Do you ever feel like your blog is a raft all alone in the open seas of the worldwide web? No one will ever find you and it'll just eventually sink and be forgotten. If so what are you doing about this? I found a forum the other day and a former blogger on there stated that she was sad. Sad because she had spent 3 years investing in that blog, enjoyed mostly every part of it for that amount of time, but now no longer felt like blogging anymore. Wow I thought. I very nearly became sad for her as well, but it no longer was fun for her and she couldn't figure out why. I wonder if it was because it became more like a job than a project, or the fact that she had reached a goal that no longer had any other level for her to obtain.
I've only been blogging for a relatively short time and let me tell you, it is a lot of work to promote my blog. I spend countless hours sometimes researching -- How to Improve Your Blog -- and for the most part all answers point to the following: (not in any particular order I might add)
- Good Content
- Reliable Links
- Variety
- Provide Value
- Encourage Participation
- Have a Plan
- Hustle
- Use Social Media (i.e.Twitter)
- Be Consistent
- Good Design
While these are extremely important it is only a few really. One thing that I'd like to mention as well is the importance of being confident in your own knowledge and take advantage of such. There are definitely enough blogs out there to seem like an open sea but I plan on becoming at least a whale even if I have to feed on the plankton for a while. Hey what's wrong with plankton? Even a whale can survive off of it.
Seriously though I'm finding it a lot of work, but work that I enjoy. No matter what I've done in the past, I've always tried to be the best at what I do. If I fall short then it's because of my lack of effort and not reaching out to others. Reaching out to others and paying it forward is important in all things in life. You can only keep what you have by giving it away. When I leave a comment on someones blog post, and I frequently do, very rarely will that person NOT get back to me if I have a legitimate question about blogging or whatever the hell the post is about. In fact they thrive on this. For those who don't get back to me I don't take it personal. I choose not to as this only feeds my own self-doubt. So I tell you to be persistent, confident and let's not forget to have some patience. Like I previously said I have only been blogging for a short time and my blogs are slowing improving in content value and local readership. Oh, and by the way I dislike those, "Get Traffic for Free", "Gain unlimited Followers Immediately" enticements. Maybe they work, maybe they don't I want mine to be legit and of my own efforts. Not something I have to buy. Just Saying.
