Blog Azeroth

I need some strange advice...I wrote a parody poem specifically for Cataclysm / The Shattering. Unfortunately, those two events are happening at two different times! It`s been written for almost two weeks now, and I scheduled it to post Dec 6 before Cataclysm dropped. However, The Shattering just happened thanks to the latest patch, so now I`m not sure if waiting till Dec 6 is too late!

Obviously, I`ve missed the special "night before" time zone for The Shattering, but I could still post it today or tomorrow and get in on the flurry of patch reaction posts. Then again, I`ve posted twice in the last two days, and I try to avoid posting so frequently so each post can get a little bit of air time.

What would you do? Any advice for a flustered druid?

ETA: I realize that this is fairly specific, but more generally, how do you plan post dates for your posts, especially when they are set to coincide with specific events in game?

That's a really good question and one I've wondered about quite a bit myself.

From observation, I'd say that posts about 2 days before major events are ideal since you're sure that every timezone will have plenty of time to find your post. That said, even if you're a bit late, people will still be interested.

Since you have event specific art, I would recommend posting it within the week after the event (in this case, ASAP!). With guides, sooner is better, but guides will keep getting hits until the information within becomes outdated.

I'll see if I can find someone well versed in professional blogging to offer some input.

I certainly wouldn't consider myself a professional blogger by any stretch of anyone's imagination. But I tend to not worry so much about how often I post. If I posted yesterday, but I've got something to say today, I'll post today. If I haven't got anything to say, maybe I'll go 3-4 days, even a week without posting. One of the things I like about blogging is the instant gratification of the thing. You immediately feel like you've achieved something, as soon as you hit that "Publish" button. It's a very rewarding thing, in my opinion. Sure, that might not be the *best* way to ensure an optimal number of vistors/commentors, but it's how I tend to structure things. I don't like having a lot of posts sitting around in my drafts folder just waiting to be shared with the world.

In terms of your Cataclysm parody/poem in particular, I agree with Ophelie. Get it out soon, because although the final game hasn't come out quite yet (so we can't get into the new new zones), the Shattering has already gone down, and the world has definitely changed. So why sit around on some poetic gold? Share it with the world!

I asked Matticus, who's well versed in blog marketing strategies, what he thought the best time was to publish an event specific post and he suggested (assuming you're American) probably between 6-9 am PST on patch day. That way you're getting the traffic of people settling in at work and opening their feedreaders, then later on you'll get the traffic of people waiting for the servers to come back up.

Thanks for the tips! Once I get out my trusty time zone conversion website I'll definitely keep those target times in mind as well! I have gone ahead and posted my poem, which I will share with you here: A Visit from Neltharion.