I get asked questions all the time. So it sort of dawned on me that I should throw some of these questions on here. Heck, I type up long ol’ answers. Might as well put those answers on here for the greater good, right?

So…I was asked: Should I blog? Or should I write articles? Should I do both? And if both, then what constitutes an article versus a post?

My take?

Typically, blog posts are seen as more superficial, less in-depth as compared to an article. However, you’ll find many comprehensive blog posts out there…so the short answer is that an article is typically longer and typically more in-depth with the information that it provides – but it’s not a hard and fast rule.

Articles are also usually presented in a more objective manner, while a blog post can be very personal. For example,  “While I was drinking my coffee this morning it hit me that I use French Vanilla creamer each and every day. I’m comfortable with that and I know it tastes good. But if we only try the vanilla and nothing else…(and then tie it into blog post message for readers to understand).

But really, you don’t HAVE to have any articles. (shocker!!)

Unless you plan on using article marketing.

But even in the case of article marketing, you can use blog posts to disseminate all the information you want. You can have really in-depth posts or a series of posts on a particular subject. You can post your heart out and never have a need for a separate article. Because to a certain extent, they are interchangeable.  A less personal blog post (more objective) with a minimum of 400 words can be submitted to article directories. I’ve done that and have had clients do that – taking blog posts and submitting them to Ezinearticles, Goarticles and so on. So then your blog posts are doing double work.

So, if you are promoting your ebook (or your business as a whole, for that matter) you can write short, sweet blog posts and then separate articles that are longer and more objective to submit to the directories. However, I would post those articles on your own site as well. The more content, the better. And you should have those articles doing their fair share of the work…maybe even creating a whole ‘nother ebook around a series of articles…

But you can make your blog posts serve multiple purposes. Still whip up those personal posts and let your target market know who you are as a person. But also write posts that are longer and more informative and suitable to submit to article directories.