Comments on: Random vs Planned Blogging

By: Violinagin

Violinagin — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:15:20 +0000

I guess mine would be planned, because each day I do a painting and then post it on my blog with a little write up. And then I also write random posts about what’s happening, depending on whether I get a commission or buy a book and want to review it or something. I can’t really plan for those. I would like to start doing one major, planned article a week. With all the paintings I’m posting, and the random content, that’s a pretty good many. I think I will straighten up and do more planned blogs, about two or three a week, once I get my own domain. Right now I’m still trying to figure everything out (And the sad thing is, I’ve been signed up with blogger since 2001).

By: 工控

工控 — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 00:54:02 +0000

楼主说的确实对我很有用,多谢了!@_@~~

By: Asian Blogger

Asian Blogger — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 18:45:15 +0000

I think I will try this, i have recently started blogging and I think i will try planning ahead frist, will let you know in a week how it went.

Asian Blogger
http://www.asianblogger.net

By: ming2.0

ming2.0 — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 11:24:12 +0000

in a way a blogger is very much like a cartoonist that can’t draw!

in how the plan their week. and sometimes we even get a special ‘Sunday’ feature.

question thought>>where does all the stuff go, that you want to say but is just plain irralevent?

do we try to squeeze it in, or should we all have dump blogs!

lately in my artmaker blog

http://armaker.blogspot.com

i try to consideratly go off topic.

that is to say i acknowlage what my readers might be here for.. and i try to bring the topic around, however feebly

By: Funbie

Funbie — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:59:37 +0000

I personally think Planned blogging can get you write a good story and hence grab you tonns of visitors, and as far as random blogging is concerned its just as good as to populate your blog and gets your pages indexed and mostly not making you generate some traffic,

my 2 cents

By: Shannon Moore

Shannon Moore — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:55:32 +0000

Funny you should ask…or rather post a topic about planned posting. For the last week or so (and I’ll probably continue it for another week or so), my posts are planned & pretty much written out for the day because of research I’ve done in the past. Other tasks are overwhelming my time so having these planned posts ready to go has cut my blogging time in half or even more. While I think a planned posting schedule makes your readers happier, it also helps out the blogger too! Thanks for the great post!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 07:56:59 +0000

I wish I had the discipline to plan more and of course the luxury of time.

By: Noel Kuhls

Noel Kuhls — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:32:03 +0000

You forgot to note how easier it is to crank posts with a set plan in mind. If there is a specific direction for the week, you narrow down your focus into that topic, allowing you to think about ideas you would never even have considered without the set plan. It’s sometimes amazing how many sides a single subject can be approached from, all of them a worthy post subject in themselves.

By: Hoboken411

Hoboken411 — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:50:13 +0000

Trevor, it works great for some people. The combination is almost a requirement for a local city website like mine ( http://www.hoboken411.com/ ), because besides planned posts such as restaurant reviews and other things I can “time” without pressure, there are “news” events as well, such as the local crime and fire scene, which get published as they happen.

It’s nice to be able to plan 1-3 weeks out in advance, but that can often be difficult. When I’m pre-published like that, I may tend to slack off too, then find myself behind the 8-ball and struggle for content. But I’m learning as I go, and have gotten better at the planning.

I keep a Google calendar of my forward posts, and WordPress lets me save them as drafts, or pre-publish them and see a chronological list of what articles are upcoming.

So I guess it all depends on the type of blog you run. Some, the content actually dictates what posting style you could/should use, whereas others it can be up to the author.

Darren, great information as always!!

Perry

By: Trevor

Trevor — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:17:09 +0000

I use a combination of random posts and carefully planned posts on my three blogs. I have a pad of paper alongside my computer to jot down ideas for potential articles as they occur to me.

To help me keep organised however, these ideas are then transferred to a MSWord table I keep open as I write. This table has four columns – the date plus one column for each blog. I type in the title or subject of each post as it is written and highlight it when it is posted. This gives me a instant picture of what I have already written about and any gaps means I haven’t posted anything on that day, which spurs me on to do so.

Future post titles or subjects are then typed in where there are gaps in the plan. This gives me a overall view of where the blog is heading. This is very fluid and changes are often made as I go. When writing a series of posts these are planned and written well ahead of time and often posted ahead of time as well. These are the kind of articles that won’t date. For example, on my travel blog ( http://www.trevorstravels.com/ ) I am writing a series of articles on a recent trip to Nepal.

All the posts planned and written well ahead of time give continuity to the direction of my blogs. The random blogs in between these planned posts give the blog more life and variety – and more spontaneity I hope.

This approach wouldn’t work for everyone – but it works for me.

By: cjcm

cjcm — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 23:57:09 +0000

I write on my journey in IT with life encounters and some reviews in between…real life events that started way back when I was in secondary school…so its pretty much planned…but not the sort of planning like darren mentioned here. The reviews part may need some plannng especially if I want to have more of it in the future.

By: jhay

jhay — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 23:12:55 +0000

Since I’m blogging in a science and health niche, and I’m still building my mark or authority in it, so I plan my posts on weekly basis. I only post randomly just to break up the ‘geeky-ness’ of my blog. I’m often surprised by the results as those random posts recieve a higher number of comments and indicates that all my readers do enjoy the break.

By: Will

Will — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:29:26 +0000

I can appreciate the benefits of a more structured posting schedule and if I had more time on my hands I would probably plan ahead a little more than I currently do.

I do have a number of draft posts saved from ideas I had, but ran out of time to follow-up. One day, I’ll work through the pile…

By: My New Choice

My New Choice — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 19:51:20 +0000

So far my approach has been to keep a notebook right next to me and whenever I have an idea for a post, I note it down with a few comments. Right now I am using that list to randomly pick from and create my posts, so I am planned to an extent but not too rigid with what posts will be done and when.

Something new that I am trying is a monthly (or weekly if I get the demand) poll where the visitors can select the topic of a post. Unfortunately I only have one vote so far and that is from someone I know, but I like the idea of having regular “features” that visitors can expect to see.

By: Ian Anderson

Ian Anderson — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:01:53 +0000

My blog posts are fairly spontanious. Things come up in everday life that I have to write about. However, I do have a few projects that I am working on at once, so I have a general idea of where my blog is going.

By: Andy Merrett

Andy Merrett — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:23:40 +0000

It varies a lot.

Some sites are news-based and react to that.

On others, there’s a mix and I do plan posts I want to do, but not necessarily at an exact time.

Yet others there’s some kind of set schedule for one or more posts each day. For example, I’ll do at least one of a particular kind of post each day, and on a Wednesday will do a particular feature. This is on a collaborative blog, and other writers there also have their own set pieces, so I think it gives readers some continuity – so they know on a Wednesday they’ll get this or that post – but they’ll still get the breaking news.

Sometimes there’s an event that I want to cover, so that will dictate what I post – for example I covered Steve Jobs’ recent Keynote speech at WWDC06 live, and then posted follow-up reaction.

By: Michael Martine

Michael Martine — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:04:16 +0000

I have adopted a simple rule that has improved the quality of my posts: I never post immediately. I save as a draft and come back to it later. I always find ways to improve it or I add an image or more links. This doesn’t work well for news blogs, but in my case my goal is quality original content. The best thing for capturing ideas that pop up is a simple paper notebook (believe me, I’ve tried a million web and computer based methods–notebook works the best!). I create super short drafts and build on them later.

By: prlinkbiz

prlinkbiz — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 16:17:16 +0000

My partner at NLL and I have a great compatability in our writing. Our goal is to educate women on finance, business and investing- but make it fun! We both have a unique voice and different expertise. She keeps it stable with meaty posts which allows me to mix it up a little. I have actually done four blog series the past four weeks. Then we use the weekends to play a little.

By: Rico

Rico — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:43:26 +0000

It's kinda ironic that I plan more for my personal blog than my pro blog. I guess it's because I write for a topic that demands up-to-date information (Smartphones and PDAs).

By: Teresa

Teresa — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:38:53 +0000

Now, this is some good advice! I’ve talked to my husband recently about this too. Planning vs. random posting. I was begining to think that doing some planning ahead would work better than just sitting down and writing about the first thing that comes to mind. The problem with doing that is in the end you usually end up with mish mashed jargon that has no real point or direction. I feel like I haven’t made an effective statement and that I trully didn’t know what I was talking about or trying to get acrossed. So, if I felt that way, how would my readers feel?! Working from a list of topics, and then fleshing those out with points and areas to highlight and expand upon would work better. I’d feel more complete as well as my readers :). Thanks for the advice and clarity!