What 3 Months of Blogging Has Taught Me

Now is the time all those New Years resolution blogs begin to dwindle.

As each month passes, I like to look back and mold lessons out of my experiences. No special format or expectations, just simple observation. You can read February’s wrap-up first, if you’d like.

So, here it goes…

Write It Down

It’s been said thousands of times before and will be repeated until the pinnacle of evolution (when our brains are so huge, the internet will become null and void) — if you have an idea, write it down so you don’t forget it. Sure, it’s fun to delude ourselves into thinking we can remember everything — believing that we can store undeveloped thoughts and ideas in a little vault inside our minds. Most of the time we can’t, especially when we begin stacking one on top of the other.

I use three pads of paper (one by my bed, one next to the toilet and one on my work desk) and an iPhone (I use the notes function to quickly record ideas). It’s amazing how easy blogging becomes when you have four different places to pull from.

Whoa! Contest Mania

If you haven’t heard, people like to throw contests. I’m not convinced however, that an equivalent amount like to participate. In March alone, I was asked to contribute a prize to 16 different “Incredibly Amazing Contests.” Not every contest is amazing, I don’t need your 10,000 Entrecard credits and I’m not willing to write about your contest when the only other post on your blog is “Hello World!” I’m also not about to contribute a prize when the only other prizes on the list are one month ad spaces on a blog who’s sole readership is your aunt Becky and Uncle Boon.

Contests can be fun and beneficial to both sides of the coin, but only if you put together a truly useful prize pool and get creative about how you promote it.

I recently contributed a prize to Gyutae’s contest and received 15-20 links, a slew of people coming to check out my other services and increased my reputation in the web game.

That being said, I’m starting a contest — The first person to solve this riddle wins 2,000 Entrecard credits:

What English word is nine letters long and can remain an English word at each step as you remove one letter at a time, right down to a single letter? List the letter you remove each time and the words that result at each step.

Go!

Ask Real Questions

Ask around — most people will tell you that it’s damn near essential to finish each post with some sort of question — something to spark comments. But, here’s an idea: Ask something you actually wish to hear the answer to, and when people do take the time to answer, it’d do you good to respond — when you don’t, it makes me feel like you think you’re just offering a service and not engaging in conversation. This is Web 2.0 people — we have conversations.

Are You a WordPress Designer?

You should be. The question I’ve been asked more than any other is, “Do you do WordPress design?”

Personally, I don’t even know how to answer that — I don’t actually do WordPress design, but I can customize the hell out of an existing theme.

Either way, this seems like a bustling market so maybe you should buckle down and get your PHP on.

Tweet Tweet Tweet

It’s all about Twitter my friends. In the short amount of time I’ve been a participant, I’ve received a very decent amount of new readers and best of all, I’ve gained 7 paid jobs. It’s also a great way to get nearly instantaneous answers to any questions you have. I’ll go into specifics about why Twitter is a must have tool for any web content creator in a future post but for now, follow me to find out what kind of bagel I’m having for breakfast tomorrow.

How Many Jobs Does it Take to Get to the Center of Blog Pop?

One… two-HOO… three… *crunch*… Three.

I have a full-time job, a part-time job and I do freelance writing, designing and consulting. And then, I blog. Bar-hopping on the weekends is out of the question, even if I did drink.

Blogging is easy, if you have the time and the passion for the chosen topic. It’s the former I struggle with.

Peace. Love. And, happy blogging.

Image credit: wili_hybrid.