As promised, I am going to outline the parameters of this one year blogging case study. It's not much of a case study if it doesn't have any rules or goals, as without those this is just blogging for fun. Although, I do hope this case study is going to be fun. This is so I can hold myself accountable this year, and others can do the same in case I miss something. These rules and goals also give us something to measure, so we know whether or not this thing is successful, and successful in the right ways.
Rules
- One blog post per day, every day. No more than one per day.
- Blog topics, although not dictated in any way, must be suitable for all audiences
- At no point during the year can someone else write a post
- At no point during the year can I copy and paste a press release or another piece of content that has previously been published online (essentially, all content must be original content)
- At least once a quarter, time must be spent to evaluate the progress of the case study i.e. write a post about the data gathered up to that point
- Amplification (emailing posts, sharing them on social media etc.) of the blog isn't required, but highly recommended
- Each post needs to follow current blogging best practices (which shall be outlined in tomorrow's post, but some of which can already be guessed by the form and tone of this post and yesterday's post)
Goals
- To demonstrate what can be accomplished with one full year of quality, consistent blogging
- To illustrate that best practices are a big part of blogging achievement
- To show that a blog can be started from scratch and turned into something great
- To disprove the notions that blogging is a waste of time, that blogs are oversaturated in anyway, and that blogs have oversaturated the Internet
- To set a standard of what good blogging means, from both a personal and a professional perspective
- To save the world (or make progress toward that achievement)
Can This Case Study be Accomplished?
I think it's doable. It's certainly not going to be easy, as at the very least I have to come with at least one thing per day to write about, without devolving into opinion or nonsense or other babble that no one cares about. This case study can be accomplished, and it must, or else it sets the example that blogging consistently for one year is impossible. Even if the results after one full year were dismal, it still must be done. However, if the results were dismal, then I might have to revise my business strategy and the content marketing strategies my business offers.
What Will It Take to Do This?
A lot of things, because the obvious dedication, willpower, belief, and creativity needed to produce any other great blog. Although those qualities are necessary, they are not enough. Here's a list of what else is needed to see this blogging case study to the end:
- An Editorial Calendar - This is so blog post ideas can be planned out ahead of time. It lessens the strain of having to write something everyday.
- Google Analytics - We have this installed so that we can track those things mentioned yesterday. The Wordpress numbers only track so much, and the reporting isn't nearly as robust.
- My Action Planner - This is necessary so that I don't forget to write my blog post for the day. I use the planner to add the posts to my task list as well to schedule it for each day.