You’ve probably heard all the time that content is key to successful blogging and without writing content your blog will fail. That’s true but, what about consistency? If you’re not consistent with how often you blog, or how often you deliver something will it even matter? I’ve learned in order for me to be successful online, and for any blogger or entrepreneur to be successful online they need to be consistent with what they do. If your lazy and you never want to be consistent with your blog posting, or sticking to a plan you developed then you will not succeed online.
Why consistency is the key
Consistency is not something to blow off. I used to believe I can write a blog post whenever I want and watch my readers grow. Well. . . I was wrong. When you do not stay consistent with your blogging readers will get angry, they won’t subscribe and you will ruin your credibility. Part of my 2010 goals were to blog daily. Blogging daily was something I knew was going to be a challenge for me, but I knew I could do it. I planned and committed to a consistent schedule that my readers love and works good for me.
How to be consistent
Develop a schedule
One of the first things you need to do is develop a schedule, and a schedule you can actually commit to. When I told myself I wanted to blog daily I knew it was going to be a challenge. So how did I go from blogging once a week to daily (Mon-Friday)? First thing I did was wrote down everything I wanted to get accomplish. It’s important to layout all of your tasks and see them visually so you’re aware of what your working with. I recommend sitting down in a quiet area with a piece of paper and a pencil. Jot down everything you want to get done during your day, ask yourself are your goals possible, or do they need some adjusting? After you’ve spent a couple hours screaming at yourself, planning your schedule that you’re going to stick to, buy a white board. Sounds stupid? Well. . . it’s not. I use my white board to plan blog posts, develop new business ideas, organize my meetings and on occasion I doodle on the board. What can I say, it’s fun.
Have a back up plan
When I asked my readers do they have a backup plan I explained the importance of a backup plan. Having a backup plan is also important for being consistent. But why? Say you developed a blogging goal to blog 5 times a week and write about X, X and X. In your backup plan you prepared for situations like this and pre-published a post just encase. Instead of leaving your blog short of a post, you have a backup fresh off the stove.
Learn to surf the waves
If you ever watched someone surf, or you have visited a beach you will know the waves are never smooth. The same thing applies for consistency, it’s a changing process. Your consistency is going to change over and over again. You will have weeks that you are right on top of things and weeks that you’re behind. Guess what! That’s normal. You have to prepare for the unexpected, develop a strong schedule, have a back up plan, and shut up and just do it.
Group Discussion
What’s your thoughts on this? Do you think consistency is the key to successful blogging? Is it important to develop a schedule and have a back up plan in order to be consistent? What’s your thoughts about this? Do you have trouble with consistency? If so what problems are you facing? Let’s hear your opinions in the comments below.
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Rob!
What’s more important, consistency or content? I don’t think I could call it. A dead heat, if you ask me. I try my best to deliver consistent quality content. How’s that for a cop out on the issue?
BTW, love the idea of the white board. Think I might have to get me one of them.
Kind regards,
Steve.
Steve Youngs´s last blog . . .The Little Engine That Could
Im with you on that one, its a mix of both. The reason why i suggested consistency first is because you can have great content but if your not consistent with it, does it really matter? So yea im with you its a mix of both.
I’ve been trying to consistently create a new post 5 days a week. I’ve developed some set topics for three of those days, so I have plan – it just helps me to know that on Marriage Mondays, I write a post about marriage, then on Thursdays, I compile a list of old archived “themed” posts where really all I do is comment on what they all have in common along with a brief description. Then on Finance Fridays is about money – all of which fits with my Christian blogs theme. Then on the days when I can’t think of anything, I go find a article from a directory, write a response and there’s my instant new post for every week day.
It seems to be working – my Alexa ranking has been shooting up much more quickly now that I’ve been doing this and everyday Google graciously sends more and more people my way.
Kiesha @ Highly Favored´s last blog . . .A former Atheist in Haiti said “God Saved Me”
That’s great to know your blogging with a backup plan in mind. I also bet your readers enjoy knowing they can come to your blog and expect a fresh new article ;D
Consistency is totally the key. I just know learned this consistency thing this past year. One of my goals for 2010 was start putting out more youtube videos. I read a blog post by Nalts, one of the top comedian youtubers. He said that the key to his success on youtube was consistency. So I started putting videos together, almost daily, and my subscribers are growing daily. I’m working on my youtube partnership.
…anyway, I’m sure it’s the key for blogging as well. I’m going to get serious and start posting videos and blogging each day. Thanks for this push!
Quick question – What time of the day do you publish your blog posts?
~ Mike
Michael Locke´s last blog . . .Tools for Creating Contact Forms for Your Website
Glad your seeing consistency is key. For my blog posts, I blog daily and I try to publish the post anywhere between 1-8AM so usually anywhere after 1AM and before 8AM you can catch my articles.
Being consistent is one very important key to your blogging success. It has really helped me in growing my blog in just a short time of launching it. And as you said, you should have a schedule and a back plan. Because Wordpress and the other blogging platforms know that there are uncertainties that’s why they included scheduled publishing and that is something you can use as part of your back up plan
.
Shirley´s last blog . . .Review: The Lateral Action Guide To Becoming A Creative Entrepreneur
So right Shirley. I love the schedule publishing feature, however. . . I have not taken advantage of it like I should be! Weekends have been super busy, but I’m going to make it worth my wild soon. What we’re some of the things you did to help stay consistent?
Well, some of the things I did to stay consistent was to decide how many times per week I would blog and also to schedule my time between school and blogging well so that none comes into the other.
Shirley´s last blog . . .Review: The Lateral Action Guide To Becoming A Creative Entrepreneur
That’s great . I’m going to have to steal some tips with you about keeping blog posts & school separate. I remember one time, I whipped up a whole blog post during class. (Shame on me ) LOL
Hehehehe
, no problem, you can come to me for the tips 
.
Shirley´s last blog . . .Review: The Lateral Action Guide To Becoming A Creative Entrepreneur
I am just new to blogging and I try and do it everyday, but sunday. I have a white board I write all my ideas on. So when I don’t have a subject I just pull one from my board.
It’s god to see you are staying consistent with your articles. Now the real question is, are they able to provide value to your readers?
I would think so. I put items on there that I wanted to know about and had a hard time finding. As I work with people and find out that they are looking for the same thing.
This reminds me of my recent post over @ Masters of SEO.
Consistency is truly right on the money when it comes to succeeding in everything, and the online world is no different. (Unless of course you are being consistently wrong – then it would be okay to be inconsistent. lol)
Anyways – thanks for the great content.
Don Gilbert´s last blog . . .The Keys to Online Success
Glad you liked the article Don! I checked out your website just a minute ago, I like what you have going on.
I’m a newbie when it comes to blogging, and not sure on where to start first. I was reading your article and I found some stuff to be very useful. I also believe that consistency is the key to a good blog, and will bring in a lot of traffic to your site. The blog that I’m about to start is transport related, how do I find some one that can provide me with good quality articles that is transport related?
I’m not sure about finding quality articles transport related, but if you want to to get better @ blogging you should check out my eCourse
Rob,
Another excellent post you got here!
Ok. I understand the consistency part and sticking to a good schedule. But as your readership builds up, does your blog demand more time from you?
Ive noticed that you post daily, but how long does it take for you to compile one blog post? I really want to make sure i making good use of my time spent managing my blog.
Rafiq – Web Design Tutorials´s last blog . . .6 Inspirational Web Pros Under 18 years old
My community does not demand more from me, they respect the time I dedicate to them, and never said anything about it.
My blog post take about 40 minutes, that includes my post summary, editing images, SEO and publishing.
Great post, I personally believe that consistency is the key to success in any field or in life for that matter. Consistency is King.
Extreme John´s last blog . . .A Day in the Life of.. Episode 1 [video]
Right on John, I mean we have to admit it . . . you can have a good design, and quality content. But if you don’t have a consistent schedule, it’s just going to crumble.
Very real & mature outlook on posting consistently Rob. I’ve gone the past few months only posting a few articles a month and watched my traffic drop and look like the “wave” you talked about. I just committed to a schedule and have backup posts prepared for when I “slip.”
Very timely post for me as it’s a good reminder. Thanks for the great effort put into the post!
Tony Teegarden´s last blog . . .My Perspective On Your Perspective
No problem Tony, and you were not alone on that path. I used to post whenever I felt like it and thought everything was going to be fine, but now since I have built a steady consistent posting schedule my traffic and readership has increased. Glad to see you’re steering back on track
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