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“The secret to blogging is to produce material. A lot of it. And on a regular basis. The quickest way to lose readers is to go long stretches between posts. It never stops and it never ends, and for you to retain readers you better provide your blog and your readers with fresh and new material on a regular basis. You definitely must love to write and share your thoughts on ideology, philosophy, current events and politics in a public venue. And obviously, you want the material you post to be of as good of quality as possible. Do the best you can in each post and don’t be lazy or careless in your research. Be funny, be relevant, be provocative, be intellectual, be insightful, be analytical, be sarcastic or flippant, but above all strive to be interesting. Be careful and meticulous in your preparation. Besides your own completely original essays or articles you can post videos as well as excerpts from other articles, news items, or blog posts complete with your own wise spin on the issue and a link back to the original article. There is plenty to write about and the hardest part of blogging is just taking the time to sit down at the keyboard and just start typing. If you are a good writer and blogger to begin with the words and subject matter should come naturally, it’s the self-discipline and time commitment that is usually the hardest hurdle to overcome. Be yourself. People can pick out a phony in no time at all. “
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Worth repeating for ALL blogs, not just politics.

When researching almost anything, one comes across a multitude of blogs. Most are old and out-of-date. Someone was able to write down 1500 words and post one pic and they seem to then run out material. So much material is just recycled, lame or out-of-date.

And I know it isn’t easy. My husband and I have discussed this as a project related to our businesses and before we publish, we are writing, daily, just to get the practice and to have a back-up log of posts on hand for when things get too busy.

However, we are really leery of FB. So many privacy issues, there. I would rather try the linking route, the blogroll, and cross-posting unless we can find a way to make FB both effective and secure. Twitter is just so much mindless repetition, I cannot bring myself to stay involved in it. I would have to live online to do so, I think.

I understand branding, but there is also the concept of the *secret brand* See William Gibson’s “Zero History”. There’s a good interview, here:
http://www.viceland.com/blogs/en/2010/09/03/william-gibson/.
A secret brand is something not promoted via the overcrowded media marketplace, but passed along person to person, site to site in niche venues. It takes longer, but avoids the initial onslaught that then quickly dissipates. A really great product will stand out, even if only a select portion of the market knows where to find it. Because it is really great and original and authentic, people will work to find it.

I agree that authenticity is key.