In this here Guest Post for Bit Doze I’m going to be talking about something close to the heart of this blog – success in my blogging.
I first arrived on this scene a little over three years ago. I actually began as a video blogger on Youtube but reverted to text blogging fairly quickly after that.
During the time I’ve been writing on the internet I have had no less than five blogs. Only the one I write now (http://theiratedog.blogspot.com) has been anything other than just a little bit successful. Why? It’s very simple really…
It’s achieving a sense of community. As a start-up blogger you have two choices. The first is to go for the quick option, the other is to go for the long-term option. (I should point out at this point that the primary purpose of this guest post is not to teach you how to “get rich quick” on the internet. In my view this isn’t a very good use of your time and if you do happen to be ultra-successful it will likely be through no effort of your own but simple just the plastering of senseless advertising all over a blog that formerly had some potential.)
The Easy Way
If you go for the first option then your blog will soon find itself covered in adverts, useless posts and pop-ups. You’ll likely only have one long-term, faithful reader…yourself.
The Better Way
If you go for the long-term option your blog will have an archive full of well-written, worthwhile posts that interest you primarily but you hope a few other people on the internet too. But this isn’t going to be enough is it? I mean, there’s long-term and then there’s just waiting around forever for no reason.
No, you’re not going to wait around forever. Therefore your next step, as a long-term and involved blogger, must be the community. There are a wealth of blogging community websites out there. BlogCatalog, Entrecard and FuelMyBlog to name just three. Get onto them. Sign up. Expose yourself to like-minded people. Drop a couple of ads through Entrecard perhaps. Author a few threads in the discussion forums of BlogCatalog. Build up an online persona, an image that people can look at and begin to recognise as interesting and authoritative. Use the same username wherever you go on the web whether you’re thinking about blogging or not. Have a link to your blog from you Facebook page so your friends can have a look too.
Building up this long-term, friendly network of bloggers is the key to long lasting success as a blogger. So sure, go for making money if that’s what you
What happened to me?
After several attempts of getting by without so much as a hint of community spirit I made the conscious decision to get involved. I settled on my current blog name, I made myself an email account of the same name, and went to work. It must have taken me hours to find my first good set of community websites. And that’s a good thing. This can’t be an easy fix, success doesn’t work like that. Success is given to those who put the work in. The decisions are made by those who turn up. If you want to have your blog make an impact on the blogosphere you have you make it.
And now? Now I’m satisfied. I’m not making any money, but then I don’t particularly feel I need to. Blogging is a hobby for me but seeing a triple-digit view count at the end of the day helps too. I’m in a place now where I can quite happily write at least daily and not worry about it not getting me any money. I’ve got a good group of bloggers that I can call on any time and ask for a guest post, or vice versa. I value their opinions regarding my blog and they value mine.
The Bigger Picture
It’s all about the community. That’s my message for the readers of this blog. The blogosphere would be nothing if it were full of bloggers intent on making themselves a whole lot of cash. But the blogosphere we have (a world brimming with professionals, commentators, advisers or even just diary-makers) has become a massive force for good in the world. It has shown an entire generation that they can have their say. It’s shown entire nations that they don’t have to sit back and say nothing while their people are oppressed. The blogosphere is the best thing that has ever happened to our truly global civilization, let’s not ruin it with a mad dash for cash.
Thanks for reading.
- Tom
This is really good advice for a person that is thinking of setting up their own blog. Are there any other good blogs apart from this one that you could recommend to me?
Well, for community sites I would recommend sites like BlogCatalog. The discussion forums in particular are a great way to build up relationships with fellow bloggers.
If you’re looking for a mixture of community and increasing your views I would seriously consider Entrecard if you’re not on it already. Entrecard itself is, I think, mostly focussed on getting you views, but a by-product of that is find some great new blogs that you want to keep coming back to to read and comment. The author of that blog will likely do the same to you.
Lastly, again if you want to get that mixture of community and views, a straight forward twitter account is always welcome. Don’t be too spammy with it, be clever with your tweets and mention to anyone you find over the internet that you have a twitter page too. It’s perfect for a more close-nit community spirit.
Aside from those examples, a quick Google search of “blog community” or “blog directory” will always render some interesting results.
– Tom
Author of this guest post.
IrateDog last post ..Jan 14- Labour Party Comfortably win By-Election
*ehem*
I also just realised that the question was about blogs, not community website.
SO. Recommended blogs are as follows: (Google these, I’m not sure what the rules are on this blog for links in comments)
1) my blog, obviously.
2) First Door on the Left – Political
3) Together With Dogs – Dogs…obviously…
4) Ecopunk – environment
That’s four to be going on with. Happy reading!
– Tom
IrateDog last post ..Jan 14- Labour Party Comfortably win By-Election
I have found Entrecard has not only increase my traffic tremendously but I have also gained fans and found quite a few interesting and useful blogs (like this one!)
Art of RetroCollage last post ..Emerson Star
Blogging is certainly your hobby as you don’t care if you make money out of it
This is so helpful for aspiring bloggers out there who wants to become successful and satisfied.