The Blogathon That Never Ended

After being asked to speak about it publically a few weeks ago, I'm getting a lot more questions about this Blogathon thing. What is it? Why participate in it? How? For those questions, I refer you to this earlier post.

And let me tell you, it's a gamble on your time that generally pays off in so many ways.

For the two groups that I've participated in this with, it's been such an energy booster. Especially for those of us who weren't posting much on our blogs in the first place. For me, it was a natural route to take, and it follows part of my BIKE philosophy: when you need help, seek it. I needed help to boost my blog, to start participating, to get it off the ground. So when I was invited to participate in my first Blogathon, I jumped.

I'm so glad I did.

A Blogathon is like a shot in the arm for the blogging resisters or those who otherwise would be overwhelmed by the idea. It sort of forced us to start writing, and write regularly, so readers will come back again and again to see what we've posted next. If we're interesting enough or entertaining enough or enlightening enough, you'll come back. If we comment on your blogs, you might come to see what we have to say on ours. If we link to your site, you might link to ours.

That just happened to me this week. Maybe you can see my blog roll on the left-hand side of my blog. It's a list of other blogs I've read and would like to read more of, and do when I can. It's a list I thought worth sharing. There are many other blogs that I want to include there, but I haven't yet taken the time to ask. And you do want to ask permission before posting, because for that win-win you also want to ask if they'll post a link to yours. My latest inclusion is Serenity for the Self-Employed blog. It's written by Heather Boerner, a freelance writer I know from the Freelance Success site--the group that led me to this topic in the first place.

We're building community, that's what we're doing. We're sharing. And, hopefully, we're helping someone somewhere with something.

So, if you're asking, how can I possibly blog daily? What will I write about? Where will I find the time? Here are some answers:

You can blog daily, but only if you consciously decide to make that choice. It's a habit, and it can be learned. A blogathon can help. But you don't have to blog daily.

You can write about anything that is relevant to you and would or could be relevant to your audience. Read the news and comment on what strikes you as comment-worthy. Read a book and write a review, or review a book you've already read. Post about your favorite quote and what it means to you. Ask your readers if they can relate. Post charts, graphs, photos, images, anything that might be meaningful to you and might spark a conversation. You want to inspire dialogue with your blog.

The topics are endless. If you've written a book, especially non-fiction, pick a chapter and write about the research involved in doing the work to complete it. It's up to you. But it also helps to read other blogs in your genre or your niche and find out what others are writing. Try to differentiate yourself, because your point is to add to the discussion, to further it along, to help someone understand something better, or to validate their own believes--for or against.

Finally, to answer the question, "Where will I find the time?" You will find it, when and where you decide to find it. Once you realize the benefits of blogging, you will take as much time as you can. It doesn't have to be daily. It doesn't have to be many times daily as some bloggers believe. It just has to be frequent and it has to be regular. You're creating an expectation, and you don't want to let your readers down. They'll stop coming. They'll stop reading. And you'll have a blog that doesn't work.

If you're like me, you'll become addicted to the blogging effort, anyway, that you're bound to begin blogging regularly. It's so much fun to research topics, to look for ideas, and then to write about them. You'll discover a desire to share what you learn.

Hopefully, you'll also seek balance at the same time. The blogosphere is growing, and you'll want to become a part of it. But it's not all that there is. You still need to participate in the world outside of Cyberspace. That's only going to enhance your life and add to the dialogue.

Any more questions?