First I want to congratulate everyone who read all the way to the bottom of Wednesday's post. I hope you got some extra traffic from the stumbles. Some times it pays to pay attention :)
On To The Contest
Back in July (A little over 2 weeks into my blogging career.) I wrote an article titled, "Why Blog?" It was well received, got several comments and was referenced by a few respected bloggers.
Veteran blogger Rhys Wynne, in his 1st comment on this blog, made what turned out to be a very prophetic statement;
"Most bloggers blogging now won't be blogging by Christmas."
At the time I thought the comment was a little snobbish and harsh. After going back and checking the commentors on that post, I found 5 were still active, 3 were dormant and 1 was on life support with only 2 posts a month. That comment was scarily accurate. (We're not going to discuss how he later told me he only subscribed to my feed so he could watch the train wreck.)
Your Assignment
First, go back and read that article, then come back here and leave a comment describing your motivation for blogging and how you plan to avoid falling by the wayside and ending up in the blog dustbin. Is your motivation money or fame? Is your blog just a creative outlet? Is it a megaphone for activism? Don't just make something up, tell the truth. Take as much space as you need.
Sunday I will select what I feel is the most original and unique response. That winner will receive a full blog review published right here on this very blog. Just so you know, I reserve the right to choose more than one winner or no winners if all the responses are lame so put a little effort into this. I know there are some very talented people who read and subscribe to this blog.
Now, put your thinking hats on and get to work!
If you enjoyed your read, grab my feed!
8 comments:
Wow... this seems to be an interesting competition!
I just finished writing my German article about the Harry Potter Party. I read the English book but today the German was published at 00.01 AM.
If you want to see some pictures of it you can look at my German blog http://tinyurl.com/yrfndq
Have a nice day!
Tired Markus (03:45 AM)
I've been "writing" for many years, although kept hidden away in handwritten journals, boxed up in the garage. Deciding to go online with my writings, for all the world to see, is a decision I've pondered for quite some time before taking the blogging plunge.
For me, blogging is an outlet like no other, where I can express indignation about many important issues facing society today.
Whether it be by my writing about personal experiences of abuse as a child, spousal abuse, or other aspects of relationships, blogging allows me to help others know they "are not alone".
I spent a great deal of time searching the internet for others who had experienced similar things as I had, but found near to nothing.
I knew I could make a difference, for others who can relate to what I experienced, as some abuses are extremely difficult to talk about, let alone plaster it across the internet.
The primary reason I began blogging online is to help others find their voice.
I have been blogging for slightly less time than you, the main reason I got into it was to promote myself. I felt it was an easy way to put my name on the net, get some looks from visitors and possibly some clients.
After I started blogging, I found myself somewhat addicted to finding new and interesting blogs though. I read/subscribe to over 30 presently. I am pretty much on blog overload.
My present goal is to start writing more for my blog, and to really offer some content that is easy to understand and useful to most people. I need to say upfront that although I am fairly good at speaking publicly, I find it much more difficult to write publicly. For this reason, my blog seems as dry as a piece of cardboard. I write about a dry topic to begin with so I find it hard to make the posts palatable.
What am I going to do in order to stay around past Christmas? Well, I moved my blog from blogspot to its own domain, I also use Wordpress now. I did this because I think it adds a little more credibility to the blog. I was fortunate enough to win a contest whose prize was a Wordpress theme design from Milo at peety-passion. If I hadn't won the contest, I would have paid someone to create a more robust and visually appealing theme. I need to make visitors stick, just like everyother blogger out there. It all starts with the visual, I know content is extremely important but it certainly helps to have a visually appealing site.
Another thing I have done to stick around is join some social networking sites, such as mybloglog and blogcatalog. I also actively read blogs within my industry and try to leave good, useful comments when possible. I feel that by leaving good comments (not just the "great post" crap), the author will make an attempt to read mine in an reciprocate.
Lastly, I plan on writing articles in advance and then posting them to my blog, this way I can be ahead of the game instead of behind it. I am currently writing articles now for November.
In closing, I am a firm believer in hard work and what comes around, goes around. If I keep reading other peoples blogs, offer some good content on mine, I will get what I am looking for, clients.
Respectfully,
Joe aka The Upfront Mortgage Broker
My motivation for blogging? Well, my subscribers, I think (and maybe some of the cash they're bringing).. Without them, I'd stop blogging right on the spot. I just really want people to be able to know what's on my mind.
Great contest Adtrack,
Here is my entry:
When I lost weight my friends and family were impressed and came to me for advice. Of course I helped them get on track and in shape.
That is a very rewarding experience, I feel like I had made a difference. But at the same time it wasn't enough of a difference for me.
Blogging serves 2 purposes (well 3 if you include any income I make from it).
1. I can hopefully help make a change in other peoples lives. Talking one on one is very time consuming and at the end only 1 person is affected. Blogging allows me to reach dozens to hundreds of people a once.
I know what it's like to overweight and everything that goes along with it. So I can better relate to people still stuck in that situation on a broader scale.
2. Blogging keeps me motivated and inspired to keep learning and improving on what I have achieved so far. I have a ton of ideas and opinions that are just easier to express in a blog. Spell checker and the backspace button are my secret weapons.
The key for me is to keep getting out of blogging as much or more than my readers.
I think that is why a lot of bloggers give up. Their needs are not being fulfilled.
If you just stick with it long enough, you'll find your online voice and others will begin to listen.
Anyway that's why I blog. Sounds a little sappy but it's true.
Take care
@ Markus - It looks like everyone over there is just as crazy about Harry Potter as they are over here :)
@ Everyone Else - Thanks for the entries, you guys are going to make this very difficult on me :)
Hmmm, well I blog for a few different reasons, but I'm not going to enter the contest.
It wasn't too terribly long ago that I was reviewed on this site so I'll let someone else have the prize :D
If there is anyone reading this that isn't sure whether or not you want to enter, trust me when I say that you do. I was very pleased with the review that Ad Tracker gave me and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Hi Nick - Thanks for the endorsement :)
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