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What have you found to be the most discouraging factor in blogging?
I'm curious as to what some people are finding to be the most difficult in a way that perhaps I can focus on those topics and how to combat them one at a time over the next several weeks.
So what is it? What gets you down in the blog?
Dan at The Wrong Advices offers up all the reasons why Blogging is so difficult. Below is just a small excerpt of the full discussion - so be sure to hop over and check out the complete details.
There are over 50 million blogs on the web if you can believe that, and many of them have either been abandoned, or are updated infrequently.
The main reasons I see for this are:
How or where does one start a blog?
Before anyone starts a blog, I always encourage them to take a bit of time to sort out what it is they feel most passionate about and what they could talk endlessly about. That's most likely the best topic to start with.
If you want to test the waters with a free platform, that's a great way to go. Blogger is the one I choose.
MomGadget and my other "niche" blogs/sites are hosted through BlueHost and on the Wordpress platform. The cost is $95 for the year with each additional add-on site costing me $10.
How do you make money with your blogs?
I've been averaging over $4,000 per month for the last few months. It's taken me 8 years to get here and 90% of that income comes from my niche blogs/sites, not my work at home mom ones or even MomGadget.
My biggest Money Makers are listed in my sidebar - along with a few other individual products that I promote via my niche sites.
Can you have more than one blog?
I'd be lost if I couldn't. I'm currently sitting comfortable with 12 blogs. My husband said I had too many, so I let one go :)
How do you get traffic to your blog?
That's the most difficult part of blogging for me. There are several factors that go into luring traffic. It can be from networking, commenting on like blogs, making yourself visable on message boards, link exchanges and much more. That's where I put in most of my time - it's not so much the blogging itself.
If you can't dedicate at least one hour daily to networking to increase your traffic on top of doing the actual posting - which needs to be unique as much as possible, then you're probably not going to like blogging.
Some of you have probably heard whispers about a conference taking place in San Francisco called Elite Retreat.
The last couple of days, my mind has been a virtual sponge for anything anyone is sharing from the discussions that have taken place.
One such discussion was on the topic of Social Networks like StumbleUpon (link).
Without re-inventing the wheel, I'll simply provide a link to the discussion I started earlier on this very topic.
I hope you'll hope over to MomGadget and join in discussing this with me. I do plan on visiting various aspects of these discussions over the next several days as I work through the topics and learn more about them myself.
Care to grab a cup of coffee and join me?
This has happened a couple of times today -- I find a really cool blog, I read the posts and get all excited wanting to leave a comment - then I realize that I must sign up and log in before leaving a comment.
Ummm Not happening!
I know spam is a big deal and a royal pain in the butt but they do have plugin's for that you know?
I've taken the time to install the plugin's and I take the time to check my comments for approving or deleting. It's not too much to ask so that people who want to leave comments, can.
That's really a big pet peeve of mine.
Anyone else practice the same policy? Will you sign up and log in to leave a comment or do you simply do what I do and move on to the next blog?
I've been blogging for several years now and regardless of how many new blogs and writers enter the blogosphere daily, there are still those few from long ago that have left me with a lasting impression and somehow helped mold the blogger I am today.
If you had to pick one or two bloggers who have left you with a lasting impression, who would they be?
I'm going to be creating a whole post dedicated to impressionable blogs so please post your link and the links of those blogs you wish to recognize in the comment section or drop me an email.
Sometimes it's just nice to give a little extra recognition to those who deserve it.
Someone on the Professional Bloggers Forum posted a question regarding Blog Directories such as Technorati, Blogarama, Blogmommas, MyBlogLog etc.
I know there are some that Google has frowned upon because of their auto-surf capabilities and I can't name them right off the top of my head, however, I thought the topic was so important to bloggers who are exploring traffic options that I wanted to bring the discussion here as well.
Some of the bloggers I've become familiar with and trust have listed the directories they are associated with - here are just a few of the more popular ones:
When it comes to finding blogs that turn me into a returning visitor and loyal reader, there are a few things a blog MUST have in order to get me to keep coming back.
They must be updated regularly. If I visit a few times over the course of a month and it's not been updated, I remove it from my reader.
A blog must present something new - An occasional copy of an article is ok, but seriously, how hard is it to copy a portion of an article and comment on it with your own opinions.
People who don't have the ability to form an opinion on their own should not blog.
I also like to find the occasional interjection of humor. Make me laugh and I'll love you forever.
Keep in mind that many of your readers are still on dial-up. If your blog takes a long time to load, I'm not going to hang out and wait. I just keep on clicking.
Those are really the biggies for me. I enjoy reading on such a wide variety of topics, so topic isn't so much an issue. Content is!
What makes you want to add a blog to your feed reader? What can bloggers do to keep you coming back?
This topic was brought up on Business Blogwire and thought it was worthy of mention here. So many people think slapping up a blog and just providing WORDS is all it takes to become a blogger. They couldn't be further off base.
Talk about a blog to riches story!
If you're a skeptic on this whole blogging thing, you'll want to check out Mommy Inc. because just a few weeks ago she was asking herself if this blogging thing was worth it.
I think it's really great - especially since she's a mom of twins too :)
Hat tip to Casual Keystrokes
Gack Ink is a blog network that allows you to bring your own blog.
It's really not a unique concept as much as a unique level of passion and support that goes on behind the network.
If you have a blog, you won't want to miss this opportunity. It's already got the feel of success.
You'll have to hurry though - you only have until Friday morning to submit your blog.
When you create a blog post, even if it's just to post a picture of your kiddos or your dog doing a new trick - are you taking advantage of the opportunities that post is presenting?
What toy is your kid playing with? What doggie treat is your dog begging for? What camera did you use to take the photo?
Earlier today I noticed a blog that was doing just that. I dropped a quick email recommending they take a certain portion of their text, turn it into a product tag by posting the actual brand and model of the product they were using. Link it up with an Amazon link and there you have it! A fully monetized post.
Anytime you are writing and include actual products you use, do a quick search on Amazon or even on the web to see if there might be an affiliate associated with that product.
You are in a way, adversing for that company/product and the least you could do is earn a little in return.
When you blog, do you step back away from your posts and try viewing it as your readers would view it?
There are so many different types of bloggers now, you should really stop to consider what kind of blogger are you and who's in the driving seat?
Do you blog for yourself - for entertainment, therapy or as as a journal documenting your life?
Do you blog to earn additional income?
Do you blog as your only source of income?
How many blogs do you have?
How intertwined are your blogs if you do have more?
When it comes to blogging, what are the primary rules and restrictions you have for yourself?
Angela from the other work at home blog touched on a topic that's honestly one of my occasional pet peeves when it comes to the blogs that I read religiously.
As far as I'm concerned, a catchy title is just as important as the content of the post itself.
I once was a loyal reader of one particular blog - until their titles became so much that I just couldn't stand it anymore...too many times of opening a blog and nothing worth reading was behind that one word title.
They use one or two word titles and honestly, that just doesn't cut it anymore. In fact, this blog used to have well over 1,000 subscribed readers and thousands of visitors a day - I've personally watched the huge nosedive their traffic has taken. It's all really sad to me - as a blogger that values my readership.
If you're like me and use a blog reader (I use Google Reader) - you know how important those titles are.
If the title isn't catchy I'm likely not going to click it to check out what's inside.
The title doesn't have to disclose exactly what the post is about even. It just has to pick my curiosity enough to want to see what's inside. But be careful - too many times of using an overly catchy title to lure readers to a lame post will lose your readership just as quick.
Are you paying close attention to your titles?
