Monday, February 11, 2008

Blogging Tip

When I first started blogging I was an "unknown." Yup nobody came to visit my blog, very few comments (if any), and I felt like I was blogging for my eyes only, and the occasional family member. It was okay, but did you ever surf other people's blogs and see that they could write three sentences and get 437 comments... all within 12 seconds of hitting publish and wonder why no one noticed you? I would think "Holy crap, what do these people do to get so much attention?"

The one thing I started to notice about "busy" blogs is the posts were kept short, had pictures, and the authors posted regularly. Oh there was the occasional long post but for the most part they followed the three "rules." SPR = Short, Pics, Reg. I think (and I'm no expert) it's because people don't have time. We all like to think that everyone reads every single word we post but in reality most people "skim," especially if the post has many paragraphs. I have been known to read the first and last paragraph, and anything in bold (head hung). So after I noticed this (it takes me a while) I looked at blogging in a whole new way. If you're a blogger you see every opportunity as a potential blog post but instead of putting "one day into one post" I started to break them up. I can now take one day and break it into about 4 or 5 posts. It was hard at first because I wanted my most faithful reader (Hi Mom, hand waving) to see everything all at once but now I create a bunch of posts, save them, and post them over a few days. And if something can't wait, I send Mom an email :) By doing this I have time to think about what I've wrote. I can go back and change things; add, delete, ponder just what in the heck was I thinking when I wrote that post?, etc., you get the picture. I'm not trying to tell you how to write your blog, I just wanted to share what I do, and, even though I don't have 437 comments on any one post yet, I have noticed my subscribed readers in Feedburner has dramatically increased.

I just want to take this opportunity to say thanks. Thanks to all the readers who add me to Google Reader, Bloglines, RSS Feeds, and subscribe by email. Thanks to everyone who leave comments, suggestions, and email :) Thanks for making this SAHM feel like her "country bumpkin" way of life is really a lot more interesting than what she sees sometimes :)

I know this has nothing to do with my blog post but I just felt like throwing up a picture of my parents on their wedding day back in 1962, besides I have to slip a picture into this post somewhere (wink, wink).

PS I'm pretty sure she took the curler out of her hair before she said "I do." :)

6 comments:

Little Ol' Liz said...

I think there may be more to Blog popularity than you realize.
One is a good topic. Asking for shaving tips certainly brought out comments!
Secondly, the Big Time Bloggers all have something else going for them: they are either getting paid to blog, or do it to create interest in a soon to be published book, calendar, etc.
And thirdly, having all this going for them, they rely on the basic human nature of wanting to be liked (like Fraiser did). They need the strokes to keep interest up, and the Commentors want to feel like a part of their inner circle and have a piece of the action.
Why do I look in on you? We have some things in common. You're interesting. And very giving person. All the things I look for in a regular Blog read. Hang in there. People will find you.

Anonymous said...

the picture of your parents is so nice...love the curler ;)

Jackie said...

Nice picture of your parents. What a handsome couple (curlers not withsatnding;-))

David T. Macknet said...

I've just been giving some thought to what, really, goes into a blog. I think that it's in some ways a real community effort: after all, we all blog for some sense of "other people care about this" at some level, or at least we want to share. Part of building that community comes from reading - and commenting upon - other people's blogs. What do I mean by reading?

I have 262 feeds in my feed reader, including (with a wee bit of overlap in the categories):
* 31 comment feeds
* 53 food blogs
* 21 knitting blogs
* 20 flickr feeds
* 29 personal feeds
* 168 daring baker blogs
* 3 news feeds
* 3 "misc" feeds (a philosophy blog, a product review blog, "Bad Science" column)

These are feeds that I read just about every day. It takes me around an hour and a half, ever day, because some of that involves clicking over to comment. They're not always long comments, nor do I comment on every blog by any means. But I do make an effort to read the blogs which are in food, knitting, and personal sections (one of which is THIS blog). I make an effort to scan the headlines of the news feeds, at least, and to quickly zip through the comments. And then ... I at least read the first paragraph of all 168 daring baker blogs. They're last, you see, because there's some overlap between that category and my personal & food categories, which I read completely, every time. There are also a few which don't publish feeds – I get to those as I can, maybe around once a week.

I'm not trying to point out how virtuous I am, but merely to point out that blogging is, in a way, an occupation. I write the odd post here and there, but mostly I read, and comment. In addition to blogs of friends, I particularly like to comment upon blogs with low traffic. It's amazing, really, the effect a comment can have upon someone's blog - and upon their happiness. I've seen several blogs pick up, and keep on growing … because they kept on posting once they knew somebody was reading, and the very act of posting more got them that critical mass to get readership. It also brought them to our blog, where they commented, and where they were discovered – by others who'd had similar things happen.

Anonymous said...

You brought up some great posts. I know some people keep posts short, add a photo, and still no comments. They may have 50 readers a day and only a few who comment. I agree with Davimack in that reading and commenting on someone's post encourages that person to come back and read. I have people on my blog roll and my RSS reader who I enjoy reading and others who have been faithful in reading my posts and I feel I have a bit of a relationship with. There are some posts on some blogs I don't always feel like reading, but sometimes I will just because that person always comes to my blog and comments. I have been to some of those blogs where they have a ton of readers. One person in particular, had no time to come back to my blog and read or comment. I enjoyed her writing, but I have so many hours in a week to read, and I will read give up those people who completely ignore me. I also know of someone, who is quite funny, who asked me to be her friend in NaBloPoMo. She was on everyone's friend list. She came to my post the first of the month, invited me to be her friend and never came back. I know it isn't like she was really my friend, but it bugs me. She went from having no comments at the beginning of November to the last time I checked, 50 or 60 comments. That is another way to get readers as well. I do read posts from beginning to end, and sometimes read comments unless there are 50 of them.

I like the photo of your parents. My parents were married September 1st 1962.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas,

I agree with you and I'm in utter shock at the picture of your MOm and Dad. Knowing both of your parents I would never have guessed that was your Dad. Your mom hasn't changed at all(even with the curler) They made a nice looking couple. Take care

Pat