Lots of veteran bloggers have posted their advice to new bloggers (and other vets) on how to blog. These are generally dissected and picked apart by other veteran bloggers or simply ignored. Well I can't pass up on a challenge like that so here are my rules of blogging:

The Golden Rule

You're going to piss somebody off sometime so don't worry about it. Different strokes rile different folks. Some people get pissed if you hit them with a trackback from a post that they don't feel fits to theirs. Some get angry if you link in their comments. Others only want text mail or mail formatted this way or that way. Others are going to get irate over the content of your posts, comments, whatever.

So what? Don't get worried if somebody gets pissed at you. It's not the end of the world and it's not the end of your blog. As long as you're writing and visiting/commenting/tracking honestly the vast majority of people out there are perfectly happy with you. Do you really give a fig about the ones with gentle sensibilities who can't overlook a mistake or simple lack of experience? Fuck 'em.

The Silver Rule

Your blog isn't going to get popular by getting hit by an A-list blogger. I've had 3 Instalanches and my blog's visits continue on a slow steady increase with no discernible effect in that growth resulting from those Glenn bombs. Consistent content over time gets you a steady and loyal readership.

Does that mean that Instalanches don't matter? Heck no, it doesn't. I'm sure I've got some regular readers who first discovered me off of one. I know I've got some readers who first found my blog off of a link on a big traffic site. The point is that a perfusion of links on your regular readers' sites is how your readership is going to grow steadily over time. Spikes from 'lanches or hosting the Carnival of the Vanities fade quickly - regular visits from people who've blogrolled you will last.

The Copper Rule

Nobody remembers who wins the copper medal so you can probably ignore this one.

Limit the blogishness of your blog. That's the links elsewhere, quoting other bloggers, blog meme links, etc. There's nothing wrong with those but try to put up as much of your own content as you are advertising other people's stuff. Everybody posts those (especially the Carnival) and your readers aren't going to be coming back to your site to read them, they're coming back to read you.

Does my posting a Carnival link this morning make me a hypocrite? Nope. You've forgotten the ancillary rule to the Copper Rule. If two or more blogs from my morning reading have already linked to something then I don't link to it. There's no need as it's already perfused the 'sphere at that point. This morning only one blog had linked to the Carnival so I linked to it too.

Does this rule mean you shouldn't link to posts on other blogs? Hell no, that's what the blogosphere is all about. It just means that you need to balance those with your own original content.

The Tin rule

Yup, there's a Tin Rule. The Tin Rule actually overrides all of the other rules. Hey, tin is way more valuable than those other metals when you're building munitions.

The Tin Rule is that rules don't really apply in blogging. There's an exception to everything and everything else is excepted. Find your own groove and swing with it. If your style and message appeal to a lot of people then eventually you'll have a lot of readers. If they appeal to a smaller number of people then you're going to have less readers. But if you change your style and message simply to attract more readers then you're going to get sick of it after a while and you're going to quit blogging altogether.

There you are. Make of it what you will.