John Wesley over at Pick the Brain has 27 lessons he learned while growing his blog readership to 3000 in just six months. (That’s quite a bit higher than the conservative first run of medium-sized Christian Presses, by the way. Also, it’s higher than the subscription rate of many literary magazines.)
I don’t have a specific goal for my readership. Maybe I should. Regardless, I like to be intentional with what I do here.
So I was intrigued by John’s first tidbit.
1a) help people solve a problem.
Hmmm. That seems really obvious. And it struck me that I don’t know what problem I’m helping people solve here.
To be honest, it feels a little arrogant presuming that I can help any of you at all. But then I guess blogging is a bit arrogant to begin with. As if 75 million blogs isn’t enough, I have to add my voice to the pile.
So I’ll ask it straight out: How can I help you?
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Simply be a friend. Honestly, that’s why I come here. I came to Hill Country when you were writing poetry and showing pictures of duct-taped plates. I come here now when you talk sci-fi (which I don’t talk). [sometimes "help" is ambiguous... it can be just putting someone in a good mood]
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I agree with LL - your sense of encouragement is excellent; knowing someone reads what you write (think) and actually gets it is also quite encouraging.
I’ll have to “re-post” since it is only on xanga and entry from a couple of years ago about why I even began to blog; then you’ll see that, for some of us, this isn’t just like breathing as it is for you.
I guess my question for you is, if you don’t have a goal for your readership, why do you blog?
May 24th, 2007 at 8:11 am
How surprising. It really does come down to relationships, doesn’t it?
As to why I blog, I’m still not sure. To say it is like breathing isn’t entirely an exaggeration. But really writing is like breathing. Blogging is just a way for me to write in community.
As for this blog specifically, it began as a place to test out emarketing concepts using my own little fun pieces of writing. The blog tour was the first real organized instance of such a test.
Liz Strauss asked me the same question about why I blog, and I’m still thinking about it.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:44 am
Hi Mark!
You solve a problem for us every day. It’s the one you’ve been talking about. It answers the questions
Where can I go to find a friend?
Where’s a safe place to get away from the noise?
Where’s a calm voice in this world?
Who, what, where is a calm voice in the wilderness?
I don’t know why you blog, but I know why I read. You’re compelling, authentic, and a decent, remarkable human being.
Liz
May 25th, 2007 at 7:01 am
My thoughts on increasing traffic:
1. Be funny.
2. Have serious stuff too and really write with conviction.
3. Be totally stream-of-consciousness so your readers get to know the different sides of your personality. Be yourself.
4. Link to other sites and hopefully they’ll link back to you.
5. View your blog as a ministry–touching lives and getting a message out.
6. Comment on the blogs of others and leave your blog site there: http://www.maxgrace.com. See how easy that was?
7. Use lots of tags.
I launched my blog on March 20 and by today (May 25, two months, five days) have had 11,555 hits. Not bragging. Okay, bragging.
Bill Giovannetti
May 25th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Liz, I’m astounded that you would read my blog. And encouraged. Thanks for your kind words.
Bill, thanks dropping by! I appreciate the encouragement to show different sides of my personality. Other blogs talk about the need for hyper focus. But after talking with Lorelle and Liz and some folks I respect highly, I think hyper focus just doesn’t fit me.
At goodwordediting.com you’ll always get a little bit of poetry, a little bit of grammar, a little bit of theology, and a little bit of stuff so random it can’t be labeled at all.