Blog Evaluation
Someone (Hm-m-m!) once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Good advice for a blog, as well, don’t you think? So this morning, in the interests of giving this blog some focus (while also procrastinating), I have examined the topics and frequency of previous blogs.
Blog frequency? Two at the end of May, eleven in June, four in July, one in August. The frequency has obviously fallen off.
Topics? Six essays on aging, five on nature and other observations, four on attitude, two on health, and one on family.
Therefore, to
- increase blog frequency,
- create accountability,
- address niche issues (aging well with grace, wisdom, wonder and joy) and
- also have fun writing about subjects that catch my fancy,
I am publishing the following editorial calendar for all the world to see. (So far, that’s a world of 10 people who have left comments, 35 “unique visitors” and 30 spammers.)
Mondays: Posts about Aging: health, diet, exercise, attitude, etc.
Wednesday: Pop-up Proverbs. My intention is not to look for these, hence the term “Pop-up.” But if they were to pop up in an e-mail from a reader (that’s a hint), it would count. In lieu of pop-ups, there’s always Grandma’s Little Notebook of Sayings.
Friday: Cook’s Choice. This means personal essays, musings about sharks, snails, storms or other (self-defined) insightful observations.
Talk to me: What do you think? Still too broad? Too self-serving? If so, what type of articles would be more helpful and/or entertaining? Book reviews? Cultural commentary?
Anyone out there?
Okay, here’s my take. Two times a week might be the best in the sense of TIME to read yours and others. I love all three of these you’ve listed, tho, so maybe if they are short I’d do it. Again, I have to figure out how to get it to just BE THERE and not think about, “Okay who’s blog do I want to read today”
I only scanned the posts about sharks, etc. Cause I have WAY too much to do today, and am procrastinating horrilbe. (Really I am waiting for B & J to leave so I can make some phone calls and get serious with business work…they are distracting me…….NO, I am letting them distract me!
Keep reminding me of those people who are enjoying getting older and don’t find it depressing. I find it very depressing to be turning __ years old, and don’t even like to tell people. I have to get an attitude of this is “cool” or “unique” or “special or SOMETHING>
Sorry…didn’t mean to write another blog! ha
Thanks for your input, Phyllis. I appreciate it.
Don’t worry about not reading every post. Today, I’ve had to ignore the blogs I really enjoy in order to get my own done, because once I start reading them, it’s difficult to stop. It’s one more thing to budget time for. I do love comments, though — even short ones.
Re: Turning __. It really is just a number. And it’s not nearly as ancient as I used to think. Also – just like any other birthday – when that day comes, you’ll be only one day older than the day before – not a decade, not even a year.
Do I need to teach you ladies about RSS feeds?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSPZ2Uu_X3Y
You talkin’ to me? I use it all the time, but they feed into iGoogle, not Google Reader. Does Reader work better? Yvonne uses a Firefox add-on called “Coffee Cup.”
@Cheryl
Google Reader gives you more features and lets you organize feed into folders. Searching is easy when you want to find something. Try adding your feed there to give it a try.
Re: your goals I like that you publicize it for motivation. Any progess is better than ‘sliding downward’ The list is just broad enough for the flexibility you’ll need, since life can interrupt blogging!
If you have a quiet moment, then stockpile posts for next week… well, you can dream!
SBA, Thank you so much for the info on Reader. I’m supposing you mean it has more features than IGoogle. I hadn’t tried Reader, figuring it was just for those who didn’t use Gmail.
Yes, motivation was the reason for publicizing my goals — and I actually followed the calendar — for half a week. This week, life has definitely interrupted blogging, though I’ve also come to the conclusion that life is good fodder for ideas!