Planning AND flexibility are key to blogging success
Yes, think about who you want to attract to your blog, know your purpose for writing, be confident that things will work precisely as you envision them. . . then be prepared to have something entirely unintended happen. Sorry to break the news that even with the best planning possible, you’re still not queen/king of the universe! 
Carson Brackney, has written a guest post over at Copyblogger called Falling in Love with the Unintended Audience which details his experience in attracting an unintended audience and how he responded to his unplanned guests.
Along with his story, Carson offers some advice on what you can do if you find yourself facing a different blog community than who you had hoped to attract. In addition to his great questions, I add these:
- Is it imperative to reach your originally envisioned audience?
- Are you enjoying your “new” audience and the community that’s building?
- Is the writing (and/or your overall blog) fulfilling for you?
- Can you find other ways to accomplish the important goals you have?
So, I hope this post has served you, my intended audience. And, even if I didn’t originally imagine you here at my blog, I welcome you!
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FOCUS, BUT DON’T BE GENERIC
Nobody wants their blog to become an “echo chamber” in which they’re only talking to themselves. I’ll be glad if people simply show up and take an interest in the content of aBetterWestVirginia.com.
Shonnie has discussed the significance of planning content in order to reach your intended audience. This is a powerful process because it helps establish purpose and requires much consideration of the reader’s perspective (I’m currently taking part in and recommend her “Simple, Successful Blogging Programâ€)
But Carson Brackney points out that we can’t necessarily control who reads our content. He cautions bloggers not to isolate an unintended audience, but to embrace them, for their interest can help your blog “grow organically.†“[Create] something that’s authentic, responsive and free to grow instead of building arbitrary restrictions around it,†says Carson. In the end, you’ll be happier about what you’re posting, and still enhance credibility through your readership, even if they’re not exactly who you’d like to show up.
p.s. Let’s hear some comments from my fellow classmates.
Comment by J. Keeling — April 15, 2007 @ 5:05 pm