• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

  • Home
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Insiders Club
You are here: Home / Blogging / Big Blog Mistake #1

Big Blog Mistake #1

By Michelle Shaeffer | 32 Comments

This is the first post in a series–three of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make with their blogs that hurt their branding and credibility.  Avoid these mistakes and you’ll get better results, faster from your blog.

Big Blog Mistake #1: Not Showing Up Consistently

You need to blog consistently if you’re going to blog effectively.

This doesn’t have to mean every day.  It can be once or twice a week.

But blogging every day for a week then not at all for three months doesn’t work.

Just like other marketing and promotion strategies in your business, consistency matters!

If you can’t blog consistently, many will advise you to remove the dates from your posts.  But realize people can still tell when you posted (by the dates of comments and shares on the social networks or looking at your RSS feed).

So what can you do to stay consistent?  Here are 5 of my best tips: 5 Smart Ways to Keep Your Content Consistent.

Your Turn! What are your biggest challenges to staying consistent with your blog? Or, your favorite ways to make writing consistently easier?

Spread the Love
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wade | Wellness says

    July 13, 2012 at 5:38 am

    I agree 100 % Michelle. My wife & I have noticed a dip in traffic when we are not consistent. In fact the universe conspired to make sure that we became more consistent with our blogging and the results have certainly been evident.

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:31 pm

      Same here, Wade. It really shows in my traffic if I’m not consistent.

      Reply
  2. Morgan says

    July 13, 2012 at 8:04 am

    Totally agree, Michelle! I preach about being consistent in everything that you do because it is SO important to always have SOME sort of presence. Even if it’s once a day (like on Twitter) or once a week (like on a blog or even FB). People tend to forget about those that aren’t consistently around, so be present! :)

    Great advice!

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:32 pm

      Exactly! Staying on people’s minds so they remember us is important. :)

      Reply
  3. Daphne Bousquet says

    July 13, 2012 at 8:22 am

    I used to be someone who would blog inconsistently. Sometimes I would post 4 times a week and then I would drop off for a week. Once I committed to having a post up on Monday and Thursday by 6am, I have seen a huge difference. My traffic has gone up, my Alexa ranking down and my stress level has gone down.

    I know I can crank out 2 quality posts per week. And if I run out of time for a Monday post every now and then, there is always YouTube and a 10-minute post idea!

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:33 pm

      It is so much less stressful when you’ve got a blogging schedule, isn’t it? I feel so much more relaxed shooting for 2-3 posts a week and planning them in advance than when I had no strategy to my blogging.

      Reply
  4. Delia says

    July 13, 2012 at 8:41 am

    Great advice, Michelle!

    To me, being accountable is the drive to help me blog consistently. If there was a blog challenge every month and I’d join, I think that would absolutely make sure that I blog daily for a year! Whether I’d be burned out or not, that’s a totally different question :)

    What helps me a lot to blog consistently is to write for half a day straight and schedule for a week in advance. I love the feeling of knowing my posts are published and there’s no pressure come up with something it every single day.

    And contrary to the advice to remove the dates on the blog, I think that will actually make me slack even more and defeat the purpose of blogging consistently in the first place :)

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:35 pm

      Accountability really helps. One of my favorite things about the blog challenge is having that commitment. :)

      Scheduling in advance ROCKS.

      And yeah, it’s something I’ve seen more and more people advocating to remove the date on posts, but I’m with you, knowing people see those dates keeps me blogging consistently.

      Reply
  5. Julia Neiman says

    July 13, 2012 at 9:42 am

    That’s a great tip Michelle. I find this to be true as well which is why I joined the UBC. This is my first step toward developing better blogging habits.

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:37 pm

      And that’s a great first step! :)

      Reply
  6. shawn says

    July 13, 2012 at 10:03 am

    I’m looking forward to the rest of your series. I’ve got down the consistency. I need to know where to go after that to make this a business.

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:37 pm

      Awesome. Consistency is one of the biggest hurdles so if you’ve got that covered, you’re definitely headed in the right direction!

      Reply
  7. Glenda Pitts says

    July 13, 2012 at 11:05 am

    In the past I’ve been horribly inconsistent but this new blog for the company I have with my sister has started gaining some really fun followers and comments on my posts. And the Ultimate Blog Challenge has helped me take it to a whole new level.

    Thank you Michelle!

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:38 pm

      Some of it is definitely about finding the right motivation to blog consistently. I do much better during a challenge month. :)

      Reply
  8. Robbie Schlosser says

    July 13, 2012 at 11:43 am

    Thanks, Michelle,
    Wonderful advice and I’m looking forward to your next post. I’m still striving toward greater consistency in my blogging, and I find that developing a few similar habits at once helps each one. For instance, I recently adopted “Inbox Zero” (Google it), and I find the discipline of processing every email in my Inbox every day keeps me in the groove to create a new blog post every day.
    BTW, if I created a link to “Inbox Zero” here, would that flag me as a potential spammer?

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:40 pm

      Inbox Zero is awesome. I need to get back to it. Very smart strategy and so much more productive that way.

      It shouldn’t. :) My moderation will hold a comment if there’s more than two links (not counting the link to your blog that’s in the URL box or commentluv link).

      Reply
  9. Adalia John says

    July 13, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    As my grand daughter would say “fantastic.” I appreciate the link back to your previous post.

    By the way, I like that your left side bar for sharing is not intrusive. On some sites one cannot leave a comment because the bar is in the way.

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 13, 2012 at 2:45 pm

      Yes! Mine was actually doing that in Chrome last week and I couldn’t figure out why so I had to switch plugins. It’s worth occasionally taking a peek at our sites in various browsers just to be sure everything is working like it should. :)

      Reply
  10. Elena Anne says

    July 14, 2012 at 1:56 am

    Good post. With people using the internet so regularly so do do they regularly check the sites and blogs that they have an interest in. If one of those is yours you need to take advantage of this by having new content for them to read, to look at and to engage with.

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 18, 2012 at 6:18 pm

      Yep, giving people new content is key to keeping them coming back (and also giving them subscription options so they’re notified when we have new content and don’t have to keep checking back).

      Reply
  11. Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. says

    July 14, 2012 at 2:36 am

    Thanks Michelle for this reminder. This is one I had down pat in the beginning and then overloaded myself with other tasks and slipped into inconsistency. I’m working my way back.

    Thanks for reminding us also in the comments about the importance of checking our blogs in different browsers. It’s amazing how different they can look in different places.

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 18, 2012 at 6:19 pm

      Isn’t it crazy? I fight with Chrome a lot because it’s got a few quirks. Thankfully as more people upgrade to modern browsers we have fewer challenges to deal with. :)

      Reply
  12. George says

    July 14, 2012 at 3:17 am

    Consistency always pays off. If you publish blog posts periodically, it shows you’re serious. The only way to retain your reader base is to get them great posts on a definite intervals.

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 18, 2012 at 6:20 pm

      Right — if we want an audience, we’ve got to keep showing up in front of them. :)

      Reply
  13. Julie Geigle says

    July 14, 2012 at 8:01 am

    I totally agree – consistency is huge. I joined a blogging game and it’s not only FUN but the best part is it helps me to be accountable to blogging consistently every week. ?

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 18, 2012 at 6:20 pm

      Julie, I’d love to know more about the blogging game you joined. :)

      Reply
  14. Lisa says

    July 14, 2012 at 11:22 am

    Consistency is key. I used to blog daily on one blog but since I have several I know do it 4-5 times per week skipping Fridays and Sundays unless some big news in my niche is out. I love having some guest posts around because you never know when life will interfere.

    Reply
    • Michelle Shaeffer says

      July 18, 2012 at 6:21 pm

      Guest posts are great for helping fill in those moments when life happens. :)

      Reply
  15. puneet tyagi says

    July 20, 2012 at 9:18 am

    blog consistency is very important , i have noticed it many times that i start to lose my user if i dont work on my blog for a week or more ….thanx for the fact :)

    Reply
  16. Rajkumar Jonnala says

    July 20, 2012 at 9:20 am

    hello admin you observed the fact very smartly ……..every one face this situation and the best answer for this is to give your blog in safe hands for work if you are going on vacations or somewhere else

    Reply
  17. Rachel Z. Cornell says

    July 20, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    Consistently writing is easy. Consistently posting, with all the axillary tasks that goes with it is still a new habit for me.

    The coolest thing just happened on my site. commenter are beginning to interact with one another. I love that! I suspect consistently posting helped facilitate this.

    Reply
  18. Gabi says

    August 25, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    Something to improve on – I only post a couple of times a month, as those are the reasorces I have at this point. I spend a lot of time studying about blogging and about my niche, so it’s not possible posting more than that just yet.

    I have seen yr YouTube vid about this subject and I do agree! I love the idea of pre-scheduled posts and I will implement that as soon as I have improved on my photo skills and editing. Photos are my biggest hurtles at the moment {apart from spambot – which I have fixed with GASP, thx to u! <3 } and my blog is highly dependent on photos.

    I have also activated the editorial calendar plugin so that should come in handy when I'm ready, though I'm having some issues with it in the wp app so I'll have to see to that from my pc. – so much to learn, so little time!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

New Articles & Tutorials

  • 7 Tips to Help Optimize Your Online Store to Increase Sales
  • Stop Competing. Start Collaborating. (It’s the secret to escape the zombie-preneur apocalypse!)
  • How Your Current Field Can Help You Enter the Digital Marketing World
  • 5 Simple Ways to Be More Effective as a Solopreneur
  • How to Use Content Intelligence Like the “Big Guys”

Get Daily Business Tips & Inspiration

Get Daily Business Tips & Inspiration

There’s One Thing I Know…

Hi, I'm Michelle. And here's what I know: you're here with a purpose and I can help you achieve it. I write this blog to make sure you've got the tools, tactics, and inspiration you need to make a go of building your passion and purpose into your own successful, profitable business. So, welcome! Stay a while.

Disclosure: Some blog posts, articles or other content on this website contain affiliate links for products or services I recommend.
This means I may receive a commission or other compensation if you choose to purchase something I've shared with you.

Terms of Use | Privacy | Affiliate Agreement | Anti-Spam | External Links | DCMA Policy | Earnings Disclaimer
© 2000-2024.