Armchair BEA: Blogging Tips and Tricks

Today's topic for the Armchair BEA is Blogging about Blogging. Originally I tried brainstorming a list of blogging rules, a sort of shoulds and shouldn'ts list; but once I got going I realized that I wasn't offering anything new (and that I am not exactly an expert since I am a small-time blogger).  Really what interests me is the concept of balancing your online presence with your real life, so I switched topics...

First and foremost, I should make it clear that I am not an expert on this balance, nor do I think there are hard and fast rules which apply to everyone. We all have different lives, different commitments, different outside interests, and different expectations from our blog. We are all busy, some maybe more than others, but everyone (I sincerely hope) has a life outside of blogging.

There are obvious methods to ensure consistent and quality posting: setting aside specified time every day/week for the purpose of blogging, scheduling posts in advance to account for sudden obligations, etc. But no matter how we prepare, many times real life gets in the way of blogging (as it should). [On a side note, I am diminishing the importance of blogging by distinguishing it from "real life". I mean real as in not-virtual.]

So what is the point of all this you may ask (and rightly so as I am something of a tangential, roundabout chatterer)? Honestly, it is to give all of you permission to put yourself first, to sacrifice posting every day for playing outside with the kids, or cooking a special dinner, or just sitting down and watching the boob tube.

I see so many posts (and have written a few) apologizing for inconsistent posting or not commenting/responding to comments, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I always feel like we place this unnecessary stress on ourselves to be full-time workers, full-time wives, full-time parents, full-time readers, full-time networkers, and full-time bloggers. And it's just too much. I am a very firm believer that unless blogging is a job which supports you financially, you should not stress.

If the commitment to posting every day gets you jittery, or you miss a day or two, don't fret. Many (if not most) of us actually appreciate blogs which don't post every single day.

If you are in a reading slump and don't have reviews scheduled, feel free to post something personal: a thought of the day, a picture, a quote, a video, whatever. A bit of unique content keeps your readers interested.

If you don't have time to respond to every comment left on your blog, no worries. Plop up a big thank you post to all of your commenters!

And finally, if you don't have time to write a unique comment on all of the blogs you read, simply write He-ey or 'sup! Last year at BEA I said I was going to start doing this as I am a horrible lurker on so many blogs due to a serious lack of time. Just a quick note to let someone know you are there, and you are reading hir posts, even if you don't have time to be intelligent or clever.

The main point to all of this is JUST HAVE FUN! Blog for you, not for anyone else; it's the only way to keep from burning out!

For more (and probably more effective) blogging tips and tricks, be sure to check out the other posts linked up at the Armchair BEA website!