The Five Most Important Things I Learned About Blogging in 2007

The Next 45 Years was launched earlier this year. With 2007 drawing to a close, it’s exciting to see the changes (mostly very good and positive ones) made to this blog over the last eight months.

Believe me; I have made a ton of mistakes, too. There were times when I thought my effort and time was being wasted on a project that wasn’t going anywhere. But because of a strong-headed determination and competitive spirit, I kept going.

Looking back, I can point to five specific things that have helped my blog go from one with very few readers to a blog that sees a daily increase in subscribers to my RSS feed and newsletter as well as a very significant and steady increase in traffic month over month. For example, my page views in November was 25,034 compared to 43, 603, month-to-date, for December (source: Google Analytics).

I hope you find some value in what I have learned:

1. The most important activity, priority and focus should always be on the content of your blog. If you want your blog is stand out from the rest in your niche, then the platform for it to stand on is the quality and relevancy of your content.

Good content is what attracts readers in the first place and keeps them coming back again and again. Of all the time you spend on your blogging activities, writing, researching and editing should garner the majority of your time and attention.

2. Reach out and meet other bloggers in your niche. Don’t look at these people as competitors, but allies. Here’s why: Of the 6.7 billion people in the world, I only need about 900, 000 of them on a monthly basis for me to retire in just a few short years. So, there are plenty of people to go around.

By building a network of like-minded bloggers you are able to exchange more links; have opportunities to guest blog; and participate in joint ventures like writing projects and contests. All of these activities bring more exposure and more readers to your blog.

3. Make it easy for your first-time visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed or e-newsletter. It can be difficult to attract quality visitors to your blog. Once you get them there, you want to create a medium for them to come back, over and over again. Place your RSS feed icon well above the fold or perhaps in the header area. Offer both a feed and daily email as subscription options.

4. Use social bookmarking sites as a way to increase steady traffic to your blog. My advertising costs in December are $0.00 (zero). Instead, I have leveraged the power and appeal of sites like StumbleUpon and Digg to drive visitors. These sites can and will work if you manage them properly.

5. Forget about affiliate advertising for the first six to 12 months. I’m sure several folks who have been reading this post just clicked away, but I’m just being honest.

I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t have a couple of text links to affiliate sites that would be appropriate based on your content, but lose the large and blinking ads – no one clicks on these anyway and they make your site look “cheesy.”

Also realize you are not going to get rich overnight (just heard a few more clicks – but this is true). Your job in the beginning is to build a quality, trusted and authoritative site. It takes time to do this; and you do this by putting the content first.

Think of blogging like marriage. I didn’t ask my wife to marry me on our first date; it took me some time to convince her I was the right man. Same for blogging. The first few months you need to gain the same level of trust and respect with your readers. Then, you can enter into a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship. The money in blogging comes after you are established, and trusted.

Feeling stuck? If so, I would like to help. For a limited time, you may schedule a free one-on-one 30-minute Blogging Workshop conference call with me. We can discuss your specific questions, review your current blog or start a new blog, and discuss future strategies.

Click here to contact me to schedule your call. I can only accept the first three requests.

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Feeling stuck? If so, I would like to help. For a limited time, you may schedule a free one-on-one 30-minute Blogging Workshop conference call with me. We can discuss your specific questions, review your current blog or start a new blog, as well as discuss future strategies.

Click here to contact me to schedule your call. I can only accept the first three requests.

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