Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I spent the time celebrating old traditions and making new memories with family and friends. I logged into my blog a few minutes each day and approved comments waiting in moderation. I never did open my email.
While spending time away from my blogs, thoughts of changing my posting schedule became more prevalent.
Today’s Lesson
The comment Debbie Yost (of Three Weddings) left on the Is Blogging The Best Use Of Your Time” confirmed my thoughts. She voiced concern over trying to keep up on the blogs in her reader. Her problem is the same as mine and I’m guessing it’s the same for many others. The point Debbie brought up is:
There are “TOO MANY POSTS” to read.
Debbie said, in part,
Holy cow, people, I have over 50 blogs in my reader. I read every couple of days because of time so when I sit down and see you have 20+ posts in a 3 day span, I am in overload. You probably have some good stuff in there, but spread it out. If I see that many posts, it’s more likely than not that I will just clear them all or worse yet, drop you. I don’t have time for that and I can only handle so much information at a time.
When I last checked my reader it said “1000+” unread posts. I know I won’t be able to read them all. To reiterate what Debbie said, I will undoubtedly miss some great articles.
As many of you know, I publish five days a week. When I think about it, five new posts a week is a lot of posts for others to be reading when they are following dozens of other blogs.
Based on the time issue of you reading, me writing, plus me trying to follow over a hundred blogs in my reader, I’ll be reducing my posting schedule to either three or four days a week. Over the next month I’ll be experimenting as I establish a new blogging rhythm.
As Debbie eluded, I would hate to have someone drop me from their reader because I post too often.
What do you think? Can posting too often be a detriment?
Today’s Assignment
Are you finding it difficult to keep up with your favorite blogs?
Have you thought of changing your publishing schedule by reducing how often you post?
If you have reduced your posting schedule, how has it helped you?
Please feel free to share your thoughts. I’d love to hear how stay on top of following your favorite blogs.
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Photo Credit: visulogik’s photostream
Hi Catherine – You’re right. It’s almost impossible to churn out quality posts on a daily basis, especially if what we’re writing about takes research and/or relies on accuracy.
I know you’re working on new products. It’s difficult to do it all and maintain a balance with real life, too.
With both of us having blogged for nearly two years, we both have over 400 posts in our archives which gives our readers plenty to choose from if they decide they want to read more of our articles.
Hi Miguel – I have my fingers crossed you’ll get that government job. 🙂 I wonder if it matters how often anyone posts. If what’s written is enjoyed by loyal readers, I’m guessing they’ll come back whether we post once a week or three times a day.
Hi Joanna – I hear you. When the ideas are flowing, it’s hard not to want to get a post out. I’m getting better at using the post date feature and saving those posts for the times when I’m not feeling creative,
I agree. Some bloggers don’t post on a regular basis, but if we have them in our reader, we’re likely to find their latest work.
Hi Barbara – I don’t think you can churn out great quality on a daily basis. I’m considering cutting down posting too. It takes up too much time that you could be putting into other things like writing a newsletter, or developing your own product.
That is something I really want to do, now I’ve discovered that I’m losing affiliate commissions because anti virus software is taking the cookies.
And I already gave up reading so often. If fewer folk comment on my blog because I don’t comment on theirs every day, that doesn’t bother me. Commenters are only a fraction of the traffic I get anyway. And I would hate to think folk were reading just for the sake of commenting. I’d rather they read the posts that were useful to them.
Hi Barbara, I think it all depends on size.
Do you get 1000 visits per day, have a team of several bloggers? If that’s the case you need to post more than once per day.
But I get like 60 visits per day; half of which going straight to my old posts from google. My RSS subscriptions are not that much either. That means I have to spread my posts to give them the opportunity to be read.
Right now, competing for a government job, I’m posting perhaps too few times; just twice a week; but, unless stats tell me otherwise, I will go back to my four posts a week. I don’t think I can do it any more ofthen.
Unless you are a blog that breaks news, posting too often isn’t a good thing. It waters down what you are writing, and you start to write the same thing over and over. Even if you are writing about slightly different topics, these differences are so subtle that the readers are still going to blend things together anyway. I don’t believe there’s a blogger that can post 5 times a day and each of them is fresh. That’s simply not physically possible.
Do I remove those feeds? I usually don’t. However, I do skip them a lot more often. It’s sort of like TV. I will want to find that episode I missed if that season only have 12 episodes that season, but I’m not going to miss it if I didn’t catch, say, the news today.
Kelvin Kao´s last blog post..Happy Thanksgiving!
Barbara, I thought that was a killer question from Debbie too. In fact I was wondering if she’d fired her arrow direct at me!
I think posting too much is detrimental to the ability of readers to keep up. My main problem is that I always have too many ideas and end up filling more slots than I intended to. They do vary a lot in terms of how hard they are to read though – some might be a photo and a quote, or some links, or a reminder of something so they’re easier to get through if people are skimming.
I think 3 or 4 posts a week is enough and if you want to post less than that – with good quality – I think that’s fine too. I follow some bloggers who post once or twice a month (or less) but when they do it’s worth it.
Joanna Young´s last blog post..Asking Questions For a Change: Free E-Book
Barbara, there may be a difference depending on where you in the blogging cycle. If you have a loyal readership they’ll stay (but that takes time to build up). If you have 100s of posts in the archive, readers will find you from search engines, and then have plenty to rummage in.
So maybe the ‘advice’ depends on where you are in the curve. I have a feeling Darren Rowse wrote about this not so long ago… but don’t have time to check, sorry!
Joanna Young´s last blog post..Asking Questions For a Change: Free E-Book
By the way, on a somewhat related topic… on most sites I comment on, where each post gets no more than 15 comments, I usually subscribe to the comments by email and read them all if it’s an option. However, I don’t do it for this site, or Problogger, or Vered’s site, etc. simply because I can’t handle that many updates. Posts don’t accumulate as fast as comments but there’s a point where I might just stop caring because of the sheer amount to handle.
Kelvin Kao´s last blog post..Happy Thanksgiving!
I think the key factors are:
– your supply side capacity
– the demand side absorption rate / consumption rate
– whether you’re traffic is dominantly search engine or readers
I think we’ve seen just about every model work from multiple time a day to once in a blue moon. It seems like the most important thing is setting expectations.
I think there are two general success patterns though:
– short, frequent posts that are easy to consume share (they don’t make you work too hard)
– long, less frequent posts that are more in-depth (that potentially require sustained thinking)
(Part of why it’s tough to read a lot with sustainted thinking is you burn out your prefrontal cortex and it needs breaks.)
Bloggers with longer posts with larger reader bases, tend to be successful in the 2-3 per week range (if success means the supply matches the demand).
I do notice I get a lot more comments when a couple days elapses between postings, which for me is a great bonus. Makes me feel I’m really being heard. Thus, three (four tops) posts a week is ideal for me.
(And those 2 days enable me to get over to you buddies blogs and read every word you’ve written.)
As for suggesting someone post less or “spread it out” I am wondering is it good to put creativity on a schedule or stifle a person’s natural inclination to write and share? Isn’t blogging all about sharing when and how you want to? Perhaps, as usual, it all comes down to content and how much you personally help and / or touch a reader for them to keep coming back?
Jannie´s last blog post..Passing conversation on one of his old (and still beautiful,) girlfriends
Barbara,
Actually I am happy if I manage to get out three posts in a week. I am trying to do that on a regular basis. More posts per week would make blogging stressful for me, and I don’t want that to happen. I must admit that I don’t read all the posts in my reader. I scan the titles, and then either I mark them as read or I read them on the web, sometimes throwing in some comments. I might miss some important posts doing it this way, but I hope that somehow I’ll meet them again if they are that important.
Ulla Hennig´s last blog post..The Color Blue
I blog when I have something to say – which turns out to be 5 posts a week on most weeks. That said: I don’t really think that’s an optimal amount. I think I’ll be toning it down a bit: only three a week seems reasonable.
As for that full blogreader… I totally hear you. But I don’t know whether ‘normal’ readers share this problem. I mean – I doubt most of my audience knows what a blogreader IS.
katinka – spirituality´s last blog post..6 random things about me – I’ve been tagged 🙂
Also, I prefer to keep the blogs I read in Favorites, rather than a reader – feels more personal to me.
Jannie´s last blog post..And some SEO in a pear tree
I limit my blogging to typically 3, and at most, 4, times per week. This works well. I feel it gives me an opportunity to write quality over quantity. Also, when I visit someone who post regularly, if I have a hard time keeping up – I’ll just pick maybe one or two catchy titles and read those – and move on. Yes, I could be missing good stuff – I’m sure I am. But in the interest of time, that’s what works for me.
I wish you well, Barbara, in making decisions on blog post frequency.
Lance´s last blog post..Sunday Thought For The Day
My blog also happens to be the content for the forums I run. I ideally would like for there to be something new to read on there every day, but not necessarily things that I’d want people to get in an RSS feed. I also have a few regular guest writers that get a fair bit of traffic and I think perhaps people would like the option to just subscribe to those pieces, or just to my Museum of Snack Foods pieces or Why I Hate My Message Board. There must be some sort of plug in that would allow me to do this and I think I will look this week to find out what it is.
Really stupid question, how do you know how many RSS subscribers you have? I know how many I have on feedburner, but have no idea how to find out on RSS.
Thanks for the thought provoking article Barbara!
Tracy´s last blog post..I am Learning the Social Web Media Networking 2.0
Barbara,
What a pleasant surprise! I woke up this morning to see if you had commented on my comments and here you have a whole post about it. I used to post 7 days a week. Then I cut out the weekends. Recently I announced I couldn’t guarantee to keep up with my 5 day schedule and begged my readers to keep me in their reader and read when they could. I still blog close to 5 times a week, but by saying that it cut out a lot of pressure on me. I have lots of things happen on a daily basis where I think, “I should blog about that.” but sometimes I forget and sometimes I choose not to for another idea. Really, no one’s going to know what I choose to drop but myself.
I will admit my commenting and page loads have dropped a bit since my last announcement, but really, it was dropping anyway.
Joanna, no, my arrow was not pointed at you! LOL! Seriously, the culprits I mentioned had 3-10 posts in one day. The most recent one is a lady that blogs about her son and Ds awareness. Of course an area near and dear to my heart, but she would have 10 posts all with the same timestamp. She must load them all at the same time and them post them together. A lot of what she is posting is regurgitated news articles. There is a lot of information out there about Ds and a little goes a long way. I’d rather her skip some of those articles so people will be more inclined to read what she does post.
Barbara, thanks for the linky love! Gotta run. I was just going to check my computer and 30 minutes have passed. Got to get ready for the day! 🙂
Debbie Yost´s last blog post..Potpourri …
As a long-time blog reader, I have to agree that having 1000 new posts in my reader every time I log on is overwhelming. Like Debbie, I often wish people would slow down so I could catch up.
Now that I’ve started attracting readers to my blog, I feel pressured to keep up. After reading this and your last post, I might just let up on myself and only post when I’m inspired.
Thanks for hosting this enlightening conversation!
It all depends upon the goals for your blog.
Do you want to rank high, wide and deep within search engines? In that case, post 3-4 times a day – search engines love blogs, and generally index your posts very quickly. The more posts, the more pages indexed, the more probability folks will find your blog from within search engines (especially if you know the tricks to ranking high).
Do you want to focus on loyal readers? Then perhaps slowing down your posting to 3-4 times a week makes better sense.
Do you want to offer a free and premium membership to your blog? If so, create two sections – one that’s posted to frequently (to drive in the traffic) and another that has your special, premium content for which people have to pay to access.
It all really does depend upon your goals.
Data points, Barbara
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog post..Free way of Updating your location via your iPhone – Great apps !
Hi Barbara – Like you, I was gone over the weekend, and I wondered whether it would make a difference in our blog activity without a new post. Debbie’s comment really resonated with me, too, and I’m glad you decided to feature her.
There is no way I could come up with a post per day now with other work commitments. Instead, we average two to three posts per week. I know it’s due to the eclectic nature of our subject matter, but I like to research and paint an entire picture of whatever cockamamie thing we’re thinking about now. 🙂 Plus we’ve got decisions to make about other contact strategies and products.
I’ve been using Charlie Gilkey’s blog planners. He’s got some great organizational tools, too. Maybe these will help you and everyone plan what’s best for them? http://www.productiveflourishing.com/december-2008-planners-available/
Betsy and Pete´s last blog post..THINKING OUTSIDE THE TRIBE
@Tracy, you can burn category specific feeds for readers to subscribe to. The process remains the same. The only difference being, when feedburner asks you for url, give it http://www.sitenate.com/categoryname
Feedburner count includes email and rss subscriptions. Use FeedSmith plugin to redirect all types of rss to FeedBurner. That ways your FeedBurner count will be correct.
Thank you so much Avani-Mehta!
Tracy´s last blog post..I am Learning the Social Web Media Networking 2.0
I used to post 7 days a week. Now I am down to 5 days with days off in between as my time permits. However, I have tried cutting down and it is not working. Too much stuff going on about the climate to slow down. LOL…
Linda´s last blog post..A Better Way?
I just reduced my schedule to approximately three times a week. I did five a week like a religion for four months, but I want it to still be fun in another four months. It won’t be if I don’t think to thin the schedule.
Writer Dad´s last blog post..Writer Dad in Rough Draft
I have removed folks from my reader because they are a little too prolific, and all of their posts aren’t interesting enough to keep me reading. I have a lot of folks in my reader who I don’t read every post of, but I keep them there because enough of their posts are interesting to make it worth my while.
There’s only a couple of folks who are really prolific that I keep in my reader, and that’s because almost all of their posts are of interest to me.
The good has to outweigh the annoying by enough of a margin for me to keep someone in my reader.
Just found you today via Dr. Cason, Barbara, and I’ll be a regular reader now!
To answer your post question, my answer is a wholehearted YES! I use Google Reader to follow my favorite blogs, and sometimes they post 3 and 4 times a day! Yikes! It’s just too much for me.
I do clean out my Reader frequently, but I try to replace one that I un-follow with a new, fresh blog that excites me ~~ like yours. 🙂
Like you, I recently started posting just five days a week. My readers have come to expect that schedule, and it works for me. Thanks for your great blog . . . can’t wait to read your next post!
Julie – On the Dot Creations´s last blog post..:: Twelve Days of Christmas — Day 1 ::
I have tried lot of combinations. 3 posts a week is what I am settling at. I write my best at 1-2 posts a week. So 3 keeps me on my toes and keeps blogging challenging.
It is absolutely great to find a comfortable rhythm to work with. Once I reduced amount of posts I write, I actually found lot of time on hand for other activities – blogging and non blogging.
Avani-Mehta´s last blog post..Top 8 Motivation Hacks – #5
I won’t delete a blog from my reader if I can’t keep up with the posts. I read the titles and then visit the articles which interest me the most. I usually comment but I don’t always have something to say.
There are some blogs, though, that I always visit and I read every article.
I will only delete a blog from my reader if I am no longer interested in the content or if the blogger hasn’t posted in a long time.
Kim Woodbridge´s last blog post..(Anti) Social-Lists 11/30/08
Oh, rather than write an entire blog post here in your comments section – I should probably write my own post. 😉
I was going to say – how often to post depends on a multitude of factors – your blogging goal, the age of your blog, your audience, the blog content, etc.
Lots of bloggers start out posting 5X a week and then “scale back” to 3 times a week once their blog is established.
From a selfish standpoint though – I’d prefer you continue to churn out quality content 5 X a week for my reading pleasure!
Kathy @ Virtual Impax´s last blog post..Small Business Marketing Strategy & Tactics
I agree with Barbara Ling: it depends on your blogging goal. If you want to be a professional blogger and make money from your blog, you probably need to post very often.
Personally, I don’t care how often people post. I read other blogs three times per week. The rest gets deleted. I used to post 3 X week but I think I’ll go down to 2 X week because I got some paid blogging work that I need to focus on now.
I say, whatever works for you. 🙂
Hi Barbara. I currently post once per week and for now, that is enough for me. Ideally I’d like to post twice a week, but that’s way down the road. Some of my articles tend to be a bit longer in length.
I too find it difficult to keep up with the posts in my reader. I’ve found that when there are too many I rely on the titles to help me decide which ones to read. And I will tend to comment only when I have something valid to say. Some posts I only scan and then I won’t comment.
Davina´s last blog post..When Fear Closes In, Take Action
Hi Barbara – Just thinking about what BarbaraL said and it’s true that we have to remember that different blogs have different goals.
Also, I forgot to mention – many blog themes are more like websites now. I have static pages on my blog and I’m gradually adding to those. Some of them have forums etc too. And I think if you’re spending a lot of time on those things, it cuts down your blogging time.
I don’t find the problem with repetivity and finding new stuff that Kelvin mentioned though. I think the longer you write for, the more things you think of to write about. I still have more than 100 posts in draft for that very reason.
Cath Lawson´s last blog post..Affiliate Commissions – Is Your Anti-Virus Eating Them?
My blog tagline says it for me: “Sharing some of my photos, vintage images I’ve discovered, and — occasionally — commentary and thoughts from retired life.”
While I post every day, it’s usually one of my photos or a vintage image that I’ve found. I don’t get a lot of comments on the photos, but don’t expect a lot. (I’m also posting a photo a day on two other blogs.)
I write a lot less often. Perhaps two or three times a week.
I generally don’t have a big backlog of posts in my feedreader because I go through them daily. There are a few that I read from beginning to end and a few that I scan from beginning to end, but most get deleted if there’s not something there that interests me.
Of course, I do have a little more time and flexibility than most, I guess.
Mike Goad´s last blog post..WPA Carol – 25 Days of Christmas: Day 1
Hi again, Joanna – Yes, where we are in the blogging cycle can make a difference. That, and how fast we want to grow our blogs.
Hi Jannie – You brought up a good point about not wanting to stifle creativity. What I run into is I feel creative on some days, and other days, not so much. If I have posts in my drafts folder, I can fall back on those if I’m in a dry spell.
Also, having those “days off” would work great for visiting others and/or working behind the scenes.
Hi Ulla – You’re right. Those posts we do miss may show up again when and if the blog author refers back to them in a future post.
Hi Kelvin – I can’t imagine someone posting 5 times a DAY and being able to find fresh information either, unless like you say, it’s news breaking information. I shutter to think of how time consuming that must be.
Hi Katinka – Good point. If our audience aren’t other bloggers, they may not know what a RSS feed is.
Hi Lance – Thank you. That’s true, isn’t it? Those catchy titles do capture our attention.
Hi again Kelvin – Like you, I limit which blogs I subscribe to via email. It can be overwhelming if the updates get too numerous. That’s one of the reason I added a RSS feed for comments. It’s an easy way to handle a large quantity.
Hi J.D. – Good point. Short posts can be read quickly and we can move on. Those longer ones do take a lot longer to read, so if they’re not as frequent, we’re more likely to take the time to read and not scan.
Hi Debbie – You’re welcome. I think what you said is true. When we “allow” ourselves to cut back, it takes stress off of us, whether we actually do or not (cut back). Notifying our readers that our schedule MAY be altered lets them know they may not see a post from us on a daily basis. If we do post daily, it’s (hopefully) a pleasant surprise.
Hi Susanne – You’re welcome. Yes, 1000+ posts in a reader is overwhelming. You don’t even know where to start. Not to mention, we need a large chunk of time to begin the process of attempting to catch up.
Hi Barbara Ling – Definitely! Our blogging goals will change how often we post. Search engines do love to see updated information, so like you said, if that’s the traffic we’re looking for, posting more frequently is key.
With this blog, I’m focused on loyal readers. Keeping that in mind, I certainly don’t want anyone to be overwhelmed.
Hi Tracy – Short of having separate blogs for each of your topics, I don’t know of a plugin that allows a reader to subscribe to only a “category” of a blog.
I see Avani answered your RSS question.
Hi Betsy – I just clicked over to the blog planners you linked to. You’re right. He offers great organizational tools. Thank you for sharing the link.
Hi Linda – With you writing about climate and green issues, you’re probably never at a loss for topics.
Hi Writer Dad – Good point. Thinning our schedules can help to keep the fun in blogging.
Hi Julie – Welcome to the BWAB community. Dr. Cason has a great blog, doesn’t she? Thank you for your contribution to the conversation and your kind words. I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Hi Avani – Yup! That’s what I want. That “comfortable” rhythm. When we find that, I think the rest of our blogging activities fall into place.
Hi Jodith – You’re right. Sometimes we do need to unsubscribe. And often, until we follow a blog for a period of time, we don’t know if they will make the cut or not.
Hi Vered – Absolutely. When our real life responsibilities need our attention, dropping our posting schedule is a great way to relieve some of the pressure.
Hi Davina – I hear you. If there are too many posts, we often start to scan.
Hi Kim – Like you, I’ll stay subscribed to a blog even though I may not be able to catch up. I know I’ll eventually make time to let them know I’m still a subscriber.
Hi again Catherine – Yes, blog themes are changing greatly. Having static pages are a great way of having content that does’t need updating.
Hi Kathy – You’re so kind. You’re right about when we first start blogging, wanting to get established, and building up our archives.
Hi Mike – Yes, I’m guessing you may have more time than those of us who work full time. Trying to squeeze it all in can be a chore.
Hi Neil – I hear you about blogging feeling like a second job. There is responsibilities that come with this “hobby”, and to do it right and still enjoy the journey, we often have to make concessions.
Hi John – That’s right. If we were to get burnt out, it would show in the quality of our work. That, in turn, could lead to dropped subscriptions and a lower reader turnout.
Hi Nez – I know your work and home life keeps you extremely busy. Although you’re not posting and commenting as often as you did in the past, it’s great to know you’re still “there”, watching, reading and sometimes dropping by.
Hi Patricia – WOW! Your schedule is jam packed. How do you do it all? A blog conference? Fun! I live on the sunny side of Oregon – just east of the Cascade Mountain Range. Learning and sharing in person would be fabulous.
I’ve definitely thought about this, and I tend to post 3-4 times a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
However, as a blog reader with a jam-packed RSS, I have a strategy for managing so many posts. There’s my “People blogs” (aka personal) A & B list. I always know I want to read the A’s, no matter how many I have. They are my ‘prove gold’ blogs in that I love the author and the content. The B list are new people blogs I’ve added and those that haven’t made it to the A list. If they’re there, I’ll still read them, but might be more willing to clear a backlog without reading them.
Then there’s my A, B & C list – for all other blogs. Same principal. I generally read everything in the A list. This is also full of blogs that post more often. B list tends to post less often and so on.
Eventually if I really find I’m not reading a blog, I will bump them, but not for a while…
Svasti´s last blog post..Car-less Biking Babe
Thanks for posting on this Barbara, you provide a great forum for bloggers to discuss these issues. I find posting too often can put me off writing my next post. With full time work and family all coming before blogging it’s tough to constantly hammer out five solid posts a week. Add in reading other blogs and promoting your own and this ‘hobby’ becomes a second job, which is exactly how I ended up explaining it to a friend this past weekend.
I realized that writing five posts a week with the odd bonus post when the mood struck me is more than I want to maintain for the sake of my own sanity. I’m now moving to a four post a week format which will give me more time to do the things I need to.
Neil´s last blog post..SMART Goal Setting
I’ve had to slow down on my already slowed down posting schedule due to business expansion and a few clients needing a little extra help.
I think you have to do what’s best for you and not worry as much about others. If they like what you write, they’ll read your posts – even if it’s not every one. For example, I love Cath’s blog but she posts so often sometimes I end up missing a couple articles.
I don’t unsubscribe, I just set my own schedule. Not that I’m saying you shouldn’t care about your audience, of course you should. But in the end, you need to take care of yourself first, otherwise you might get burnt out, write poor articles, or lose focus on your true goals.
John Hoff – eVentureBiz´s last blog post..My Favorite Kind Of Website Statistic To Have Is . . .
Hi Barbara,
I just had to come and comment as this was an issue I encountered not long after I started (personal) blogging.
It takes me a good chunk of time to come up with a post that I think is useful for my readers, as well as something to be (somewhat) proud of — but what I discovered was that it was really eating up my free time. Thus, my decision to post when I feel like I have something to say.
As for reading blogs, I am so thankful for Google Reader — a feed aggregator app like that just knocks off a chunk of time — I can glance quickly at post titles and see when something strikes my fancy (such as this particular post of yours).
And while I may not comment as often as I did when I still keep tabs on all the bloggers I’ve befriended.
Nez´s last blog post..Cardinal Synthesis
Another good topic of discussion – I thank you all and very good comments. I wrote everyday until I had 100 posts, then I dropped back to 3 times per week. I am also doing workshops, which I think I will drop – too time consuming and I don’t really make any money from them – I am loosing money this year.
I read at least 5 news sources a day and try to get my piece of writing purchased from some broadcast group, and I write a new professional blog for my partner with the help of Blogger Dad and my Penguin techie.
I believe this will be paid work as we get the site launched and running.
I am writing a book of days….in my spare time and for fun!
I also have a few clients – female’s in the military and veterans with PTSD who I counsel and chat with everyday…. Maybe someday I will get paid for my work…but so far I have never been good at income….but my work has had good outcomes for people living healthier lives.
I have 40 blogs on my reader and I love to read every word, but I am physically unable to do that….I love when a blog gets accepted by Kindle that makes it easier to read on the go.
I work every other day on my blog while on vacation in San Francisco…but skipped the background learning work, which I find way too difficult.
Barbara get comfortable!….I would drop down to 2 times a week….but Add planning a bloggers get together conference in Oregon so Dot can take the train and so can I and we can learn in person…and Cath can get out of the UK….are you on the sunny side of the state?..oh would that not be fun?
Dot and I are discussing this possibility for your time use!
🙂
Patricia´s last blog post..Chug, Chug, Toot, Toot
I am of the school that posting every day is often too much.
Some blogs, who are A-listers can get away with it… But for most, I think it’s not the best business move.
Not to mention, sometimes, the fewer posts one does the more opportunity to write on the topics that are most compelling of all. This way you can pick and choose more instead of feeling rushed and pressured to post something.
I think those that post every day are doing it mostly for themselves (perhaps), because I think the consensus out there in the blogosphere is that 3 a week is a very solid schedule.
Bamboo Forest´s last blog post..7 Greatest Strikes of All Time
To each his own. I have posted between 1 and 3 per week. My posting frequency has more to do with what else is on my plate. I reserve the right to post when I feel like I have something to say.
Yes I wish everyone would post once or twice weekly and limit their article length to under 1,000 words. But I don’t sweat it if I miss reading a post every so often, nor do feel the need to comment on every one I read.
I only unsubscribe if you haven’t posted in a couple of months.
Tom Volkar/ Delightful Work´s last blog post..Grounding Your Small Business Vision
I post once a week – with little kids, I cannot manage a posting schedule and/or more frequent posts. I also take more time to create posts and read other blogs.
The frequency works very well for me. It is really hard for me to keep up with reading blogs that post too often.
Maya´s last blog post..Integrity, Values and Happiness
Barbara to answer your question….I gave up cleaning my house and since I don’t make any money yet….I have not hired any help…also my schedule is a great deal less with my special gal East of the mountains and learning to live on her own…
she just texts about 12-15x a day which I can answer in short order….she is like 5 people in person….lots of practice 😉
I can help with organizing a gathering! Eastern Oregon is sunny in the summer – cool in the fall?
Patricia´s last blog post..Chug, Chug, Toot, Toot
I think some readers want to hear from you every day. It’s like the newspaper or the morning news on the radio. It’s a friendly voice and you miss it when it’s not there.
That being said, I think it is important to have a schedule. Taking the weekends off is a great schedule for most. That gives us five posts a week. If that is too much, don’t fret over taking a day off here and there. Your readers won’t either.
I think readers want consistency and want to be able to depend on you. So give them what they want.
Chase March´s last blog post..Give a Day – If you can
I think I post too often too. It became sort of addictive. I found I was up till the wee hours either posting or researching for my blogs. I have to cut down. Besides, I write largely for myself. Someone was complaining about commenters. And I was like, what commenters? Nobody comments on any of my nine blogs! Maybe I should just stop blogging all together. It’s just so hard to pull myself away from the keyboard.
Hi Barbara: A lot of bloggers–and Darren Rowse is an example–say that you should be really prolific if you want your blog to take off. However, I think the key is to find your own blogging rhythm. I’ve been posting 3 times a week since I started (I posted a few “Inspiration Sundays” but I stopped that awhile ago) & that’s what I’m planning to stick to. Also, my posts are pretty long and I don’t want to overwhelm my readers (or myself). The valid point about blogging often is that you can get more traffic from Google (just because you have more keywords on your blog). But, like I said, I’m sticking to my three times a week schedule.
Hi Barbara,
This has been a HUGE consideration as of late. I feel I have a fairly decent plan to post daily, including weekends, for the next couple of months.
BUT, I think it is important to think of my readers. I receive only a few feeds in my email box everyday. For instance, really special blogs like Get Rich Slowly that I want to keep up with. I dont mind it if JD posts 10 times a week. I read the titles and decide if I want to read it more in depth.
I also have blog feeds sent to my email that are rarely updated such as Dosh Dosh.
All other blog feeds are in my reader and I have over 50 right now. And for those in my reader I rarely go through them. Maybe once a week?
So I guess it all depends on what kind of blog you want to have. For me, Im striving to be more like Get Rich Slowly and Zen Habits so I want to continue posting at least 5 days a week. Ill let people decide which posts they want to read, if any. But being like Dosh Dosh is a strong temptation too. Maki only posts maybe once a week or every other week.
Oh, I forgot to mention Think Simple Now. Tina has a hugely popular blog and she posts maybe once a week? In my mind a blog can be successful either way.
For me, part of my blogging is about training myself to be a better writer so I write everyday. In that sense, Im kinda like Writer Dad. But maybe Ill be where he is at in the next 4 months though, and only want to write 3 posts a week. 😉
I guess if I was going to give advice I would say decide early what type of blogger you want to be and stick with that consistency. I hear Google rewards that strategy too! 😉
Cheers,
Jeremy
p.s. Barbara, I have your Feed sent to my email because you challenge my thinking and help me to be a better blogger. I dont respond to every post but I promise you I read nearly all of them.
So Im hoping to still see at least 3 posts minimum a week if you can manage it. 😉 Thanks for a great blog!
Jeremy Day´s last blog post..Carnival of Personal Development Edition #1
I do have trouble keeping up sometimes and I end up skimming stuff briefly and deleting most of it. I feel bad about it – it’s like asking someone a question and then only half listening to their reply – but I also feel bad when I’m overloaded with information.
I started off with the intention of posting a short item each day of the week, but have now cut back to perhaps 3-4 times a week, partly because I didn’t always have the time or the material.
I have also posted some stuff I was really pleased with on the weekend which almost no one commented on…and that made me realise that although I started the blog for me – I really want the feedback! I’m tending not to post on weekends so much now.
Frisky Librarian (formerly known as Glee Girl)´s last blog post..Camera love, mail and blue nails
Hi Bamboo – I agree by not posting everyday we do have more time to contemplate what to share next. Posting seven days a week does put undo stress on a blogger which can often result in early burnout.
Hi Tom – Yes, with blogging it is “to each their own”, but those who do post frequently should be aware their posts may go unread, or they could be dropped from someone’s reader due to the visitor being overwhelmed by the excessive data that’s being shared.
Hi Maya – It sounds like you have established a blogging rhythm that works well for you. That’s key.
Hi again, Patricia – It’s essential to establish priorities, isn’t it? Yes, the weather in this part of Oregon is quite nice. I’ll get an email to you soon and see what we can come up with.
Hi Divorce Saloon – Nine blogs? It’s amazing you can keep up with that many. Even though I have two, this one gets most of the attention and my time. I’ll come by and check out your blogs (and leave you a comment. ) 🙂
Hi Chase – You’re right. Our readers do want consistency of some sort. And, they become to expect it. For me posting five days a week has worked fairly well, however I want to be in a position where I have more time to visit other blogs and work behind the scenes. We’ll see what happens.
Hi Marelisa – Yes, it appears Google likes to “see” frequent updates. However, I would hate to be a slave to Google. I’ve also heard when a blog is new the author needs to keep updating it to get the attention of the search engines. Hopefully that wouldn’t lead to a blogger getting burnt out before they have a chance to succeed. For that reason, I think bloggers need to do what works for them and not rely on what Google says. Your three posts a week have worked great for you and hasn’t hurt the growth of your blog at all.
Hi Jeremy – Emulating many successful bloggers is a great way to grow our blogs, as well. I’m guessing most of them got there by being prolific and “putting in their time”. When Tina Su commented on an early post of mine, she shared part of what she did. Her comment is on my post titled; Commenting vs Social Media – Is one Better?.
Knowing what “type” of blogger we want to be is ideally part of our planning process, however, I’ve found my blog has often taken me in a direction I could have never planned for (mainly because I didn’t understand the whole blogging process).
Thank you for your kind words, Jeremy. I take that as a compliment that my posts help you become a better blogger. 🙂
Hi Frisky Librarian – I know what you mean about deleting posts. Like you, I hate that I don’t have the time to read them all.
When I was posting on weekends, I didn’t get a lot of comments either. I think a lot of people are enjoying their weekends and not spending as much time on blogging activities.
Hi Alex – That’s right. Having a break between posts does give them a chance to get more comments. Friday posts work well for me, too (comment wise).
I switched to 3 or 4 posts a week instead of a single post each day when I moved to my current blog format and it works very well. I’m considering upping it to maybe 4 or 5 a week, but definitely no more than that. I agree that letting a couple of days pass sometimes creates more comments. For example, even though Sat and Sun are low visitor days for me, my Friday posts often have the highest comment count.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Success Comes from Slow Change: Leo Babauta Interview
Yes, it’s very difficult to keep up with my favorite blogs, I am so late responding to some of them (cough cough), but if someone publishes everyday and I have 20 favorite blogs, it’s hard to keep up. One person in my reader had 93 posts for the month of November. I enjoy her blog, but she doesn’t give her readers a change to catch their breath. Not that we have to comment on each post, but I do want to show support.
Yes I have reduced my posting schedule to once a week. It has helped in that it has allowed more people to comment on a post and given me a little more time to play catch up on other blogs or do other activities.
I guess it’s like eating, finish one meal and let it digest before you start another one…that’s the way it is for me now. Of course, I have gotten a bit lazy too this past week. 🙂
Natural´s last blog post..The Day of the Fight
Some weeks I post more than others. If I have something to say, I usually am bursting to tell others, and once a day doesn’t seem enough. But for the most part, I post two, three times a week. Very rarely, if ever, over the weekend.
I find that the less frequent the post, the better quality I can provide, plus, I get more comments too on a post left up longer.
I usually read other blogs twice or thrice a week, too. But since I get your emails, Barbara, and I like commenting on yours, you don’t get lost in the shuffle. 🙂
Jewel/Pink Ink´s last blog post..The Wonder of Christmas
I read with quite interest the comment by DivorceSaloon, who has 9 blogs. And how can you not stop and check out someone with a name like DivorceSaloon??
I think a good blog topic would be about people having multiple blogs. I find ONE a challenge enough to keep up with reading sometimes. Two maybe if I really like the person –Tammy / Cricket, you know who you are. But Nine?? My goodness. I wonder why a person can’t say all they have to say in one main blog? I think bloggers do themselves a disservice when they have more than one blog, don’t you?
Jannie´s last blog post..And some SEO in a pear tree
Hi Natural – That does make it difficult when a favorite blogger is cranking out posts faster than we can read them. Like you said, we want to show our support, but certainly can’t read them all, let alone comment on them.
Yes, reducing our posting schedule does give our readers a chance to catch up, and gives us additional time to read the work of our favorite bloggers.
Hi Jewel – I do agree it’s hard not to publish a post when we’re bursting to tell others. When that happens to me, I use that creativity and use the post date feature. I know I will have dry spells so those posts come in real handy.
Thank you for being such a loyal reader and commenter. I’m happy to hear I don’t get lost in the shuffle. 🙂
Hi Jannie – Yes, nine blogs would mean major upkeep. I have two blogs but my second one rarely gets updated. (It has nothing to do with blogging) Fortunately I have a couple hundred posts on it and used SEO (search engine optimization) on a lot of the posts so Google still sends traffic to it. That, in fact, is another reason I would like to decrease my posting schedule here as a virtual PR firm keeps sending me products to “demo” and I need to catch up on the unpaid reviews. Needless to say, I prefer spending my blogging time here, posting and visiting those in the BWAB community. 🙂
Speaking of more than one blog, a lot of the big time bloggers are writing for, or own dozens of blogs. How they do it, I’ll never know. I’m guessing they have help.
Thank you for the idea for a post – multiple blogs. I’ll add that to my list. 🙂
My blog is still very new so I am posting as much as possible to get my content going but this still really means a max of one post a day.
I guess it should really depend on what ideas you have to post on. My problem is that I seem to be jotting ideas down all over the place but it is then finding the time to post them.
The quicker I can get my ideas on the blog the better the post seems to be. I seem to lose the flow a bit if I wait to long before making my idea in to a post.
the three dog blogger´s last blog post..Seven Answers To The Question: “How To Stop Puppy Biting”?
I am just opening a cafe/HUB in Wimbledon and as so my schedule is manic lately…
Today I’ve noticed that I have 132 blogs to read… that between monday night and here…
If someone knows how to do it… PLEASE let me know… 🙂
UrbanVox´s last blog post..Drinks are on me!!
I’ve found most of these comments surprising, and in a good way.
I thought I was the only person who preferred that bloggers keep their posting frequency down, so I can follow lots of blogs without taking up too much time. But I hear so many people saying you have to post every day if you want your blog to grow.
Posting a lot could help with SEO, particularly if your posts link to each other. But you also have to consider that it not only takes more time, but you could be annoying your readers and making them not like you or unsubscribe. Thus, your efforts may be counterproductive.
I’m fine with people just posting whenever they feel like it, even if it’s only once a year…or even less!
Hunter Nuttall´s last blog post..Optimism Or Pessimism: Do You Have To Choose?
Hi Three Dog Blogger – When blogs are new, it appears it’s a good idea to build a good inventory of posts. I know what you’re saying about constructing posts from our ideas. It’s probably best to write when the subject is fresh on our brain, but that’s not always possible. Time is a huge issue for bloggers.
Hi Urban Vox – Haha! You and me both.
Hi Hunter – I think Barbara Ling’s comment sums it up. It’s dependent on the goals we have for our blogs.
Anyone who posts often must realize their fans won’t be reading (and commenting on) each and every post. Like you, there was a time I could keep up on the blogs I followed, but not anymore. As we add more blogs to our readers, inevitably keeping up will be much harder. And…as we become more established, we start devoting more of our time to other projects. Something has to give, and often that means we can’t read everything our favorite bloggers are producing.
Well, lately I have but back to twice a week to allow myself time to get around to read other blogs. I was finding myself spending all of my spare time on my own blog and not getting around as much as I would like. It seems to work. I have been able to meet more bloggers and my “community” is growing as a result of this little change.
Tammy Warren´s last blog post..A Glance Into a Year of Blogging
Hi Tammy – Yes, cutting back on the activities on our own blog is a great way to spend more time on others. I’ve now cut back to four days a week and just that one extra day had made a big difference.
Its something I worry about. On most of my blogs I try to keep a one post a day rule… but i do sometimes end up going a fair amount over that on a fast news day.
Maybe I should learn to try get more form one post that I would from numerous. Certainly food for though
Nick´s last blog post..Stcherbina improving
Hi Barbara! 🙂 Thanks for your intriguing post! I believe the posting regularity is a function of the blog traffic as well as the size of the blog. If the traffic is very high, say 100,000 visitors a day, there’s probably more reason to be posting regularly to keep the content refresh. A blog with slower traffic probably can get away with posting less frequently.
On the blog size, I feel that older blogs with more materials in their archive can get away with posting less regularly since there is already good content which new/old visitors alike can check back in the event there is no new posts. For new blogs, I think there is a need to post frequently to keep the momentum going (hooking new visitors back) as well as to build up the content of the site.
What’s interesting is I have been contemplating the same question in your post myself too – I just launched my personal development blog (EmbraceLiving.Net) and I am trying to strike a good balance between posting regularly and not overwhelming visitors with too much content. So far I’m striking a balance with one post/day and seeing how it goes from there. (The only reason why I’m able to keep up is because I was focusing on writing quality content before I launched the site so that I don’t need to worry about it for the few weeks after I launch it!)
Celes | EmbraceLiving.Net´s last blog post..10 Ways To Tell If You Are A Perfectionist
Facebook sucks. Blog posts that attempt to predict the future are generally 99.9999% wrong and simply link bait. Adding ‘killer’ to the title increases the posts shittyness. Why don’t we leave the post mortems until after a death has occurred. Oh wait I know why, because the intention wasn’t to write anything of value, it was to troll for responses and links.
Speculation that Facebook will kill Twitter is as old as Twitter itself. The latest round came from AllFacebook, not exactly an impartial source, who argued recently that Facebook API’s could be used to build a Twitter like service.
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Hi to all!
this is my first Thread, i hope thats okay, i would be say “hello” to this Forum 🙂 I came from Germany and i must lern English for my School Exam. so i will be speak over this Forum to any Members to train my English Online. Thats more Funny that the boring Schooltraining….
So, thanks in Advance for your Questions and Answers to me to help me train my English….
Greetings to all,
Sandra