eXtra For Every Publisher

One of the things I hate the most is a newly launched blog with one or two posts. I like to see a fair bit of content on a blog before going there as it lets me know how consistently a blogger publishes, and thus if it is worthy to bookmark or even subscribe to via RSS.

Over on Blog Beat, there is a post about this analyzing it from the writer’s side.

Writer’s Block
10 posts is a good bar to set when evaluating your ability to continue to create more content for the site. If you struggle to get to four or five posts how can you expect to continue to create articles month after month? If you can create 10 quality posts in a short amount of time, you most likely have the writing skills and knowledge to carry your blog for months and years.

Check out the site for more reasons to get some initial seed content on your new blog.

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Logo Design Works has a great marketing technique that is ongoing. They have a contest where bloggers can win a logo for their blog. The logo package is their bronze package which is worth $197 US dollars.

Branding can be quite difficult so a good logo can set you apart from others in your niche.

There are three requirements for entry:

1. The blog must be at least 6 months old and should have at least 10 posts in the past 30 days (from date of application) and should be in English.

2. The blog should be related to design, small business, marketing, SEO, blogging, freelance, productivity and related industries ONLY

3. The blog contains a link to http://www.logodesignworks.com/ in its blogroll

If you want to find out more information, check out Logo Design Work’s site.

Xfep.com doesn’t qualify for the program, but I have had friends who made it as part of their August round, and Logo Design Works created some amazing designs for them. I highly recommend the service and company.

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Meta-Blogging is a blog that talks about blogging, much like this one does. There has been a recent revolt against this type of blogging now that there are a few very well established blogs out there and so people are giving automatic thumbs down to everyone that starts a new blog about blogging, the blogosphere, or the blogging industry.

I think this is wrong, and honestly, quite silly. Meta-Blogging can be quite useful if done correctly.

Think of it this way, every time a new blogger creates a blog for any purpose, if they really want to stick with it and do well they will seek out advice from others. So most likely they find Darren’s Problogger.net, and maybe they find his articles difficult to understand, or they don’t like his personality or attitude, but then they go to another site, read some similar content, and find a connection with that writer.

I really think that is how many of what I would call “the secondary power bloggers” came into existence. They might have covered the same subject, but they did it in a way that a certain group could relate to and that made the site popular.

More and more, in every niche, I hear “it has all been done” and that really disappoints me, and when I hear people giving up so easily after seeing the hard work and extreme odds they would have to overcome, I tell them that they are right and watch as they walk away back to their day jobs.

I have been around watching things grow and change over the past few years, and I think there is still many new things that need to be said about the ever evolving blogosphere, and that if no one with a new and fresh perspective joins the conversation, everything will eventually become stale.

On certain high profile sites, I sometimes feel like they are repeating the same messages over and over again, re-hashing their archives using new examples, and it is something I am sick of.

I would like to proclaim myself to be one of what I hope will be many new voices handing out tips, tricks and advice on prospering in the current blogging world. I am not Darren Rowse, I am not John Chow, I am Canadian*… I mean David.

* Canadians that have television will get the joke. As for the rest of you, check out Wikipedia and YouTube.

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I have to mention this article I found over at Copyblogger, it just blows me away. An e-learning blog was able to get over six thousand subscribers to the site in less than twenty-four hours!

Here is a snippet from the article:

That’s what Adam Schwartz, CEO of Articulate, said it felt like last Wednesday when we launched their new Rapid E-Learning Blog. The blog attracted 6,312 subscribers in the 24-hour period following the launch promotion, and now has over 8,500 and counting less than a week later.

Existing businesses have incredibly valuable assets that others do not—customer and prospect lists. That being said, telling your existing customers about your new blog full of press release content and expecting them to come running is a recipe for mediocrity. If you don’t have an existing list, you can create an offer that is attractive to social media news site users and your results will be similar.

Yes, for the new blogger out there, or the non-business site, this might seem like an insurmountable goal, but honestly, Brian breaks down some easy to use tips and tricks that might help you get at least part of the way there.

He mentions things like positioning, cornerstone content, incentive, launch email, landing page, delivery and just start blogging.

Read the full details about each of these points over at Copyblogger.

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Over on Blogging Tips there is a post entitled “Get Your Comment Count Jumping”, and in it are some tips to get readers to comment on your blog. This is something that almost all bloggers fight with. We find ourselves questioning “is anyone really reading what we have to say?”

The tips included in the article are pretty common sense, but they are worth a reminder as we look to get people involved with our blogs.

My biggest suggestion is to show others how it is done by commenting on other blogs, starting conversations with the writers of your favorite blogs, and the people that comment on their blogs. If they see the quality you bring to the site, they might follow you back to your site, and comment on what you have said or done. I find this to be a very fulfilling experience, and one that has started some of my best blogging related friendships online.

Read the article for more tips on how you can get others to comment on your blog.

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