The Self-Published American

Blogopreneur and Scifi guy, John Scalzi recently examined what he calls the “Big Post,” that one post that for some inexplicable reason draws traffic to your blog. What is it? How do you write it? Why not make every post the “Big Post?” As he explains, the writer doesn’t determine what becomes the “Big Post.” It’s up to the blogosphere. As Scalzi says, the key is to take advantage of the “Big Post” when it comes along. How? Here’s what Scalzi says:

What you do is what you should be doing anyway: writing interesting stuff on a regular basis. That way, when lightning does strike, and the curious new reader looks around to see what else you’ve got, you have stuff that will make them realize the Big Post that got their attention wasn’t just a one-time fluke. The Big Posts bring them in, and that’s their value; it’s everything else you’ve got that keeps them coming back, and that’s the value of the blog as a whole. Jot that down, folks.

Not everything you’re going to write is going to be interesting. You’ll find your groove eventually and write more interesting stuff than not, but until then, you should make up for your inexperience by updating your blog frequently. At the very least, post a message a day. I don’t do that here, but I do on my personal site. I’ve decided to make this blog topic specific, book marketing. I try to update the blog once or twice a week, but on my R.W. Ridley blog, I update 6-7 times a week. My traffic is about ten times greater on that blog as opposed to this blog.

You can read Scalzi’s blog post on blogging here: The Difference a “Big Post” Makes