The Ten Cardinal Rules Of Blogging
Author: Jim Estill

It was easier when I was running EMJ, since I had built EMJ
slowly over 25 years so people got to know me better as the
company grew. At SYNNEX, I have a whole new group of people who
wondered about who I was. Blogging was one way to bridge this
gap.

I am a life long learner. Doing SYNNEX threw me into a huge and
fast learning curve. Part of me wants to share and inspire
people. Blogging was a natural way for me to do this.

From this experience I came up with Jim Estill's Ten Rules of
Blogging:

1. Have a theme. This helps attract readers. It provides a
framework around which to blog. I chose Time Leadership as my
theme. I have had a long interest in the use of time and
published an audio book on time management. I am constantly
looking for new time reducing ideas to add to my present
material.

2. Blogging obligates you to do more blogging. It is just like
writing a newspaper column. If you have a lot of people reading
your blog, they expect to see new material. I blog about 5 or 6
days per week and occasionally skip a day, but not often. I now
know the pressure writers on deadlines must feel.

3. Blogging is a two-way street. You must respond to the
comments you will get. The larger the blog following, the more
comments you will get.

4. Blogging takes time. One of my time rules is – if I add
something to my schedule that takes time; I need to delete
something that takes the same amount of time. For me, it takes
about 15 to 20 minutes per day and I write quickly and keep it
brief.

5. Be legal. Of course this is obvious but I mean more than
just being legal -- be careful of giving away information that
could be considered to be business confidential. There have
been cases where people have lost their job because the company
does not like what has been said in the blog.

6. Keep a file of blog ideas. I keep an electronic file and a
paper one. This material gives me something to say when
sometimes I am not as inspired to blog. It can also be
something that prompts me on writing in my blog. I know I often
find myself thinking in terms of what might make good blog
material.

7. Provide links from your blog. People who read blogs are used
to being able to click on interesting topics and going right to
the web page with the information. After all, this is the
internet.

8. Only start blogging if you like to write. Even though I like
to write, I do often find it to be a bit of a challenge.

9. Be authentic. I think the readers appreciate it. I think it
would be hard to have a ghost writer do a blog. It would be
difficult to appear real.

10. Be patient. Don't expect 10,000 readers in the first month.
Readership grows over time. I follow my stats, and I notice my
weekend readership is about half my readership during the week.


And now that I have written this article – am I less
mysterious?


About The Author: Jim Estill started his business from the
trunk of his car and grew into to $375 Million in sales before
selling it to SYNNEX. He is now CEO of SYNNEX Canada a $1
Billion computer wholesaler. he is a regular blogger at
http://jimestill.blogspot.com