If I had a dollar for every time I (figuratively) banged by head against the wall while learning blogging, I would be rich.

It’s no wonder bloggers get stressed out and aren’t always sure how to grow their blog.

In yesterday’s post we learned how addictive we become to spikes in traffic created by social networking sites.

But have you ever done any research on how many social networking resources there are?

I did, and I may have only touched the tip of the iceberg.

Today’s Lesson

Wikepedia has a huge list of social networking websites (approximately 125). They include sites such as Buzznet, Couch Surfing, Linkedin, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and many more.

Of the big shooters, Facebook reports:

* More than 70 million active users
* Facebook is the 6th most-trafficked website in the world (comScore)
* Facebook is the 2nd most-trafficked social media site in the world (comScore)

According to the data on Wikipedia’s site, MySpace claims 110,000,000 registered users, and Windows Live Spaces reports 120,000,000.

I’m not done yet.

Lets jump to another class of social networks.

This list is the result of a link Kaye (NBOTW) shared with me.

On Social Maker.com you can join up to 47 social bookmarking sites. These include Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Propeller and Spurl, just to name a few.

Whew!! That’s exhausting.

And there is more (+/- a duplicate or two), as neither list included MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog, or Squidoo.

Add to that, bloggers who strive to get their blogs listed in Technorati’s “top 100″ blogs.

So the question becomes, what will work best for YOU?

Do you do what others do, or do you venture out on your own, researching each social networking website to determine if you want to be a part of that specific community.

It’s a tough choice, but it’s a choice only YOU can make.

Today’s Assignment

How have you determined which social network works best for you?

Do you allot a specified amount of time for time spent on social networks?

Has it helped get your blog found?

Do you think it’s important to join multiple social networks, or is what you’ve done enough?

Bloggers are always looking for help. Help to get found. Help to make money online. Help in writing. Help in turning a blog into an online business, and help on how to blog.

Well, I’m here with help.

Today’s Lesson

Listed below are 1066 great resources. Some are lists of links, some are lessons in blogging, and some are great tips. You may find duplicates, and those that are, are worth reading more than once.

Happy Clicking!

Maki at Dosh Dosh, has compiled a great list of “63 Constructive Opinions on the best way to make money online”

MAD – Martyn Davis. and Lid (Lidija) of Blogwell, keep adding to this list that currently has “121 Resources for Web Developers

The writing team at Daily Blog tips, shares this great post: “Become a Blogging Wizard – 6 Lessons From Harry Potter”

If you would rather have your blogging information in the form of an e-book, at Blogging StartUp, Jim lists “11 Best Damn Blogging ebooks That Cost You Nothing”.

Lorelle, the “Queen of WordPress”, created a no nonsense list titled: “The 12 Biggest Problems With Your Blog”

For links to over 90 sites on writing and blogging, you must check out this comprehensive (and growing) list from All Freelance Writing: “The Big List Of Writing Blogs”. Jennifer Mattern, undoubtedly spends countless hours updating this list.

For those of you who want to make a business out of blogging, Catherine Lawson, compiled a list of “107 Great Resources for Entrepreneurs”. These links will keep you clicking for days.

A classic post, and a favorite of mine by Darren Rowse (Problogger.net) is “18 Lessons I’ve Learnt As A Blogger”

Do You want great traffic building ideas, Seth Godin lists 56 ways on “How to get traffic for your blog”

In a popular post of hers, Skellie shares “101 Essential Blogging Skills”

In this post, Darren, of Problogger.net, reminds bloggers to slow down. Here he lists “13 Questions To Ask Before Publishing A Post On Your Blog”

Here’s a classic post from Steve Pavlina named: “10 Stupid Mistakes Made By the Newly Self Employed”

And for another great post from Steve Pavlina, “10 Reasons You Should Never Get A Job”

Mark, over at Business Blogging 101, likes to teach via YouTube video tutorials. On his site, he has 25 WordPress Tutorials. Keep on eye on this list, as he’s always adding more.

If you really want to know what the “competition’ is doing, here’s a link to “Technorati’s Top 100 Blogs”

Daily Blog Tips team published: “101 Blog tips I Learned in 2006“. Although it may sound like it could be outdated, some of the tips are timeless.

Want to boost your productivity? Steve Pavlina shares 99 ways, in a series of three posts (33 tips in each). The links are as follows: “33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity – Volume 1″, “Volume 2“, and “Volume 3″.

Are you a “mommy ” who’s looking to share with other moms, in 2006 Guy Kawasaki listed 59 such blogs in his post: “The Ultimate Mommy Blog List” Three cheers for moms.

We can never read enough about blogging. Joshue Clanton agrees. He published this list of “64 Thrice Vetted Posts On Blogging”

Today’s Assignment

You know what to do.

Have you read Darren Rowse’s Random Reflections on SXSWi-2008 (South x Southwest interactive) convention?

In his first “reflection”, he writes:

The more I meet bloggers the more that I find that many of us are lonely soles (to some degree). We sit alone in our home offices/living rooms/beds etc and often feel quite isolated and at times misunderstood.

Today’s Lesson

This one sentence saddens me.

Are bloggers really that lonely?

When I look back on my life. I lived by myself for many years. Often, friends would ask me if I was lonely. My answer was always “No”.

To me, there’s a difference between “being alone” and “being lonely”. Although I cherish time spent with friends and family, I also enjoy my alone time.

But, back to the question.

I wonder, has blogging actually become a therapeutic medium for those that are lonely and/or feeling misunderstood?

Does blogging give some a “voice” they wouldn’t normally project in real life?

Is the world becoming so “busy”, we don’t give others “the time of day”?

Is that why social networking sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, and Technorati are becoming so popular? Because we can “friend” someone without exposing ourselves?

Do bloggers feel more comfortable interacting with others as they hid behind the protection of their computer screen?

Is it a good idea to set a goal of becoming a problogger? A profession that would isolate a person even more?

Today’s Assignment

What do you think? Are most bloggers lonely, misunderstood individuals?

Does a blog help a lonely person communicate?

Is your blog therapeutic for you?

Should you be spending time with family and friends instead of blogging?

Does blogging isolate you from “your public”?

“I don’t stand a chance”.

“There are so many great blogs out there.”

“Others write better than I do.”

“No one is visiting my blog”

“There is so much to learn about blogging, I’ll never totally understand it all.”

“Then, I just read on Techonorati :

The World Live Web is incredibly active, and according to Technorati data, there are over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second.

“It’s just too overwhelming”

” I will never find my place in the world of blogging”

Today’s Lesson

This scenario reminds me of an abandoned dog, that showed up on our job site.

We would show up for work, and she would be laying under our large excavator. With matted fur, and signs of malnutrition, she was starving, not only for food, but for affection. The crew would share their lunches with her, and at days end, she was no where to be seen. We assumed she went “home”.

But as the days passed, she began staying on the job site…never leaving. Signs of an infection in her mouth, alarmed us.

Without a collar, she had no name. The humane society and local newspaper confirmed, no one was looking for her. She was homeless.

Undoubtedly, she was in pain. We took her to our family vet. It was confirmed that not only did she have a bad infection, she had cataracts in both eyes, her hearing was minimal, she would need hundreds of dollars of dental work done, plus, it was obvious to the vet, she had been terribly abused by a previous owner. We also assume she was disciplined with a shock collar, as she did not bark.

Fast forward…

We adopted her. Soon she was on the mend, gaining weight, and becoming playful.

We named her “Lucky” – a name suitable, for two reasons. 1) We felt lucky that we were able to save her, and 2) She was lucky to have made it so far in life, based on her circumstances and perseverance (the vet guesses she is about 12 years old).

She has not only become a part of our family, but she also found a place in our hearts

When we start blogging, we may feel like Lucky might have.

We go visit other blogs, and hang out.

We have a (domain) name, but no one knows it.

Our eyes are blind to the chances that await us

Our ears are open, but the silence is deafening.

We hope someone will show us some attention, and come and visit our blog.

We dine on a scrap of one or two of comments, hoping there’s more where that came from.

We sniff out a master (mentor), who will hopefully help us avoid being sucked into a void of no traffic.

And then we find hope.

Hope in the form of fellow bloggers.

Bloggers who will stroke the fur of our egos, and fill the dishes of our comment section.

And then we’re happy.

We came home.

Home to blogosphere.

Today’s Assignment

To all bloggers. Let’s give the new bloggers a chance.

Join me on a mission.

Let’s all visit one new blog each week, and leave a comment.

Search the comment sections of your favorite blogs, or go online, and find a new blog you can identify with. I’m going to attempt to find ones that are less than 2 months old.

It may take a few tries.

Let’s not abandon the new bloggers.

Remember, you were once a new blogger too.

I will be posting a link to the new blogger I find, in a post, each week.

And….to the brand new bloggers, I have an assignment for you, too.

Your lesson will be posted tomorrow.

When you hit the “publish” button, do you wonder if your post actually went into cyberspace or blogosphere?

You may have searched for your posts online, but can’t find them.

You may feel that, even though you are publishing posts on a regular basis, no one is reading them.

You check your visitor statistics, and begin to believe, you and your best friend, are the only ones visiting your blog.

You may begin to wonder, if blogging is all it’s cracked up to be.

Blogging, or having a blog, for some, will end up being another, “been there, done that”, kind of experience.

For others, it will be a life changing event.

Today’s Lesson

If you are feel you are a new die hard blogger, I’m here to give you some encouragement.

Most important, you must realize, getting your blog found, takes time.

In cyberspace, which is filled with millions of blogs, each blog is like a tadpole in the ocean.

Now, I know that doesn’t sound very encouraging, but the world is also filled with hundreds of millions of people, who are doing searches, on their computers.

According to Search Engine Watch.com, in September of 2007, there were 9.4 billion searches performed.

When I checked Technorati’s website, they are tracking 112.8 million blogs.

So…if there were 9.4 billion searches, and 112.8 million blogs, there’s hope for every blog to be found.

Technorati also reported, that 175,000 new blogs go online daily. Amazing.

I have yet to read a report of how many blogs are discontinued or are sitting dormant, but I would imagine, that number is also high.

Before I started blogging, I didn’t search for these numbers.

Call me naive, or call me stupid. I just knew, I wanted a blog, and wanted to “share”.

I didn’t give much thought to how, or if, my blog would be found. I just assumed, in time, it would be discovered.

I didn’t understand SEO (search engine optimization), social bookmarking sites, blog carnivals, or what ‘free articles” were.

In fact, there was a lot I didn’t, and still don’t, understand. I continue to learn something new everyday, as blogging is constantly changing.

For those of us who blog, because we love to share, blogging is not difficult.

Blogging almost becomes an obsession. It’s that part of your day, you look forward to.

If you don’t publish a post, or visit other blogs, your may feel your day isn’t complete.

Blogging is also a great outlet. It could be compared to therapy. We are “talking” to our imaginary audience.

In the process of blogging our thoughts, we may also hope that others are learning from our experiences (good or bad). Because we care, we don’t want others to repeat the same mistakes we made.

We hope that maybe we will change, even one person’s life.

Can you put a price on that?

Today’s Assignment

Probably more important than having your blog found, is to ask yourself: “Why am I blogging?”

Did you read that you can make tons of money?

Or are you filled with knowledge, you want to share with the world? For free?

If you have found that blogging is a passion for you, don’t get disheartened.

Just keep posting. Keep sharing your knowledge. Keep going.

Remember…., even the most successful blogs, began with one visitor.

Visitors will find your blog, too. It just takes time.

In the meantime, make time to learn about SEO, keywords and keywords density, and other traffic building techniques such as submitting your posts to social bookmarking sites, blog carnivals, free online article sites, directories, etc.

It’s also important to visit other blogs. Leave a comment. Get your name out there.

Are you a new blogger? Leave me a comment. I will be more than happy to visit your site.

If you have been blogging for awhile now, feel free to share what you have learned, with the new bloggers who are reading this post.

Happy Blogging!