Do's and don'ts for young bloggers
July 8th 2009 20:14
Don't start unless you mean to go on. Blogging is a brave new publishing world but the internet is littered with abandoned blogs. It's a lot of fun until the novelty wears off and then it becomes serious work. Blogs are hungry pets; good blogs are voracious creatures. A blog is a long-term commitment.
Do start by writing. Don't worry about designing a banner, choosing a font colour or learning everything there is to know about search engine optimisation. It's all about content. Sign up at Orble or Blogger, or buy your domain name and install Wordpress, and start writing immediately. Worry about the bells and whistles later.
Don't write about everything under the sun. The blogging world doesn't work like that. Build readership by choosing a core subject and writing about it. Inform, educate and entertain and people will come to your blog. If you are passionate about two different subjects, start two blogs.
Do take time to put some spit and polish on your posts. It's a competitive world out there and the quickest way to appeal to the widest audience is to write clearly and cleanly.
Don't give up. The hardest time is the first six months and the second hardest period is the second six months. Etcetera. As we said earlier, blogging is a long-term commitment, and it is remarkable, and sad, how many people get through the early days of putting up content for a handful of readers, and then give up.
Hang in there, and success will come. The blogging world works like that.
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Comment by Norm
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Good for the rest of us nuerotics and psychos.
After the first thousand, the money's irrelevant.
I tell a lie. Every cent counts.
Comment by Chris Champion
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Don't pay any attention to comments from Norm. This is particularly important, boys and girls. Trying to understand Norm's messages has been known to lead to hiccoughs, brain clouds and reincarnation.
Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
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[Norm]
Comment by Chris Champion
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That gave me a belly laugh.
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
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Thanks Chris for the wake-up call. I am beginning to see my hit numbers rising and rising, just like I was told. Sadly, my level of new posts is falling as life gets in the way. If only I didn't have any family or friends, life would be so much easier.
Obviously I didn't meant that. The problem with blogging is that people can't see your face and realise you're joking.
Comment by Chris Champion
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I'm afraid you can't call yourself a serious blogger yet - I gave up family and friends ages ago.
Norm was lucky - he never had any.
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
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Comment by Chris Champion
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Comment by Norm
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Kidding. I love a good-natured [jibe]
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
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Comment by Janet Collins
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Janet
Comment by Chris Champion
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Comment by Janet Collins
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Blogging is something you get addicted to and I guess the enjoyment and the learning makes up for Adsense...maybe!
Comment by Morgan Bell
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perseverance is the key!
Janet, you know i dont value my own privacy, im happy to share all my earnings info if it helps motivate people . . . there was a time when i only earnt 5c per week, so $5 is a huge improvement
ZCars apparently earns $40 per day
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
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Blogging is fun though, and the community is great. Lots of jobs are boring and the people horrible.
I've earned money with my online writing, but I don't feel like I'm ever going to make $100 with Adsense. I'm up to $13 after a year of blogging with Adsense. Not brilliant, is it?
But it is FUN!
Comment by Chris Champion
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Yes, ZCars was earning about US$40 a day when it was attracting about 20,000 readers a day (remember that this would come down to $20 a day for a private writer because Orble takes 50 per cent commission).
Orble wrote about it here and I wrote about it, with a little analysis, here.
At the time, Charles was posting regularly - often two or three times a day - and no doubt putting his blogging process knowledge to good use in terms of building awareness and links to ZCars.
The ZCars blog, as Cibbuano pointed out in a comment on my post, also has the advantage of offering focused subject matter which is AdSense friendly. In other words, it attracts car and car-related advertisements which are likely to interest the blog's readers.
In contrast, for example, a blog about blogging is likely to attract all those make millions quick ads which will have a much smaller click rate.
There are no miracle riches in blogging of course and ... I feel another post about blogging coming on. Pity I don't write about cars.
Comment by Janet Collins
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Comment by Chris Champion
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That's funny!
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
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