How Often Should Freelance Writers Blog?
When you started your freelance writing blog, you probably struggled with the question of how frequently to post.
Back when I began my first blog (It was called "Confessions of a Keyword Concubine"), the prevailing wisdom was that writers should post every day, or at least every week day.
The Daily Approach–Pros and Cons
There were some pros to posting daily. First, the daily posts proved to clients that you were capable of maintaining a rigorous schedule. Second, thinking of new things to write about every day was an excellent form of self discipline. Finally, offering a fresh post daily was a great way to draw regular readers to my site. They would drop in several times a week just to see what was happening. Many of them left encouraging comments which were music to my newbie blogger's ears (well, eyes).
Daily blogging wasn't all paradise, though. There were some significant cons. It was really hard to think of something new to say every single day, and it was all too easy to start regurgitating my own posts or ideas from other websites.
Another problem was the time factor. As I started to get more paying gigs, I had less time to devote to coming up with daily blog posts. I decided it was time to try a new method.
When the Spirit Moves Me
Regina Sewell, a sociologist, counselor and a hell of a writer, maintains a blog called Peering into Fog about her mother's battle with Alzheimer's disease. She doesn't post on any kind of schedule. Instead, she saves her posts for thoughts and experiences that touch her deeply.
Her blog posts touch readers deeply because they were written from a place of passion and compassion. Also, she doesn't have to motivate herself to write something she's just not feeling.
I tried my friend's method for a while, but I had to give it up. For one thing, I learned that very few freelance writing topics moved me to rush to my computer and blog about them. This meant that my blog would sometimes go weeks or even months without a new post–a turnoff to potential clients and visitors, if ever there was one. The deciding factor came when a would-be client sent me an email asking if I was still in business!
A Limited Schedule Is Just Right for Me
Obviously, I needed to make an adjustment, so I decided on a compromise. I would post twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.
With a boost from a great book called Blogger's Block, I had no problem finding things to write about. Posting twice a week kept my blog looking populated and allowed me to build up a library of articles without sacrificing the time I needed to spend on paid gigs.
I'd found my ideal solution, but I now it's not one that works for everyone.
How often do you update your blog? Has the frequency changed over time?