I know there are many tips out there for you to become a better blogger, so I do run a little risk of repeating everyone else, but for me personally, these 5 tips are the ones that have helped me A LOT in being able to blog well and blog consistently.
This has no content information, no creative ideas, and no formatting tips, this is written purely to assist you blog consistently and as I said, has helped me out a tonne.
1.Choose the right platform
I have used Typepad, Blogger, WordPress.com and WordPress.org and there are no surprises here in which one I’m still using.
There are only a handful of reasons why anyone would start with, or stick with, a blogging platform other than a self hosted WordPress(.org) blog.
It is, based on numbers, the most popular blogging platform available, and with that means better support (not just from WordPress but from the millions of users), better plugins, better widgets, better themes, and better functionality. It is the most supported platform by every other third party application and website, and if you’re not using it, especially for your first blog, you need your head checked.
The only downsides I can see are the startup costs and the technical aspect, however saying that, less than a hundred bucks and a couple of hours on the net will have your self hosted WordPress blog up in no time. There are dozens of high quality videos and in depth instructions on how to install WordPress and so this technical aspect alone should not turn you off.
Also, I think the fact you have spent the money on it, gives you that little more motivation to make something worthwhile of your blog. I call this the “gym syndrome” where people attend gym partly because they want to, and partly because they’ve paid a membership. You could have the same gym equipment at home and I can almost guarantee most people wouldn’t work out as often, or do it for as long.
Besides, the “free” startup blogs have many limitations and when you want your blog to look just the way you want it, or do some of the other funky stuff the others do, you may find the free platforms won’t let you do it.
So choose the right platform from the get go and choose a self hosted WordPress blog.
2. Create more than one blog
Writing begets writing. It’s true. Just like building the muscles in your body, you have to constantly “work out” your writing muscle in order for it to become better, stronger and more creative, and the only way to do that is, guess what, more writing.
Now if you’re doing a business blog or a blog about one particular topic, consistently writing about that topic is hard. Very freakin hard. You may think to yourself that you have a hundred or a thousand ideas to write about that specific topic, and that may be true, but they will eventually run out, or you may not have the capacity to write about all of those ideas in a manner you are happy with.
So create another blog! It could be free, it could be totally anonymous, and you could be your own audience, but use it as your inspiration to unplug any writing blocks you stumble upon in your writings. This is helped me out immensely and even though writing about Social Media is like shooting big fish in a very small barrel with a very big gun, sometimes I just don’t feel like writing about it. So what do I do? Go to my other blog and just write about whatever I want. It could be about cars, computers, what I want for breakfast, anything, but it gets me back in to the rhythm of writing and allows my “voice” to come out loud and clear as sometimes, writing to a specific niche muffles your voice.
So work out your writing muscle, (give me 10 posts on 2 topics) and get yourself a second blog. You’ll learn to enjoy writing when you’re not bound by topics, language, word length, content, yada, yada, yada.
3. Syndicate your blog yesterday
Whatever the purpose of your blog, syndicate it to your other social media platforms immediately. Whether it’s your Facebook profile, fanpage, twitter account, or everything you’re actively on, do it, and do it now if you haven’t already done so.
There is nothing worse than having your blog posts hanging out with each in cyber space talking amongst themselves, and by syndicating your blog through social media, you will find an instant audience amongst your family, friends, co-workers and other people. Sure it might not be read by everyone on your profile, but it’s at least reassuring that your message is there in front of others, instead of it relying on being “found” on the net.
I really have to hand it to those early bloggers that had it tough before the social media boom. Spending time writing posts with nothing more than analytics, comments or email subscribers to show that their message was being consumed (more often than not, months would go by with so much as a peep). It would have been extremely tough and those that have gone through it, and are now leveraging social media today, are now the superstars of blogging.
So match make your blog with your social media platforms, and get your message out in front of everyone (that you’re connected to at least)!
By the way, syndication is a geeky word that means to have the content of your blog (the posts) automatically sent to and published by other social media (and normal) websites. HTH. 
4. “Free your mind, the rest will follow”
I like to make up numbers. I would have to say that before I did what I’m about to tell you, I would have forgotten or lost around 60% of some excellent “light bulb” ideas that pop into my head during the day. Without taking notes, I forced myself to remember this one idea and in turn, this stopped me getting more ideas.
To stop me forgetting, I have a tiny notepad and pen in the car, I have put the voice memo button on my iPhone to the front page and I have also setup a Dropbox account with which to record ideas that seemingly pop into my brain randomly.
If I’m driving and I get an idea for a post, I’ll write it on the notepad. If I’m walking at the shops or around the streets and an idea pops up, I’ll record a very quick voice memo on my iPhone. If I’m at home and an idea comes through, Ill create a document with the title of the file being the idea I had in my Dropbox account.
Once an idea is saved and recorded, you can totally forget about it and let your mind run free to accept the next great idea that comes through.
So get those ideas out of your head and onto written, digital and audio ink and let your head fill up once more.
5. Stick to a schedule
In the beginning you have a gazillion things to write. This is a good thing. In the beginning you write a gazillion things and post them up straight away. This is a bad thing.
Now there are bloggers out there that stick to a schedule and there are bloggers out there that post at will, there is no right or wrong way, but this way has worked for me.
I find that sticking to a schedule does one great thing for me. It (slightly) alleviates the pressure to constantly post. If you decide to post twice or three times a week, it gives you some time to write posts in the off days. If you write a lot of posts in one day, then you know you can drip feed them, according to your schedule, allowing you more time to either write more posts, or to take it easy a little.
Sometimes a rushed or hurried post comes out totally wrong, and then you’re at the awkward decision of whether or not you hit the “publish” button. So stick to a schedule. Once, twice or three times a week, I recommend the lower the better just as not to burn you out or force you to post rubbish content. Remember, there are no rules, but I find a slightly regimented routine can help you improve your writing, improve your content, and instils a certain level of discipline that is needed in order to keep a good blog ticking over.
So that’s pretty much about it. The 5 tips that have kept my blog (and the others) ticking along nicely. I would imagine that many people out their have a similar mindset and it would be nice to think that should some of these points be absent with some bloggers, that employing them will have the same profound effect that it has on me.
dEx
“I blog, therefore I am. Dont ask me what that meant. I just needed something here to fill the void ”
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