Introduction
The past few days I've read several blurbs from folks expressing why they don't blog. The reasons range from "I have nothing interesting to say" to "I don't know enough" to "Everything I want to write about has been blogged already."
Pfffft (to quote @RachelAppel)
Come on. Seriously? If you think, you can blog.
I Have Nothing Interesting To Say
Yes you do. And you'll say it in a way that no one else will. One day - perhaps months or even years from now - someone will encounter some problem you solved and about which you blogged. They'll search for an answer and your post will pop up in the results. They'll click on that link, read your post, and solve their problem. All because you blogged. Every now and then, someone will leave you a comment or send you an email thanking you. That's a cool feeling right there.
Andy's Little Secret: If I solve the same problem twice, I blog about it... for me!
I Don't Know Enough
Yes you do. You solve problems for a living. No, they're not the same problems I solve, nor are they the same problems Bob Ward or Jimmy May solves. But they are problems and you solved them. You know enough to blog.
Maybe you solved them with help from another post. That's great! When you blog about how you solved the problem, link to that post. Then describe how you used that technique to solve your problem, and include anything you learned along the way.
I can hear you asking "But why Andy?" I'm glad you asked! Because everyone writes in their own style (you should! See Steve Jones' article on plagiarism), you will use different words and phrases than others. The way you describe the issue may be the best match for a future search.
Andy's Other Little Secret: I learn more from mistakes or false assumptions than anything else.
Everything I Want To Write About Has Been Blogged Already
No it hasn't. Technologists the world over suffer from a terrible bias when it comes to evaluating their own knowledge. In a nutshell, we think if we figured it out, anyone can. We value own knowledge at 0. And we consequently over-value everything anyone else knows - especially if we know little or nothing about the same topic.
As stated earlier: Even if it has been blogged before, write about your experience solving the problem.
Andy's Last Little Secret: I get my best blogging ideas from forums.
The Rules of Blogging
Rule #1: There are no rules.
Rule #2: Please see Rule #1.
Brent Ozar has an outstanding post called Building Your Blogging Momentum. It's a classic. Done reading it yet? Wasn't that an awesome post? I thought so too! The next post in the series is good too.
Conclusion
If you think, blog.
:{> Andy