You know, I find myself nodding as I read the tips. Very well written, and for a while, I thought I was the one who wrote it. However, there are certain debatable points, e.g. (1) partial vs full feeds -- a lot have been said regarding this, so I'd like to think that this is a personal choice, and not one that will determine the success of one's blog. Just my opinion though :) (2) don't do link posts -- link posts can be done very impressively if the blogger avoids using anchor texts that read "this" or "click this" or "read more here". I've come across pretty interesting link posts in which the bloggers were able to incorporate the links very seamlessly into the posts :)
FourPillars
· 2 years ago
Great lists. I'll disagree about the need to post 7 days a week - although that would increase the readership I'd say the posts during the five business days are the important ones to do. If you are really keen on building readership then go for it - I'm more worried about burnout. I didn't know that wordpress allows future posting - will have to look into this. Partial feeds drive me nuts. In the Canadian PF world - linkposts are part of the scenery. I haven't done one yet but I don't have a problem with them.
Mike
mapgirl
· 2 years ago
A great list. I am on a quasi-political/pop culture blog and frankly, I don't love it as much as personal finance. What do you think of scrapers and using a full-feed? I have a full-feed because around DC, it's difficult to get out past DoD firewalls, so my military site readers have asked me to turn it on.
bripblap
· 2 years ago
@Pelf: I guess maybe what I mean by link posts isn't clear. On my politics blog, I would have a post like this: Aug 30, 2004: http://www.somewheresomewhere.com/ and nothing else. I think that turns people off. Of course if you have a link post with a little bit of commentary there's no problem. I do a "link roundup" every Saturday. I try to put some commentary in there, though. Partial vs. full would be an interesting poll - but I suspect more people dislike partials than not. But you're right, people have different opinions!! @FP: OK, I'll modify my tip to say 5 original posts per week plus some sort of activity on the weekends. I don't post any real original stuff on weekends - I do a link roundup on Saturday and a poll on Sundays. You could debate the weekend stuff but I still think when you're first starting out you need as much movement as you can get. If I get far enough ahead in my writing (a big IF) I plan on taking Brip Blap up to warp speed in September and going 3 a day (1 link roundup in the morning, and two posts in the day - a la The Simple Dollar). @Mapgirl: I don't like scrapers since I get scraped. If I get linked back to, I won't say anything. If I don't, I get furious and plan to hire a lawyer and sue and then calm down and return to reality... I think a full-feed is critical. Most of my corporate clients block most blogs, but don't block my reader, so if I want to read blogs at work I HAVE to read a full-feed. Otherwise I can only read the blog in the evenings, and my evenings are usually reserved for family stuff (and commenting on various blogs).
paidtwice
· 2 years ago
Now that you've clarified what you mean by link posts I'll agree. :) I came here to say "no I love link posts I love to see me linked and I love to find new blogs through what other people I like are reading!".
but now I get it. lol
I post too much. I am working on finding the balance between posting enough for me to be happy and to not scare the world away from subscribing. No, not another paidtwice post! Argh! lol. But I am like that offline too... a talker. lol.
Of course, my friends all say "post every hour we love it" because they are insane :)
bripblap
· 2 years ago
You *should* post every hour - I like your blog, I'd read it...!
paidtwice
· 2 years ago
lol... every hour... yeah I'll get right on that. That was nice of you to say though :)
I actually read somewhere... don't ask where, one of those important pro-blogger sites, that one of the top ten reasons people unsub from RSS feeds is too many posts a day from the site. I was shocked! heh.
Less posting per day lets me have more time to comment on blogs ;). And I still post 3-4 a day so it is not like I went to 3 a week or something. Heh.
FourPillars
· 2 years ago
PaidTwice - interesting comment about the RSS fee. I don't know how most surfers manage their subscriptions but once I add someone, I only ever remove them if: A. I don't like their material or B. too many sponsored posts.
Ironically if I add someone and they never post again, I will probably never remove the subscription.
Mike
Lynnae @ Being Frugal
· 2 years ago
Great post! I totally agree with offering full feeds. I usually remove the sites that only offer half feeds. I don't have the time to be clicking through to read every post. If something in a full feed is great, I often click through to comment, though.
sfordinarygirl
· 2 years ago
Great tips especially the domain one. I've thought about moving to a new domain name a lot recently but I'm very tech-challenged and scared of doing my own archiving system, feeds and even figuring out code.
Posting daily is hard - there's always so much to say but less time to write something in-depth and thoughtful.
Mrs. Micah
· 2 years ago
Excellent tips. I figure a lot of it out on my own, but it would have been nice to run across this. Some it's just handy stuff to know if you haven't blogged before, and some is strategically important.
Then again, I feel a blog without an opening strategy which develops into a blog with a theme and strategy is often the best. Maybe I'm partial to that idea because my blog did that. :)
When people start blogging with the idea that they're going to make a profit or develop a business or become famous, I don't know if it works out as well. Maybe that's because they forgot number 11. ;)
Terri
· 9 months ago
Hey there, these tips really are helpful. I am in the process of writing articles for the blog that I will set up (hopefully) in the near future. I want to check out wordpress as I have heard reference to it multiple times in different posts. It might be helpful one day, if you are so inclined to have a vocabulary lesson in blogging for us newbies and not so technologically sophisticated. I'm getting better, but I frequently get stumped on terms like "partial feed,"wordpress," and "adsense."
Anyway, thanks for things that you have explained. You'll probably like to know that I have only subscribed to one or two sites... I don't have a RSS feeder thingy... I haven't figured that out yet. I get all my RSS subscribed content by email, which can be overwhelming when you are subscribed to many sites. So, I physically go to all of the sites that have in my favorites, including this one. It keeps me stimulated... and its good to know that it helps your revenues as well! =0) Thanks for writing.
All Comments
(1) partial vs full feeds -- a lot have been said regarding this, so I'd like to think that this is a personal choice, and not one that will determine the success of one's blog. Just my opinion though :)
(2) don't do link posts -- link posts can be done very impressively if the blogger avoids using anchor texts that read "this" or "click this" or "read more here". I've come across pretty interesting link posts in which the bloggers were able to incorporate the links very seamlessly into the posts :)
I'll disagree about the need to post 7 days a week - although that would increase the readership I'd say the posts during the five business days are the important ones to do. If you are really keen on building readership then go for it - I'm more worried about burnout.
I didn't know that wordpress allows future posting - will have to look into this.
Partial feeds drive me nuts.
In the Canadian PF world - linkposts are part of the scenery. I haven't done one yet but I don't have a problem with them.
Mike
What do you think of scrapers and using a full-feed? I have a full-feed because around DC, it's difficult to get out past DoD firewalls, so my military site readers have asked me to turn it on.
@FP: OK, I'll modify my tip to say 5 original posts per week plus some sort of activity on the weekends. I don't post any real original stuff on weekends - I do a link roundup on Saturday and a poll on Sundays. You could debate the weekend stuff but I still think when you're first starting out you need as much movement as you can get. If I get far enough ahead in my writing (a big IF) I plan on taking Brip Blap up to warp speed in September and going 3 a day (1 link roundup in the morning, and two posts in the day - a la The Simple Dollar).
@Mapgirl: I don't like scrapers since I get scraped. If I get linked back to, I won't say anything. If I don't, I get furious and plan to hire a lawyer and sue and then calm down and return to reality... I think a full-feed is critical. Most of my corporate clients block most blogs, but don't block my reader, so if I want to read blogs at work I HAVE to read a full-feed. Otherwise I can only read the blog in the evenings, and my evenings are usually reserved for family stuff (and commenting on various blogs).
but now I get it. lol
I post too much. I am working on finding the balance between posting enough for me to be happy and to not scare the world away from subscribing. No, not another paidtwice post! Argh! lol. But I am like that offline too... a talker. lol.
Of course, my friends all say "post every hour we love it" because they are insane :)
I actually read somewhere... don't ask where, one of those important pro-blogger sites, that one of the top ten reasons people unsub from RSS feeds is too many posts a day from the site. I was shocked! heh.
Less posting per day lets me have more time to comment on blogs ;). And I still post 3-4 a day so it is not like I went to 3 a week or something. Heh.
A. I don't like their material or B. too many sponsored posts.
Ironically if I add someone and they never post again, I will probably never remove the subscription.
Mike
Posting daily is hard - there's always so much to say but less time to write something in-depth and thoughtful.
Then again, I feel a blog without an opening strategy which develops into a blog with a theme and strategy is often the best. Maybe I'm partial to that idea because my blog did that. :)
When people start blogging with the idea that they're going to make a profit or develop a business or become famous, I don't know if it works out as well. Maybe that's because they forgot number 11. ;)
Anyway, thanks for things that you have explained. You'll probably like to know that I have only subscribed to one or two sites... I don't have a RSS feeder thingy... I haven't figured that out yet. I get all my RSS subscribed content by email, which can be overwhelming when you are subscribed to many sites. So, I physically go to all of the sites that have in my favorites, including this one. It keeps me stimulated... and its good to know that it helps your revenues as well! =0) Thanks for writing.