Why You Don't Need a Blogging Strategy

One of the most common pieces of advice for new bloggers is to make sure you have a blogging strategy.

A blogging strategy is when you break down your niche into 8-12 categories and then disperse your articles evenly among them. For example, if your niche is baseball instruction, you may have categories in the following areas:

• Hitting

• Fielding

• Throwing

• Baserunning

• Pitching

• Infield Play

• Outfield Play

• Strategy

• Preparation

• Strength and mobility training

You would then write one article from each category until you've covered all ten - before repeating the process. Some advice bloggers will even go so far as to recommend you write from separate groups or classifications within each category.

For example, hitting may have several sub-categories:

• Bunting

• Hitting with two strikes

• Outside pitches

• Inside pitches

• Batting stances

• Power

And so on.

The idea of a blogging strategy is that it enables you to get valuable feedback about your niche. Some areas may see more traffic than others, and thus this lets you know where to focus your efforts.

It makes sense, and it does provide some good intel. The problem, however, is that it isn't right for everyone. In fact, it can place such a heavy burden on your writing that makes it difficult to even produce a solid paragraph.

You see, writing is hard enough in the best of circumstances. To write on cue, as if someone telling you to just be funny, can be an impossible challenge. A much better "strategy" - or non-strategy - is to wait for inspiration.

This is the tact I've used for the many years because, simply put, it makes my writing better. If I'm motivated and inspired and feel as if I have something to say, the writing flows and the product is good.

I may not have the data someone with a blogging strategy has been able to acquire, but in the end I don't think it matters.

What matters is writing great stuff. It's writing with passion that readers can feel oozing off the screen. It's the kind of wring that draws in readers and motivates them to click on more articles, subscribe, and maybe even buy something.

Which is the whole point.

So, my advice? Skip the blogging strategy and write about what is on your heart. Sit in your easy chair, close your eyes, and think on your niche. Wait for your topic to rise to the surface and then get writing.

Let it come naturally. Trust your instinct. And you'll grow - as a writer and a business.

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