I had ulterior motives.

At first, I was interested in packing-in as much key-word dense content as I could for We Are Listening’s search engine ranking.  This is a rookie SEO mistake.  If you don’t know what SEO is, you’re better off not knowing.

Later, I used the blog as my personal journal.  I wrote about things that interested me.  It was completely self-indulgent and didn’t interest anyone else.

Finally, when I did bother to publish half-decent content, if anyone found it interesting, I wouldn’t know about it.  I disabled Comments so anyone who wanted to respond, couldn’t.  You see, I was too lazy to moderate comments.

In 1979, researchers at Harvard Business School began a study on ‘goal setting’.  A decade later, they discovered that graduates who wrote down their goals for the future before leaving Harvard earned ten times more than the graduates that didn’t.

Yesterday, I wrote down my goals.  One of them is to “Create An Outstanding Blog In 2010″.

So today, I’m turning over a new leaf.  I’m going to do what accomplished bloggers do, starting with this post.

And this is my plan (and pledge to you):

1. Enable Comments
Moderate them frequently and respond to them quickly.

2. Write Conversationally
Avoid big words, long sentences and fat paragraphs.

3. Maximize Readability
Use larger fonts and darker colors, and remove unnecessary elements from the page.

4. Reference Sources
Link to other bloggers, authors and content owners when borrowing their ideas.

5. Validate & Demonstrate
Back up ideas, provide examples and further reading.

6. Include Benefits
Write with the reader in mind by making the information accessible and valuable.

7. Be Decent
Write transparently, reveal the truth, and manage cynicism with grace and integrity.