Mashable - 6 Tips For Building a High Quality Blog Following

Mashable.com presents 6 Tips For Building a High Quality Blog Following.

The 6 Tips (with my thoughts on / experiences with putting them into action) are:

1. Turn Existing Customers Into Readers 
   When I first read this tip, my immediate reaction was "I don't have 'existing customers.'" But actually I do, and so do you, if people in your social or business networks have interests in common with your blog subject. If you're writing for part of your network, however, don't lose your focus while trying to reach network members who aren't as interested in your subject. Build on the part of your network that really wants to hear what you have to say, and add others with the same interest. Don't spam your friends who aren't that into your blog subject.
    
2. Skip the Misleading Traffic-Boosting Techniques
   Mashable refers specifically to slideshows (which bulk up pageviews-per-visit stats to increase ad revenue) and misleading headlines to draw traffic. I confess I've been guilty of the occasional misleading headline myself - but since getting on Twitter and linking to my blog posts on Facebook, I've become convinced that honesty is the best policy when it comes to blog post headlines.
    
3. Speak to a Very Specific Audience
   This is another lesson that it's taken me a while to learn. But learn it I have. In 2007, I had one blog (edwardspurlock.net) and posted anything and everything that interested me. Since then, I've started blogs on several different subjects - exercise and fitness (Geek My Fitness), mental exercise (Kung Fu Mind), and learning Web design and development (Evolving Code Monkey). I've repurposed EdwardSpurlock.net as a blog on social and business networking, and built this blog (edward.spurlock.cc) for subjects related to my current career  (my "day job") and career change (blogging and Web content creation).
    
4. Guest Post and Use Guest Bloggers
   I haven't done tried to do any guest blogging yet - being new to professional blogging, I've been hesitant to put myself out there.
    
5. Encourage Loyalty Through Consistency
   By "consistency", Mashable means being consistent in one's stands, as well as posting regularly and often. I've never had much trouble with philosophical consistency. 
   
   As for posting consistency - I've read this advice several times since I started blogging. In fact, "blog on a regular schedule" is one of the commonest pieces of advice for new bloggers. What a pity that it's so much easier to read this advice than to practice it!
   
   I've gotten serious about my blogging two or three times before, and posted several times per week for two or three months running - then something would come up, and I'd abandon the effort. This year, I'm off to a good start with a post every day on my Evolving Code Monkey blog - but it's very early in the year. 
    
6. Be Timely and Relevant
   This is another aspect of blogging that I haven't mastered. In fact, I hadn't really thought of it as an issue. It seemed to me that chasing the latest trending topic on Twitter or trying to be the first to comment on a new article on a popular industry blog were activities driven by a selfish desire to build up one's own online presence, and not in any way a service to the audience.
   
   However, this Smashing Magazine article has opened my eyes. Timeliness is more than chasing trends - it really is serving the readers. Rather than "interrupting" your readers by revisiting some subject they read about three weeks ago on some other blog or news site, a timely post on a trending industry topic gives them your unique viewpoint when they're already thinking about it. It's more convenient for your readers.