Essential Posts that Every Blogger Should Know

Keeping a posting schedule consistent can at times be a little taxing. There are those days when you don't feel particularly inspired or driven, or perhaps you simply don't have the time. Hopefully, you will have had the presence of mind to stock up some spare blog posts, but this isn't always the case.

That is why every blogger should know these nine essential posts to help fill the gaps while still delivering quality content to their readers.

But first a warning: These posts are for padding purposes only. Use them at your discretion only. Overuse will cause side effects such as causing your blog to become irrelevant, distracted, or off-topic.

And now, the posts. Use them wisely, fellow bloggers!

1. The Speedlinker

The "speedlinker" (named in honor of Problogger Darren Rowse) is a post where you link up a series of posts from other blogs that your readers would be interested in, usually with a brief description attached.

Where you get your posts is up to you. Some variations include:

• Speedlinking purely interesting content ― a weekly roundup of the best of the best, for example.
• Speedlinking your top commenters ― a great way to reward and please your most loyal subscribers.
• Speedlinking blogs that you want to be noticed by ― trackbacks can bring traffic and attention.
• Speedlinking friendly blogs who have linked you up in the past ― gotta return the favor.

Advantages of the speedlinker are:

• As the name suggests, it's speedy.
• It's good karma.
• It can be genuinely useful for your readers.

2. The Quoter

When someone else has already said it best, it can be good to let them say it again ... on your blog. The Quoter is a post where you blockquote an interesting point of view, extract or news snippet, and add a short bit of opinion and sourcing information.

The Quoter is best used in places where you are quoting a source that your readers probably would not have come across otherwise. If you quote, for example, a blog that happens to also be your main source of traffic, then you are making your blog redundant.

Whatever you do, make sure you provide a complete reference to the original source and don't try to pass off the quote as your own.

3. The Entertainer

We all use the Web for distraction, so why not help your readers distract themselves by posting an amusing video, cartoon, image, or joke that you grabbed from elsewhere. The Entertainer leverages someone else's wit to entertain your readers.

The Entertainer doesn't need to be leeched either; recently here at NorthxEast, I have started purchasing cartoons from CartoonStock, which will appear every Sunday exclusively here on this blog.

4. The Questioner

The Questioner leverages your community of readers to generate interesting content. By posing an on-topic, interesting, and conversation-generating question, you let the comments be the source of interest, not your post.

The Questioner requires you to have at least a small core of commenters visiting the blog in order to work. If this is present, then it can be not only a source of interest for your readers, but insightful for you as the blogger as well, as you get to hear opinions other than your own as well as learn and get to know your readers.

5. The Updater

The Updater is a post that fills in your readers on some ongoing project and its associated statistics or status. It can even be used on the blog itself, in which case it would take the form of relaying things like what you achieved in the last month, how many new readers and visitors came to the blog, and so on.

The Updater is great because it is both informative and easy — as easy as copying and pasting, really. It should, however, not be overused and must be applied to something your readership is interested in, such as earnings reports, project progress, or software upgrade status. In a sense, The Updater is a news item.

6. The Newsreader

Just heard something through the grapevine? Found an interesting press release? Or perhaps you've just read something in the paper. Whatever the case, the Newsreader is a post where you relay some information to your subscribers that you didn't exactly generate but which they would be interested in nonetheless.

The big danger with the Newsreader is that if you are too far down the food chain, you are simply adding to the echo effect and possibly boring your readership. The advantage is it can quick and easy, and if you get in early also quite useful.

With access to enough news, The Newsreader can in fact become the staple of a blog, a classic example being TechCrunch.

7. The Recycler

If you have a blog that has been around the block and back, it might be good to drag out some of those old goodies from the archives and repost them for your new readers. Make sure to add a couple of sentences of new information to keep those diehard subscribers interested, and be transparent about bringing back a post from the graveyard.

8. The Guest-Poster

Unlike the other posts listed here, the Guest-Poster needs some foresight. If you ask a few guest posters at the beginning of the month however, and tell them that at some point during the month their post will go up, then you're pretty set to have something for those rainy days.

The great thing about the Guest-Poster is it benefits everyone: Your guest gets an extra plug, you get a day off, and your readers get some variety!

9. The Announcer

The Announcer capitalizes on your own local blog news. What's happening in and around your blog? Announcements can be short and sweet, informative, and easy to write. The only catch is you need something announce, whether it's what you plan to do in the future, a new competition, the reset of your top commenters, or some other news. The more interesting and popular your blog is, the more interesting your Announcer will be.

And there you have it: nine posts that no blogger should do without, guaranteed to get you through those long days and bouts of blogger's block. This post of course is a post of an entirely different kind ― the Linkbaiter kind. So if you've enjoyed it, Digg it, link it, do with it as you will.