An interesting post providing a series of distinguishing characteristics that provide “fame, fortune and loyal followings”. Apart from some interesting aspects of blogging, there are a load of great blogs referenced in there (as you might expect).

For me, blogging has always been a haphazard affair, and the purpose has changed over time, from education, to conversation, to catharsis and varying combos of those things. As a tech, I’m not sure how I’d operate without some form of social media outreach these days – though that wasn’t the case not so long ago. As an evangelist – well -  it’s the tool of the trade. Some obvious stuff works immediately: be consistent with a post or two a day and drive increased reach (and ultimately long tail search around specific items). The reverse of that is temporal relevance which drives a lot of immediate traffic, though possibly at the expense of long tail over time. We see these effects in our traffic analysis frequently – amongst others.

Across my team, I see the traits listed below in different measures depending on the person and their outlook. (Sometimes, their Outlook – which hampers us all…) Here’s my own view. How do you fare?

• Consistency. I’m working harder at this and it is increasing traffic.
• Eloquence. Never really been a core skill of mine.
• Uniqueness. In aggregate perhaps.
• Specific. No – I’m the arch-generalist.
• Personal. Interesting – I do write personal stuff every now and again, but actually the thoughts are always my personal views.
• Analytical. Sometimes.
• Detail. Not often.
• Thought-Provoking. Hopefully. Every now and again. (Consistency with this requires time and space.)
• Passion. I’m not sure I appear passionate. But I am.
• Instructional. Used to be. Not so much any more.
• Networked. Getting there.

A way to go (by my own judgement). A useful report card and/or direction for any blogger though.

Have a look at the post for a the full detail.