The Purple Kodo: 13 Points of Blogging

760920_13003180

If you are comfortable and satisfied with your blog and how you write, then don’t read this post. For those of you that want more, keep reading.

Not a WoW related post. Feel free to mark as read.

I’ve been blogging for almost 2 years now and I’ve picked up a number of skills and techniques both from reading to trying it out myself. As a result, there are a number of beliefs and worldviews on blogging that I wanted to share particularly to those who have blogs and those who want to try their hand at it.

Just keep in mind that these are all my opinions and not a right-way vs wrong-way. Blogging isn’t an exact science. There’s always an exception to everything.

There are a multitude of mediums these days which people use to express themselves with. Some like to paint. Others like to dance or to write. When it comes to writing, people like to keep journals or in our case write a blog. In my case, the fact that I chose a blog versus something else like a privatized LiveJournal account or writing in an actual leatherbound journal demonstrates that I wanted to be read. I wanted to interact and get into discussions with other people. So when I hear someone say to me that they started a blog just to get their thoughts down, I’m usually a bit skeptical. Blogs are public unless they’re passworded. The fact that they’re public and easily accessible tells me that the person had a subconscious desire to be acknowledged and read.

Point 1: Blog awareness leads to blog readership

The thing about readership is that there’s often never a straight and honest explanation as to why people are not reading your blog.

You’ve written all this great stuff that people could enjoy and learn from.

Why isn’t anyone reading it?

magnifying-glass

There’s all these great reasons why people would want to come to your blog. But my experience after reading around I’ve kind of boiled it down to 3 reasons:

  1. No one found your blog
  2. People found your blog but didn’t subscribe
  3. People found your blog but didn’t share

No one found your blog: Pretty straight forward here. Readers will not be able to read what they can’t find. How am I (a reader) supposed to like your blog if I don’t even know it exists? This is why it’s a good idea to cultivate good reputation with other bloggers. Yes, this is real life rep grinding at work. This is where linking out is good. Comment on other blogs. If you’re going to email a blogger, read this other post first on emails that I wrote. Make sure you don’t just link the blog, but link a post or two that you feel are your best. Just don’t be upset if you don’t receive a response. Sometimes I see brilliant examples of myself or a few posts get completely blasted. Then I see emails from the same people asking me if I’ll link to their blog. Thanks, I’ll pass.

People found your blog but didn’t subscribe: It’s like picking up a copy of Wired and not having the envelope to subscribe more. Or ordering high speed internet for only a month and not realizing there’s a recurring subscription option. Make it easy for people to subscribe to your blog or at least easily read on a regular basis. Have full feed RSS and email options. Accessibility is king.

People found your blog but didn’t share: I’m a healer. I’m also an officer. I tend to share stuff about healing or guild leadership stuff on Twitter and on my blog. Why? Because I know most of my followers are also healers or are interested in leadership stuff. They follow me because their interests are aligned with mine. I might come across a really slick and polished Elemental Shaman post, but I wouldn’t really share it because it’s the wrong audience. We share stuff because we find it interesting and relevant to other people. Make your blog a place to share and be shared!

Point 2: Getting noticed

Look, we’re all gamers. No one is born with the natural talent or ability to be noticed. No one taught me how to get into marketing, advertising or branding. I’m a Criminology student. Not a day goes by that Wynthea doesn’t continuously remind me that I should have gone into marketing. But marketing and selling your ideas (in the form of your blog) is part of how you get noticed in this business.

A metaphor if you will now:

Here we are just inside Mulgore. My really low level Tauren Druid is surveying the the various Kodos being offered. I’ve got my share of grey Kodos, brown Kodos, or even slightly green Kodos. But they all look the same to me. They’re the same bland and dry Kodo mounts that everyone else has.

Oh my god! It’s a purple Kodo! Holy crap! Kodos aren’t supposed to be purple! They’re supposed to be grey, brown and greenish! Why is that one purple? It’s so interesting because it is purple!

You have to stand out in the giant bell curve of the WoW blogosphere somehow.

I took Seth Godin’s purple cow concept and applied it to WoW.

The average attention span of a human being is 3 seconds. Actually it’s probably less. Like it or not, you’re trying to appeal to a mass number of players who don’t even realize they’re standing in the fire. So keep that in mind. I cannot stress this enough. If you want to get noticed, you have to stand out enough so that when you do get found by readers, they’ll want to share it with their friends. They’ll want to email links. Or post your blog on their guild forum. If they’re Twitter savvy, maybe they’ll post it on twitter to help spread it even further.

Point 3: The blogging for yourself mentality

“But Matt! I don’t care about numbers! I don’t care about being read! I only care about me, myself and my thoughts!”

That is totally okay. I’ve offered advice to some people who wanted to get more results with their blog and have been shut down with this line before.

If you want to blog just your thoughts and your reason, hey that’s fine. But don’t be depressed when you realize that no one out there really gives a crap what you’re writing about.

I’m not trying to be mean. I’m trying to give you the honest truth. Hell, there are days where I write crap too.

But one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, eh?

Do you truly think that thousands of people are going to care that you just got the ‘Going Down!" achievement?

Or that you just did Nexus?

Or that you hate this rep grind and you wish Blizzard never put them in?

If you want to excel, you have to put in the work. The same rule applies to blogging and everything else you want to do in life. If you are happy with being ordinary and blogging for yourself, then stay ordinary and disregard everything on this post and throw it out the window.

There are bloggers out there who are satisfied with where they’re at. They’re comfortable with it. And I applaud them for it. But there are bloggers who want more status, who want more recognition, and want to be “a big deal”. They want to be read more. They want to be acknowledged.

More importantly, they want to do this without trying.

No. Doesn’t work that way.

Either put in the hours or be satisfied as a grey Kodo just like everyone else. And I’m going to say it again because I’m undoubtedly going to receive feedback on this.

There is nothing wrong with blogging for yourself

Point 4: Specializing and the niche

I’m a specialist blogger. Anna is a specialist blogger.

I shake my head every time someone asks me if it’s a good idea for them to start a WoW blog on everything.

Do you know why specialists are called specialists? Because they pick 1 or 2 aspects and become really good at it. That’s why they’re special!

mister

Anna’s a kickass Resto Shaman and Paladin. More importantly, she is an RP blogger. The vast majority of the WoW population don’t RP. But for the few that do, Anna is the undisputed Queen. RPers will flock to her blog because they want tips, guides, and other activities to develop their characters in an RP fashion. If I could summarize Anna’s niche, it would be Shamans, Paladins, healing, and RPing.

Remember that you’re not going to be read by everyone. I don’t read Hunter blogs. I don’t particularly pay attention to Rogue or caster blogs. I don’t have those classes and I never will. Understand it and embrace it. Everyone has different tastes and interests. I know some people who read World of Matticus because Lodur is that much more awesome as a Shaman. Some readers are exclusive to Syd because they value her insight and Druidic ways.

By appealing to everybody, you appeal to nobody.

Point 5: Plan ahead and be dynamic

I know it goes against what I just wrote before it. But I’m going to give you a great example here that I’ve noticed.

Gold making blogs and guides.

There are hundreds of gold making blogs and guides. They are all parroting the same thing. The game is set in such a way that the economy of the game in terms of gathering and spending are going to be the same. Personally I think out of all the blog types, economic blogs are the ones that have the highest turnover.

There’s only so many tips and resources you can give to players to make money. It’s not very often that new “products” or “services” are introduced into the game that players can make money from.

By contrast, when No Stock UI was launched, I knew that the addon scene would constantly be evolving. Blizzard would introduce new elements. There would be new addons and other visual toys. It’s a dynamic topic.

Point 6: There is always room for expansion

I’m also not saying that if you choose a topic you are stuck exclusively talking about that topic. I started out trending just towards Priests. After that, I became an officer and wrote about leadership and guild business along with ways to handle loot. I wrote about leadership in addition to healing. I expanded upwards and broke into another audience level. Soon I had tanks and DPS who didn’t come to my blog to be better healers. They came to my blog to learn about other perspectives and how to improve their own guild. It was a gradual process.

So when I say don’t blog about everything, I absolutely literally mean that. Because it’s very hard to keep everybody satisfied. You can’t keep everyone happy. But that does not mean you’re forbidden from extending to a different topic or two.

When you feel ready to start branching out your blog into other areas, take that first step. Do it slowly, do it surely. More importantly, do it gradually.

Point 7: Branding

One more thing when it comes to specializing. Be prepared to stick to it for the long haul. Otherwise you’ll have to completely start your brand over from scratch. Like it or not, you and your blog are going to be associated with a name and an image. Once that image is formed, it is extremely hard to shake.

If you’re not sure you’re going to be in it, then pick a neutral name. This is why I named my blog World of Matticus instead of Priests R Us or something. I didn’t know if I’d still be playing a healer a year from now. I still don’t know if I’ll be playing a Priest a year from now or if I’ll even still be playing the game. We can’t predict the future but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep our options open.

When the unfortunate time comes and you decide you’re done and want to shift focus, be prepared to lose people. I’ve unsubscribed from blogs before because they decided to shift topics and I just didn’t have any interest in what they were branching out to. You win some, you lose some. That’s the nature of blogging and it is what it is. It’s about acceptance and understanding what happens.

Point 8: Perseverance blogging

Write often. If you want to remain at the front, you have to stay fresh and new. Not only that, if you stop writing for a few days, it’s going to expand to a few weeks until eventually you decide that you just don’t want to write anymore. If you actually want to be a "hardcore" blogger, you have to get yourself to write something. I routinely stay up until 2 AM and I don’t rest until I have at least something on paper or something that’s almost complete enough I can finish in the morning. Find a way to set time aside for writing and develop habits.

Do it before raids.

Do it while farming.

Write while doing dailies.

To me, blogging is like an itch that has to be scratched. The longer I don’t write, the more itchier it gets until I finally have to sit down and satisfy that itch.

I’m always interested in looking for regular contributors. Several months ago, Lodur came to me and e-mailed me two guest posts. I published them and he received a warm reception.

Then he did something no other guest post or contributor wannabe ever did.

He contributed posts 3, 4, and 5.

Was his blog formatting perfect? Did it meet my standards? The standards were met but the formatting was off slightly. I corrected some errors and gave him some tips. But the primary reason I extended the invite to him is because I could immediately tell he loved to write as much as I did.

Lodur was a purple Kodo in a sea of other Kodos.

Obviously you can’t do much about genuine emergencies. Those will happen. Even just laying down a thought or two about a post is a good starting step.

pencil

Point 9: Quality vs Quantity

Here’s another argument that I hear a lot of.

“I prefer to write quality posts as opposed to writing a lot of posts.”

Hey, that is totally your purview. But I want to share with you something I realized early on.

You don’t know what quality is. You’re not going to know what quality is. Every post you write is either going to be a stud or it’s going to be a dud. You’re not writing the same thing repeatedly. You’re writing something new everytime and you’re not going to know if you’re going to hit a foul or if you’re going to hit a home run.

This is why I prefer to run with and write whatever idea I get. I get a thrill knowing it’s either going to fail big or succeed big. And I write it down, and I publish it and I wait and see. Just like this post. I already know it’s going to be frowned upon by many people because their blogging outlooks are different from mine.

Some days I spend 4 hours crafting out a carefully thought out, and well researched post. It gets a handful of responses at best. Other days I spend out 15 minutes to hammer out a quick post before hitting the sack. The next morning I am amazed at the amount of discussion it spawns.

You’re never going to know what constitutes as a “quality” post.

A friend from a different guild once remarked to me that he liked all the posts on my blog because he thought I wrote really well.

Wrong!

I corrected him and said I have an equal number of stinkers as I do winners (probably more stinkers). The ones that you happen to like are the ones that stand out the most. The ones you don’t like fade away thereby seeming as if I write nothing but good posts.

Whatever posting schedule you set for yourself above all else, try and remain as consistent as you can (which is weird coming from me).

Point 10: Blog Sensitivity

This is something I get talked to a lot by other people. Every so often I receive a comment or an email and it just sets me off. All the friends around me try to calm me down and not to take it so seriously.

rainny

I know that. But it’s still difficult. Why is it so hard? Up to this point, I couldn’t really answer why.

The reason I take comments so seriously is because I care about what I’m writing. I’m passionate about my class and what I do in this game. I love what I do and I’m going to be a little annoyed once in a while.

I understand that it comes with the territory too. It’s a part of the “business” and it’s something I’m going to deal with. Does it make it any easier? No, but that’s the way it is.

If you care about what you write and don’t get offended easily, then man… props to you. That’s a very rare breed. You’d make the perfect blogger. Thick skin isn’t something that can easily be grown. I’ve witnessed promising bloggers start out strong only to receive 1 or 2 negative comments. Their blog then lies abandoned in some blog graveyard somewhere to be forgotten.

When it comes to games especially, just remember that there is always someone out there who is your superior. Accept it and move on.

Point 11: The sixty day test

An average lifespan of a blog is under sixty days. If a blog reaches that point, then the blogger has managed to achieve a state of “rhythm” and regularity with their writing. The actual quantity doesn’t matter. It could be 60 posts in 8 weeks or 8 posts in 8 weeks.

What matters is that they didn’t just drop off the face of the planet.

I run into posts that say “Sorry, will be back soon. Life owned me.”

And then I don’t hear from them again. Too often I come across blogs that say they’ll come back soon. Six months later, I remove them from my reader. Blogs that had such promise in the first month suddenly become extinguished because the blogger realized they just couldn’t do it.

Again, nothing is wrong with that. Blogging is not for everybody. It’s easy to break into but it’s extremely difficult to stay disciplined enough to keep at it because just face it: Not everyone likes to stay inside cooped up doing nothing but writing.  

Going back to my earlier case study with Lodur, I apply something similar with guest contributors. I get a lot of applications from people who are excited and want to be a regular and active blogger. But I fail to see the actions that backup that sentiment. They decide that they just can’t commit. Or maybe they come to the conclusion that blogging is a lot more work than they imagined. It’s very easy to say you want to do something. But when you realize the pressure and the responsibility, sometimes it’s not as appealing.

And that’s perfectly alright. This way, they don’t waste their time doing something they don’t like doing.

Point 12: The two question approach to posting

Alright, now up to this point I’ve preached the idea of standing out. But the meat and potatoes of a blog is in the posts you write.

Here’s a simple question you can ask yourself to find out whether or not your post should be written. It’s a fairly simple test.

  • If I write this post, is ANYONE going to give a crap?

If the answer is yes, good. Go ahead and write it. Doesn’t matter if people disagree or agree. What matters is if you perceive people care.

Now as a masochistic WoW blogger myself, I ask myself question number 2.

  • If I write this post, is someone going to benefit from it in some way?

Note the difference between question 1 and 2. Question 1 is whether someone cares. Question 2 is whether someone’s going to derive something useful.

For me personally, I’ve written countless of strategies and tips. I face a lot of “this is useless, I already know this” or “people who don’t do this are noobs”. On the flip side, I know there are others who comment “Thanks! I didn’t know about this until you mentioned it!” And that’s what keeps me going.

Point 13: My definition of a successful post?

If someone finds something useful out of it and if I make it interesting and compelling enough. I don’t care if I reach 1 person or 1 million.

If I can reach even 1 person, then it’s mission accomplished.

Finally, remember that this is the summation of my experiences in blogging. It’s not going to appeal to everyone. We all have reasons for blogging the way we do. All that stuff up there is the blue colored lens by which I view my efforts in writing. You might agree and you might not. I’m not here to tell you the right way or the wrong way of blogging. I’ve relayed to you exactly what went through my mind as I went from starting the blog 2 years ago to where I am now. 

It’s up to you to decide what you want to do. My door’s always open to people who have questions about healing and blogging. I can’t promise the swiftest of answers but I do usually get around to everyone eventually.

Be a purple kodo!

Image courtesy of m3_fs

39 thoughts on “The Purple Kodo: 13 Points of Blogging”

  1. Great article especially for a fairly new Blogger. I don’t understand the concept of linking, you mentioned the benefits but I don’t know the steps to linking nor what happens when one links to another blog. (I’m serious, even if it sounds like a dumb question)

    Terris last blog post..Chicken recipes and saving money tips

    Reply
  2. “Like it or not, you’re trying to appeal to a mass number of players who don’t even realize they’re standing in the fire.”

    Great quote. Tempted to make it my forum sig but I try to accentuate the positive while leading, so I should probably avoid the temptation. It definitely made me smile though!

    Thanks for the timely post, Matt. I did my best with the Purple Kodo. My blog’s so shiny new Google hasn’t found it yet – well, we’ll see how it all looks in 60 days. At least I’m getting good advice along the path.

    Atriss last blog post..Defeating Dragons with Jujitsu

    Reply
  3. Oh, and for Terri: When you put in a link to another person’s blog, usually he/she has software that will notice it. The WoM authors get a notification in our email. I’m sure that’s part of WordPress, but I think others see it too. The point is, when someone links me, I’m so happy and flattered that I go read their stuff. And then, I link them right back if I find something I like!

    I love to link to or talk about my favorite blogs in posts.

    Reply
  4. I’m not a fan of the specialization mantra given in most how-to-blog-posts. And that’s for quite egoistical reasons: I don’t necessarily like the very narrowly nieched blogs. Some of the very best bloggers I know of are far from specialized.

    Take Spinksville. Take Ixobelle. They write about about a broad array of topics, whatever’s in their mind. They write in a personal way, they share ideas, opinions, perspectives and make me think. Very niched blogs strictly class-perspecitve issues are often rather boring and predictable (unless it’s a mage blog ofc… :))

    And this idea that everything should be useful. No thanks!!! I can look up strategies at Tankspot and Wowwiki, I can read about theorycrafting at EJ and Raiding 101. But I DO agree about the purple Kodo.

    What a blog needs more than anything else is personality. That takes some courage. That takes passion. That takes endurance. And probably a little bit of talent as well. Hard things to teach others. Hard things to define. But yet the ingredients that I’m looking for as a frequent blog reader. Quite far away from the “useful” and “specialized” concept. On the other hand, I may be an exception. You may be right about what the masses like.

    On the other hand, being a succesful blogger isn’t ONLY about having x number of subscribers/visitors. You can define succes in many ways. If you only have a few visitors, but if they’re very dedicated, constantly commenting and adding content to your blog, linking to it from their own blogs, aren’t you quite successful then, even though you’re visitor numbers arent skyrocketing? I think you are. Oh yeah, you said so yourself at #13, I guess.

    Sorry for ranting a bit.. I got carried away, being so passionate about this topic. Anyway: I loved to read your thoughts on this. Thanks!

    Larísas last blog post..Different approaches to gold farming

    Reply
    • Larisa: You are an exception. Spinks is an exception. Ixobelle is an exception. You guys bring your own unique perspective. Not everyone has your ability to do that. Not everyone is as interesting as you are.

      It’s difficult to go searching for personality. I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone google “Cool mage blog” or something. Search engines are still the biggest driving factor for blogs these days with direct referrals right behind them. They have to find you somehow. For most bloggers, especially the ones starting out, they CAN’T get by on personality alone. They have to be “discovered” somehow. Which is why I say to write something useful to start out with. If I’m searching for mage tips, or how to mage, maybe I’ll come across your blog. That’s when I can fall in love with it, that’s when I can subscribe and start reading it.

  5. Thanks, Matticus. I’m new to the blogging thing, but I’ve been getting decent hits on my blog over the last week and a half I’ve been doing it. I fall under the same mindset you do in that if I can just get someone to read it then I’m happy.

    I tend to write about non-WoW things (yet still nerdy and geeky with an academic air) so not everything here applied, but I think this is a strong post I am going to come back to as I try to drive traffic to my blog.

    I think I can definitely stick with this; writing’s always been a passion, but you’re right in that 60 days is a long time to keep disciplined to something, and I know if I can make that, I can make this blog a success. My main concern is just having people find my blog, not that I am afraid to write it.

    Beejs last blog post..The Top Five Audiobooks You Should Hear and Why

    Reply
  6. “So when I hear someone say to me that they started a blog just to get their thoughts down, I’m usually a bit skeptical. Blogs are public unless they’re passworded. The fact that they’re public and easily accessible tells me that the person had a subconscious desire to be acknowledged and read.”

    I’ve said something very similar to this so many times It feels like your talking to me. I completely agree that someone who posts a public blog wants to be read at least on a subconcious level. However, I don’t think “just wanting to get my thoughts down” and wanting to be read are mutually exclusive situations.

    I did indead start my blog just to get my thoughts down. I don’t have any RL friends who play, so I didn’t have anyone to talk to about the game. Sure I could talk to guildies and such, but Moonkin were rare at the time and most people didn’t care about my issues. Blogging provided me with an outlet for my thoughts. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want people to read and respond to my thoughts.

    This is not to say that it is a highly successful format for blogging. I didn’t really start to attract readers until I started writing guides and such, but my point is you have to care about what your writing. If your only writing to get more suscribers or more page views then you run the risk of blogging turning into a job. Thats great if your trying to turn you blog into a profitable enterprize but not so good if your just looking for an outlet.

    Specialization vs Niche:

    When I look at the really successful WoW blogs around the internet then seem to fall into one of two categories for me. The either provide great information and tips, or they have a lot of personality that readers find entertaining. I personally don’t think that personality is something that can be taught. You either have it or you don’t, and I don’t. The people that do have it don’t have to specialize because they can make almost any topic interesting for their readers, but I think these people are a rare breed. The rest of us need to focus on a topic and say something useful to get noticed and read.

    Graylos last blog post..Blue Post: GC’s 4T8 Follow Up

    Reply
  7. I think the answer to my question is going to be “find the happy medium”, and if that is the case I am wondering what you think the happy medium ‘range’ is in terms of posts/unit of time OR suggestions on how an individual blogger finds their personal happy medium. (Both things I am still trying to figure out after over a year of blogging.)

    But my question is, how do you reconcile these two contradictory (at least the 1st and 2nd time I read them) statements? Point 11: 60 Day Test “achieve a state of rhythm… the actual quantity doesn’t matter” and the whole idea behind point
    and 8 & 9 that you should write/post as often as possible to increase the number of quality posts. (I do see that you mention a posting schedule at the end of point 9 too, but when does a schedule become probably not often enough for your blog to improve?)

    Blah that was a million questions, but its a great topic and post.

    Aertimuss last blog post..Need Input: Assumed Some Numbers for Mana Regen Calculations – Did I Pick Good Numbers?

    Reply
  8. My niche is very…unique. I’m a geeky gamer who also happens to be an English professor. I’m fresh out of graduate school, and I want to talk about these two aspects of my life converging.

    The problem is that the other blogs in these respective areas are an either/or phenomenon. Either I find traditional professors who write about administrative woes and the like, or I find traditionally fanboyish gaming/geek blogs that don’t really have any substance, like the ones you mentioned in your post as having high-turnover rates or the quality just isn’t there because they’re a dime a dozen.

    Because I am trying to offer a unique bridge between both worlds, do you think I am hurting myself because if I comment on gaming/geek blogs, I might have the readers who click see my academic-slanted blogs, but if I post on a professor’s blogs, the community will see me as an upstart.

    I have a good feeling about my subject area and chosen niche, but I am also worried about longevity and acceptance by the communities I am trying to bridge. Is that unfounded?

    Beejs last blog post..The Top Five Audiobooks You Should Hear and Why

    Reply
  9. I agree with a lot of what you’ve said here, but I must say that this post as a whole is just talking from way too many stages in a blogger’s career. It just seems like you were trying to write THE post on blogging and ultimately just ended up with 13 scattered blog thoughts together.

    A lot of what you’re saying too is extremely subjective, yet your saying it very “this is the only way”~ish and some even is inaccurate. (the niche example of anna as much as I love her work is the classic example of scope creep, ie someone who used to be a niche blogger not someone who still is)

    I really wish you’d have broke this post into a number of smaller ones because I just don’t think this is your best work.

    Veneretios last blog post..From Clicks to Keybindings: Movement

    Reply
  10. @Veneretio: My best work is all entirely subjective. Some people think my best is my worst, others think my worst is my best. I was writing my experiences and thoughts on blogging and doing it in one post. This blog is still ultimately about healing and WoW. If I can summarize the primary points into one big post instead of 13 smaller ones, then that’s the goal. I’d much rather minimize it as much as I can. I’m not quite at the stage yet where I want to add blogging to the end of healing and leadership as subjects covered here.

    You’re still missing the point. At the very top, at some points in the middle and even towards the end, I’ve state countless times. If you want to strike upwards and are frustrated with the way your current blog is, this post can help address some of those points. There are many other WoW bloggers out there who don’t care about numbers. Who don’t care about being up there. Who don’t care about reputations. They just plain don’t care, period. This post isn’t meant for them. It’s not directed at them. It’s meant for the bloggers who WANT to do something. And for them, are these points the ONLY way? No it’s not the only way. But they are methods that have worked for _me_ and other dominant WoW bloggers that I have observed. And what works for me and what works for others can also vary differently.

    Reply
  11. Very well written post, and one that had me nodding the whole way through.

    I especially am understanding points 10 and 11. I definitely was guilty of starting out strong and taking a brief hiatus to gather my wits. It’s never fun for anyone to be insulted and belittled, especially if it’s regarding something you’re passionate about. I learned my lesson, though.

    Will I still be furious with the insults and criticism? Of course. The way I see it, you can’t be passionate about your blog and helping people if you don’t care about their opinions. Opinions can either be good or bad, but you will get both sides of it. But unless I quit caring about my audience, I will continue being upset by the inevitable negative feedback.

    Ariedans last blog post..The Ol’ Guild Removal

    Reply
  12. This was a good read. It seems like most of it is common sense, but there are some definite nuggets of wisdom in there.

    My blog is fairly young, and it’s still finding it’s place in the world. It’s a mixture of tips and guides and random thoughts, and I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with that. It seems to me, that as long as your mixture of content is on the same general topic, it’s not bad to have variety.

    Randul the Dwarfs last blog post..Screen Shot of the Week

    Reply
  13. I see what you’re talking about regarding having a tough skin. I’ve been recently posting snippets of my blog on Gameriot and linking back, and the feedback has been harsh sometimes, from people cropping pictures on my site to Jabba the Hutt’s body to my being told I’m pretentious and bland.

    But it’s like you said: I know what I write is of worth. I can’t please everyone, so those who do like what I write will continue getting it. It is hard, though, developing a tough skin against attacks through the internet’s anonymity.

    Beejs last blog post..Not Your Parents’ Literature: Traditional vs. Blended Genre Traditions

    Reply
  14. I know I am a little late to the punch, but I got a lot out of this post. I am still in that first 60 days time period and trying not to wash away with the tide of other failed blogs.

    I think I am currently in the ‘no one has found your blog’ or ‘people found your blog but didn’t subscribe’ phases, which is disheartening but those few regular readers I have are all that more rewarding because of it.
    .-= Puut´s last blog ..Updates… =-.

    Reply
  15. This post has helped me so much, I myself am just starting my World of Warcraft blog, so this has given me a ‘leg up’ on those who where without this information!

    Cheers!
    .-= Acrecia´s last blog ..Sewing Seeds? =-.

    Reply
  16. Wow! I just found this post through another blog and I think it gives a very good insight into blogging. Although I’m not a WoW player, these points will help me in improving my blog. Although I started out my blog more as a personal journal, I tend to write more and more with a public in mind. In the end, most old (leather bound) diaries are the ones that really give insight into people thoughts and lives and they’re written as if you write a letter to someone. With the above points in mind, I think I can make a good blog with a combination of things that interest me. And who knows, maybe in the end more and more readers will be interested too. Thanks for your tips!
    .-= Ilse´s last blog ..Happy birthday to me! =-.

    Reply
  17. Long read but pretty informative. A couple of eye openers for me. The quality vs. quantity thing was good. I have been surprised myself when you write a little 15minute chuck of crap and it gets some hits. I’m still in my 60 day period so we’ll see if I can hack it. Trying for one entry a day but it doesn’t always happen. Thanks again for the good posts. Got a little shot of motivation.

    Reply
  18. Thank you so much for this 🙂 I know this is an old post but I can’t help but comment on it. This was a great read for a new blogger like me. I’m still under my 60 days, so I hope my momentum keeps up. I don’t have many readers at all I think, but I’m trying to reach out to the community. This post was a nice bit of motivation for me to keep at it. Thanks!

    Reply

Leave a Comment