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Technical Recruiter at Omniture; passionate about leveraging technology to improve people’s lives

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By Robert Merrill ⋅ February 18, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

A good friend of mine Kiley Newbold has recently started a new blog about Effectiveness and Creating Results, and asked me how long I take to write blog posts. My reply sure felt like a good post in and of itself (and since I’ve been seeking a reason to post), I’m sharing it with you (joy).

I used to write freakishly long posts, but now I have learned a few things:

ASK questions, don’t just tell answers.
The greatest blog post I have ever done (according to traffic) is Why do Geeks Hate Recruiters, and my part of that post is literally a sentence or so. The real content is in the comments!
Don’t answer all the questions.
We were taught in school to be balanced and clear in our arguments, theses, etc.Forget that.

A blog post, done well, is an idea. A pebble in the water so to speak, and while great stuff can be written, and sometimes you just have to “go off” and really make a point of something, don’t try TOO hard to be crisp and clean about it all… leave ragged edges, make people think, and ASK for their help in bumping you down the road toward greater understanding.

That being said, I have to toss in that being a conduit for the conversation seems to go a long way to becoming an authority in your niche.
Start with Heart.
Like Liz Strauss taught me, blog for the passion of it, not for the popularity. For example, I don’t get a lot of street-cred from Recruiter-Bloggers. I get plenty now, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never been high on the memes or lists of superstar recruit-o-sphere bloggers.But… I don’t blog for them.

I blog for myself–or, the myself that I was 5 years ago, stuck in a job with no doors or options or anything. Now, my life is completely different and that came from a lot of sweat, work, tears, setbacks, personal development, ambition and learning how to ask the right questions. That guy is who I blog for… the one nobody else has time to help. (hint: but that’s what will actually attract them.)
Break up long topics into many posts.
It seems like I am breaking this rule right now, but instead of posting three pages of “The 5 rules of time-management”, do one post a day/week and make sure you interlink them for easy-access if someone drops in from google or somewhere onto post #2.
Link A Lot.
Actually, this should say, “Link a lot… then go back and link some more…. no, more than that.”Its very smart to borrow from other posts. If someone inspires you, link to them. Its not only nice, but creates a threaded conversation that is time/location insensitive. Its amazing, actually, but this is what the web is about. For example, relative to this post, I might share some of the posts I’ve found to speak around this same topic, like 12 tips to get from Blogger to Influencer by DailyBlogTips (my valemtine post violates their tip #4, btw.), Shally Steckerl’s Quick List of Blogging Resources, Robin Good’s Microblogging and LifeStreaming beginner’s guide, Penelope Trunk’s Why NOT to write for traffic (and Tiffany Monhollon’s continuation of that thread with the seven sacred tips to beat blog writing burnout).

There’s no question I love to “share the link love”, but sometimes it’s the hardest part to do because it feels like work! Well, maybe that’s why its such an incredible blogging secret!
Have Fun.
Man, if it’s not something you can just smile at, push publish and get on with life, then you’re trying too hard.Sometimes, and I mean sometimes, writing a blog post feels like having a baby to me. I sweat, revise, worry, cross-check, recheck, draft, delete, start over… and those are really important on-occasion. But other times, you just need to remember my pebble idea, above… Just get it out there. Be open, and see what happens to turn up as the ripples spread, other pebbles are thrown in, and the waves–and the conversations–build.