I’m Speaking at BlogWorldExpo - Stop By and Say Hi
If you’re going to BlogWorldExpo, I do hope you’ll stop by and say hi. As you know, I’m a big fan of blogging conferences as it’s a good way to learn and bring bloggers together. I don’t think I’ll be attending as many classes as I’d like since I’ll be spending time at the BlogTalkRadio booth. It’s all good though.
My session, which also includes my friend David Peralty, is called: How to Be More Than a Blog: New Media Intergration.
Here’s the description:
In today’s busy blogosphere, it’s not enough to have a blog. Using images, video, radio, podcasts and more can take a blog to a completely different level. In this session you’ll learn why bells and whistles are important and how easy it is to implement new media into your blog.
Stop by and see us Saturday afternoon or look for me at BWE and the BlogTalkRadio booth. I hope to meet as many of my blogging friends as possible!
Blogging (For Others) For Free
Blogging has evolved from being a cool little hobby that might make you a little bit of money to a mega business. Some bloggers report to making six figures or more a year from their own blogs. Other bloggers earn the equivalent of a regular, family-supporting salary as a blogger for hire. Which, of course, is where we fit in.
I came across this post at Gawker called “Volunteer Bloggers, Stop Subsidizing the Entire Internet“, and saved it to talk about here because it speaks to me. It reminds me of when I first started writing online in 2000. When I began looking for places to find freelance writing work I was appalled at how many websites expected writers to work for the glory and exposure. Indeed, writing is the only profession I know of where a potential client or employer expects to get something for nothing. Now I see the same thing happening for bloggers.
Should You Blog for Free?
I’m not talking about guest posts or blogging contests, exchanging guest posts is part of the job and in most cases it’s a fair trade. I’m talking about stocking someone else blog or website with content on a regular basis and receiving nothing in return except for a byline. Meanwhile, as in the case with the AOL bloggers and the Huffington Post, the owners are earning money from advertising.
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think many employers or webmasters are asking their web hosts to donate free server space. Nor do I believe their webmasters and sales teams are working in exchange for a byline. So why then, is the writer or blogger always the one to get the shaft?
Online is forever
Unlike a magazine or newspaper that is put out to be recycled, your words are online forever. That means there’s a chance folks will be reading your content every single day. In other words, it’s you and your labor who ensured the success of a particular website or blog. If you didn’t take the time to write a post that keeps them coming, if you didn’t take the time to research keywords or subject matter, mingle with the community and form just the right combination of words, there wouldn’t be any reason for anyone to visit said blog. Why then is the blogger not the one to get paid?
What’s in it for you?
Before giving away your work, find out what’s in it for you. Will you really, truly be getting good exposure or is your stint volunteer blogging for Joes Crappy Blog No One Will Read really going to bring you the glory its owner promised?
You deserve to be paid for your hard work. If you’re going to be building up someone else’s blog for free, you may as well create your own blog and collect your own advertising. Isn’t that better than letting someone else get rich from your labor?
What Makes You Feed A Blog?
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, and by regularly, I mean at least 3-5 times per week. 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. It’s your opinions I’m interested in, not your abilities to copy and paste someone else’s.
People who don’t have the ability to form an opinion on their own should not blog. Harsh, but true.
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. I was there until just over a year ago, so I can still feel their pain. 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 King!
What makes you want to add a blog to your feed reader? What can bloggers do to keep you coming back?
This topic has been discussed numerous times around the blogosphere, but this happens to be one of those topics where too much is a good thing and there can never be enough.
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.
Summer Break
You may have noticed I’ve been absent. Just a heads up, I’m moving states, have not found a house yet, need to pack, shop for a new car, and get my son set up with activities and programs in the new place; not to mention work. I’ve got about 20 days to get this all done, so I expect to be blog absent until some point in Sept.
Gayla and Deb should still be popping in, although it is summer, so maybe they should be relaxing more and blogging less. Maybe we all should. I’m sure once I get moved I’ll fit in some relaxation too. In any case, I’ll see you in Sept. Have an amazing end of summer - hope it’s not as hectic as mine.
So I’m a ProBlogger, What’s Next?
Working as a professional blogger can lead you to places you never knew exisited. For instance, my job as Community Manager at BlogTalkRadio. If you’ve ever wondered what a Community Manager does and how I came by my job at BTR, listen to my interview with Kelly McCausey and WAHMTalkRadio. My interview starts at 26 minutes, but show your support for Kelly by listening to the whole podcast.
Too much of a good thing - Overused Blog Topics
When I began providing tips for aspiring bloggers, one of the most common mistakes was bloggers believing that my "make money online" blog was the money maker when in fact, it was quite the opposite. That blogging persona was one of charitable contribution only. There was no money to be had. Mostly because there are such amazing and valuable resources that exist and frankly, I don’t like to try to reinvent the wheel.
Most of the topics I would discuss was my own experiences with various affiliate programs - did they work, did they not?
The driving force for my effort to help educate those scouring the Internet looking to grab the brass ring - was to provide some bit of prevention to those who would otherwise be taken in by the promise of easy, quick money.
My heart was breaking in fact, after my cousin had left my house with a box full of Mia Bella Candles (MBC).
It’s my personal opinion that MBC is one of the biggest scams going. The way the company stays afloat is by the force ships they send those who sign up for their programs. It’s not customers buying the products, it’s the ones hoping to turn a profit once the candles arrive on their stoop.
I have been fortunate enough to be at home with my twins since they were 5-years-old and I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. Especially being a single mom for most of their life. I believe other mom’s (and dad’s) should have that option too.
Now that I’ve rambled on and on and gone totally off track, let’s step back here and find out just what you think are topics that are so completely saturated when it comes to blogs?
Any thoughts on where the money might be?
Leave a comment here with your ideas and I’ll gladly give you my own opinion on what I think would work and what won’t - and I’ll even toss in a why for good measure.
The 3 Worst Things I Did for My Network Blogs
When I first began blogging for a network I didn’t have so much on my plate. Sure, I had a few of my own blogs and work with other clients, but the snowball didn’t really start rolling down the mountain. As a result, I had a successful start to my network blogging career. Towards the end of my network blogging career, it was apparent I was making some mistakes - all my own fault.
Here are the 3 Worst Things I Did for My Network Blogs
- I posted the network minimum - Because I was so busy I posted the network minimum. This didn’t really do anything to help my blog grow. The more successful network bloggers were posting to their blogs at least twice a day, some more. Remember, not all blog posts have to be 300 words. You can write a paragraph and link to someone else’ s post, embed a great video, ask a question and let your community discuss…and so much more. Go the extra mile and reap the rewards.
- Instead of working more on my existing blogs, I applied for more blogs - Every time a topic opened up I loved, I applied for the gig. Many times I got said gig. Then I did the minimum amount of work for each. Some of my network blogs brought in very good traffic. Others…meh. It would have made more sense for me to work on my existing blogs by posting more often and working on traffic and promotion than taking on more.
- I let my blogging become a job - Don’t get me wrong, I love blogging. It got to the point where there were so many blogs, and not much time. Soon I was suffering from burnout. Blogs weren’t fun anymore, they were a job. Something I had to to. This is the biggest reason I gave up my network blogs when I began working full time. I wanted blogging to be fun again and I had my hands in too many pots for that to happen.
I think a mistake many network bloggers make is to keep applying for more network blogs. We all have different reasons why we do this. For me it was because I needed a full time salary - and because I loved the topics. I made the mistake of taking on too much and blogging wasn’t fun for me anymore.
What are the worst things you did for your blogs and how di you fix them?
What makes a good blog topic, the topic or the writer?
What exactly makes a good blog topic, the writer’s knowledge and perspective of the topic or the topic itself?
I was asked that question recently and to be honest, I have to believe it’s the writer.
I’ve seen topics that I would have never dreamed I would find interesting, but was drawn in and captivated by the writing abilities of the writer.
A simple search of some of the most mundane topics can yield hundreds, even thousands of websites or blogs - that in itself suggests that nearly any topic has an audience.
While discussing the future with my kids and their desire to get a summer job, I encouraged them to learn how to write. To write about what’s of interest to them or pick a topic they want to learn about.
They were quick to respond with lack of confidence trying to convince me they wouldn’t know how to write.
The simple truth is, if you can take a subject and answer the questions:
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
- and How?
You can write!
The part of blogging that people fail to focus on is what exactly sets them apart from other bloggers within the same niche.
Again, the answer is simple - be educational or entertaining, however, the perfect storm for any writer would be to possess a little bit of both.
Thoughts?
Computer Tasks & Issues for Bloggers
What computer tasks do you do weekly? Monthly?
If you blog full-time, or even a lot of the time, then keeping your computer running well is a priority - or it should be. Doing some basic maintenance can keep your computer healthier, such as running cooler and faster. I’m not a computer genius (not when it comes to techy fix-it stuff) but here are some of the tasks I do on a normal basis for my laptop. I try to get everything done once a week.
- Clean the whole darn computer plus my external fan, mouse, and keyboard
- Empty the cache and recycle bin
- Clear out any useless documents and pictures
- Defragment and clear out disk space - you can do this from your control panel
- Clean up the desktop - i.e get rid of useless icons
- Back up everything!
That’s pretty basic. I don’t do too much extra; although, I know in XP you can do some other extra tasks meant to keep your computer running smoothly.
Protection:
I run my virus scans and software updates daily. I can’t afford to lose anything due to icky spying sites, a virus, or some other issue. I have really good computer security. I use Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security, and I think it’s great. I’ve never had an issue, it runs well, and it’s pretty cost effective. My subscription allows me to place the system on 3 computers.
What are you doing to protect your computer and blogging schedule?
I’ve had some computer issues this week, so this topic has been on my mind. That means, that we’ll be looking at more computer issues this week; such as backup protection (what to do when something goes wrong), cleaning know-how, and how to get your sluggish computer back up to speed so you can get back to blogging fast.
