I am going to stop blogging weekly before I failed. I am going to explain why.
Since I started blogging (last month😅, I am a beginner) I have been using exclusively my phone to write my blog posts because I had to take care of my baby girl. That's leading me to create the following interesting post:
Then I realized that you enjoyed the objective content and it's getting better if there is a short screen capture video showing how to. Here is another blog post with short video:
As @inhuofficial said in his blog post:
It is much better to release an article regularly every 2 or 4 weeks than it is to release sporadically (I should know, I was guilty of this).
People quickly pick up on patterns, even subconsciously, so if you post at a certain time at a regular interval people will start anticipating your articles.
I am carefully trying to say that I am not going to vanish 🥴! But I don't know yet the interval that I am going to publish the next articles.
Why now?
Post quality
I will need to screen capture my notebook for the following posts, so I will need more time to make it happens.
Opportunities
Some opportunities appear because I am blogging. So I need more free time to grab those opportunities and see what is going to happen 😆.
Last week I participated at Twitter Space hosted by @sohinip and @avdev4j
I didn't expect talk in the end and after the space @avdev4j said that want to elaborate something to we do together. Until now I didn't talk to him about that 🤦♂️, but I will be available now 😉
Reading & Engaging
I have 90 articles pending to read and join the discussion. How am I going to write if I don't have time to read, sometimes interesting subjects appear even in the discussion section.
Buffer my posts
My first blog post was on Tuesday, the next week was on Wednesday, then Thursday and now on Friday. It is crystal clear that I couldn't keep up this pace.
So I decided that before I come back to publish again I am going to build up a buffer. I don't know if I will buffer 3 or 5 blog posts before publishing again.
I do know that with that buffer I won't feel the pressure to create another post immediately.
Top comments (12)
Thanks for sharing your experience and quoting @inhuofficial 's post to which I wrote a lengthy, ambivalent, reply.
My own article buffer has diminished to those drafts that are not easy to complete (as they depend on side projects or further research). I used to release one article per week (nothing to do with DEV's badge gamification at all, or maybe it has) so I have to prepare a new article on Friday to finish and release on Monday. Looking back on the notes in my notebook, there is usually one of the TIL ("today I learned") notes that is worth an article without spending too much time and effort.
But to ensure quality over quantity in the long term, and making sure I have enough time for important projects and gettings some more time outdoors in the sun, I plan to change my release rhythm and probably only release a new article every 2 or 4 weeks from now on.
Thank you so much for the feedback 💖
I am @inhuofficial fan, I followed a lot of his tips and it is working. I read your comment on inhu post and I loved it!
I have a lot of those drafts that are not easy to complete 😮! I realized that it isn't enough for me to continue blogging weekly. I am afraid to diminish my buffer too, so I am considering 3 or 4 weeks as my time frame.
The badge gamification almost made me continue because I thought it is a hint from the DEV creators. But I gave up because I won't be able to reach the 16 weeks, so better stop now with only one badge 😪
I was considering using this article to buy some time until I finish my next one, but I will be in the same situation next week.
Same here! I am going to keep enjoying the writing process and I will have time to go deep on the use of jhipster to create more content for My ❤️ jhipster series.
Hey, thanks both for the kind words / mentions.
There are only a couple of things I can add!
First is to answer the question "How many posts do you recommend to buffer❓"
Certainly I would recommend a buffer of 12 weeks as the end-game. This gives you 3 months worth of content in case you are ill, start a new job, move house etc. and takes all the stress out of content creation. If you ever eat into that buffer then you also have loads of time to catch it up (as if you use 4 weeks of buffer material you still don't need to stress as you have 8 weeks buffer remaining).
However while starting out a 4 week buffer is plenty big enough to remove a lot of stress from content creation and consistency.
The second thing I can add is don't worry about changing how often you post early on.
You haven't posted long enough that anyone will have noticed the pattern, it takes some time to establish the pattern.
In fact now is the ideal time to find a release schedule that you know you can keep (remember, you can release bonus stuff, but breaking a streak of consistent releases will damage you slightly).
Release once a month if that is comfortable for you. If you find you have free time then first fill up your buffer (which would be 3 buffer posts on a monthly release schedule).
Once the buffer is full, if you still have free time then just release some extra content, there is nothing wrong with that.
Above anything write what you enjoy and can do without impacting your daily life in a negative way, a slower release schedule only means you will build connections slower...but you will still build connections and that is all that matters.
Oh and "quality over quantity" as @ingosteinke said should be your guiding principle if you release less often!
Thank you so much for the detailed advice! It's gold 🪙 for me and I appreciate that you take the time to do that! As I commented on your post, I thought only after a year I will talk to you 😂
That's what I am looking for! When I think about 3 months ahead to worry about content, it brings me peace ☺️. But If I understand right, the idea is to keep the buffer filled 💪
I was confused about that. Thank you for clarifying it.
I will first start filling the buffer, but I want to start posting again at least in a month.
I like the idea of a monthly release and if I'm filling the buffer faster I could publish two articles each month. 😌
Thank you for reminding me about that 🤜🤛
I have more questions @inhuofficial, Where do you store the buffer? On your local machine? Do you use Notion?
I write my stuff in a custom program I built (something I am working on to release publicly next year).
Notion is pretty good, ironically I use that for everything except writing! 🤣 Or do what I did at the beginning and just store them as drafts on DEV!
Oh and a great tool I use is called raindrop.io for researching articles and keeping my bookmarks organised. Nothing to do with the buffer but that is defo a tool worth checking out!
And feel free to reach out with questions (either here or DM me on Twitter), I am planning a series for writers in August so it is all useful for me as well as I know what questions newer writers want answering! ❤️
Thank you one more time!☺
I am volunteering to be the beta tester and I will make a blog post about it on the release date! Please, launch with a free plan!
I do agree! I am using Notion, but it is too slow on my OnePlus 6 phone. I will go to the draft tactics and keep a backup on notion 🤭
😮! That's awesome ✨
I think that will be a really good series, I hope I will be your successful case as a mentor 😅
Follow me back on Twitter and I will DM you 👋
Thank you for the mention @renanfranca ♥️
Looking forward to many more Twitter Spaces together !!
You are welcome 😃
I loved the Twitter Spaces with you and Anthony! Both of you make it comfortable for guest speaking ☺
Yayy 🥳 Thank you! Cheers to many more spaces together ♥️
Please, give me some advice. Am I doing the wrong way❓ How many posts do you recommend to buffer❓ Are you blogging regularly, share your experience with us 😁
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Good luck!
Thank you 🤗