I'd like to take a few sentences here to point out something new going on over at Problogger.  Blogger Darren Rowse always has useful and interesting posts for people who take blogging seriously.  This month he's focusing on offering up some of his best blogging tips for his readers.  August is "31 Days to Building a Better Blog ", and there have been some good tips so far with many more to come, I'm sure.

Another great part about this project is that by rounding up reader posts on the same subject, Darren has in effect created a central location for some of the Web's best pointers on creating a successful blog.  Here are three posts I think are especially helpful:

• Top 7 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid 
• 10 Things to do When You  Have Nothing Else to Blog About
• Got Blog? Grow it with some Special Spice

When I blog, I usually focus on a couple of items:

• Link, link link!  It always helps to link to other bloggers' posts (this is a no-brainer).
• Catchy titles.  Not only can the title of your post make your post more searchable, but it will probably grab the attention of at least a couple of people.
• Stay topical.  Timely writing about events in the news or other media can help you get some extra traffic. I'm not saying you should blog about Lindsay Lohan every day, but discussing some relevant and popular issues or stories doesn't hurt.

Anyway, if you're finding yourself in a blogging rut, the current Problogger project is a great place for some inspiration and advice.