ColChambers: Exploring human performance: Penelope’s Guide to Blogging

So I've started reading Penelope Trunks blog and I have to admit I'm quite fixated. The way she writes just draws me in and I want to share everything. You know how it is when something resonates with you. Of course I don't want to just share everything I read because that's not what blogging is about.

Today I'm sharing Penelope’s Guide to Blogging because it is typically straight to the point. I've been exploring various approaches the past few months and learning a lot and found much of it resonates with Penelopes advice.

I notice that she has created a bunch of posts on a topic and then made each post the title of each paragraph. That's the vision I have. Her focus on getting on with it speaks right to me. I believe you get good at what you do regularly and that's what I'm finding. When I look at older posts compared to now I see a marked difference.

Success will take time

I like her comment about lack of readers and that you won't make money directly because I feel it's true. Like anything there are the high flyers and the rest of us. The few make most of the money. Those are often the people who get the most readers. That takes time and effort. Just like any venture you rarely succeed early on. It's just nice to be reminded early on to give you better perspective on your results.

I also add things to my blog that I want to read. That's the main criteria I set. If I feel I really want a record of an article later on then I post about it.

I like having Multiple blogs

That is also why I break one of Penelopes guidelines. I have 3 blogs and I'm planning more. The reason is because my core passion covers so many topics from 3d virtual reality and programming to biology and sport. As one it just seems like a mish mash of ideas. Separately each blog has a focus I can build on. As I go I link them up but for now I feel it helps to have separate blogs for a clearer focus for each.

I big advantage is that I can try lots of different things out. I believe in achieving success through learning which means trying ideas out. I'll be moving to wordpress soon which is a big change. Having multiple blogs allows me to spread the risk. I'll move the least popular or challenging blog first. Make all the newbie mistakes and do a better job with each successive blog.

It's obviously a lot more work but then I got 5 A levels with this approach where most get 3. So I could aim for 50 points when everyone else could only get 30. They had a lower maximum point limit. I had to work harder but once I realised how each A level could help the other it all got quite easy.

So I've taken Penelopes basic list of points to give you a checklist, check out her article for the full detail, I found it a useful quick primer on a fun and practical way to approach blogging.

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Post: Reality check: You’re not going to make money from your blog

Advanced Topics:

Post: Linkbait: Trying to get big bloggers to link to you is stupid. Just write good posts.

And one more thing. I have found that if I am nervous to post something”?if I think I might look bad or reveal too much or give advice that people will hate“?these are the posts that people care about, because they further my connection with people and further the conversation we’re having, and connection and conversation are the crux of linking. (…more)