Being a Better Blogger Pt. 1

Blogging was a lot more difficult back then.

Blogging can be hard work. Blogging can be frustrating. And growth can be slow. But you know what? I love it.

Before the advent of the internet, there weren't a lot of practical ways to make yourself heard on a large scale unless you it was your job (i.e. you were a journalist, politician, etc). Nowadays, with tools like Twitter, Facebook, and all manner of blogging services, all you really need is a computer, internet access, time and patience.

But that said, those are just the minimum. If you want to grow and get your stuff out there, you need to consider some other things, too.

In this post, I want to talk a little bit about why I'm writing this and about my experience with this blog. In part 2, I'm going to offer my advice for building up your blog. Careful, though - it will be qualified advice. But more about that later.

So first off, what prompted this reflection? Well, honestly I've been kind of angry lately. Not so much "punch someone in the face" angry as "what am I doing wrong?!" angry. Why? Because as I mentioned, growing a blog takes time.

Now I don't want to tear anyone down, especially those who have worked hard to be successful, but sometimes the appeal of the bigger and more popular blogs in my niche eludes me. But that is a good realization to have - I don't always know what kind of content people enjoy. Something for me to work on.

Then there are the big "A-List" blogs - those guys who have made it to the top of Google search and make part of their living off of ad revenue. Yet so many of them link or reference fellow bloggers about as often as Scrooge allowed Cratchit to throw another piece of coal into the furnace. Don't go looking for crumbs there! 

Perhaps equally frustrating, however, is finding new yet popular blogs, which have only been started in recent months (or less than a year ago) that have more readers or subscribers than I do. It's not that I begrudge their success - it's that I begrudge the speed of their success. 

So I did the mature thing. I complained about it to my friends. And I lamented the unfairness of life. Why, God?! Why don't you send more readers to my blog?

Then I decided to shrug it off and turn that energy towards more productive outlets. 

Earlier I was reading some articles over at Coppyblogger and came across one that struck a chord. It's called "Why No One Links to Your Best Posts (And What to Do About It)". I tweeted the link and got a couple thoughts from Anna and Ashley, and afterwards decided to write this. 

For those of you who are new to the world of blogging and/or don't have the inclination to read the article, it basically says that the fundamental cannon of blogging, "Content is king," is flawed. Yes, you need to post interesting content if you want to attract and keep an audience. But that's not all there is to it. You can have some amazing stuff, but if no one's aware of your site, it may as well be trash. You need to attract readers from somewhere.

According to Cb, the trick is networking. That's something I've been working at for months (at least), but not because I wanted more traffic. Well, at least not mainly for that reason, though I'd be lying if I didn't say that's not added motivation. The real reason is because there is a community of bloggers, no matter what you're writing about. I guarantee you that there is some group of dedicated people writing about whatever niche you're blogging about. 

Whether or not you realize it, you're a part of that community. Sure, there may be some minor competition here or there to attract readers or cover a certain story, but these people are your colleagues and could be your friends. They often have similar experiences and interests and would be happy to talk to you. Often the insights and ideas that you share can benefit both of you.

Most bloggers are number people, even if they won't admit it. It's especially the case when you're starting up, but not significantly less so later on - the numbers can lift you up or break your spirit. Gaining subscribers, seeing your views go up over time, getting comments - these are gold to bloggers. I know those things still make me feel really good, so it's my policy to try to pay it forward where I can.

In my case, it's been almost two years now since I started up this blog. We have almost 50 subscribers and, though there are good days and bad, receive about 100 unique views a day. Although it's hard to measure, I'd say we're in the lower middle section of the totem pole that is the Japan blog-o-sphere. Growth is slow, but definitely observable. And I'm doing my best to refine our content and provide interesting reading/viewing material.

It may not look like it, but I've spent a lot of time on this site. Hours and hours and hours. Not only writing, but playing around with formatting and themes, researching and trying to implement widgets to make the blog more attractive and accessible, and doing my best not to only be a good member of the J-blogging community, but to make this blog somewhat respectable within that community. As you can probably tell, on all counts I've met with mixed success. But I'm still trying, and I'm not going to stop any time soon. 

So while I'm by no means a leading authority on blogging success, there are definitely some important lessons I've learned in these two years that might be of interest to some of my fellow bloggers. 

If you'd like to know what I think makes for a successful blog, come on back for part 2!