I have been really under the weather the last two days, and continue to be sick today. Right now, I am kicking myself because I didn’t make sure to have extra content that was timeless and ready to go in case of circumstances making me not able to write content for this site.

In newer blogs like this one, you have to be timely with your content or you will see huge drops in traffic. Yesterday, my traffic was down over thirty percent, and even today, with the great guest post from Steve, traffic is still down by almost half of what it usually is.

It doesn’t take much time for your readers to move on and many only visit when they see a blog has been regularly updated with interesting content. So please, whatever you do, put together a few posts that you can hold in reserve for a rainy day, and, even better, make sure to find a friend or two that can cover for you, as it will keep your blog moving forward.

As soon as I am one hundred percent back to my old self, you can bet that I will be creating a few posts to keep in draft until the next time I feel like this.

Also, a big thank you to everyone wishing me well.

Originally posted on September 27, 2007 @ 7:43 pm

Recently, I decided to take part in a project put forward by my friends at Performancing. They asked me to be part of their guest blogging extravaganza. I thought it would be fun, and so I selected three blogs from their list that I thought I could do well on, and began writing away.

Geeks are Sexy

The first guest post I worked on was for Geeks are Sexy. This post was about getting cheap wireless access to your Xbox 360, but it works well as a way to get wireless Internet access to other desktop computers in your house as well. Once they published my post, entitled “HOW TO: Cheap Wireless For Your Xbox 360“, both they and I began giving it a nudge on the promotional scene, and since going up, the post has brought in over 12,000 unique visitors to their blog.

It has been linked to by LifeHacker, and many other amazing blogs, and was featured on the Delicious Popular page, thus also being listed on PopURLs, one of my favorite sites.

This post was what I thought to be common knowledge, and honestly, was even more cost effective about a year ago when I first did this to my Xbox 360. Now, many people are commenting about how you can buy a simple wireless bridge for around the same price, and without any of the fun changing of a routers firmware.

Just because you think something is common knowledge and not all that amazing, it doesn’t mean that everyone has heard about it. Sometimes the best posts are the ones that get what you think to be common knowledge out to the masses.

Freelance Writing Jobs

My second and third guest posts were more along the same lines as what I write on eXtra for Every Publisher.

Over on Freelance Writing Jobs, a blog I highly respect, Deborah, put up a post entitled “What Blog Networks Look For in a Writer?”

In this post, I thought I would shift the focus and talk about my experiences both hiring and firing writers, including some of what I think are great tidbits on how a potential problogger can entice blog networks, or even just blog owners, to hire them over someone else.

I kept the post simple, but informative, and so far, I have been getting nothing but a positive response from the post.

Sometimes it is best to take time, and search for a new point of view. It can really help your readers, and bring new life into a blog.

Net Business Blog

Over on Net Business Blog, another amazing blog, and one ranked a fair bit higher than me in this niche, I put up a post entitled “Marketing Your Blog in a Saturated Niche“.

This one was very easy for me to write, as eXtra for Every Publisher is in a very crowded niche, and even with all my recent work, I still rank below the 100 mark on 45n5’s Top 100 list.

I do believe that I have made some amazing headway though, thanks in part to my friends, my competition and social networking and bookmarking site.

My post at Net Business Blog is very common sense in many respects, but I think I brought some unique opinions to my points, having just gone through the process. Sometimes the best way to write about something is to personally go through it. I haven’t really owned and operated a blog in a highly competitive niche before. I have written on some, but I didn’t really have to promote them like I do this site.

So far, I haven’t heard much of what people thought of my post on Net Business Blog, but hopefully some people will enjoy it, and use it as a reminder of what they need to do. Reminding people of what they already know, isn’t always a bad thing, especially if you add your own unique personality to the details.

Conclusion

Not only can guest posting be exceptionally rewarding in a networking sense, but also it can allow you the freedom to write outside your blogs own normal niche, connect with larger audiences, and allow you to hone your writing skill and style. With someone else’s graphics around your words, your personality has to shine through more than ever.

Also, I wanted to thank Geeks are Sexy, Freelance Writing Jobs, and Net Business Blog for letting me guest post on their blogs. It was truly an honor.

Originally posted on October 3, 2007 @ 10:38 pm

I have had a few people ask me about blogging, and how far they could go if they chose to make it their career. I have talked about the things I have been able to buy thanks to blogging full time for the last two years, and I wanted to take a second to give a little more insight into one of those things: my house. I want to quickly prove to people that blogging professionally can get you to the things you want in life, and it isn’t just a bunch of people writing diaries online. Blogging is a career that can pay the bills.

Our house isn’t a shack, and it isn’t a mansion. It is pretty average of a small three bedroom house around where I live in St. Thomas, Ontario Canada. It is a two story house with over 1200 square feet of living space, not including the unfinished basement. We just recently had our lawn put in. I really enjoyed watching them unroll it all. It was built brand new for us in a newer subdivision and so we got to pick pretty much everything from the color of the shingles on the roof to the type of toilet we wanted.

I am not the first blogger that has been able to afford a house thanks to blogging professionally, as Darren Rowse has bought, sold and bought another house in the past couple of years.

Working hard at producing amazing content can help you fulfill your dreams, especially if they include working from home, traveling, paying some bills, or even buying a house. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You can earn more from blogging than just paying for your monthly coffee bill.

What do you want blogging to buy you? Comment below, or even better, write out a list and put it in a spot where you will see it every day.

Originally posted on September 21, 2007 @ 5:54 pm

There are some points that have been brought to my attention since I wrote my last post entitled “Blog For Yourself Not a Network” and while people agree that the title is good, the content left a sour taste in the mouth of many people.

I have to admit that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, so it wasn’t the most objective look at writing for a blog network, but it does bring up some important things you have to think about.

Continuing on that same thought pattern, I wanted to come back and give some of the positives of blogging for a network, and also clarify my original position some more.

The blog network I work for has given me so very much including various odds and ends, not to mention full time income for two years and growing. Could I have done it on my own? Maybe, but it would have taken me a very long time, even with my current knowledge in regards to monetization, link building and content writing.

I have also made contacts I otherwise would not have made. At one of the first conferences I went to, when I mentioned who I was, the person responded “oh, you are the guy that writes on the sites for that guy that bought them from Scrivs”. At the last conference I went to, I was called by name by a few people and I don’t think I could have gotten to that point without the platforms that Bloggy Network created for me.

This situation is not the standard though. Jacob and thus Bloggy Network gave me access to Blogging Pro, a site that was one of the first and biggest to report on WordPress and some of the general blogosphere. They also gave me access to CSS Vault, Forever Geek, and some other amazing blogs, both already established and brand new. Most networks won’t give a new blogger access to high profile established brands, and for that I am forever grateful.

If you have a chance to blog on a high profile site, either as a guest blogger or come on as part of staff. There are very few situations where that wouldn’t be good for your career.

Blog Networks like b5media, Gawker and the like can create contacts with advertising companies that can bring in massive amounts of advertising revenue, and thus actually pay their bloggers a more than fair wage right from the start, meaning you can concentrate on writing without worrying as much about making ends meet, and that is an amazing feeling.

A friend of mine, Ahmed Bilal, recently said to me, “unless your network’s goals aren’t aligned with yours, don’t blog for them. It’s that simple.”

When he said that, my brain opened up, and it was so simple and true. With all the different blogger payment models, niches, and whatnot, it comes down to being as simple as making sure your goals align with the place you work at. I believe that is true with any and all jobs, not just blogging professionally.

He also added, “on the other hand, if you have to sell your soul to make ends meet…then sell it.”

I am sure we have all been there at one point or another, and if you are thinking about joining a blog network where you goals might not line up, weigh the positives and negatives, and never forget that the people you will meet, the work that you get to do, and being able to pay the bills will really make the job enjoyable, network or no network. Blog because you enjoy it. Blog because it makes you happy. Blog for yourself, even if you are employed by a network.

Originally posted on September 18, 2007 @ 5:40 pm