Future of Blogging : Our Methods and Madness

on November 6, 2011

Polonius(in Hamlet) says of the Prince : "Though this be madness, there is method in it".

Let's see how much that applies to our blogging style here. Is there a madness? Is there a method? Is there only one, none or both or something else altogether?

Some years back I read lots of how-to blog books. I still update my knowledge base in this area on a continual basis. But then, I use my finger-tip feels much more than those rational rules.

For instance:

1. For the sake of search engine, a blog be at lest 250 words long. I just don't care.
2. A blogger must establish a regular rhythm. I just don't care.
3.  A blogger must know her/his target audience. I just don't care.
4. No body reads blogs anymore. I just don't care.
5. No body writes blogs anymore. I just don't care.
6. A blogger must get incoming links somehow. I just don't care.
7. A write should edit, re-edit. I just don't care.

I just don't care.

Eric E. Schmidt, Google Chairman, admits in a Businessweek eulogy that Steve Jobs often made his decisions based on hazy, foggy, flimsy data but Jobs did make assumptions that are "never crazy."

What crazy assumptions have I made here?

1. People who never read sonnets, will never read sonnets. They should never be in my radar.
2.  People who seldom write sonnets, will seldom write sonnets. I will outlive, outlast such fellow sonnets writers.
3. Any of my posts must be and is helpful to my readers.
4. Target audience, my sticking to my core, etc -- I need not concern. A person can do nothing but stay in his core, not matter how versatile or scattered. e.g. Can I be bird or a fish? No! Whatever I do will reflect/represent/smell/taste/sound/look me automatically.
5. Blogging is useful to both writers and readers.
6. If you have better things to promote, you should save your energy to promote those things, rather than promote your blogs all out.
7. I can write 10 blog post per day easily. But I will publish about 1 post per month and do somethings else in the remaining time.

Is this useful? The time you lose in coming to my blog and the benefit you gain in reading this? Do they make a good balance/ratio in your favor?

I cannot abuse you, trick you, harm you in anyway. Beyond that, is there any other blogging or moral or trade rule?

I don't think so. Good luck!

Our Blog Adds Value Thick and Heavy

There are different levels at which a blog adds value for the readers.

1. Google/Bing/Yahoo. 
2. Selected Links Only. 
3. Selected Extracts, like here in this Post. 
4. Synthesis/ Systematization. 
5. Combination with One's Own Insights.

At the first and shallowest level, the blogger just piles up relevant-looking data, a lot like a search engine acts. It's up to you to decide and select what you need to read in detail.

At the next level, the blogger shows you what s/he has selected. But s/he still shows the source in its entirety.

At the third level, only relevant parts of a source are shared.

At the fourth level, parts of the various sources are cross-checked, cross-referenced, integrated and collated.

At the last level, the blogger's own perspectives, interpretations and insights are added onto the source ideas.S/he may even come up with a new system/paradigm etc.

At what level of Value-Add do you think I usually blog my posts?

Why Is it So Hard to Blog?

on May 21, 2011

No matter how we classify/categorize blogs, it is difficult to keep on blogging.

1. Team vs individual. If you go team, then you have to hire and pay.
2. Current/commentary vs analysis/insight. If you choose current, you've got to keep up.
3. Humor vs serious. How many new jokes can you think up every morning?
4. Unfocused vs focused

Focused, Serious Insights by Individual

This is the most hopeless approach, incidentally, mine.
Why?

1. We cannot go beyond a million lines to discuss a problem.Charles Simonyi talks about that here. He's talking about software application, but it applies to blogging too. Even encyclopedias have about 1000 pages. Do we have more than that to say about a topic? 
2. David Ogilvy noted that about 800 words were enough for advertising concepts and theories, in The Art of Writing Advertising
3. Michael Masterson remarks in Ready Fire Aim that you need to read about 3 books to become experts in any field.
4. Suntzu has about 13 small chapters for military, so does Sun Bin approximately. 
5. Finally, Buddha has summarized all the way to Nirvana in a small number of pages.

Unless You Choose the Perennial Popular

Some examples that come up to mind :
World Oldest Dog died in Chile
Eating chocolate helps reduce weight
Avoiding chocolate helps reduce weight
How to raise a well-behaved cat
Cats are more intelligent than dogs
What happens to your brains when you sleep with music on ...

Paris Hilton with her Burmese/Vietnamese/African/Chinese Lover
Genes can tell how rich you can become
Genes cannot tell how rich you can become
President Obama was a muslim

...
...

And I CHOOSE not to write such perennially ever-greenly popular topics.