A Blog Posting Mantra

When I was coaching baseball, our hitters memorized this mantra for a great swing:

"Front Foot Closed, Back Foot Pivot, Back Shoulder Turns, Head At Contact."

Here's the checklist (mantra?) I offer for a great posting practice

1. Write Post First - Sometimes we humans can get on a rabbit trail. By writing the post first, you don't handcuff yourself to a certain title.
2. Then Title Post - By doing writing your headline after the post, you'll have a better headline and it will match the content of the post.
3. Pick a Category - You may decide to add a new category after the first two steps.
4. At Least One Link Out - This practice extends the conversation. If you can't find a blog, find something relevant. I also suggest to link within your sites, but don't be a dead-end.
5. Image Above the Fold - Understand that many are reading from feed aggregators. If an image helps tell the story, make sure the reader doesn't have to scroll to see it - they may not scroll.
6. Tag Your Post - I prefer Technorati. You may prefer something else. In any case, make sure you use tags. Think find-ability and link-ability.The easier you are to find, the better your chances of people linking back.
7. And Ping 'Em - Use Pingoat or Pingomatic to let blog search engines know you've updated your site.

This list doesn't talk about length, voice, subject matter or ethics - and it's not meant to do that. This is a checklist that can be used to make sure you touch all the bases. From a mechanics of posting perspective, what else is on your checklist?

To experience this checklist "live," join me at the Get Started Blogging Workshop on May 21st in Clive, Iowa. Less than a dozen seats remain.

Technorati Tags: How-to Blog, Blog Workshop, Blogging Tips

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