It's a jungle out there, and you're going to need an entirely new set of skills to get things done these days.
Since much of the older content of this site came from other blogs, you might notice that parts of this blog actually needs some work- lots of retagging, recategorizing, reformatting, etc.
After last Friday night's event, I thought it would be a great idea to feature some of the blogs (and possibly, other works online) of the bloggers I have actually met. Expect to see some of the ones I met last Friday featured here in the following days & weeks. Naturally, we'll be hearing and reading more from others as I keep attending these cool blogger mix-ups and other special events.
One thing I've noticed is that, sometimes when you compose an entry for your blog, it's such an easy thing to get distracted.
Particularly when we're at a time when publishing systems- such as this one on Blogger/Blogspot, and even the ones on say, Wordpress or Livejournal- are so easy to use. Since you can easily add links, pictures, change fonts, colors, etc. it's so easy to get lost just tweaking something on the fly.
So here's some useful advice:
Once you think about something worth blogging, get down to typing it right away. While it probably wouldn't matter if you go use Notepad initially (then just upload it whenever you can), it's still best to write straightaway into your blog.
Once you start typing in your first word, keep on typing. Forget about inserting pics and links, or stuffing in keywords, or editing or whatever. Keep churning out those entries while everything is still fresh in your head, while your train of thought is still running on track.
You can always edit later. The most important thing, really, is to get that post out right away.
Remember just a few months ago how we had a couple of workshops on Blogging For Money? The idea really was to show our participants how to make extra cash by putting in a few hours a day churning out a few posts on a blog worthy of attention.
Yes, you can blog for money. Some locals actually have gone completely professional, and have foregone a regular job to do just that: blogging.
The real question is, how? How can you make money from your blog?
The answer to this seemingly very important question can easily elude the amateur blogger. And while most blogs are really a labor of love more than anything else, it doesn't really matter to a lot of people if they make cash or not.
But you might want to check this out: A poll made by Darren Rowse on Problogger.net came out with some very interesting results:
1. Of the 3000+ survey respondents, some 28% said that they did not earn any money blogging- either they never tried to, or they tried but failed.
2. Of the remaining 72%...
Almost half (49%) earned under US$100 in October 2007 alone. As for the rest- about a quarter (23%) made over US$1000, 16% earned over US$2500 and about one-tenth (9%) made over US$15000- all in just one month (October 2007)!
So exactly what can we learn from this study? Most people who do blog probably don't make any money out of it. Even those who do make some cash don't make a lot. That's a reality check right there.
But there are bloggers who make a substantial amount of cash- US$1000 or more per month, and some who can completely live off on blogging at more than US$15k/month.
According to Darren Rowse, the number of successful professional bloggers are slowly growing- which is a good sign for anyone who's up for a little challenge.
What does this mean for us? It means, yes you can be one of those making more than US$1000 a month blogging about the things you like. Or even better, one of those making US$15k/month if you play your cards right!
So keep on reading, attend workshops and seminars, invest in books, network with others who dig blogging as much as you do, share what you have learned, and put everything into good use. You'll be a pro just like the best of 'em in no time!
Cheers, everyone!
Indeed, how many blogs can you realistically maintain?
I got into blogging in March 2007. I knew nothing about how to start a blog, or what it was for, or what good it was to your everyday life.
Shortly after starting out with my first blog, I suddenly realized that I wanted to have a blog for each of my various interests. Soon enough you had one for music, another for TV and movie reviews, and then another on PC gaming, then one came up on business and marketing, followed by one on cats, another on writing, and it just went on and on.
Read the rest of the article here on my other blog, "Renzie on Blogging".
Cheers, everyone!
Indeed, how many blogs can you realistically maintain?
This was one of the questions that came up in that nice little workshop of ours with Abe Olandres last 24 November 2007.I got into blogging in March 2007. I knew nothing about how to start a blog, or what it was for, or what good it was to your everyday life.
Shortly after starting out with my first blog, I suddenly realized that I wanted to have a blog for each of my various interests. Soon enough I had one for music, another for TV and movie reviews, and then another on PC gaming, then one came up on business and marketing, followed by one on cats, another on writing, and it just went on and on.
Which was cool, in a way, since it let me toy around with different kinds of layouts and plug all sorts of widgets, and try out different blog services.
But I soon found out that, at the rate I was blogging- which at the time was only once or twice a
week- there was absolutely no way I could put any decent amount of content into any of them.
Which was why I have just recently made an effort to scrap some blogs, or merge others into larger ones in favor of a more streamlined blogging operation on my part.
The question really, is not "How Many Blogs Can You Maintain?" but rather "How Much Time Can You Put In Maintaining Your Blogs?"
Assuming you have a regular eight-hour job, plus a regular enough life (where you have to have meals, take a shower, do some other day-to-day homestuff, have a social life AND sleep for six hours), you realistically only have time to churn out one, maybe two decent entries a day. And that includes a little bit of adding links, putting in some images, tweaking the layout a little and even reviewing it some.
One or two articles a day, if you have a regular enough life. And that's probably a good day.
So given a regular enough life, you might be able to maintain- comfortably enough- anywhere from maybe two to three blogs. Five is pushing the limits of your human ability and sanity.
If you want to maintain more the aforementioned suggested human limit, well, you can always consider going professional blogging- which might possibly mean forgoing all forms of regular employment in favor of a life dedicated to blogs and blogging.
And while there are many successful professional bloggers- or pro-bloggers- out there, there is (more realistically) a far larger number of aspiring pro-bloggers that have achieved varying degrees of blogging success: from "moderately successful" to "absolute failure".
We go back to our question: "How Many Blogs Can You Maintain?"
The answer: As many as you want to, as long as you make time for it.
Make time for it, man. Starting a blog is easy. But making time for it? It's what separates the serious bloggers from most of everybody else.
Whether you blog weekly, monthly, or daily, remember that blogging does take a certain amount of commitment on your part. The more time and effort you put into it, the more you can reap from it later on.
Cheers, everyone!
© Blogger template Writer's Blog by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
