A month ago, I challenged myself to post one article per day for thirty days as a test.  I wanted to see if creating new content each day would generate traffic.  For this little experiment, I chose my blog, The Bullshit Stalker.  I figured it would be easy to find and write content on that topic and I was right.  I’ve completed my 30 days and here’s what I learned:

1. The more often you write, the more distributed your search traffic becomes.  Not many people are searching for “bullshit.”  But when you cover a story, a current event, or a certain topic, you’re likely to get a few hits on that from search engines.
2. The more often you write, the longer people stay on your site.  I have Entrecard on the site, so the drop rate is still very high.  But since I started this experiment, the time spent on is much improved.  Some of you guys actually do stop and read every now and then.
3. The more often you write, the more regulars you see in your comments.  I wouldn’t exactly call them an entourage, but there are some regular commenters on my blog now.
4. The more often you write, the more you touch on different nerves.  I found that certain topics elicited more response and higher readership than others.  So far, television, sex toys and bad parenting seem to be hot topics.  Go figure.
5. The more often you write, the harder it is to stay keyword dense.  That blog was a bit easier to stick with a keyword, as you can imagine.  But if you have a lot of varied content, it will break away some of the keyword density and, if SEO matters to you, you’ll want to focus on retaining that.
6. The more often you write, the more you’ll have opportunities to build backlinks.  I didn’t spend much time doing the whole routine of pinging, stumbling, digging, repeat.  If I had, I’m thinking I would have seen some cool referral bumps here and there.  More on this later.
7. The more often you write, the more likely you are to write shorter articles.  Time is a precious commodity.  I found that I had to really manage my time wisely to be able to keep up with my plan.
8. The more often you write, the more you appreciate Wordpress post scheduling.  There were times I would write several articles at once and then schedule them to hit over different days.  It also allowed me to post around the same time each day, which was a bonus.
9. The more often you write, the better you get at breaking things down into bite-sized pieces.  You’re still reading this article because you care about the content.  With the droppers, they are taking seconds to decide if they want to read your article.  A picture, the title, the first paragraph.  That is about all you have to snag them for a bit longer.  If the article is too long, they’ll bolt before the end.  A short article will get more full reads than a long one.
10. The more often you write, the more you appreciate writing.  I had a topic area that I could be passionate about on a daily basis.  Therefore I was thinking about things more and researching more.  I received daily feedback from the comments (even though I didn’t spend a lot of time responding to them).  It felt good to go through the moderation for first time commenters and see the comments from people who were becoming regulars.  It was a fun month!

I hope this post helps some of you decide how to approach your blogging.  A daily blog posting might seem too daunting to you.  I understand.  I felt that way when I first took this on myself.  My girlfriend isn’t all that happy with me right now.  So, I still have some time management issues to work through.

What’s next?  I think I’m going to keep that blog going on a daily post.  I’ll hit this one about every two weeks with lessons and commentary on blogging.  Since football season is coming up, I’ll be more active on Whodowethinkweare.net (along with continuing to build that blog network) and I need to get back on target with my weight loss journal at FatBastard.org.  And there is always Ed Dale’s Thirty Day Challenge, where I’ve created yet another blog that I’m using his techniques on (still a WIP, but I’m learning quite a bit).

With my daily posts on The Bullshit Stalker, I’m going to do a bit more social network promotion.  As a result, I’ll likely drop off a bit on Entrecard dropping for that site.  I appreciate the traffic it provides, but I need to find a more time-effective route for traffic generation.  I’ll still drop for each of my blogs on the network, but I just can’t keep that volume up and do what I need to do to grow.  And that’s the name of the game, isn’t it?

Doing and receiving blog reviews is a great way to generate traffic for your site.  One of my favorite bloggers (Make Money Online) has asked his readers to join him in a review swap.  The hope is that my readers become his readers and his readers mine.  Below is my review of his blog.  This is my first blog review, so bear with me.

He’ll be reviewing my other blog (The Bullshit Stalker).

Almost ever day, I see this little baby’s picture.  Yes, I found Make Money Online through Entrecard and I did begin frequenting his site because of it.  But there are two reasons that I have stuck with the Noob.  He posts regularly (practically every day) and he has very good content.  Okay, there is a third reason, he posts pictures of beautiful women, but the web is full of these.  I’m going to discuss each of these but in reverse order.

The Girl Pictures
Each post is accompanied by a picture of one or more beautiful women.  These are tasteful pictures.  A mix of famous and otherwise.  Yes, they are completely off topic, but this might just be an effective strategy for  the Entrecard bounce.  I’m not sure it would work for me, but he has nailed it.

The Content
While the topic of Make Money Online isn’t for everyone, I do have to say that the blog is much deeper than that.  Most of his posts are about blogging in general.  They are well written and come from his personal experience.

In a since, the Noob is a blogger that just finished the leg of the trip I’m attempting to take.  I’ve learned so much from him.  His comments are spot on and I value the opportunity to learn about blogging from him.

Posting Volume
I’ve been struggling with this topic for a while now.  There is a huge commitment involved in keeping a blog going.  When the initial rush of the new blog goes away, will you have the energy to carry it on?  What frequency of posting do your readers want.

I suspect like me, the Noob gets a large percentage of his traffic from Entrecard.  Many of us on Entrecard hate the volume of dead blogs on the system.  We’re visiting many blogs on a daily basis and finding the same content that was there for weeks or months is very discouraging.  I’m on Entrecard not just to promote my blog, but to learn.  As a result, blogs like Make Money Online are my favorites.  I know he’ll have some new tidbit for me almost every day.  I really appreciate that.

As many of you may have heard, Randy Pausch has passed.  The best hour and twenty minutes you could spend would be to watch his “Last Lecture:

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

I will probably watch this several times.  There are so many great lessons in this lecture.

Enjoy!

I was watching a very young child and his father in a swimming pool today.  The child, with his water wings was being toted through the pool to the infinity edge.  Over the edge was a great view that I’d been enjoying myself.  The father held the child up, but instead of looking at the view we saw, the boy was fascinated with the water splashing down over the edge.  The father continued to enjoy his view and the child his.

Obviously, children have a very different view of the world than adults do.  Experts on childproofing houses/apartments encourage parents to get down low, crawl around and see what the child does.  As this child grows up, he’ll strive to see things from a different view.  Most children go from crawling to standing, going places they couldn’t when they were younger, and following the cycle of life to adulthood.

Why do we insist on stopping there?  Why don’t we continue that journey after we’ve grown up?

I’m also reminded of a time when I was a toddler (No, I don’t remember it, but I still have the scars from it).  I reached up for a pot and poured boiling water down on myself.  Since from my vantage point I didn’t know the pot was full of boiling water, I paid the consequences.  We also do this to ourselves as adults, doing and saying things that we don’t fully understand, but pretending or believing we do.

Do you take time out to look at things from other perspectives?  I mean, really stop.  And really try to break down all of your preconceptions?

Since most of my readers are fellow bloggers, I’ll move on in that direction with this.  If you’re blogging from one perspective all the time then you’re not giving the full picture, or getting it.  Your blogging is less for it.  As a blogger, a communicator, it is critical that you consider the opposing views and make your post relevant to all potential readers.

Yes, taking a hard stance, inciting a bit of controversy will sell a post, but at what cost?

The best blogs, the ones that grow to more than just a “personal weblog” are those that break out of the single mind perspective.  If you don’t take time (from time to time) to break down your own walls, how can you ever hope to do the same for someone else?

If you are an Entrecarder (and even if you’re not), you’re going to want to pay attention to this!

Firefox 3 Rocks!

It is way faster than its predecessor and IE. How much faster? In my nonscientific testing, it is performing 3 - 6 times faster. What does that mean for you? It means you’re loading sites faster, getting to the good stuff faster, and yes, dropping your Entrecards faster.

It also does a much better job of managing your browsing history. As you type in web addresses, it offers potential matches from your past viewing history. Sweet! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve struggled to find a site I visited earlier and forgot to bookmark. This is another huge timesaver!

All of the plugins I was using on the old Firefox appear to work on this one. So, now I have a faster, better Internet experience. All for a free download!

So, whether you’re an Entrecarder or not. You’re going to want Firefox 3.

I needed a logo for my new site. I had the concept in my head, but I had three issues:

1. I can’t draw and I couldn’t find clip art or stock photos that fit.
2. I didn’t have a ton of time to devote to this project.
3. My budget is constrained.

Still, this was a very important part of the overall site. Logos tie the site to the marketing. A well done logo sets you apart by forming a memory bond with your customers/readers.

I probed around my networks (Entrecard, Twitter, Eaglepost, etc.) but still couldn’t find someone willing or able to draw a logo. So, I turned to Elance.com.

I posted my project with a brief description of the character and formats I needed. I paid $15 to have my project highlighted (Although you don’t have to do this, for me it was worth it to get noticed in a relatively short time). In no time, I had my first bid, ending up with a dozen high quality bids to evaluate.

The evaluation phase was extremely difficult. All of the artists who bidded were excellent. They each provided examples and I could view their portfolios and websites for more examples of their work.

I finally settled on one bidder who offered the best price/quality. He happened to be in India (I had received bids from all over the globe). We established a formal agreement through the site and I funded an escrow account.

The project commenced.

All of the communication during the project was done through the Elance private messages. As agreed, the artist prepared and delivered the logo files.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my first experience w/Elance. Most of the minor nits and hickups during the project were due to my learning curve. I’m currently engaging a writer through the service (going fabulously) and expect I will be going back to the well frequently.

I was reading through Ars Technica and came across this article: Google, Yahoo Spiders Can Now Crawl Through Flash Sites. This is great news for web developers! Sites can be much more dynamic with flash, but SEO experts were against using flash because the sites would be un-crawlable. By being un-crawlable, it meant they weren’t indexed by Google or Yahoo. Very bad!

But recently, Google (with Yahoo not far behind) came up with an algorithms that allows it to crawl certain aspects of flash sites. We should start seeing a lot more of them pop up as this constraint goes away. As for us, we can not use more flash in our blogs and websites and not be penalized as much for it.

You can read more about it here at Google Webmaster Tools.

This is a very good day indeed!

It is a simple question. But the answer isn’t always apparent. Are you being true to yourself when you post as a blogger? And is that voice coming through to your readers?

Having a solid voice in your writing comes from first being honest with yourself. It means that you take the time to understand how you really feel about a topic and why you feel that way. Then, you take that and turn it loose. That is the rawness that makes great bloggers great.

I have a personal blog where I most definitely lay it on the line. I put things about myself on that blog I would usually reserve for a close friend. This blog is more of a sandbox of sorts. As such, I often wonder if my real voice is coming out. It may not be. And this blog is poorer for it.

I might not change that. Particularly since I’m not looking at this blog with a success versus failure view. It is merely a place to share distinct blogging lessons. But going forward, I will be very cognizant of the difference. Are you yourself?

If you’re not a follower/user of Entrecard, then you may have missed the drama that unfolded over the past few weeks.  The short version goes like this:

Posts and claims were made that apparently worked a group of forum regulars into a frenzy.  This escalated despite efforts by the forum moderators to squelch and deflect the conflicts.  As usually goes in these matters, feelings were hurt, bans were issued, and now we have a history mark called Firestorm.

This series of events goes on every day on the Internet.  Especially on internet forums.  There are disagreements, flame wars, and violations of forum rules that escalate out of control until the fire is extinguished (typically within a few weeks).  Everybody will want to point to one individual or one event that set it off, but the reality is, it all comes down to maturity of those involved.

I joined Entrecard for one reason.  To promote my blog.  Over time, I accomplished an even bigger feat.  I learned of some excellent resources and bloggers.  Many of the users of Entrecard are brilliant bloggers who know quite a bit about Internet marketing.  I learn something new every day.  Much of that through the forums.

What most people involved in Firestorm lost site of was their original purpose of joining Entrecard to begin with.  We’re here to promote and/or learn.  To those that left, good riddance.   If you’re too immature to understand that Internet arguments are pointless, then it is better you are gone.  Entrecard is a for-profit service.  One that I’ve found quite valuable.

I’m interested in your thoughts/impressions about the Firestorm.

Probably not the best of questions to ask a reader, huh? But it is one you should ask every day. Why are your readers coming to your site? What are they after? Are they getting it? Are they going to come back?

The way readers use blogs is so different from other websites. When a websurfer goes to Web MD, they will read an article that is years old. But on a blog, they are typically looking for fresh content. Will they drill down to other articles you’ve written. Sometimes, but more likely, they are only looking at the most recent post.

Are you creating regular, fresh content? If so, then you’ll likely see regular traffic. Are you making it easy for them to find related content on your site? If not, then you’re missing an opportunity to hold a reader. This can be addressed simply by linking to older stories. You can also look at the layout of your blog. Are your categories what they need to be?

Perhaps your site is more about the present and less of an information resource. Then you need to have a strategy to create a regular posting pattern. You’ll need to ensure your readers get their daily, twice weekly, weekly fix. That takes planning.  Fortunately, Wordpress allows you to schedule out posts.  That can be a life saver.

While I know this site should be a reference source, most of my current readers are looking for regular, fresh content.  I need to address that if I want to maximize my revenue from this site.  I tried a little experiment this past few weeks.  I made a generally good post about my first month blogging.  The number of hits and comments were very good for me.  I found that leaving the good content up longer drew in more readers.  Now I just have to find that sweet spot.

In any case, if you don’t know what your readers want, you might not be providing it.