I maintain two blogs.  The one you're reading now is considered my personal blog.  My other blog is considered my professional blog.  

The purpose of my personal blog is simple.  It's a place to set down the ideas in my head.  I really haven't gotten into a grove with posting to my personal blog on a regular basis.  Even though consistency is a key to success in blogging, that doesn't really matter since this blog isn't about bringing me success.  The blog I maintain at BannerView.com is dedicated to helping me professionally and is updated at least every other week.  Although, any recognition from my personal ramblings certainly can't hurt.  After all, exposure to my personal brand has the potential to translate into professional success.

The theme of my personal blog is two-fold:

* It's a place where you'll find random ideas that crop up in the course of living the life of an entrepreneur.  

* It's a place to share with the world my pride and joy, Baby Bell.

Some people don't separate their personal and professional lives so their blog posts wind up all over the place.  I would suspect that most people want a following on their blogs, whether it's done personally or professionally.  Therefore, it's very important to go vertical with your blog to build an audience of people seeking that theme in content.  Unless you're a celebrity, your personal life probably isn't very interesting, but if you theme your content, you have a great chance at drawing an audience.  Think mommy bloggers.  They are posting about their personal lives, yet they have themed their posts to go vertical.  The people reading their blogs know what to expect.  (Their doesn't seem to be as many daddy bloggers, so maybe that's a vertical worth tapping.  Don't worry, I'm not going there!)

Narrow your blog posts down to a few subjects that are within your areas of expertise and you'll have a much better chance at building a following.  You need to go vertical in order to attract an audience.  Thankfully for me, random ideas is the vertical I've chosen!

When it comes to getting your blogs read, people will seek out great content.  Both personal and professional blogs must be well written, provide thought provoking or actionable content and bring benefits to the reader.  If you actually want your personal blog articles read and followed by a loyal readership, there must be a certain level of quality and themed content contained within.

Whether you choose to combine your personal and professional blog posts into a single blog or separate the two, just remember to stick to the theme and you'll do just fine.