Happy New Year! What does 2008 hold for your blog?

Many people think of the new year as a chance to have new beginnings. I’m certain many new blogs will be started as people vow to write to them on a regular basis. I’m also certain at least 70% of those blogs will end up being forgotten about at some point.

Rather than take on a new blog, let’s look at the blog you have in front of you. What direction do you want your blog to go in 2008? What worked well for you in 2007? Was there a series of articles or a topic that seemed to do well? Did people respond to one type of post over another? Did the posts with pictures gain more traffic?

When you have a clear picture of what worked for you in 2007 and what didn’t, you can weed through and tighten what you’re doing this year.

I’ve been looking at one of my blogs, and I’ve found it doesn’t have enough focus. My goal for 2008 is to give it better focus. On another blog, while it’s a niche blog, I found that by changing the particular angle, I was able to zone in on what I wanted my blog to represent. Another blog I found was too boxed in by being a targeted topic, and I’ve decided to open the topic up a little wider to include more categories.

I’m also trying to add clipart and pictures to more of my posts, as well as get better at tagging. Tagging is one of those things that just seems to slip my mind, and that’s not good! I’ve taken an inventory of my own blogs, analyzed my stats, and I’ll be making some changes.

What will you be doing to change your blog in 2008? Will you add another category, writer shorter or longer posts? Maybe you’ll work on social networking, and building traffic.

With a fresh year before you, it’s now the perfect time for you to go take inventory!

Happy Blogging! Deb

blog, blogging, social networking, blogs, build traffic

I got a question on one of my blogs the other day. It was asking where I come up with ideas to write about. I write about life. Ideas are all around you. The question is, what do you want to write about? I have multiple blogs, so I write about many different topics.

I think the biggest mistake I made when I started blogging, was not having a clear idea of what I wanted for the life of my blog. I’m not talking about a detailed blueprint, but a general idea of what I wanted to talk about. Once I sat down and thought about it, I had a clearer picture.

You may be passionate about blue telephones, but can you write about blue telephones continually without getting bored or running out of material? Maybe you love communications in general; that may open the door to more topics and articles for you to cover. The thing is, while you may want to choose a niche, don’t put yourself in a corner with nothing left to say.

I have both general blogs, where I cover multiple topics, and I also have niche blogs.  I started a blog awhile back on a topic I thought I could cover as a niche. I’ll be honest, it’s just not a topic I love, and I struggle to keep it up. Why do I continue? It has over 1,000 posts, and is about 18 months old.

This brings us to another topic; knowing when to let go. I’m not doing anyone any favors with that particular blog, and certainly not my self. It’s become a struggle to keep fresh, strong content on it. It’s time to let it go…Ouch! Letting go of the hard work you put into something can be hard, but you’ll find your creativity will spark, when you drop the dead weight.

So if you’re going to write, write about something you enjoy. Don’t create such a tight spot that you have nothing to say about your niche, and remember to have fun. When it starts to become a chore, re look at what you’re doing, and where you’re going with your blog. When you’ve lost the enjoyment, your readers know.

I guess I know what I have to do next…learn to let go of a blog I no longer love.

Happy Blogging! Deb

Hi ya’ll. *Cass slinks in, head hanging down, glancing around nervously* How ya doin’? Me, I’m alright. Been busy a little. Blogging, you know. About stuff. Different stuff, some here, some there, and now I am going to blog some more. About blogging. You know, it takes some hard-core-ness to blog about blogging. I specifically want to touch on niche blogging tonight, and I want to bring out one positive and one negative. I just want to get my toes wet over here again, as it were. So!

The bad thing about niche blogging is that it can be a lot of work to set up and maintain a true niche blog. It’s a constant battle to keep things focused. The temptation to veer off course is ever present, and while your readers will allow you some latitude, they are also likely to protest if you get too far of course. Unfortunately, the protest is liable to be silent. And by that, I mean they will just leave.

The good thing, is that after you get your niche blogs set up, no matter what you think of to say, there’s someplace to say it, and you can often find a way to get paid for saying it. It’s a situation you could very easily come to love.