We always enjoy it when we see similar ideas expressed by different authors in different settings.  The first quote is in regard to academic-style writing for financial practitioners and the second a talk given to journalists about blogging.

..I’ve written articles that I thought were wonderful and critical, and they have gone unnoticed down the path of time. I also wrote articles that I thought were interesting observations. They were conjectures, and they caught a little bit of fire.  They burned for a while, and they attracted enough attention to win Graham & Dodd Awards.

Martin Leibowitz quoted in “Popular Science,” CFA Magazine, July-Aug 2009, p. 40.

Often bloggers are the worst judges of their own work; I can give you hundreds of personal examples of blog entries I thought were really good which disappeared all but unnoticed, and of blog entries I thought were tossed-off throwaways which got enormous traction and distribution. Mostly, blogging is a lottery on the individual-blog-entry level — and if you want to win the lottery, your best chance of doing so is to maximize the number of lottery tickets you buy.

Felix Salmon, Notes on blogging for journalists.

We have had very similar experiences blogging.  We are often surprised by what posts gain traction and which linkfest items end up being clicked on the most.

We have noted previously how investment blogging is difficult.  This is in part due to the fact that “success” however defined is a slippery beast.  It seems to be nearly impossible to tell ahead of time whether a post is going to capture the interest of a wider readership.

That is why Felix’s advice may be best.  Just write all your ideas down.  You never know which one just might be a hit.