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Challenges Of Starting A Blog

Wed, Dec 16, 2009

Blogging Techniques, Blogging Tips, How To Make Money Blogging, Link Management, Work From Home


This is a guest post by Drew Sire who writes a blog at BuzzyBeeMarketing.com. Read more details below.

Patience And Following Through

Millions of blogs make up the blog-o-sphere. Millions of blogs also lie dormant with the latest post created over a year ago. I’ve researched the personality types predominantly attracted to blogging. As a creative extrovert, I have the most trouble following through. Either someone is trying to sell me on joining their next business or I have trouble shutting off the endless stream of creative ideas in my head. Blog platforms don’t make it easy for us extrovert types. You are cut off from other bloggers by default when writing. Sitting in front of a computer screen in a lonely office isn’t the recipe for us extroverts. You need to plug in to the blog-o-sphere in a way that will feed your extraversive needs. Introverts have an easier time following through on writing because they are energized by thoughts inside their mind. I’ve been inspired to write some of the most interesting content by conversing with intellectual introverts.

When trying something new, its easy to become discouraged because you don’t know what really works. Your blog friends are the greatest antidote to discouragement. This will give you the patience and follow through to carry out building your blog. Try searching some of the social blogging networks like MyBlogLog.com and BlogCatalogue.com These are great sites to find friends who will become commentators on your blog.

Better A Peanut Gallery Than Empty Shells

A blog without comments looks like a wild west ghost town. Where did everyone go? Did commentators loose control and shoot each other? Or did you even get to that point with your blog? I’ve noticed two kinds of blogs in regards to comments. The first blog has a handful of loyal participants that comment on a frequent basis who seem to know each other. The second blog has massive amounts of content in a specific niche where random commentators come and go.

Which strategy do you want to use? A small loyal group of commentators works better for very specific niches where there might not be an overwhelming amount of traffic. Loyal friends also heckle each other without loosing motivation to return. It also works great for blogs written with a personal style. If you want to cultivate a handful of frequent loyal commentators, then try these methods. Try running contests where the top participants win prizes like links, guest posts and banner ads. User authentication in your comment system will weed out junk comments and serve as a barrier to low quality self promoters.

More open commenting systems compliment multi blogger platforms and niche aggregates where different topics are discussed. Higher volumes of comments will keep your blog updated if your comment system is readable by the search engines. This will help you in more competitive niches. Allow anonymous comments to make participation easier for new visitors. Expect to spend some time approving comments and filtering out spam. A competitive niche is conquered by blogs that keep their content fresh.

Don’t Blog Just For The Money

I’ve made more money in smaller niches because of passion. You can build a viable blog in small traffic niches or large niches. Size only matters when you have passion. Quality trumps quantity. If you don’t wake up in the morning excited to see who commented on your blog, you are in the wrong niche. I actually had an elderly lady present me with a supernatural experience when she told me to x-nay the greed in my heart. I was in the wrong niche. Blogging is about serving people, not giving them cheap experiences. When you come across as a person in service you become approachable. That attitude invites comments. So remember, plug yourself in with other passionate bloggers and give your audience a reason to comment.


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This post was written by:

Drew Sire - who has written 2 posts on Work From Home Business Blog. Drew Sire writes a blog at BuzzyBeeMarketing.com. He's been programming computers since seven years old. He has worked in internet marketing for the past 4 years and runs his own e-commerce websites. Drew's latest startup is a new blog platform built for professionals. The platform will be launching in the next few months.

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  • the first challenge is to get indexed in google within days ..and then to get traffic from ranked keywords....sometimes keyword research is pathetic and u cannot get good traffic
  • Blog for something other than money yes, but if the plan is to earn money...just make sure the chosen thing to blog about has the potential for traffic and income. I have been quite surprised at how sites and concepts I thought would earn me more earned me so much less. Lesson: It's not just about what you like, it's about what others like!
  • btw..... did you just install "DISQUS" comments? looks neat.
  • @Mohamed Adam Jr: Yes and I quite like it. It's served me well.
  • I must say this is great advice. I just started blogging and I have no comments on my blog either. I am trying to figure out how to boost traffic so as to get some contributors.
  • Try to put a top commentator list and install a plugin. It sure helps.
  • Hi peter,
    i have top commentators on my blog but most of comments i get is thnx admin, good post, and i like it...

    i wont accept this kind of comments but if the comment is related to the content and if its not copied from any other source i would like to accept it :)
  • GDI Blog: Yes I do get my fair share of such comments to and I usually delete them. Nice blog you got there.
  • yeah usualy you can delete them but what if they are like 50 pending comments over there, you will spend a lot of time. and i dont want to delete usefull comments also, so i have to check them carefully. do you have any idea how can we resolve this ? :)

    By the way, there is a link on your top comentators (esra) i dint visited the link but i know a little turkish and its a p*rn website...!
  • I heard that there is a wp plugin that can filter away such comments like very short comments with a few words. I'll try to find out more from someone who has installed it. I'll reply here once I have the name. Stay tuned...

    BTW thanks for telling me about that site and I just deleted it. Good that you know Turkish. What's your nationality may I ask.
  • Keep us updated peter... sound like that would be a good plugin.
  • You can make a post about that plugin when you find it, i am subscribed to your blog via email so it would be easier to stay tuned .
    I am half Italian half Albanian. right not living in Turkey (study at university).
    note: i am not the girl on the gravatar =)
  • And also, we should post regularly. I noticed that my blog gets additional traffic when i have a new one. Sure, I would love to do a contest. haha.. But I will need to get my blog ready first. haha..
  • Good post.Starting the blog is simple but keeping up with it is difficult.Coming up with something useful to write, marketing the post and so on takes a lot of effort and when you are not seeing any results in the beginning it is easy to get discouraged and quit.

    Those who are just blogging for money are not going to make it because they have no interest in the topic what so ever.When I visit a blog that is full of ads and no content, I simply leave.

    One thing I have noticed as a blogger is that keeping things as simple as possible works the best.
  • JP, I like your idea about being your own commentator on your blog if you have no comments. I've written great content on my blog. I receive a few comments. I don't receive the comments like Peter Lee does. So there must be more to generating comments and participation than just great content.
  • blogging just for money is a very bad Idea...the main purpose of blog in the first place is to help and share to people.
  • About number 2 "Better A Peanut Gallery Than Empty Shells"...

    A blog would never EVER have a commentator if the blog owner won't give comments. Read this wonderful post "No Commentator? Then be the Commentator". It will tell blog beginners what should they do on their starting days.
  • I agree with all the points too and importently the point with money. you should have fun by blogging and choose the right topic.
  • Ya, I have felt the same way when building a website, e-commerce site or blog. It's easy to stay on track when someone is dangling the money carrot with the stick. It's really tough to keep your courage and persistence when no one is there to give you a paycheck. I've tried to find a bigger picture to stay motivated. Plug yourself into a purpose! I've always learned to bend my fear into a servant instead of letting it be a paralyzing obstacle.
  • I like all these points, but I think that probably being patient is the most important advice and the one it can be hardest follow. Having started more than a few blogs, I can say without question that the hardest part is often in the beginning when no one seems to be listening. It's important to stick with a strategy and not freak out immediately when your blog isn't suddenly inundated with traffic. If all goes well the traffic will come, but it will take time.
  • I'm glad you guys liked the blog post. I tried to put my voice and experience into the writing.
  • "Don’t Blog Just For The Money"

    I like this. Blogging is not about making money. You can make money through blogging but the main thing that you should do when you blog is to tell people what you want them to know and help people on the things that you know and they don't know.

    Nice article
  • yes thats right jewelry. I agree with you.
  • Nice point. I also write one article with the same theme of your. Patient is the most important for success on blogging. Sometime my blog traffic decrease tremendously, I do not distress about it, just I try to improve my negative point for which I can gain my traffic again.

    Again I also agree that we should not blogging for money. I think that if our blog is good enough then money will follow us, we need not follow money.
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