Here is the first thing you have to realise about blogs. And all writing, for that matter.

It’s about your readers.

Don’t get me wrong, you need to write from yourself — your own life, your own opinions, your own experience, whatever. After all, that’s why people come to your site or read your tweets, or whatever else. But you need to write for your readers. Whenever you write something, the first thing to have in mind is how it benefits your readers. This is because readers don’t want to do things for you: they visit your blog so that you can do something for them: Make them laugh. Make them think. Help their business. Relieve some boredom at work. So do these things for them!

I love what Maddox wrote about bloggers. (Don’t visit his site if you’re easily offended. But do if you love a good rant.) What he says is totally true — bloggers are ruining the internet. Just like all the twitter people who post crap. Stop posting crap!

What counts as adding value? Well, that’s up to you. It can be funny, thought provoking, whatever. Just write something that you honestly think will benefit your readers, and if you don’t have anything to say, then say nothing. Don’t try to put it into words!