Content is King - But What Does His Crown Look Like?

If there’s a cliche that is the cliche that cliches all cliches in the world of blogging, it is

“Content is King”

And so, many a blogger go on his or her merry way writing, stealing, pimping and posting “content” because it is the magic elixir that gives you life everlasting. Listen, boss, slow down for a second.

Yes, content is very, very important. It’s as important as design, but - wait for it - it has to be good content.

Go West Young Blond

Look, this is no different that the hoards of hopefuls that flood Hollywood in search of fame and a paying gig. Just like LA, the Internet is full of would-be dot-com millionaires looking for the next Internet company - just in the blogging world (you know, because of the lower overhead).

You need to be where the action, you need to have the right look, you need a little bit of luck and you need to be a good actor.

In the blogging world, this translates into (1) being on the Internets, (2) good design, (3) er…uh, well…being lucky and (4) having good content.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” vs. “Shell-Shocked”

Well, if I were only given two words to some up the post, it would be “Don’t suck.” Brutal advice, but solid, clear and unequivocal. (George Carlin would be proud.)

It’s not very helpful to tell people to write better and have interesting things to say. But, the blogging world is not a paint-by-numbers project. You might make something resembling a watercolor, but no one will mistake it for art. The craft part of it is important because you are creating something - not just running TPS reports. (Peter, don’t forget that we’re putting new covers on our TPS reports.)

Work on your craft. Read books on writing. Stephen King’s On Writing is a perfect primer. Accessible and practical.

Instead of writing the next “$number Things that $dosomething” post because it’s easy - put down the Cheez-Whiz and start sauteing some garlic. First, because you can never go wrong with garlic. Second, because having a take on something - your own take - will distinguish you from the crowd.

Try to make what you post interesting and good, but if you can’t paint a Monet every single time - I understand. In that case, be original. Stop retweeting, reposting, blind linking the same story found in 6 other places on the Net.

Rubies Are For More Than Rails

Setting yourself apart from the crowd is important because things that are scarce have value. The world’s rules are the same for rubies as they are for bloggers. Even the perception of scarcity implies that something is in demand.

Look, I guess there are some minimum requirements for how to create and sustain a successful blog. You can learn those in a few hours worth of research on the web. But, beyond that - if anyone is telling you there is a magic blueprint to follow - run in the opposite direction.

Be remarkably uncommon.

Okay, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. I mean, I only have 35 subscribers as of yesterday, and 15 of those are subscribed by iTunes (including me and my mom). But, mark this date down, come back to me in a year and let’s see where everything is at. If I’m unsuccessful, it will have been because I did stuff that was unremarkable and uninteresting. Not - repeat, NOT - because I failed to write a “Top 10″ post a week, a review, then post a screencast, etc.

Add witty tag line here….