Archive for the Category »Lessons Learned «

Remember when you first decided you wanted a blog?

Remember:

  1. Picking the name?
  2. Deciding on a blogging platform?
  3. Finding just the right theme?
  4. Deciding what to blog about?
  5. Hitting the “publish” button the first timet?
  6. Seeing the first sign of traffic to your blog?
  7. Receiving your first comment?
  8. Leaving your first comment?
  9. Making your first dollar (or pennies); if you monetize your blog?

Starting a blog incorporates lots of decisions, and often a vision of what we want our blog to become.

Today’s Lesson

I had a vision for my blog.

329962822 822b4708db Shhhh! Listen Carefully ...Whats Your Blog Telling You?

My dreams were BIG.

I saw thousands of visitors coming to visit me each day.  I also saw myself making enough money with blogging I could quit my job.

I KNEW where I was going.

But,
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.
.
.
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It didn’t work out that way.

You see, the vision I had was for my first blog, Observation Mountain.

This blog was just a lil ‘ole online journal where I was sharing what I learned as I blogged. I had no vision for it, whatsoever.

For months I published on both blogs. Traffic slowly grew on each one, but soon this blog was where I was spending most of my time. Readers began commenting, I began reciprocating, and it was then I got my first taste of the “community” we find in blogosphere.

When I found that, financial gains didn’t matter quite so much. Instead, this blog was leading me in the direction of “teaching” blogging in an unconventional way.

Being an analytical person, I question things, and sometimes wrongly, assume others do, too. It was my questioning, and your comments which become the premise for the lessons and assignments.

I know I don’t have all the answers, but between all of us, we can find that which works best for each of us.

Blogs seem to have a mind of their own. As much as we think we know where they should go, if we listen carefully, they may guide us in new directions.

I didn’t know here is where I would land, but you can bet, I’m awfully happy I did, and I thank all of you for coming along for the ride.

Today’s Assignment

Has your blog taken you on an unexpected journey?

Is blogging all you thought it would be? Is it more? Or less?

If you’re new to blogging, what’s your vision?

Raise you hand and share. I’d love to hear your story.

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P.S. One of the first bloggers I met was Catherine Lawson, writer and entrepreneur. She recently returned to blogging after being on hiatus. I missed her words of wisdom and am thrilled she’s blogging again. Welcome back, Cath.

2699316542 6ae2b6146c Sharing For The Benefit of Others

“If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.”
~Henry David Thoreau

I like to go down memory lane as it reminds me of where the journey of life has taken me.

Sometimes I’ll recall my childhood days. Other times, challenges I conquered. And today, it takes me to my why I started blogging.

Today’s Lesson

Although it was nearly three years ago, I can remember my first days of blogging like it was yesterday.

The excitement of publishing online. The challenge of learning something new. The thrill of having a platform from which I could share. The hope of helping others. The nervousness of wondering how my words would be construed. The anticipation of my first comment. And the dream of where blogging might take me.

I’m reminded I’m not alone.

Many new bloggers go through the same emotions as they embark on the blogging journey.

Although we can’t change the past, nor erase mistakes we made, I do think the knowledge we’ve gained can benefit others who are new to the world of blogging and who may be uncertain as to what to expect.

With that said, today’s lesson is about sharing what we’ve learned and mentoring to those who are new to blogging.

I’ll go first.

Although I realize it’s often our mistakes that can teach us the most, one of the things I learned is, there is no one right way to blog. Our blog is what WE make it and trying to make it a cookie cutter copy of what someone else is doing only takes away from our authenticity.

To a new blogger, I would say, “Follow your heart, be true to yourself, speak from your soul and proudly showcase your individuality”.

Now it’s your turn.

Today’s Assignment

If a new blogger chose you as their mentor and asked for your best blogging advice, what would you tell them?

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Is Google Making Us Stupid?
Image via Wikipedia

The title “Is Google Making Us Stupid” intrigued me.

Nicolas Carr authored this post which implies we may be dealing with a population of people whose reading habits, both online and off, are changing.

Our audience might be so preoccupied, comprehension of what is written on the page could elude them.

Nicolas admits it’s happening to him,

…Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy….

He then goes on to add,

The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.

Today’s Lesson

To reinforce what he’s saying, Nicolas references a study conducted by the University College, London which published an article titled, Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future.

Part of their findings state,

The picture that emerges from internet research is that most visitors to scholarly sites view only a few pages, many of which do not even contain real content, and in any case do not stop long enough to do any real reading. This is either a symptom of a really worrying malaise – failure at the library terminal – or maybe a sign that a whole new form of online reading behaviour is beginning to emerge, one based on skimming titles, contents pages and abstracts: we call this `power browsing’. We urgently need to understand the root causes of this phenomenon.

Although the University College, London is wanting to understand the “why” of this phenomenon, as bloggers we should be asking, “Will this, or should this, change the way we blog?”

I’m thinking it might.

If we’re aware our visitors may not be stopping long enough to read our posts, finding a way to capture their attention should be of utmost concern.

What say you?

Today’s Assignment

Do you find the internet has changed the way you read?

Thinking abut your surfing habits, what captures your attention long enough to actually read a post?

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image of heart for blog your passion postIn the comments of the When Real Life Friends Don’t Get It” post, Sara Healy of A Sharing Connection said, “…I love blogging. I love every bit of it…”

I echo Sara’s sentiments.

I can truthfully say, blogging is more than a hobby, it’s a passion of mine.

But it hasn’t always been that way. In fact, I spent many years trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I “grow up”.

Although I do love the work I currently do (office administration), I felt I needed more. Something that would really make my heart sing. Something I would never tire of. Something that didn’t feel like a job. Like so many others, I wanted to say “I found my passion.”

For me, “blogging” became the answer.

My eyes are open to the fact many bloggers are also searching for their passion.

As I read the blogs of others, I know “something” is inspiring them to write about their specific topics. When I read their comments, I can see how they are more passionate about some topics, and less about others. If they are posting just to post, or commenting just to comment, it’s obvious, but when they are writing about that which drives them, their passion shines through.

With some bloggers, it’s obvious they love to write. Whereas others find joy in opening their readers eyes to a cause, sharing life lessons and/or leaving this world a better place.

When we look at why we blog, what we blog about, and which posts of others stir something within us, we may find ourselves closer to identifying our passion.

Today’s Lesson

Borrowing part of a post I wrote on my Observation Mountain blog titled, How To Find Your Passion and Make Money, I list 15 questions we can ask ourselves which will hopefully bring us closer to fulfilling that dream.

Let’s get started:

1) If money was not a worry, what could you see yourself doing? What would you do for free?

2) What do you do (hobbies or other), where you get lost in the project and time seems to “fly by”?.

3) As a child, what did you enjoy doing? Do you still enjoy that “activity”, but in a more grown up sort of way?

4) What are your strengths? Are you organized? Are you a care giver? Are you creative? Are you social? Other?

5) What do others say you are good at? If you’re not sure, ask your family and friends.

6) What don’t you like to do? Oftentimes, admitting what you don’t like to do, reveals more of what you like to do.

7) Do you feel passionate about something, but are too embarrassed to admit it to loved ones? Why?

8.) If you were to follow your passion, would others in your life “be left behind”? Do they have to be? Or is there a way of including them?

9) Are you making excuses for not following your passion because you might actually succeed? Are you afraid of success? Why?

10) If you know what you are passionate about, can you find a way to begin that journey, plus do what you’re doing now? i.e. go to school part time? Follow your passion “after hours”….?

11) If you admitted you wanted to follow your passion, and others laughed at you, or were negative, how would you react? Do you feel strongly enough about your passion to defend yourself? Do you really care what others think? Remember, many great inventors and big named business people were scoffed at.

12) What “gets to you”? Do you hate waste? Do you hate seeing children becoming obese by unhealthy eating habits? Do you hate paying good money for an inferior product? What “puts you on your soap box”?

13) Do you see something and KNOW you “have a better way”? Could you invent something?

14) If you were on your death bed today, would you have regrets because you did not follow your “dream”?

If you answered “yes” to #14,

15) What’s stopping you?

After you have taken time to write out the answers, step away from it. Wait for a few days or weeks and review your answers. Have they changed? Do you need to elaborate on any of your answers?

As you look at what you have written, you may soon see a common “theme” emerging.

Is this your passion?

You may realize you are a creative person who could make a product in your own home and sell it to local boutiques, small shops or online. Maybe, you are a stay at home mom who loves children and enjoys being a care giver. Setting up a day care may be right for you. Or maybe as a kid, you used to love to play with toy hammers and saws. Would you like to be a general contractor and build or remodel homes? Or make furniture?

If you have an idea for an invention, with some hard work and research, you could see it materialize.

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Today’s Assignment

Are you doing what you’re passionate about?

If not, what’s your biggest obstacle?

Is blogging helping you get closer to your goals?

Raise you hand and share where you are on the path to your dream.

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P.S. For your convenience, I’ve installed the “Sexy Bookmarks” plugin (see below). One of the options I’ve activated is named “Print Friendly” (top row – second from right). For this assignment you may want to print this post and take your time answering the list of 15 questions.

For myself, #6 has been very beneficial. When I wrote down what I didn’t enjoy doing or preferred not to do for a living, it helped bring me closer to doing what I love.

Custom Search

It’s no secret, when we blog, many are searching for the information we’re providing, and as bloggers, we’ve learned it often the title that captures our readers attention.

Some have also found, by writing catchy titles we pick up more search engine traffic. In fact, many of us have written posts showing our readers which search strings bring visitors to our site, and it’s often the keywords in our titles that caught the attention of a search engine.

Reviewing how others are finding this site, I realized if I don’t use blogging terminology to attract other bloggers to this site,  some of those that are finding it via search engines  are here for the wrong reason.

In fact, many of those visitors aren’t even interested in what I have to say, and I’m guessing they’re quickly clicking off.

Why?

Because my titles are not relevant to the content of the blog post.

Today’s Lesson

Case in point.

Last year I wrote a hypothetical post and titled it, “Wife Sues Husbands Blog for Alienation Of Affection”. It was a silly post that shows how we can get so wrapped up in our blogs, our significant others may begin to feel neglected. So neglected, they begin to think “the blog” is like a mistress.

Nearly every day, I’ll get traffic coming to this site based on search strings such as “how much money for alienation of affection”, or “how to sue to alienation of affection”.

Those visitors who land there, do not want to read a post about blogging. I would venture a guess they’re looking for the site of an attorney who may be sharing this type of information.

As much as their visit adds to my statistics, in my eyes it doesn’t count. In fact, too many of these types of visits can skew our numbers as they are not actual “readers”.

On the How To Capitalize On Your Blog Statistics post, J.D. Meier said the same,

…Otherwise, readers land for the wrong reason and relevancy is queen, if content is king. That said, I still sacrifice a post title now and then if it’s stickier … I just accept that I’ll potentially get the wrong traffic.

That’s right.

By using what we think are catchy or clever titles, we can attract the “wrong” traffic.

If I’m blogging about blogging, having people land on this site who are looking for something totally different, doesn’t benefit me or the person who is doing the searching. In some ways, I am misleading the reader, plus confusing the search engines.

The more traffic I see coming in based on non blogging search strings, the more I realize I need to change the way I write.

What do you think?

Today’s Assignment

Are you attracting the wrong “readers”/traffic to your blog based on your titles?

If so, do you care?

How do you ensure those who land on your blog are the audience you’re writing for?

Raise you hand and share your thoughts.

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P.S. If I used Google AdSense on this site, the ads displayed could also be totally off base (but that’s a post for another day).

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