PureBlogging

Take the Thirty Day Challenge

It’s almost time for the start of the next 30 Day Challenge.  Ed Dale and Dan Raines have set up a free program that walks you through the “How to Make Money on the Internet” process.  The concept is simple; sign up for the challenge, work through the process, and try to earn at least 10 dollars within 30 days.  I know, $10 for a months worth isn’t worth crowing about, but in this instance it’s more about the journey than the destination.

The problem with most money making ventures is that the promise of big bucks draws your focus away from the process of how it all works.  This is true of eBay selling programs, affiliate programs, or online stores.  it’s even true of blogging.  No matter how many times you’re told not to expect to hit the big time anytime soon, it’s hard not to look at the Darren Rowse’s of the blogosphere and dream of yourself in that position.  Then when you do finally start to see a little income, it seems a bit disappointing in comparison to your dreams.  Too often people loose heart and give up before they have given themselves a good opportunity to succeed.

The 30DC takes the disappointment factor out of the picture by setting the expectations so low that it is easy to achieve.  You focus more on what it takes to make good decisions that will help you succeed, and not on realistic dreams of instant wealth.

The challenge starts with a “pre-season” that walks you through getting signed up for sites you will be learning how to use for marketing, and gives some great suggestions of some very useful Firefox extensions.  Even without going through the challenge, you’ll find these extensions very useful.  Once you get into the challenge, Ed and Dan will take you through how to find a niche, how to use social media sites for marketing, how to use links, even how to use your blog as a marketing tool.  You’ll also learn how to effectively look at your sites states, and what your sites traffic patterns mean.

Did I mention that it’s free?  Yes Dan and Ed both have services that they charge for, but they don’t push those programs on you.  All you need to complete the challenge will be provided.  There hope is that after you see what they have to offer you will gladly sign up for there service, but there’s no hard-sell.

It’s worth checking out.  It’s a great way to get a free education.

Once the blogging bug bites, there is no cure, and you are infected for life. You are now a blogging zombie, and not even Milla Jovovich can save you (although wouldn’t that be nice?).

Well, okay, it’s not that bad. You’re not really a zombie. I just wanted an excuse to post that picture (you’re welcome).

But once you have one blog, you start thinking about starting a second. And once you have a second, you start thinking about starting a third. And once you have a third…

You see where this is goin’.

So… should you start that new blog?

My gut instinct is to say, “Yeah! Go for it!” But hold on a minute. Let’s do a reality-check and ask some questions. You can’t lie to yourself on these:

• Do you have plenty of time to blog now, or are you stretched thin already? Because if you’re pushin’ your luck as it is and barely getting anything done, what the heck makes you think you got time for another blog?
• Is the traffic on your current blog strong enough to really launch a new blog successfully? Done right, your new blog will equal your existing one in traffic and subscribers. The idea is that the readers of your current blog would also read your new blog. Now, maybe that’s not the case and you want to keep them separate. But otherwise, if your current blog is struggling for traffic and links, starting a new one maybe ain’t such a hot idea.
• Are you monetizing your blog with Google AdSense? Because if you are, having a buncha low-traffic sites can drag your overall earnings down. If you’re gonna go for big numbers with AdSense, you hafta go really big. Like hundreds or thousands, and that means you’re encroaching upon unethical territory. Not good.
• Is your idea really all that great? Not to be harsh, but often what seems like a good idea at first… isn’t. Sometimes it’s because our enthusiasm isn’t as strong as we thought. But more often, it’s because we didn’t research the idea enough. Are there other blogs in the niche? What’s the cost-per-click on keywords in that niche? What’s the search traffic trending in the niche? Are there any real affiliate opportunities in the niche?

Tips for how to start that new blog right:

• Consider starting a team blog, that way your time commitment isn’t as great as it would be if you were the only blogger.
• Do your research on keywords, traffic trends, domain availability, etc. Don’t make a decision that flies in the face of what your research uncovers.
• Start only one new blog at a time, spend some time getting off the ground, and then let it coast. This is what I do and it’s worked pretty well. I put some serious effort into them at first, then ease off later.
• Know when to call it quits. If it ain’t workin’, it ain’t workin’. Call it good and move on to something else. Don’t take it personally. If you’re not failing enough, then you’re not succeeding enough.

For bloggers who are hoping to grow a thriving and successful blog, networking is essential. Every successful blogger is surrounded by a strong network. However, for some people networking can be very intimidating at first. Many of us are hesitant to approach other bloggers in attempt to get to know them and find ways to help each other. While this fear is understandable, it’s not justified in most cases. Remember, other bloggers are in the same position as you and they are always looking to meet new people too.

During my time as a blogger I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know a number of people that have been helpful to me in one way or another, and I hope that I have been able to help others as well. If you’re hesitant to get out there and start interacting with other bloggers I can personally assure you that none of these 8 bloggers will bite. Visit their blogs, subscribe to their feeds and start getting involved in the comments. I think you’ll see that each of these bloggers has a lot to offer as a potential member of your network.

Courtney Tuttle

Court’s Internet Marketing School is one of my favorite blogs because of the high-quality, real-world content that is always provided. It’s no surprise that Court’s subscriber count is taking off and that he’s recognized as an authority in his niche. One of the things that makes Court a great blogger is his effort to genuinely help his readers. Whether it means responding to questions and comments, providing SEO’d WordPress themes, or giving others that chance to post on his site, Court is truly committed to helping others.

Tay

I first met Tay several months ago when I wrote a guest post for her blog and since then we have been regular readers and commenters on each other’s blogs. Super Blogging provides several articles each week for bloggers who are looking to improve their effectiveness online. Tay does a good job of covering all aspects of blogging, and just as important, she’s extremely reader-friendly.

David Peralty

David is the Head of Marketing for Splashpress Media (a company that owns a number of successful blogs) and he maintains his own blog, eXtra for Every Publisher. I met David a few months ago when I had some security issues with my blog. I had read one of his posts on a related topic and I contacted him hoping that he would be willing to give me some advice. To my delight, David was extremely helpful and he certainly taught me a few things about blog security. Xfep is a quickly growing blog, and I’m sure we could all benefit from the advice of a true Pro Blogger.

Jon Phillips

Jon is the owner of Freelance Folder, which is one of the leading resources for freelancers of all kinds. Jon recently sold his first blog, Smart Wealthy Rich. I initially came in contact with Jon by being a subscriber of SWR and he is certainly one of the most down-to-earth people that I have met since I have been blogging. Jon is a very strong networker and he has helped me on several occasions with advice, links, social media votes, and more.

David Culpepper

Since you’re reading this post on PureBlogging you most likely are already familiar with David. I’m sure all of the regular readers will agree that David is very approachable. I met David in July when I contacted him about writing a guest post for PureBlogging, and now I have the pleasure of writing a weekly article here (Thanks David). David was the first blogger that I saw who regularly gave something back to his readers by linking each week to those who contributed consistently in the comments.

Adnan

Blogtrepreneur is great resource for online entrepreneurs, and its owner is a teenager. Like a few of the other bloggers featured here, I met Adnan by writing a guest post for Blogtrepreneur. Adnan has built a successful blog and he even started his own blog consulting business. As a reader of Blogtrepreneur I always appreciate Adnan’s helpful approach, and he has been a valuable member of my network as well.

Pearl

I believe I first met Pearl through StumbleUpon and I have been reading her blog, Interesting Observations, ever since. Pearl’s blog has a strong community and it’s no surprise because she is very open and willing to communicate with everyone. She also has a strong SU profile and she is an avid user of social media.

Karen Zara

Since I started my blog Karen has been one of the most loyal readers and commenters. I always appreciate seeing Karen on my blog because she has contributed in a lot of positive ways. She’s given me more stumbles than I deserve, left plenty of thoughtful comments, and she participated and promoted in a group writing project that I hosted. Karen has several blogs of her own, including her WordPress blog, a1-fan-fun, and Abaminds.

A few weeks ago I blogged about an unpleasant experience my girlfriend had looking for a good online tutorial. In that post, I mentioned how disappointing it is when writers post content just for the sake of posting content.* The sheer volume of information on the Web makes it a lot easier for readers to switch channels if you don’t give up the goods.Yesterday, Sharon gave some great advice on what to do when a post falls flat; today I’d like to point out five surefire ways to avoid just such a situation, by outlining five ways you can disrespect your readers, insult them, or just plain waste their time:

Don’t deliver on your title’s promise. The brilliant Copyblogger reminds us that every title we write is a promise to our readers — a promise that we will deliver to them as much value as we’re able. Don’t write a tutorial that doesn’t give detailed instructions, or a list post that reads just like every other list post on the same topic. As a writer, you’re asking me to spend valuable minutes of my life on your blog. Don’t waste my time with something I could have figured out on my own.

Write posts solely to generate hits and/or comments. You could get thousands of hits and hundreds of comments a day by writing a blog about how Ron Paul is the worst presidential candidate ever, or how Firefly wasn’t really a very good show, or how you finally played Halo and you don’t see what all the fuss is about. That’s because these three opinions have one thing in common: While most people in meatspace don’t really care about them, they’d be hotly contested on the Internet. Don’t broach overexerted topics unless you’ve got something truly original and inspiring to say.

Use grammar and spelling that defy human comprehension. Personally, I’m kind of hoping that when the Internet finally becomes self-aware and declares war on the human race, the first ones to be herded into the Robot Appreciation Camps will be those who perpetually misuse apostrophes. A typo here and there isn’t a dealbreaker, but if you’re going to try to make your living by writing, it’s pretty important that you master the basics of the language you’re writing in.

Pirate ideas, or just plagiarize wholesale. Yeah, this happens. And the worst part is, most of us don’t know if we’re reading a pirated post. The writer of the pirated material might not even know. But if you do it, you’ll know. And Santa will know. You don’t want to make that guy mad.

Let everyone know, without prevarication or hesitation, how unrelentingly awesome you are. There’s a big difference between personal, observational writing and self-aggrandizement. Don’t be shy about voicing your opinion, but don’t write down to your readers or assume you’re smarter than they are. And don’t get into flame wars with other bloggers (unless, of course, it’s very entertaining).

Looking at this list, I’m finding that much of what I’m saying boils down to one thing: Say something original and coherent. Look at the best content on the web — just about all of it stems from fresh, creative thought. It’s harder to generate, for sure. But your readers will thank you.

*A few commenters argued that the tutorial in question was actually perfect, because it drew visitors who would then search the site’s advertisers for an answer, bringing in revenue for the bloggers. I remind these persons that providing a substandard product in the naked pursuit of profit renders irreparable damage to one’s soul and integrity, and invite them to swim, Scrooge-McDuck-like, in their undoubtedly huge vats of gold Krugerrands, their self-worth untrammelled by the fact that they spoke out in support of offering a shoddy product in exchange for a few extra bucks.

It happens to us all. We spend time carefully crafting a well thought out post, then we wait for the response. And all we get for our trouble is a deafening silence. It’s upsetting and hurtful, but you don’t have to put up with that treatment. Here are some strategies you can try to rescue your post from the doldrums.

First of all, look at the post again. Are you sure that it’s well written and on-topic? Is there anything you can change to make it better? Maybe the title isn’t appealing enough to get people interested. Maybe it doesn’t tell readers what your post is about. Or perhaps what your post needs is a few more links to other blogs. When you link to others, that encourages them to check out your post, and maybe link to your blog as well.

Next, make sure you’ve tagged it with the terms people are searching for. Check out Google Trends or the equivalents on Yahoo or Live to see what is piquing people’s interest. Maybe there’s a way to include a couple of those terms in your post (as long as they are relevant).

Third, bookmark it. If you haven’t got accounts at delicious, Blinklist, Furl, Magnolia, Mr Wong and others, then now’s the time to get started. Adding your post to social sites will help it to gain visibility and you might just reach the readers you want.

Fourth, use your network. You’ve got friends; ask them to read your post and comment on it. Find out if any of your SU friends might want to give it a thumbs up. Connect with other bloggers on BloggingZoom - you can even zoom your own post without penalty.

These strategies ought to be enough to get some attention for your post. If no one can be bothered after doing all this, then you may have to face the fact that you’ve got a turkey on your hands.

Of course, it may be a matter of timing. Some days readership is lower than others, and you may have less traffic over the holidays. If that’s the case, you can always delete the post, tweak it again and republish it with a new title. And this time, make it snappy!

When I first started working as a blogger, I primarily worked in the industry of writing about music. I wrote CD reviews and feature articles about musicians. Additionally, I covered live music events for several publications. After moving out of the music writing field, I began working primarily in writing about technology. This means that I rarely cover live events anymore. But this week I’ve been attending MacWorld, writing for Mac-Forums about what I’m experiencing at the event. Being there this week has reminded me of something that I knew when I was a music writer but had forgotten: topic-based blogging and event blogging are two entirely different things.

With topic-based blogging, it is your job to know everything that there is about the topic on which you are writing. You might have an opinion of that topic but it needs to be rooted in researched information about the subject. In other words, when I blog about VoIP phones for small businesses over at PC World, I’m not just offering an opinion of some topic that I know nothing about. I may have an opinion but it is assumed that I will have researched both VoIP and small business news in order to have formed that opinion. This type of blogging takes time in the area of research.

In contrast, event blogging also requires that you take some prep time but that time is spent actually attending the event. Whether it’s walking around MacWorld or listening to a band, it is time that is spent absorbing what’s happening around you. The goal of event blogging is to report the details of what you saw (or heard) to your readers so that they can experience the event as if they were there with you. This requires that you give your opinion and perspective on the event. And it doesn’t necessarily require that you do any research in order to form that opinion. For example, it’s nice if a music blogger can say, “I hate this band because they sound like a bad combination of the drummer from Band X and the lead singer of Band Y”. But it’s not necessary. The music blogger can just as effectively describe the grating drum beat and screeching voice and get his or her point across.

Despite this, event blogging actually requires more blogging experience than topic-based blogging does (as a general rule). Although it may not demand that you know the details of what you are seeing at the event, it does require that you thoroughly understand the business of blogging. You need to know what is important to pay attention to at an event and what isn’t going to interest your readers. You have to filter through all that you’re seeing and report only on the most important parts of the event. Additionally, if you’re posting live from an event, you need to be familiar with your blog tools (including adding photos from the site) and you must be capable of quick-but-accurate writing.

Of course, to be a good blogger of either kind requires some of the same basic skills. Whether you are posting live from an event or you are summarizing an angle about a topic, you should be capable of clearly articulating what you are trying to say. You should also be able to back up your claims, whether that’s with information that supports your opinion on a topic-based blog or a description of the event that solidifies your point. A strong blogger will be able to move back-and-forth between both types of blogging to provide a full overview of their subject to their readers over the course of time.

Links to What Others Have Said about Blogging at Events: Tips for Conference LiveBlogging, Tips for Conference Bloggers, Live Blogging by Beth Kanter

5 General Skills Needed for Topic-Based Blogging:

• Research skills
• SEO/SEM knowledge
• Paragraph-based writing ability (intro, body, conclusion)
• Editing
• Passion for the topic and ability to approach it from different angles

5 General Skills Needed for Blogging about Events:

• Strong working knowledge of blog tools including posting images taking at an event
• Ability to pull important details from a wealth of information
• Speedy, accurate writing under pressure of deadline
• Comfort with working in the midst of noise and distractions
• Organizational skills

Question of the Day: Do you prefer to blog live from an event or to write topic-based blog articles - and why?