4 Ways to Overcome the “Nobody’s Reading My Blog” Blues

I found this article from here (linked from MBP).

4 Ways to Overcome the “Nobody’s Reading My Blog” Blues
by Jennifer Brown Banks

Blogs are a great way to brand your business and create a buzz about personal and professional agendas.

But, let’s face it; the R.O.I. (return on investment) can be a bit low in the beginning.

In my many years as a professional writer and relationship columnist, I’ve started several, gotten frustrated, lost the momentum, and decided to move on to bigger and better things. Then I would visit other sites, love the energy, read the success stories of how Blogs were turned to book deals, and well, have since reconsidered.

After all, it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. Right?
Here’s the problem: because I enjoyed a pretty good “following” as a relationship columnist and feature writer, I expected to have as much traffic on my site as Chicago’s Eisenhower Expressway during rush hour! Wrong.

I would devote hours to choosing a hot topic, penning my thoughts, finding the perfect graphics, and see 0 “comments” posted for all my efforts.

This happened for several consecutive months. I started to call it quits, but much like a romantic relationship, I felt I was too far in to throw in the towel.

There would be nothing to show for my sweat equity.

So the strategist in me decided to work smarter, not harder this time.

I started visiting other sites with a mission. I wanted to know what was out there, how it compared to my online journal, and essentially what worked and what didn’t as a reader.

Here’s what I discovered and you will too. Even Blogs that have huge followings rarely have a lot of comments posted. Readers either don’t take the time to post their thoughts, don’t know how to register their comments, or don’t recognize the importance of their input.

In fact, the only way I knew folks were even reading my work is that my friends would call me on the phone or send Emails to tell me how much they enjoyed my posts. Go figure.

So, the next time you suffer from a bout of the “nobody’s reading my Blog blues”
here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Recognize that success doesn’t come overnight. Blogging, even more so than any other form of writing, requires a lot of time and patience before it begins to bloom and take off.

2. Know that numbers can sometimes be deceiving. Have you ever gone on a diet? Most folks who have can tell you that the scale sometimes will show the same weight even though you’ve lost inches and your clothes are baggier. Pay less attention to the numbers and more attention to the needs of your readers.

3. Write with the right purpose. Rather than penning your way to popularity, use your adventures or misadventures in Blogging to become a better story teller, or to write tighter, or to develop ideas for editorial pieces. No writing done well is ever truly wasted!

4. Don’t get bogged in the Blog. Work on other projects that provide immediate gratification. Write a poem, do research, say hi to your Facebook friends. Like all areas in life, balance is important.

Follow these four tips and even if you don’t “win friends and influence people” your blogging blues might make you a hit song writer or the next American Idol!

You just never know where space travels can take you.

aku la tu yang kengkadang ada 'blues' nih.. tp bila aku pikir balik niat aku berblog, "aiman tak kisah"..
kengkadang aku sendiri yg dok baca balik entry2 lama especially tentang bebudak comots aku, ttg time aku pregnant kan Faris.. that brings back the memory tau..

how i wish i knew about this blogging world sooner esp when i was pregnant kan Fatini, so that i can blog about my 1st pregnancy and then leh baca balik.. macam journal / diary lah kan.. beza nye, blog ni u share dgn orang lain..

masa pregnant kan Haziq, aku blog kat friendster. In fact aku start blog tu pas aku miscarriaged before preggy kan Haziq. Tp aku tak reti nak link kan friendster blog tu..

dengan umo yang makin meningkat & neuron cells yang makin mengurang berkadar terus dgn umo dan bilangan anak, ku rase, ini lah media terbaik aku bercerita ttg anak2 dan juga apa yang jadik kat kehidupan aku sehari-hari.. nanti sendiri leh baca balik.. (kadang2 DH baca gak blog ni hehehe and dia start tanya itu ini cos sometimes aku tak sempat cerita kat dia tp dah citer kat blog ATAU aku sendiri tanak citer kat dia esp citer2 yg pompuan je paham hahaha)

korang ada tak masalah ni:-

setiap yang korang buat atau nampak atau tengok atau anak2 korang buat atau cakap, korang rase nak tulis kat blog, tp selalu nye masa tak mengizinkan (untuk aku lah).. pastu dah jadik basi..

tu yang kadang2 aku buat entry merangkum satu minggu.. sampai juling lah orang nak baca..

tp lagi sekali "aiman tak kisah" sebab itu entry utk aku (dan anak2 di masa depan) baca balik and duduk sorang2 and sengih sendiri... "that's priceless"