Sean Johnson has an interesting post on how to get a successful blog up and running in six weeks. I don’t know whether the six-week timeframe is realistic; Technorati’s most recent state-of-the-blogosphere report outlined some differences between what it classifies as blogs with low, middle and high authority:
The Low Authority Group (3-9 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
The average blog age (the number of days that the blog has been in existence) is about 228 days, which shows a real commitment to blogging. However, bloggers of this type average only 12 posts per month, meaning that their posting habits are generally dedicated but infrequent.
The Middle Authority Group (10-99 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
This contrasts somewhat with the second group, which enjoys an average age not much older than the first at 260 days and which posts 50% more frequently than the first. There is a clear correlation between posting volume and Technorati authority ranking.
The High Authority Group (100-499 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
The third group represents a decided shift in blog age while not blogging much more frequently than the last. In keeping with the theme of the maturation of the blogosphere, it seems evident that many of these bloggers were previously in category two and have grown in authority organically over time. In other words, sheer dedication pays off over time.
Beyond that is the elite group with the highest authority. Interestingly 42 days, or six weeks, doesn’t seem to be a long enough time to even get to the “middle authority” group. I agree you can get a good start at six weeks, but as the Technorati report says, sheer dedication over time is what makes the difference between the middle and high authority blogs.
I’m not sure what Sean would define as “successful” but he does have a good list of potential blogging benefits. I guess you could be successful in achieving some of those goals without reaching a higher authority level, and within a relatively short time, but I see the six-week figure as helpful mainly because it’s long enough to create a blogging habit which, if continued, can lead to longer-term success. Steve Rubel’s list of tips says much the same; keep at it and bank on the Long Tail to get results over time.
Technorati: Blog, Marketing, Technorati, Long Tail
Thanks for the feedback. I totally agree with you – it takes much longer than six weeks to make any blogging effort viable. I do think that if one were to develop the habits discussed in that post, they would be in fantastic shape, for a number of reasons:
1 – They’ll have laid a solid foundation by posting regularly (good habits, as you said)
2 – They’ll be approaching it in the right way – sharing interesting things they discover with others while simultaneously focusing their posts on adding value.
3 – They’ll be much more immersed in what’s going on in their industry, likely will have formed relationships with a number of other bloggers, and will have a solid understanding of the kinds of content their readers would most appreciate.
4 – They’ll have experience with studying their analytics. They say what gets measured gets improved, and after tinkering with their numbers they’ll likely be hooked on thinking of new and interesting ways to create compelling content.
The reasons above should help them create a ton of positive momentum to carry things forward – but it remains a very long term process. Even then there is no magic pill – I’ve been blogging for four years (albeit for wildly different reasons) and I only once broke into Alexa’s top 100,000 and then only for a moment. 🙂
Be well,
-s
Looks nice