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?

Yes, this is another article about Entrecard. As you know, I’ve been using it extensively to generate traffic to my blogs. The reason I’ve found Entrecard effective for me is that I am directly rewarded for my actions and I don’t have to beg people to help me. I don’t mind asking for help, but I won’t resort to becoming a StumbleUpon or Digg whore.

A little over a week ago, I set a personal goal. I wanted to get my site, “The Bullshit Stalker” into the top spot for my Entrecard category. Based on where most of the top of category people were points-wise, I figured I’d need to be solidly into the 2000 point club to make it. Well, yesterday I made the top spot in the News and Media category and today I topped 2000 points (currently at 2130).

I will say, this took strategy and effort (and some money). I’m going to share my approach. While I did all of these, you could possibly make it there by picking and choosing. I didn’t want to leave it to chance and, quite frankly, I didn’t have the patience to just dabble here and dabble there. I dove in and the results speak for themselves.

Content, Content, Content
I cannot say it enough. If you don’t have good (and by good I mean relevant and well written) content and if you’re not posting regularly, you won’t make it into the 2000 club. For this little venture, I committed to post at least on article per day. This is no small task, but I wanted to build something here, and that takes effort. I can’t tell you what posting frequency you should have. Considering that you want readers to come back and drop every day, you should give them something for the trouble.

Drop The Limit
Quit whining. Yes, it takes a lot of effort and time to drop 300 each day. But if you’re not willing to commit to this simple task, you won’t make the 2000 club. The scoring system is based on the past five days. If you’re dropping 300 per day and your getting a solid return, you’ll see your score go up. Could you get there without dropping the full 300? Perhaps, but rest assured that the other top spots are taken by “addicted” droppers.

Drop Your Inbox
Yes, you may have a list of blogs you enjoy reading, but to get the volume of drop backs you need, you will want to drop on active droppers. That way, you get as close to a double bang for each of your drops as possible. Over time, you’ll begin to see a trend. The same Entrecarders will be dropping on you every day. These are your best friends in the Entrecard system. Reward them!

Are there cases where I drop on blogs that don’t always return the favor? Yes, I do. There are blogs that I enjoy reading and when I take the time to go there, I will drop. That is one of the advantages of having multiple blogs (see blow).

Use Your Entrecard Credits To Advertise
Just as the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money, with Entrecard, you have to spend credits to make credits, or in this case, drops. Get it in your head that you’ll seldom get a credit for credit benefit for this. I made this mistake when I first started, thinking like most businessmen, that I should get a solid ROI for my Entrecard investment. What I didn’t consider (initially) was the value of exposure. This unmeasurable return, makes advertising worthwhile.

Consider Buying Entrecard Credits
It takes quite a while to earn enough credits to get yourself over the hump. I’ve been a consistent member of Entrecard for well over a month, but I felt it would be best if I went ahead and bought some credits to supplement my campaign. I originally thought I’d use these credits for a contest (and I still might), but spending them to advertise gave me a huge boost. I was able to get upwards of 22 ads going at a time. That pushed me well over 500 unique visitors from Entrecard in a single day.

Have Multiple Blogs On Entrecard
This is good if you have the time and/or don’t want to pay for Entrecard credits. You can transfer credits earned from the other blogs to your primary blog. While I’ve made up to 900 drops in a day, it isn’t something I can do consistently. That is why I bought credits. But having multiple blogs is a good way to have more credits available to push your primary blog into the 2000 club.

Another reason I think multiple blogs are a good idea is that it allows you to really focus each blog on a different aspect of your life. As a result, you’re able to keep each blog on topic. The Bullshit Stalker has a very particular niche, and while this blog is a bit more open, I post my personal items in Fat Bastard. Having three blogs gives me that flexibility and, more Entrecard Credits.

Pay To Advertise On Entrecard Sites
Many Entrecard Sites offer ad space through Project Wonderful and others. This is especially good for Entrecarders when these ads are above the fold and next to the Entrecard widget. I chose to do this for a number of reasons. First, I wanted to test how cost effective advertising on these blogs would be. Secondly, I knew it would attract more Entrecard users to my site. And finally, it would get me noticed by more Entrecarders.

Be Active On The Forums
Networking with other Entrecard members is the best way to build loyalty. The forums are the best place to start. Then expand to other places. As noted above, I’ve begun advertising on various Entrecard sites. Also, I had an Entrecard user, DotComMogul, design me an Adwords background. This cross involvement helps solidify your position in the community. And that community pays you back!

Other Considerations
Take some time to look at the sites that are on the top spots in your category. Rest assured that they do most of the things I’ve mentioned above. Here are a few things that they don’t do:

• Have music play on their site. I am often listening to music or a podcast when I’m dropping. And my girlfriend is often asleep in the next room. The blaring music, regardless of whether I like it or not, is irritating and I often make a mental note to never return to that site.
• Have so many widgets that your blog takes forever to load. Did you know my computer comes with its own clock? Who’d have figured? So, that clock widget on your site is just wasted space (and time). There are many people who still log in through dial up or wireless broadband (mine crawls when I’m in two bar territory).
• Crash people’s system with their blog. No, you can’t test every type of browser on every type of operating system, but you should be reasonably sure that your site is clean and tight. This relates to the previous item as it is typically the abundance of widgets that cause this.
• Hide the Entrecard Widget. I probably should have put this first, but then it might be better to have you leave with this thought. The best place to put your Entrecard widget is by itself on a sidebar above the fold. I know this is prime real estate for a website, but if you’re committed to make the 2000 club, its well worth it. If you think hiding the widget gets users to read the articles, you’re sadly mistaken. Solid, compelling content gets them to read. Give them that, and make the Entrecard easy to find and you’ll have a winner.

So, now is time to get to work. If you haven’t dropped on me yet, please do. And while you’re here, here is the one I really want your drop on: