It’s day 21, and we are still flying high with yeah write presents ProBlogger’s 31 days to build a better blog series. Awesome!

Today the task is to conduct a policy review. Sounds stimulating, right?

what, you don’t have policies?

Me neither. But here’s why we should: when we eventually have gazillions of readers thanks to Probloggers 31dbbb, we can react more quickly and consistently. Initiating policies in response to issues is like putting out fires. We’d rather prevent them in the first place, or at least have the fire truck on standby, to save time and prevent property damage.

but “policy” sounds so fancy

I know. But it’s not like you’re President Obama and you have to run it by the House of Representatives. It’s your blog. You make the rules.

put it in place before you review it

You can’t review a policy if you don’t have one. To develop a policy, think about your style, your goals, your niche. Think about what you will and won’t tolerate.  For example, how will you handle comments?

• Will you answer each one via email?
• Will you respond directly on your blog?
• Will you delete comments that drop the f-bomb?
• Will you allow comments to contain links?

Your policy needs to be clear to your readers if it impacts how they should interact. If you plan to respond only to comments from the Cookie Monster, state your policy so that the rest of us don’t bother.  If you plan to delete comments containing the word “boogerjuice,” let us know so we won’t get snotty in the first place. Alternatively, if you plan to reply to all comments directly on your blog, we’ll probably get that just by visiting.

got it, but what other policies do I need?

You can have a policy about anything you like. But there are key areas where policies should be considered.

• Content acceptance (If you host guest posts or do product reviews, what type of content is appropriate? You probably don’t want a guest post from Spock if your readers prefer romantic comedies)
• Advertising and promotion policies (Again, what appeals to your readers? You don’t want to promote scrapple to vegetarians. Or anyone, really).
• Copyright issues (Will you credit images? Will you verify guest posts are original?)
• Email management (an extension of comments only more private)
• Privacy (Blogging about real people? Most us have that line which we’ll not cross in our heads already)

now (finally) conduct a policy review

If you just wrote your policies, you don’t need to review them just yet. But our blogs will evolve as we up our readership. What works today is not necessarily right for tomorrow. Implemented policies need reviewing at least several times per year. 

well?

If you already have polices, review one now and leave us a comment about what you learned. If not, let us know what policy you put in place and make a note on your calendar to review it in three months. 

Go!