section of the series on how to keep generating fresh content for your blog. The previous section answered the question of what to do if you are running a personal blog. Readers should note that some (if not all) of the points we raised in that section can be adapted to any section of this series. Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV addressed the issue of not being able to generate fresh content on a personal blog by looking at things that could be blamed for lack of fresh ideas for new content. Part V, which is the first in this section that answers the question of having a blog that is consigned to one type of content looked at Getting People Involved and various innovative and commonplace ways you can get people involved. Part VI looked at an “out there” answer with natural long chain and web-chain articles. Part VII looks at another “Expected Answer
Expected Answer 2
Pace Yourself
There is something to learn from tech companies like Apple; they know how to pace themselves. They know how to take a product and add incremental values to that product. They know how to make people wait for another 2 years for the next product, build anticipation, momentum, let out a leak or two so that they would not be disappoint i.e. if the new product is just another incremental addition to the other, then release the product. Another two year wait begins.
Such companies look at their environment and know just when to press the reset button. That is the look at what the completion is doing and know when to bring out something that is not incremental in nature but way ahead of the last model. Afterwards they go back to how the story was in the beginning.
Pacing yourself is a traditional answer. You do not need to throw in everything you have got. Its first time artists (musicians) that do that. They want to announce themselves to the world. But once they have a footing, they suddenly only have time to release singles. They still come back to pacing themselves.
This part is about pacing yourself. You should always have something in the reserve. Yes you can be like the musician and "nuke em" with your first album but once you have their ears start to pace yourself. There are important areas where you should pace yourself.
Publishing/posting
I am a believer in starting strongly just like the musician because have only one chance to come out. You cannot be a new artist twice. That is a window to announce yourself and give all you have got (you can use the services of songwriters later). I will even suggest that you start by loading your beginning. That is, prepare like 20 or more posts and do it all on day one. You suddenly look like you have traction even when you are just starting, you have a history even when this is your first bout. As I speak to you I am currently stockpiling content for another blog (I call it a project). I do not want to posy 1 today and another next week. I want to post 15 at once then wait.
Start big but then pace yourself. You should plan how you are going to pace yourself before you start posting.
How many times do you post in the pacing stage?
Response matters. If you start and your volume gives you quick traction and that draws traffic, you can choose the number you want to be adding a week as a matter of rule. But why I said response matters is that some of what you have posted may generate interest. Look at how you can build on that interest by creating and adding content with that interest in mind.
By the way, such responses is another way of generating fresh content
The responses might give you angles you did not think about and interaction always generates content. Ride the waves of interest a post generates and milk it while observing others to repeat the same methodology.
Reserve Posts
You should always have a reserve of articles covering other aspects of your content. Now you may have some that you sense will be “hits” (like a hit song). Do not rush them out there. Go asks the music stars or Hollywood movie makers, they look for the right window. They want the least competition and your case, you do not want to take the shine or steam away from one article that is doing fine or a set of article that are doing just great.
Another reason for reserving posts is that there could be times when there is either an engagement or a content generating lull. This could be the right time to release topical ehm, releases.
Aside from this stick to your twice a week rule.
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Pacing Yourself[/caption]NOTE OF CAUTION
It is a marathon and not a short distance race. Do not say you will be posting or publishing once a day. Think of sustainability. Since you are now accountable to yourself, leave room for you to maneuver by setting a pace you do not have to over task yourself. If there is a lot of activity on your blog, engage and write but if not fall back to the pacing.
We are still on this section. We have given and addressed 2 “Expected Answers” and done so for just 1 “Out There” answer. Let us even things up in the Part VIII.
Contributions and comments are invited!
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