I've heard that posting lists and such is good for blogging too. As far as being yourself and being somewhat controversial go, I'd say that those should be givens if you have any sort of opinion.
You need to get it in the search engines which takes time and backlinks. Make a long term committment to add backlinks to the site and backlinks to your backlinks.
Build connections. Don't be a loner or a selfish blogger. Make sure that you build relationships with other bloggers. This will help you in the long run.