Post length: Does size matter?

I'm not really sure why a lot of people think that blogging has to take a lot of time. It doesn't. It can be as simple as a single photograph with a sentence or two. It definitely takes time to build a readership, the thing is, it doesn't have to take a lot of time to write your posts.

If you're not good at writing, vlog, creating short video clips that you upload and embed in your posts. Even if you only post once or twice a week, as long as you're sharing something interesting, helpful or entertaining, people will appreciate your efforts and will start to follow you.

One of the shortest posts I've ever written.

The first blog post I ever wrote back on Feb. 3, 2006 was titled "A Meatless Cheeseburger." It was 52 words long and contained one photo.

By comparison the most popular post I've written to date: How Much Should Your Wedding DJ Cost? is 2706 words long and contains 6 images.

I'm not saying that you have to work your way up to 2700 words each time you post. A longer post gives you more opportunities to use more keywords and phrases but if you're telling a story that is uncontrived the length is less relevant, imo, than the flow. What I wanted to share with you is that it's a process. Reaching 2700 words is something I learned to do over the course of four years of practice. Practice that's made me a more proficient writer (I'm still a work in progress) and taught me my writer's voice is best suited for story telling longer, magazine style articles than short updates. The cool thing is it's my blog so there's nothing wrong with that.

One of the longest posts I've ever written

So what is my point? My point is that we all have to start somewhere and somewhere can be 52 words long. There's nothing wrong with humble beginnings. More important than how long your post is, is simply to begin. We're at the start of a new year so this is a great time to take to your keyboard and begin to blog, or commit to blogging more frequently (like at least twice a week).

If you're a business owner the posts you create will help drive more readers to your website, and can even help impress future clients to the point that they choose you over a competitor simply because they liked your blog more. It's true. I know someone that happened to, only it wasn't their blog the client liked better :(

I started blogging to drive traffic to my website. It definitely worked. But then I realized early on the bigger benefit of blogging, for me, was meeting and helping people. The desire to help my readers then inspired me to do more unusual things to share with them, which has made has my life a whole lot more interesting than it used to be :)

So start blogging. Or blog more. And if you need inspiration on what to write about, visit my previous post: Recognizing Bloggable Moments