The Best Blog Posting Schedule Ever: Finally, Proof and Real Numbers!

If you’ve been blogging for more than, well, like 2 days, then the idea of a proper posting schedule has assuredly crossed you mind at one time or another, and for good reason too—your posting schedule can make or break this entire experience for you, your readers, and your ability to have huge success with this wild endeavor you’ve chosen to participate in. ;-)

But finally, after thousands of hours of deep investigation, split testing, and intensive interviews, you shall now learn what is clearly the best blog posting schedule in the online world today….<insert drumroll please>Gini Dietrich, Spin Sucks (8+ articles weekly)

If you want to talk about successful blog posting schedules, Gini Dietrich is setting the pace in a major way. By publishing two articles most weekdays (one by Gini and another guest post), plus an occasional on the weekends, the people at Spin Sucks show that tons of posts and great quality lead to huge community (Have you seen the sick number of comments that chick gets when she simply says ‘boo’ to her readers???). Having racked up huge ‘blogging-miles’ over the past few years, Gini has managed to garner thousands of subscribers, and quite the rabid community, with cool people like Sean McGinnis serving as content body guards ;-).

Not only that, but Spin Sucks has also managed to do very well with organic search terms (having so much content) and the blog has, in many ways, become the beacon of the PR community.

When I asked Gini why she posts so much on SS, her response was simple:  “We’ve run the numbers, and they’re much better since we started posting twice daily.”

Enough said , Gini Dietrich has the best blog posting schedule in the world.

Shonali Burke, Waxing Unlyrical (6-7 articles weekly)

At the recent event at Blog World New York I had an experience with Shonali Burke that made me smile. We had both showed up about 30 minutes early for a keynote and what was so funny is that as soon as she sat down, she said ‘I’ve got to get tomorrow’s post done!’ and then immediately opened up her laptop, cracked her knuckles, and started typing away with a focus and vigor that would make any blogger grin.

So there Shonali and I sat, racing against the time constraints of the day to produce content and publish another post for our awesome communities. It was kinda cool actually…

On her blog Waxing Unlyrical, Shonali posts, at least most weeks, one article a day, and she’s very serious about this posting schedule. And who can blame her? She has become a sought after social media/marketing consultant and has quite an impressive community that follows her blog.

Considering this, it’s obvious that Shonali Burke has the best blog post schedule in the world.

Danny Brown(3-4 articles weekly)

Would you like 6,000 loyal subscribers to your blog? I sure as heck would!!! Well folks, Danny Brown has just that on his amazing blog that discusses social media, PR, marketing, business, etc. And how often does Danny post? Although this is not a set answer, he generally posts 3-4 times a week, as inspiration hits.

With this schedule, Danny doesn’t overwhelm his readers with too much content and is able to have quite an active conversation with each article. It also means consistently high quality every time while garnering leads for his impressive marketing company, Bonsai Interactive.

For these reasons and more, Danny Brown has the best blogging schedule in the world.

Mufasa/Marcus/TSL Guy/Lion Dude/ The Mane Man/Etc (2 articles weekly)

Ok, I admit it; I just had to work myself into the mix here with all this talk about blog posting schedules!! Seriously though, as most of you already know, here on TSL I post, at least most of the time, 2 articles a week, and here are my main reasons:

1. I write based on life experience, and I want the stuff to be good, not just OK. I also want to feel inspired, not forced. Two articles a week is the perfect balance for this.

2. By waiting 3 days between posts, readers know that I’m not going to be slamming more content down their throats tomorrow, and so they have the opportunity to come back the next day or later. This is also why I get so many comments on day 2, 3, and even 4 on my posts. As I’ve stated before, I believe everyone should allow their articles to ‘simmer’, and gain momentum by so doing.

3. Because we have such an interactive community here on IMPACT, if I write too much, I’ll get less engagement with each post. I don’t want to be overbearing with my content. As I told my good friend John Falchetto, too much of anything, no matter how good it might be, can get old. ;-)

4. Writing is never a burden or chore with my posting schedule. For me, this is perfect, and I love what I do.

For these 4 reasons, and others I don’t simply have the time to include, I clearly have the best blog posting schedule on the internet. ;-)

JK Allen : Hustler’s Notebook (1 article per week)

Ahhh yes, the venerable JK Allen, master of Hustler’s Notebook. Ever wondered if it was possible to blog just once a week and still build a huge audience of fans, followers, and community? Just visit JK’s site and you’ll see exactly what one looks like.

JK is an amazing dude. Not only does he have a normal ‘9-5 job’, but he also actively coaches his children in sports, takes many trips with his family, comments heavily on other blogs around the blogosphere, and maintains a schedule that most people would find simply inconceivable. But if you look at JK’s strategy, it’s clear why his once a week post schedule works so well for him:

1. Each article is loaded with quality. They’re long and thought-provoking, and it’s obvious upon reading the first paragraph of anything he writes that the guy doesn’t just publish regurgitated junk.

2. Although JK has awesome content, he is the most original blogger on the web when it comes to graphics. In every post, JK manages to include an image with his trademark ‘HN’ symbol, which stands for Hustler’s Notebook (if you haven't noticed this, check it out, it's stinking awesome!). Creating art this awesome takes time, so therefore JK knows if he were to write more often, his incredible graphics/branding would suffer.

3. JK has branded himself as one of the best commentors and networkers in the entire blogosphere. Instead of spending all this time writing, he spends much of it building relationships with other bloggers by commenting, sharing, talking on skype , calling someone on the phone, etc.

With well over 100 comments on almost every post and growth that would make Seth Godin  jealous ;-), it’s obvious that JK Allen has the best blogging schedule in the world.

The Road to Finding YOUR Posting Schedule

OK, I’m sure you’ve gotten my point, haven’t you? Yep, that’s right, there is NO perfect blogging schedule. Actually, better stated, there is—the one that allows you to accomplish your goals and love every minute of this wonderful act we call blogging.

Of all the bloggers above, the one trait that each one has in common regarding posting schedule is this—They’ve all developed, changed, and come to know their best writing schedule over time. In other words, this isn’t something they just knew overnight. As is the case with every blogger, it takes time, sometimes years, to reach this point.

When I hear brand new bloggers talk about set posting schedules I can’t help but to crack a little smile, especially for the ones that think they’re going to post every day. Not that there is anything wrong with such a schedule, but the key points to remember are this:

1. Allow your schedule to change, as you change, over time. Listen to yourself, your audience, and the analytics Google is giving you to develop your plan.

2. Do not set a blogging schedule just because someone else told you it was a good idea.

3. There is no truth in the statement , ‘XYZ niche bloggers should post at least X times per week’. (I hear this statement in different industries and it makes me seriously shake my head at just how misguided some ‘experts’ are.)

4. Have some fun, will ya?!!

Your Turn

OK, a couple of questions I’d like to ask you: When someone posts every day, does that much content turn you off or do you find it appealing? In your mind, what is the perfect posting schedule? And finally, what have been your struggles in finding the perfect blog posting schedule?

No matter your industry or niche, I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you have questions or need any help from myself or the community, this is the perfect opportunity to ask away as well.