A good blog will...

A successful blog will:

1. Inspire the reader -- write in an authentic voice, ground what you say in your own experiences, and in your own reading. Be open, be honest, be open-minded. Be curious, raise questions, raise awareness about new angles on the topic, new ways of thinking about the topic; take on contraversy -- be occasionally provocative, don't be afraid to challenge common assumptions (your own and the reader's). Frame your topic in a way that meets the reader's emotions or experiences, in a way that the reader can relate to or go, "oh yeah, I've always wondered about that, or I've never thought of it like that but that's totally true."

2. Continues a conversation on the topic. The opposite of a good blog in this regard is a textbook -- it's a monolog, not a dialogue. Monologues are boring. They are written in one tone, by one person, speaking to him/herself or to an audience that's so general as to be meaningless. So a blog should participate in a conversation by offering opinions on what others are writing and saying about your topic. Link to others who are talking about your topic. Create an interesting blogroll. Respond to others' posts, share others' posts with your readers, go deeper on a something another has written about, extend someone's ideas. Share new ideas and angles with your readers.

3. Will be visual creativity -- the visuals should explain a concept or reninforce the purpose or tone of the blogs.

4. Be interesting and entertain the reader; try to keep the reader's interest. Be up-to-date and relevant; be current on the topic (read what other's are saying). Share something that yoru readers' may not know. Use humor.

7. Establish credibility by showing that you read a lot ont he topic (blogroll, posts on what you've read, etc).

8. Defend opinions and ideas, show that the author knows what they're talking about by linking to other credible sources, and by admitting what you don't know, and always highlighting the limits of your knowledge.

9. Has breadth or depth.

10. The writing is effective -- organized (doesn't go off topic without a reason that is explained, uses a variety of posts toward a single or set of goals) not choppy (flows).