So I'm taking part in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge (well, exercise - you're just challenging yourself) from ProBlogger Darren Rowse.

I thought in the spirit of designing in public I'd let you know what I've done so far and how it's all going, as we're about half way through. If you have a blog or are interested in starting one, you can't go wrong doing this challenge too or simply bookmarking this post (and the second one I'll do at the end of the 31 days) and checking out each step. You totally do not have to do it in 31 days straight - I am, because otherwise it will get superceded by everything else, but you can do it at your own pace or just browse through the tips to see if anything sounds useful to you.

Each of these numbers corresponds to a daily task, and my comment afterwards is what I did with it.

1. Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog

I have one! W00t! "Association/non-profit blog on social media, community building, strategic imagination." Check!

2. Write a List Post

Awesome coincidence, had just written one! List posts are great, everyone loves them and they are pretty easy to write.

3. Promote a Blog Post

I didn't do more than I already do on this task, but there are lots of good tips here. I'm already all over the web, I figured I should keep on keeping on and not saturate the market (hehehe)!

4. Analyze a Top Blog in Your Niche

I actually skipped this one. I like to do my own thing, having had a bit of success with it so far... :)

5. Email a Blog Reader

I'm pretty good at interacting with my blog community (I hope), but this was a great coincidence that I asked you guys for help on that same day.

6.Must Read Advice from Successful Bloggers

I wasn't too thrilled with this. There were three posts each from nine bloggers. I would have preferred one from each, or having them be organized by subject matter (for example so I could skip all the monetizing ones - I don't plan to ever put ads on this blog). Having said that, Liz Strauss on why people don't comment and this one on 43 web design mistakes to avoid were fantastic posts.

7. Write a Link Post

This one was easy for me; I linked to the Leadership Meme post that I had just written. I probably need to actually write more of my own stuff and quit linking to everyone else all the time. hahaha....

8. Interlink Your Old Blog Posts

Interlinking to older blog posts is something I think I do pretty well, as I try to write thematically. I've bookmarked this one though, to come back to periodically. If I had time I would do more of this.

9. Join a Forum and Start Participating

Hmmm... Lucky me!

10. Set Up ‘Alerts’ to Monitor What is Happening in Your Niche

Dude. Listening? I'm all over it. :)

11. Come Up with 10 Post Ideas

"Ever run out of things to write about on your blog?" Ummm... no. Skipped this one. I have a bunch of posts in draft at all times. Can't keep up with all the stuff I want to write about. But if you ever get blogger's block, read this post. His exercises for extending past posts are really good.

12. Develop an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

I skipped this too. I have my weekly chat post set to go on Thursdays, otherwise I post when I have good stuff to post. Which is pretty much all the time (I hope you agree!). If I tried to get more "organized" about it all my backlog would probably get worse.

13. Take a Trip to the ‘Mall’ and Improve Your Blog

I haven't actually done this specifically yet, but I do like to think about what I see out there in the real world. I think I'll save this one for later.

14. Update a Key Page on Your Blog

This one was another no-brainer for me, I'm continuously changing my about page (linked from my license plate above, currently points to my website about page), moving stuff around on here and trying widgets and thinking about usability. BUT, I want to find a way to move all my badges and many of my widgets to somewhere other than the sidebar, as it all gets messy (even though I change them up a lot and get rid of stuff that's not useful). Need to figure this one out still. If anyone has any ideas let me know - I don't think you can do "pages" on Blogger, not that I can figure out anyway.

15. Find a Blog Buddy.

Hmmm. Check! :)


So I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that so far I've been able to do all these tasks pretty easily (or skip them because I was already doing the directives in general). But I think this has been a really useful project so far. It's hard to take a step back and look at your own blog as an evolving piece of work, and doing something like this has helped me confirm that there's a lot about blogging that I "get" instinctively, that it comes naturally to me I suppose, but also it's been good for thinking about it all in a different way than just "from the gut". I'm enjoying it a lot and can't wait to see what the next 2 weeks worth of tasks will be. I'll certainly let you know with another recap later, and we'll see together whether it's helped me build a better blog after all...!

Originally posted @ SocialFishing...