Archive for » October, 2008 «

Oct

Here’s another daddy blogger who is making his mark on blogosphere. By reviewing his early posts, he writes how he and his wife made a decision to have him stay home with the four children and she would to work.

I knew he was a great guy when he dedicated his first blog post to his wife. It’s titled “Happy Anniversary Darling” and in it he writes (in part):

I’ve waited until today to launch [my blog], and I want to dedicate the endeavour to my wife, not for what it is now, nor what it may become, but for what it represents for our future and the opportunities we are yet to see

After being a stay at home dad for a short period, he had a wake up call. In his post titled I’m Not Sexist”, he describes the responsibilities of a stay at home dad (or mom).

The workload is astonishing. You are everything to everybody. You are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. You are the cook, the cleaner, the chauffer. You are the nanny, the nurse, the teacher. You manage the accounts, the household supplies (within a budget), and maybe three, four or five different schedules. You often have to be two different places at any one time. The schedule and the demands on your time can be overwhelming.

It’s been an eye opening experience, but he’s handled it well. Along with the children, he also had to deal with the family pet. This post brought tears to my eyes, and is titled, ““The Loss Of A Well Loved Pet”. Grab a Kleenex and check it out. In part, it says

On the morning that I was to take him [the dog] to the vet, we went for a last walk in the woods. He didn’t go very far because he just couldn’t, his ailing health had taken its toll. He still sniffed around and he still wagged his tail and this made it all the more difficult.

You may have seen him here or somewhere else in blogosphere. His name is Dave Fowler, and his blog is “Teach My Children Well”.

Join me in re-welcoming Dave to the BWAB community.

Hello again, Dave!

Enjoy your reign.

Photo Credit: Megyarsh’s photostream

Category: Archives, New Blog Of The Week 32 Comments

Oct

A.S.K. Darren Rowse of Problogger – When Do We Know Our Blog Is A “Winner”

Barbara Swafford

Most bloggers get impatient and want fast growth. We try whatever others suggest to grow our blogs and drive traffic to them. Some techniques work better than others, but no one tells us what to expect, when.

I wanted to ask someone who has been there, so in this third part of my A.S.K. (Answers Sharing Knowledge) series with Darren Rowse, author of Problogger and co-author of ProBlogger: Secrets Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

I asked

It’s not unusual for a blogger to expect rapid success. Based on your 6 year blogging history, when (timeframe), and how did your know your blog was a “winner”?

Darren answered

For me I’m looking for ‘signs’ that my blogs are growing from the very start. It’s not so much about getting certain amounts of traffic at certain points but rather seeing signs of growth and reader engagement.

For example with ProBlogger I knew I was onto something with potential before I even started it because the posts that I wrote about blogging on my personal blog at the time were getting more comments than any other topic.

With Digital Photography School I knew there was potential in the early days because other blogs began to link to it.

It’s all about looking for signs of growth and engagement – not just traffic. You should start to see these (even if they are just very small signs) from the first few months.

For a blog to reach its potential though, you need to give it considerable time. It takes a couple of years to get to its potential.

Reflecting On The Answer

Thank you Darren for sharing your answer with us. It certainly sheds a new light on the time commitment blogging entails.

Darren mentioned we can see growth in other ways than just traffic. Another way we can measure the growth of our blog is by our Google Page Rank. We all start with a ranking of 0/10, and as our blogs grow and gain credibility as being reputable, our page rank increases.

Todays Assignment

Can you think of other ways a blog’s growth can be measured other than in just traffic numbers or comments?

With regard to your blog, are you seeing continual growth?

Were you surprised when Darren said a blog takes “a couple of years to get to its potential”?

I’m curious to hear what you think. Feel free to share your answer.

Read other answers in the A.S.K. (Answers Sharing Knowledge) series.
A.S.K. Darren Rowse – How Does A Problogger Deal With Comments

A.S.K. Darren Rowse of Problogger – How Do We Increase Our Readership
A.S.K. Andy Bailey – What Was The Inspiration Behind The CommentLuv Plugin
A.S.K. Liz Strauss – How Do You Inspire Readers To Join Your Community
A.S.K. Liz Strauss – How To Format Blog Comments To Maximize Comments

Photo Credit: Darren Rowse/Problogger

Category: A.S.K., Archives, Blogging Lessons, Interviews 33 Comments

Oct

Who Taught You – Open Mic

Barbara Swafford

Happy Friday!

First, a quick recap of the week:

On Monday Darren Rowse of Problogger shared his answer to how he addresses comments on his blog. The comment section exploded with great ideas of how we can manage our comment section.

Tuesday I expanded on the New Blog of the Week (NBOTW) series and began including some not so new blogs. The three that were highlighted this week are:Deeper Issues, Exit 78, and Ribeezie.

And on Wednesday, I sent you over to Stephen Hopson’s blog (Adversity University) to read part one of his interview with me. Part two will be published next week. The first question of part two was the toughest question for me to answer. It made me delve into the past and brought up a lot of emotions, but hopefully my story and answer will be beneficial to others.

In case you didn’t notice, I took yesterday off from posting. My list was long and priorities were “calling”. The break did me good. In fact, I’m thinking of reducing the number of posts I publish each week.

While working behind the scenes I found some ebooks about blogging which I’ve added to my sidebar. I haven’t read any of them yet, but they all look fascinating.

I’m signed up for Commission Junction‘s affiliate program, so if anyone makes a purchase by clicking on the links, I make an 8% commission. If you’re a member of Commission Junction, and would like to showcase ebooks, simply apply for the “eBooks.com” program.

As I was reviewing the blogging books that are available, it made me wonder; how many bloggers learned blogging from a book?

Myself, I’m a self taught blogger. I learned what I know from doing online searches, reading Steve Pavlina’s blog, Problogger, Lorelle on WordPress, WordPress, other miscellaneous sites, and a lot of trial and error.

All of the themes I’ve used have been free ones I’ve found online.

What about you?

Today’s Question:

How did you learn to blog?

Was your theme free, or did you pay for it?

If you don’t have a blog yet, what resources are you using to learn blogging?

By the way, today is also “Open Mic”

The floor is yours. You know the rules.

Any blogging questions, comments and concerns are welcome.

Have Fun!

Keep it Clean!

And don’t forget to either check the “subscribe to comments on this post” box, or subscribe to my comments RSS feed (upper right sidebar), so you can follow along.

Happy Blogging & Have A Great Weekend!

P.S. Did you remember to get your blog listed in my Blog Registry? It’s free and easy. Just leave a comment and introduce yourself.

Photo Credit: El Cande!’s photostream