I am thinking of running a personal blog, the blog and portfolio are in one site, and deep down my secondary mission is to tell potential clients that I know my craft (as I am still waiting for my first job).
Now its been a week or two since I started thinking about content that I am going to write. I installed my blog locally and I have been writing tutorials as if I was live.
So far I have written a series of posts on “the basics of jQuery”. After this series finishes I wand to write a series on CSS3 (and overview of the basics) - and then go live and publish them one by one.
My first question is: is fine to write about the basics (of CSS3) even though other blogs have already covered them. For example if I write a post on “what is CSS3” I am sure that there are blogs out there that have written on this topic way back in 2010 - so would my post be considered out of date, or would be been seen as useful for beginners (my skills of conveying my message is another matter, just in terms of covering a topic that is already covered - it is a good idea)
My second question. Lets say I have planned to write a series of blog posts on the basics of CSS3. I publish one of these twice a week and say the series would end on three weeks time. During this time, is it ok to write other posts (advanced) on CSS3, or would it be recommended to finish the series first.
So in my mind I was thinking of keep writing “the basics of …” but in parallel if I discover something new on CSS3 just write about it?
And lastly, if I have enough content to write 2/3 times a week. How far apart should be “series” on the basics of [something] be published. Should they be published one after the other (so the 3 posts a week should be all on the series I started) or how much gap.
Are you looking for freelance work or permanent employment? For freelance work a portfolio would be extremely useful but only if you have ‘proper’ completed projects on display. I don’t think tutorials/articles will carry much wait. It’s the good old catch-22.
I am looking for permanent work. I have a portfolio with screenshots and working on putting sample live.
BUT anyway, even if it does not help with clients, I want to blog for my self, so my questions still stand, If anyone could give me some opinions around them, I would greatly appreciate it
Thanks
I have this friend who writes about stuff and “categorizes” them. You could call that a series since you’re focusing on just one category for that set of posts. It’s okay, in my opinion, if you’re going to post about something else in between. Just take note that you have to make sure that you will finish that series you were talking about. If you have a schedule, make sure that you’re going to follow it.
During,doing the blog comment , I think we should remember these things…
1.This, will justify your blog niche.
2.Your readers will come to know more about your blogging style
3.You readers will know which topic you write on which day, thus will wait for your articles to go live
4.It will help you to concentrate on your articles more
I think first of all you have to consider who you want to be reading your posts. IMO, those who want to do css and php themselves are the ones who seek out tutorials on these subjects. If you want to promote your services, you must write what your prospective clients will want to see. For instance, a piece on what a good php backend can help a website improve its performance and result in better following or a case study on work that you did that helped another customer (with their permission of course if you name names). These are the things that will draw business your way instead of just helping other developers find their way.
Even though it is probably on other blogs its not a bad idea if your planning on covering multiple parts of CSS3, especially if your trying to attract beginners. After all a lot of information is multiple places online, you just want them to use yours.
I don’t think it’s much of a problem to include some beginner level posts. Just because other sites out there have written the same thing, doesn’t mean you can’t possibly write it better than them. If your tutorial helps someone out better than other tutorials they’ve tried, you can gain trust from some of your visitors and repeat visits. On that same note, writing about too much entry level stuff can make you look entry level as well, don’t hold off posting more challenging topics for experienced designers such as yourself.
Shyflower has hit the nail on the head: the content you include depends on your target reader and what is appropriate to them. There is a lot of information about CSS3 on the Internet, but what specifically will your readers want to know? Can you package it so it is more relevant to them? For example, if your readers are all from a similar industry, could you create an example or case study that’s relevant to those readers so they identify with your piece? Most information presented on the Internet can be found somewhere else in some form or another, but what makes a website useful and relevant is how it’s presented. That’s how magazines and newspapers survive - they’re all reporting similar things but it’s how they package it for their readers is what sells their publications.
If your objective is to sell your services you need to demonstrate that you understand the topics you are writing about, and that you can provide your readers with something useful for their situation. That way they value your help and your insight and will want to know what else you can do to help them. As Shyflower said, if you also include case studies of how you have helped others achieve similar or more advanced problems than the ones they face then you’re more likely to get enquiries about your own services and how you can help them.