The Basic Skill Every Blogger Must Have

You've probably heard me tell you or say to someone that anyone can be a blogger. I believe that to be true, I've seen bloggers become successful no matter what field they're in. It really is all about you and how you handle your blogging activity. But it helps quite a bit to develop the skills that facilitate blogging.

Some people are natural bloggers and other people have to work at it. But regardless of which group you fall into, you have to practice. I've been blogging on and off since 2001 and even though I know the mechanics and technical aspects of blogging. I'm still learning other aspects of it. I'm always picking up new tips, new skills and improving what I already know.

I'm going to help you with everything that you need to know and do to become a better blogger. I'm doing this primarily to encourage you to blog and share your story and expertise with us.

Today's tip is the easiest one to work on and you should start on it today. That skill is not marketing, it isn't story telling either. It doesn't even have to do with WordPress. In fact this skill is not directly related to blogging, but once you master it, blogging will be much easier. In fact your entire life will be better once you master this.

Can you guess what that skill is?

Typing. Yup. Typing. I was lucky enough to learn to type at an early age. In Mexico, it was mandatory that students learn how to type and when I was going to school we learned in an old school typewriter. I had to haul that thing back and forth from school everyday and once a day for about an hour we had drill exercises. I hated them!

But over time I became good at it, and as a kid I thought that it was useless, I don't need to know this stuff I thought. But I had no choice. Obviously I was wrong. Typing is at the core of my career and has helped me tremendously.

Fast forward to today and I can honestly say that typing is one of the best skills I have and I'm glad I practiced. It has allowed me to make hundreds of thousands of dollars through jobs, gigs and blogging. I've landed jobs, and gotten contracts because I can type quickly. Without bragging, I can say that I am able to type over 90 words per minute when I need to, but well over 75 in average.

You see, typing isn't directly related to making money or getting a good job or even blogging. But think about this analogy. Can you become an NBA basketball player just because you can make 3 point shots all day long? Not likely. You need to be able to run and be agile. Running and agility aren't directly related to basketball, but they're basic skills you need to become a great basketball player. That's the same with typing.

Typing is all about basics. There's a great article by one of my favorite tech bloggers, titled: We are Typists first, Programmers second. In this case, I can tell you that we should be Typists first, Bloggers second. Despite innovations with voice recognition and motion gesturing, typing is still the fastest, most accurate and ubiquitous way of transferring ideas from your head or voice to your blog.

Strong statements indeed. I concur. We are typists first, and programmers second. It's very difficult for me to take another programmer seriously when I see them using the hunt and peck typing techniques. Like Steve, I've seen this far too often.

That's a quote from that article, and I feel the same way when I see a blogger hunt and peck while typing, I understand we're all learning, but if you want to be taken seriously, you must improve this skill. Typing faster will allow you to get your thoughts down quicker and remove frustrations with the mechanics of blogging. Every serious blogger I've ever met types fast, if not faster than me. Typing shouldn't be an obstacle to your daily blogging. It should be an asset to make you a better blogging. So what's my advice?

Practice, practice, practice. The only way you'll become a good typist is to practice. Practice everyday, even if it is just for 15 minutes. If you've never learned touch-typing before, then take some lessons and stick with it. In just a week or two of practicing you should be able to type 25 or more words per minute and you should aim to reach 45 word per minute in 30 - 90 days.

If you don't know where to start, maybe the free Typingclub website will help you. Or you can go with the tried and true methods like the Typingmaster Pro guide and skills tracker. There is always the classic Mavis Beacon teaches typing series which are great too.

So, are you a good typist? If you aren't, don't you think it's time you work on it a bit? Let me know in the comments.