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This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:
See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project
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BLOGTASTIC: Timeless content produces disproportionate returns
You want your blog to have a long, healthy life. After all, who wouldn’t?
Let’s perform a thought experiment. If you stop blogging today, how long do you think your blog will survive in the blogosphere?
• A few days?
• A few weeks?
• A few months?
• A few years?
Most unattended blogs will die within a few days or weeks, because the content on the blog becomes irrelevant very quickly. If you want your blog to last longer than a newspaper, your writing must stand the test of time.
Creating timeless content is hard. That’s why most people don’t bother. You can distinguish yourself from other bloggers by focusing on timeless content.
You’ll stand out from the crowd today, and more importantly, you’ll increase the longevity of your blog.
Some of your posts will be about fleeting events. That’s a natural part of blogging. Yet, even in these cases, think about what is the underlying “message” or “theme” inside the post. If you spend time to uncover the insight, you’ll be well on your way to creating timeless content.
Remember that there will be a temptation to write about things that are “hot” right now. If you do that, you might instantly get a burst of traffic – providing you a bigger incentive to continue to write on what’s “hot” right now. Try to avoid that trap else it will be like running on a treadmill all the time.
Blogging Tip: Creating something that stands the test of time gives you multiple rewards
Thoughtful, relevant and timeless content will increase the quality of your blog and your brand. It also provides numerous ways for you to “re-use” the content. You can create e-books, wrap them into published books, create speaking topics, etc.
Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow