It’s five in the morning. Can't sleep. My mind is full. Should do a mind sweep to clear my mind. I can't. I am almost obsessed by blogging. Ever since I decided I could put more effort in this blog I am constantly thinking about the blogging process (this guy is no stranger to that)!
So here is my quick list on how to get things blogged, how to organize yourself to publish (more/better) stuff on your blog, inspired by the GTD method (get the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
1. Collect : Identify All your inputs source (emails, feeds, whatever) and capture the items you want to blog about. A good email client and feed aggregator sure helps to organize the inputs. Important stiff : bookmark everything in your browser.
I used to scatter all my “to blog” items in my aggregator (flagged it) and in my email (to blog folder) but having items everywhere is not manageable. Just bookmark it, it’s one keystroke (I open many-many Firefox tabs from Rojo, my feed reader of the moment).
I also use the Google Browser Sync extension to keep my bookmarks up to date on my laptop and desktop computers.
2. Process : Go thru your list. Either delicious-it so you can share it with others in the “less than two minutes” rule or plan to blog-it if you find you can add value to the link you bookmarked (with meta info, links, commentary) or juste delete it (you would be surprised how much stuff is not that interesting after a few days).
You can also apply the “delagate” principle by submitting an item to Digg or email it to a friend (hey just do it - submit this post to Digg).
3. Organize : This step is more or less important, depending on the quantity of your output. Just create bookmark folders for categories of blog posts you want to make. I don't even do this myself yet, but it’s on my list of things to do!
4. Review : when you have the time to post (a good post should take between 30-60 minutes of your time, writing, linking, correcting, etc) review the topics you have availables. Altought sometimes it’s the other way around, I have a topic that is itching me to write about, like this post right now…
5. Do : Write! Use short paragraphs and lists. Have your own voice. Pepper with hyperlinks, send your readers elsewhere!Use a blogging tool to help you write in a more streamlined fashion. I had success with MarsEdit on OSX, Ecto (Mac and Windows) and now Qumana (because I somewhat made it work on Linux and OSX).
A good blog editor will allow you to post to several blogs, quickly add meta-info to your post (categories, tags) and enable quick formatting and cut-and-pasting.I really like those that grab your clipboard text when you insert a link, ctrl-tab to browser, ctrl-l to select location bar, ctrl-c to copy, ctrl-tab switch back to blog editor, ctrl-shift-l to create a new link with url in clipboard!
Conclusion : that should be enough to get you started on a daily diet of blogging. Additionnal hints in another post. A quick overview of what I find important : comment on topic on other blogs similar to your, use technorati tags, track your stats, make it easy for people to subscribe and have fun. Don't forget to link, it’s the basic currency of the web, use it!
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