Monday, May 2, 2016

Question of the Month

A Life Examined has the question up this month: What are three pieces of advice you'd give to people starting their own blog?

That's a hard one. Every blogger has their own way of doing things.


  1. Comment back to those that comment on your blog. If you have time make a few comments. That's a big part of how you get people coming back.

    I have to admit that I sometimes struggle with blog relationships when I comment and comment, and that blogger doesn't comment back very often. It's especially hard if they once did. Did I write something that rubbed them the wrong way? Did I open my mouth up too much about something they wrote? are things that enter my mind. I am who I am. I guess if they are going to judge me over one comment I wrote on their blog, or one post that I wrote on mine that's silly. More than likely it's nothing about me. They are just busy in that thing called life. Don't take things too personally.
     
  2. Try and be as true as true can be. There are times where you are going to not see eye to eye with people. There are people that look at things the same way as you. Remember that our differences and likenesses are what makes up this large, yet small world we live in.
     
  3. Set schedules for yourself. I participate in Word Full or Wordless Wednesdays. I know a lot of bloggers do, so it's a great time to bounce around, make comments, and hope people come back to comment on my blog.

    Side Note: You can come link up on my blog on Tuesday nights even if it isn't a Wordless, or Word Full post. I'm not all about rules. If you're going to come comment on my blog, I'll make an effort to comment back on yours.

    With this tip comes some extra advise. Just like you need to set schedules for yourself, you also need to know when to let things go. I used to do a thing called Out of the Box Saturday. It was time where I'd post about a visual artist, band or musician that was out of the box. While I enjoyed it, I also knew that it took time that I was running out of. In order to keep my blog going I had to let go of something. I let go of the weekly post I loved. This helped me to not feel too pressured, and burnt out. I can always go back to my 
    Out of the Box Saturday weekly posts at a later time.

15 comments:

Tamara Narayan said...

I think you have a good point about not worrying if someone stops commenting. It's so easy to become overwhelmed with work/family/stuff, and I bet for a lot of people the blog is the first to go in a time crunch. There were a lot of blogs I remember from last year's A to Z challenge that I didn't get to this year and it had nothing to do with their content.

Arlee Bird said...

Solid advice that has been proven.

I like it when bloggers stay on a schedule as I'm more apt to get into a habit of visiting because I know what to expect. If posting is random the blog falls off my radar unless the content is so compelling that I keep checking to see if there is anything new. Otherwise if a blogger doesn't comment on my post then I often have no prompt to see what they are up to.

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out

Chrys Fey said...

Not burning out is key. We have to be flexible and set schedules that we can handle. Next year I'll be blogging one day less for this same reason.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I know not everyone can return visits on every post so I don't think about it much. I agree with your letting go thing. For a long time I posted MWF without fail even on holidays but I cut out Friday so I would have more time to write. It was a good decision.

Anonymous said...

Visiting back can be something I often let slip by me. I'm good during the A to Z Challenge, but once that's over, I get into the bad habit of not visiting back. Maybe I'll make it a blogging goal to visit back more consistently.

~ Noelle said...

I think I enjoy your "random" posts the most.
I need to do something like that, but I know mine would be negative complaints about things that irk me. lol, so I have yet to do one.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

I may still read blogs of people who don't comment back if they are really interesting, but I don't bother taking the time to comment.

Unknown said...

I'll put my hand up and say that I disappeared from your (and others) blogs for the most part. It's like you said, I found myself being time-poor and it was either stop reading or stop writing. I'm sorry :(

An Apel a Day said...

No problem Michael it happens.

Masshole Mommy said...

That is a tough one. I definitely think people need to be true to themselves.

Kristi Maloney said...

I feel the same way about the comment issue. I always try to comment back. Some bloggers don't return the kindness, so I just move along. :)

Theresa Mahoney said...

I definitely agree about the commenting. We are all strapped for time, but if you comment on mine, I always make an effort to keep coming back to comment on yours (not YOU, but in general lol). Even if I am not particularly interested in another blogger's posts, it's about forming relationships in the blog world so I always make the time to comment. You stop, I stop. I don't keep a running list of bloggers, but I do go through my comments regularly and visit those bloggers who left one on my blog, then get caught up on theirs when I can. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. I have a few bloggers who tweet out my posts, so in return, I do theirs as well. It's give and take in the blogging world. If you only take, don't expect to get too far.

Cascia Talbert said...

Great advice! Blog commenting is so important and I try to make time to visit and comment on blogs every day, but like you said, sometimes life gets in the way and I don't find the time. Great post!

Indah Nuria Savitri said...

Great advice, Alissa...I keep reminding myself to do so but it is indeed a struggle :). But time management is the key here :)

Toi Thomas said...

You offer some good advice and insights here. I too struggle with commenting, but it's mainly because of time management issues. I've recently been battling tech issues, but that's a rare occasion.
I like what you say about letting things go. I had a weekly then monthly post where I would write about all things geek that inspired me, but it just took up too much time. I loved those posts but just couldn't keep them up. Like you say. I hope to return to them one day.

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