The folks at WordPress have a deal for you. Of course, it’s in their interest to have people blogging regularly. As well, though, those of us who read blogs like to read content regularly that could benefit from this deal.
“As part of the DailyPost, we’re launching two campaigns:
- Post a Day 2011: Post something to your blog every single day through 2011
- Post a Week 2011: Post to your blog at least once a week through 2011″
You’ll find people who are making this part of their New Year’s blogging resolution by the hashtags postaday2011 or postaweek2011.
When I talk to people about blogging, there are typically three things that they identify as blockers.
- I don’t have the time;
- I don’t want people saying negative things about my thoughts;
- I don’t have the ideas.
To that, I would respond…
- Make the time if you want to be a blogger. Once you get on a roll, it’s very easy. Surprisingly, most people don’t want to read the great long blog post. Instead, readers want something that quickly gets to the point. So, get to the point and post it. It takes less time than you think.
- Ah, the fear of transparency. I would argue that it would be a pretty boring world if everyone agreed with everything that you say. And, if worse comes to worse, you can alway moderate any comment…
- I don’t buy this one for a second. Particularly in education, every day is a brand new day. Whether it’s new observations, new software, new people, new connections or new learning, it happens fast and furious. Imagine what would happen if all great educators blogged about that unique teaching success that made their day. Stop hoarding; start sharing!
The only catch in all of this is getting satisfaction. Are people reading your thoughts? If that’s important to you, check your blog’s analytics. You may be surprised by the numbers that are dropping by. And, you’ll have the cred to visit the Blogger’s Cafe or Gathering at your next conference.
Even if you don’t have the legions of followers at first, if you’re regular and are interesting, people will start to follow and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve put your thoughts down and shared them. A week, a month, or a year later, when you have some reflective time, it makes for some interesting introspection to re-visit your thoughts.
If you’re looking for a quality resolution, you can’t do much better than blogging for yourself (and others).
If you’re an Ontario Educator, I’d really like to add your content to the Ontario Educator LiveBinder.
doug --- off the record 
Hi Doug,
I might seriously consider their postaweek challenge as I was already trying to do this last year and it might actually be doable for me. I’m always learning something from the people in my network and at school…and 52 isn’t a huge number! It would be kinda nice to have a record of a year to look back on.
I guess I’ve got about 7 days to decide! 🙂
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Hi Doug,
I’m in for the postaweek commitment for 2011! Your post today and my reading it today was an act of perfect timing from my end. On a walk with @zbpipe two days ago, I was commenting to her that I had too many blogs in draft mode. I never thought of it as hoarding or fear of sharing just that sometimes, they never seem quite finished and ready to publish. In addition, Zoe offered to me some very sage advice where she quoted you! You see I read many blogs but don’t comment often. She told me that you shared with her that it’s just as important to comment as it is to post. So, in addition to the postaweek commitment, I also make the commitment to comment on blogs more frequently. Thanks Doug and Happy New Year!
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Good luck with what you decide, Brenda. Given your role, I’ve got to believe that you have substantial stories to tell as you work with students and technology and the construction of good things. Every activity expanded can be a gold mine for the right audience.
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That would be great to have you posting regularly too, Lisa. As I was reading your last post as I was building the LiveBinder last week, I was struck by your observations from the other side of the table. I think that many teachers feel that sometimes they’re “on show” when working with guests. To read about the meeting from the other side is a really unique perspective and would go far towards building partnerships, I suspect.
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I’ve been thinking about something like this too. Lo and behold it’s a challenge. I can’t back down from a challenge. I’m in.
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Good luck with it, Colin. We’re watching!
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