It’s been 15 months now in my blogging journey and I’ve loved every bit of it so far. Today I’m taking the time to share about what I’ve been learning over the past 3-4 months during my blogging journey.

First, thanks for being with me through this whole process. Your input as readers, thinkers, and other voices in a bigger conversation are what help me sharpen and refine and challenge my way of thinking. For all the times and ways in which I haven’t said it enough: thank you.

These are some of my random thoughts about blogging. If you’re a fellow poster or have an inkling to start your own blog sometime soon, these might come in handy.

• I’ve mentioned in the past that I try to plan out my upcoming post topics at least two weeks in advance. It’s a good thought but really I’ve found that there needs to be some flexibility, in case something great comes up spontaneously.
• I still recommend planning out upcoming posts and using great resources like iCal or Google Calendar to make it easier, cleaner, and more efficient.
• I’m going to include more of my personal life in my future posts. Now that Kara’s in my life, I’d like to capture some of our memories together. For example, we flew out to Minnesota yesterday for a week with her family, some of my favorite people in the world. (I’d say that even if I knew that none of them would read this.)
• Klout is a newfound love of mine. It has some great resources that remove the nebulous effect of stats and replaces them with more meaningful metrics that have a real purpose.
• Having a quality picture and layout for your blog goes a long way towards how people respond to your voice. Do yourself a favor: don’t go with the photo that looks like a cropped, red-eyed, and blurry pic from the cellphone of a liquored-up college kid. Spend a little money to get quality, professional photos. If the photographer is a friend, you might even get a “good friend” discount.
• Recently I got an iPhone and have been using Evernote to capture all my ideas in the moment. If you’re not familiar with Evernote, I’d recommend giving it a try. Even if it’s for something simple, like a grocery list, it’s worth the hassle of learning Evernote.
• You’re probably not going to post every day. It’s unrealistic to keep up with that type of rhythm and expect to maintain quality throughout all of your posts. Set a goal of posting two, three, five times a week and then stick with it.