There are three types of blog posts (and generally a given blog will feature one type predominately).
- Independent and not linking to outside sources. These are the ones that are written from the top of the head and are less likely to be successful without the writer themselves being independently well known.
- Blogs that self-link as well as linking to outside sources. These are the ones that typically cover a small realm of topics and tend to go very deep within those topics.
- Externally facing blogs that predominately link to outside sources. These tend to cover a wider range of topics and don’t try to be the expert in an area other than maybe information management (breaking stories quickly).
It is absolutely possible to be successful with any of the three styles. And success in this context could mean developing an audience, becoming an expert and/or keeping up with personal goals.
I’ve been clear that I have no real goal of intentionally building an audience with this blog (I’m very much a #1 above). However, if the audience comes I certainly won’t turn it away. I try to write what feels right and may impact the area that I have the most experience in. But I’m a firm believer that any particular expertise is more informed by the fuzzy edges than it is from depth in the specific topic.
Isolated experts write text books and teach. Fuzzy experts push the world forward.
But back to the topic at hand. Regardless of why you blog or what you blog, know who you are. Write the way you want to be read. Don’t assume there are 10 rules to a successful blog or 21 rules to building an audience. The only way it works is if you are happy with what you are doing and can keep it up.