We often like to think our traffic is declining or subscribers are abandoning ship because of some unforeseen force beyond our control. Maybe we chalk it up to Google readjusting its search engine or the fickleness of blog readers.

But, what if we were actually sabotaging our own blog?

What if it was our fault? Today, we’re going to take responsibility for our blogging activity. Were going to be honest with ourselves and pledge to make changes for the best interest of our blog, it’s readers, and other bloggers.

The reality is that most blogs, like bloggers, have their flaws. I’ll be the first to admit that starting a(nother) new business this year has taken my attention away from Source Blogger.

Instead of this being an overly-critical persecution, let’s work on this together!

Get ready for some “tough love” though!

1) You aspire to greatness without paying your dues.

You idolize the great bloggers, yet, do not heed their advice. You attempt to mimic their style, yet fall painfully short. Instead of spending your days worshiping at the feet of your icons, find your “voice” first. Your blog is like a remake of a great song. A bad remake.

Stop including your name in the same sentence as theirs. You refer to them as if you were co-workers in the same department. They were pioneers. You are trying to “duplicate their franchise.” Although it’s flattering, it shows you have lack focus and have a poor sense of reality.

2) How was your vacation?

When I visited your site, you had gaps of 2-3 months without one new blog entry.  Are you serious? Your blog is not a sitcom. How long will your readers hang around having to watch the same rerun? What were you doing during this time? Were you in jail?

After these long breaks, you returned with some half-hearted, lame apology. Do you think your readers bought that? And when you told them about some drama going on in your personal life, your readers cringed. And then you had the audacity to repost an article you wrote 5 months ago? The article sucked then…who wants to be tortured by it again?

3) Your content is boring.

Were you not prepared to start this blog? You did realize that you would have to post hundreds of articles on this topic, didn’t you? You had a few decent articles, at first, what happened? Now, you are sharing elements of your personal life with readers. Your life is not so hot and neither were the posts discussing it.

Over the course of three months, you have shared with us everything from “going green” to “politics” to “the pitfalls of traveling with a laptop.” What is your blog about again?

4) Grammatical Errors

I’m not making excuses. If you write frequently, the probability of you making a few errors in your writing is likely. But, in every post?

These grammatical errors, misspelled words, and hanging sentences are preventing effective communication between you and your readers. And the LMAO’s and OMG’s are not blogger code. Leave that for text messages and Yahoo chat.

The more I read, the more I wonder if English is even your first language?!

5) Your credibility

Over time, your posts have become more outspoken, critical, and insulting to other blogs and other bloggers. You lack diplomacy and social grace. You attack us and then hide behind your blog. You can not speak unless it is being contrary to our content.

You are not Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern, by any means. The abusive language and cursing must end.

Even your readers hate you. You don’t respect their opinion, nor value their comment.

6) Recycled Content

How long is your blog going to last with posts consisting of :

“…SEO is very important…”
“…Promoting your blog is very important…”
“…Writing frequently is very important…”
“…You gotta have quality content…”
“…Content is still king…”

If I’m your reader, I don’t see the value. Why is SEO important? What can I do to promote my blog? What is quality content?

Explain it to me. In great detail. Step-by-step.

7) I already read that…on dozens of blogs.

So, why are you writing it again? “Must-Have WordPress Plug-Ins?” — “How To Remove the Blogger Navbar.” — “What is a blog?” — “Cool Widgets”— “Do you Twitter?”

I have seen that content on many other blogs. If you dare attempt to write about these subjects, you better be prepared to share some unique, updated material.

In Closing

Some of you may have needed that.

Please don’t think this was a personal attack… just a blatantly-honest critique.

I hope that was helpful.

Remember those days when your blog was new and the ideas for blog articles were hitting you one after the other, all day long?

Remember when you used to be so critical of other bloggers for beginning to show inconsistency in how often they updated their blogs? Your first premonition was probably…what?…that they chose the wrong topic?

The reality for many bloggers is that “writer’s block” is going to come. It’s inevitable. I don’t care how many articles you have on auto-publish. Those reserve articles will have come and gone…leaving you to meet a deadline.

So, how can a blogger, struggling with “writer’s block” overcome this problem? Is there a cure?

Well, I’m not a doctor, but I can suggest a few things.

How Bloggers Can Overcome Writer’s Block

1] Write Less — You may be imposing a deadline you can not compete with. I tend to write, on average, twice a week. Your regular readers do not always read your blog on the same day. Allow them enough to digest what you wrote and become part of the discussion in the comment section. What’s the big rush to throw your good content in the archive pile, anyway? You’re not a daily news blog, so stop acting like one!

2] Close Your Other Blogs(s) — Are you managing more than one blog? You’re going to have to determine whether spreading your time for creative writing can sufficiently be spread over multiple blogs. If not, you’ll have some tough choices to make. Are you willing to close one of your blogs to devote the time that is necessary to your primary blog?

3] Reinventing The Wheel — I am sometimes guilty of this. I occasionally get an urge to make an impression on the blogosphere. I want to dazzle readers, thrill them, and take them somewhere they have never been before. When that happens, …stop! You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. I’ve learned that it’s OK to revisit topics that have been covered before. Hey, no one has read what you have to say about it, right? And you always run the chance of doing it better than the original. Don’t you?

4] You Don’t Receive Enough Input — There’s enormous strides in activity and other changes in the niche/category you chose to blog about. Are you keeping up with it? Would your readers like to read about it on your blog? Of course they would. But, how else are you going to stay on the “cutting edge” if you are recycling the same boring content? Start reading better blogs. Follow the trend setters in order to become one yourself.

5] Free Content — Sure, why not? Surprisingly, I found a lot of options in the area of free, legal blog content from images, to articles, to multimedia. You would also be taken back at the size and scope of these massive, online libraries. (Click the “Free Content” link to learn more)

6] Guest Blogging — We all know another blogger who wants to promote and market him/herself and their blog. What better “stage” than your blog? Reach out to those that might be interested. You can tweet a message or two… or even have a navigation tab about guest blogging opportunities on your site.

7] Expand the scope of your blog’s content — Many blogs, with random articles, suffer from an identity crisis. It’s natural for readers to gravitate toward online content that interests them  so, you must write articles relative to the niche/category. But, you can still expand your topics. Why limit yourself?

Recently, Source Blogger expanded its content to include more articles about business development and HR… and it worked!

How could you extend your blog’s material?

In Closing

Writer’s block becomes a serious challenge for bloggers in the more mature stages of their blogs.

What advice do you have for other bloggers?

How have you over come writer’s block for yourself? What inspires you? Where do you find your motivation?

Bloggers want to know!

Thousands of blogs over the years have told you to stay laser-focused with your content. It makes sense because many blogs suffer an “identity crisis” when it comes to determining who they are and what they represent. Plus, you stand a better chance of multiple blog posts coming up for more than one key word or keyword phrase.

I’ll admit. I’m not a fan of personal blogs or blogs that write about any and every topic under the sun. (Who wants to go through months and months of archives to find something interesting anyway?)

Well, recently I went against the popular consensus and started writing about business development and Human Resources (HR) and something really bizarre happened.

Due to these recent turn of events, I’m starting to reanalyze expanding my blog’s topics. Should you?

What’s So Great About Expanding My Blog’s Content?

For one thing, it opens the door to a whole new category to write about. (So much for ‘Writer’s Block!’)

Inspiration often comes from personal situations and recently, a lot of entrepreneurial events have made quite an impression on me. When this occured, I felt compelled to write about it! Does this ever happen to you?  I also feel the quality of my material improves when it’s…personal.

Now, do I think that Source Blogger’s base of readers will want to be exposed to articles about business development and HR? I’m not sure — but traffic levels have tripled in just the last two weeks!

So, traffic has increased, but my Alexa Rank has decreased. Should I be concerned? I’ve dedicated the greater majority of  Source Blogger’s content toward the “Alexa Crowd”.

I’m beginning to feel that Alexa Rank has been a poor determinant for my blog’s success. What are your thoughts on Alexa Rank as a strategy?

What’s So Bad About Expanding My Blog’s Content?

You may alienate your blog’s community to some extent. But, truthfully, does anyone just read the same subject matter all day? And to be honest, I’m not sure if I have enough off-topic content to create a whole new blog.

Although, I can see when you expand your blog’s content, that you do run the risk of decreasing your pageviews. “Meta Blogging” (blogging about blogging) is already a vast topic as it is.

I did ponder whether I am selling out to the search engines though? But, noticed there are other blogs like Source Blogger that do discuss matters of business beyond simply the realm of blogging.

So, why can’t I?

The bottom line is that my niche/category is very competitive. And many of these blogs are super-optimized for search engines.

While this little foray has been successful, I do not wish to go too far off the beaten path. My true passion still remains to be blogging, SEO, internet marketing, social media marketing, and making money online.

But, I also can’t help but be encouraged by these recent results of going more “mainstream”. I’ve seen a small spike in Networked Blogs & Facebook followers, Twitter followers, and subscribers. I’m hoping I can tap into a new vein of readers.

What do you think?

No... I Loved it! Honest!

Because you have made the commitment to blog, and write new content on a continuous basis, there comes with it a massive sense of responsibility…to your readers.

Many/most of your blog traffic will be bloggers who read other blogs in your niche/category or write in your niche/category.

As your traffic grows, so does the number of people evaluating your writing ability too. Your blog is available every minute of the day for anyone’s consumption. While there are ways to work around many challenges in life, blogging does not have that type of luxury. It takes a constant, concerted level of energy to produce great copy. Creativity and independent thought is a rare commodity in the blogging world, and if you are not adding value, you are simply taking up space. And this is a tough crowd!!

Wouldn’t it be great to have a little deeper insight as to how they really feel about your blog and your copywriting though?

Blogging

Blogging is very competitive, due to the low barrier of entry, and general ease of operation. Because of this, the “bar” has been elevated when it comes to content quality. Not all bloggers are driven to generate online income, become a trusted agent/influencer in their field, and encounter some level of notoriety. Nope, some are quite content to maintain their blogs in anonymity, typically with little-to-no social media marketing and no methods of monetization. I would acknowledge that would not be the type of demographic who mist likely would tune into a site like Source Blogger!

Bu

t, on the end of the spectrum, there are a countless number of bloggers who are very inspired and very dynamic in wanting to reach out and take the biggest bite they can out of the blogosphere.

If you’ve spent any time looking at your blog’s analytics (stats), the ability to guess when and where your traffic is coming from is impossible to predict. But, over time, from your comments section, you can slowly start to put together who is who and their level of ability. If I’m a blogger, I want the most intelligent and influential bloggers interacting with my blog.

When I created Source Blogger it was with the intent that I could attract someone to the site whether they owned a blog or not. It’s true. If you have read more than 3 or 4 of the articles here, you know no one else touches on the subjects in the same way that is done here. No, blogging about blogging is not a new concept, by any stretch of the imagination, but if I didn’t really feel like I was doing something special to engage, inspire, and capture the hearts and minds of bloggers, I never would have even tried.

You have to feel the same way about your blog. Otherwise, what is the point of promoting it? Think about that.

Blogger’s Etiquette

While many bloggers speak of reader rants and questionable behavior, I rarely have ever seen this on blogs. I see the normal pleasantries of jumping over to your site, scanning the new article in question followed by the obligatory comment.

Sure, thank you for the comment. And thank you for being supportive. But, wait a minute, all your comments are relatively the same. Every single time. On every single blog. H

ow can this be? Is everything you read similar in nature?

Of course it isn’t. And this does little to help bloggers. There was no critique, advice, opposing point of view, and often, very little value to the rest of the blog’s community.

Why Bloggers Leave Comments

It is normal quite possible to see a blogger write long, impassioned, informative posts only to leave a lot desired in the comments department. Because of this, I’m sure millions of bloggers have tossed valid comments from peers, friends, and colleagues right into the Akismet trash can! (Akismet is our comment spam filter on WordPress, Blogger users.)

Leaving comments is a crucial part of a blogger’s back linking strategy…true. And bloggers want the exposure…OK. And bloggers (although not admittedly) would like some type of reciprocation…right.

And I do want to reciprocate. But, I may have to wait until the right moment for you to have a suitable post for me to do so. Why? Because I value you, your blog, and your community enough that I won’t “force” a comment without really feeling I made a difference. Can you appreciate that? Honestly? Would you do the same for others? Or do you just feel compelled to stay on a schedule?

What Bloggers Really Think When They Read Your Content!

What do reader's think?

Your goal is to “reach” me (the reader): Invoke an emotion, take me somewhere new, inject an idea, anger me, sadden me, humble me, advise me, criticize me…etc…whatever it takes! But, this is the experience readers (like myself) are looking for.

It only takes a new reader a few short seconds to determine if they will ever return. But, there’s more to it than that due to the competitive nature of blogging.

Bloggers will assess whether you have “it”. Do you know what “it” is? “It” is the ability to write effectively online for a large audience on a recurring basis over hundreds of posts. Will your 500th. article be better than your 100th.?

Basically, are you a threat? The obvious threat would be that blogger’s blog, but it goes deeper than that. The threat is more personal in nature. “Are you a better blogger than me?”

Bloggers are very insecure in nature. And hate facing our limitations. We need constant support and admiration. Just not the feeble, half-hearted attempts from well-meaning commentators, but honest-to-goodness feedback. It’s hard to win when you don’t know the score…isn’t it?

I don’t think we as bloggers will ever get the answers we seek about the quality of our blog. One method I often use it to gauge how often my content is coming up in other blogs, in regards to inbound links and reviews.

What do you use?

We’d like to think that if we are offering a “How To/Tutorial” on a particular subject that that advice will be taken seriously.

Did you know that it often isn’t?  Dare you ask why?

The majority of blogs in the blogosphere are less than 1 year old and come out of the box pumping article after article about Search Engine Optimization, Making Money Online, Online Marketing Strategies, Coding, etc. leaving readers to ask: “How did you suddenly become this expert?” “And who the hell are you anyway?!”

The reality is readers don’t trust you, they don’t know you and they will not listen to you. You might as well be talking to yourself.

Readers have actually become less and less trusting of bloggers due to the transient nature of the blogosphere. So, how are we, as bloggers, going to overcome that?

The 7 Reasons Why Readers Dont Trust You!

1) Telling the Truth — Selling (leveraging) someone else’s product or offering a review on your website are two common ways to make money, although it’s also an easy way to distance your audience too.

What blogger doesn’t have a story to tell about needlessly buying someone’s digital product? Hopefully, you’ll soon realize that it is not the product you are buying but the concept that surrounds it. I like to call this “selling the dream”. And many have bought into this idea hoping to create an online business, automate their blogging activity, and make significant money online. The “get rich quick” schemes and “money-driven” activities have NEVER worked and have caused many readers to second-guess who these bloggers really are and what they stand for.

Stay away from that as well as avoiding careless requests to sponsor a product too. Protect your blog’s community from these types of “fake endorsements”.

2) Advocate — When I created Source Blogger, it was with the idea that I was going to be an advocate for other bloggers. I felt I had a duty to provide them honest, principled content. Nothing has changed.

When your focus solely surrounds “creating an online business” or “pushing your agendas” for the purpose of creating your own notoriety, you’ve lost sight on why we blog…which is for the reader. Not you.

Having the reader’s best interests goes a long way. Readers, just like animals and children, can sense insincerity a mile away.

3) Transparency — Developing relationships is often about trust and transparency. No one is going to trust someone they don’t know. Readers want a blogger to be accountable if some coding does not work or some advice backfired.

Anonymity is not the secret to success online. Readers identify with people. Whether you have an online business or not is irrelevant. Readers want to know who you are and what you look like. They also want to know what you think, in your words, and what your background is.

If you are not prepared to share yourself, be prepared for major road blocks.

4) References — We use references to support our “main idea” or “main concept”. It’s really no different than what were you were doing in college, writing papers, whether in APA or MLA format. You referenced where your information came from and gave credited who wrote it.

In the insurance industry, a warranty is a statement of fact by the insurer.  A representation, on the other hand, is something that the insured believes to be true to the best of their knowledge.

In blogging, a lot of what we offer a reader is based solely on representation — meaning that we only have to believe it to be true. Maybe we like to operate under this umbrella due to a sheer lack of accountability and a responsibility to provide accurate information— which is very different from conventional journalism.

The best way to overcome this is to seek supporting documentation. For blogging purposes, this is simply supplying links to other credible, online sources.5) Unavailability — How many times have you:

• Clicked over to blog and have no clue who the blog’s author is?
• Wanted to reach out to a blogger only to see he/she has no Contact Form?
• Hunted for a Facebook or Twitter link on a blog’s page only to find it did not exist?
• Submitted a comment, only for that comment never to appear or take a week to be moderated and show up on the site?
• Asked the blogger a question only to see him/her respond to their regulars, ignoring you?

This a sure-fire way to waste the opportunity to connect with someone online, isn’t it? You may have just lost out on someone who really wanted to be active within your blog’s community and is now turned off by their reception.

6) Regurgitating Info From Other Bloggers — This generation’s motto (supposedly) is to  “question everything”. Nothing attacks your credibility more than repeating something you heard online and lazily adopting it to your beliefs…without fully analyzing why. To make matters worse, you will regurgitate these ideas to your readers. You’re not providing any value when you do this. And a lot of the information you are duplicating can actually be false or harmful.

I’ve seen bloggers struggle to answer questions in their comments section because they copied and pasted something beyond their realm of understanding.

Just don’t do it. You have the right to “original thought”. You are not bound to the majority. If your main concern is wanting to be “politically-correct” and be everyone’s friend, you are actually performing a disservice to the blogosphere. What is your value proposition?

But, on the other hand, if you feel your ideas just have to be contrary to everyone else’s, this will not do much for you either.

7) Ranting & Raving — It’s great when a reader feels you are advocating on his/her behalf and exposing something that could potentially harm them in a negative way.

But, there is an effective way to bring something to a reader’s attention. Insults, cursing, personal attacks, and being too personal or overemotional will cause you to bleed the loyalty of others in a hurry.

Stand your ground, defend your point, but realize when it’s time to move on. Maintain your professionalism at all times. Someone is always observing you through comments and social media interaction. Always.

Wrap Up

Dealing with the public online has its disadvantages. We can’t listen to changes in tone, or see variances in body language or facial expression — meaning we can’t judge if someone was offended, insulted, or felt ignored by our actions. We have to rely on putting ourselves in the place of the reader and asking ourselves how he/she would feel in particular situations.

Remember, when a reader doesn’t trust you, he doesn’t like you. And we don’t want that to happen. When used right, your blog is a powerful tool for discussion and networking.

You can never take the loyal, active blog reader for granted. Trust me, there’s too many other bloggers that could be far more attentive to them.

I know many of you grow tired of the same recycled, regurgitated message from these blogging sites that offer advice.

Content...is king?

As an Ambassador to those who “blog about blogging,” let me apologize on their behalf. In defense of their actions, this niche/category is very saturated and many bloggers seem to want to make a living adopting the ideas of their fellow blogging peers — without a clear analysis of what that message is or why they are repeating it.

Some advice is actually counterintuitive…even harmful.

Today I am going to drop a bombshell over everything you know to be “near and dear” about blog posts. It will defy what you probably ever heard or believed.

After reading this article, I promise you will never look at your blog in the same way again.

Content…Is NOT King!

Of course content is a key element of blogging — but, in all reality, merely just another part of the puzzle. Without the proper presentation and promotion, your content is worthless. So, when content became King, I’m not quite certain.

But, I’m not going to draw you into that debate. Let’s change directions.

Writing Blog Articles Is A “Loser’s Game!”

So, why keep churning out this content? What do you hope to gain by it?

Many bloggers will fool you into thinking there is some strategy here…until you “call them out” on it. In all actuality, they don’t really know why they do it. They’re probably just waiting for something to happen. It’s like running a marathon, except you don’t know how long the course is and when you will see the finish line. You just keep…going…and going.

For many people in the industry, this is not enough for them. There needs to be some measurable progress and clear direction. And money.

“The Business of Blogging?” — What Does that Even Mean?

Blogs are not businesses. And I dare anyway to argue this point. Sure, we make money off of advertising, PPC, PPA, PPM…even sponsored reviews/posts. But, there are limits.

I see many blogs much more popular than Source Blogger that have even less methods of monetization. What is that about?

Money wasn’t your motivation for starting a blog, I can appreciate that. Nor was it mine. But, with the right guidance, would you try?

Your Blog Is A Great Resource

A) Service

The smart bloggers integrate their business efforts into their blog as a professional marketing tool.

Perhaps they have a business that offers site design, or marketing services, or search engine optimization.

How do these individuals view their blog? Most likely very differently than how you see your own.

B) Product

The smart bloggers learn how to automate their efforts, grow their following, and reap the benefits of extracting money from their list of blog/newsletter subscribers. “There is money in the list.” They do this though by devising a product.

For many bloggers, all they have to offer is new content. Free content.

What do you have to offer someone online in exchange for money?

Blogging For Dollars — The Truth

No blogger ever became rich writing articles and waiting for AdSense checks. And you know why they will never tell you that? Because you refuse to step away from the medium of blogging and see any other opportunity.

You ignore stories of more well-known bloggers writing books or creating media companies. But, let the subject come back to blogging…and you’re suddenly “tuned in” again, aren’t you?

Product...Under Construction?

When someone is selling you a system to make money about blogging, they are selling you… a product! Not just blog content. Access to that information comes with a price tag.

You will never make money the way you are doing it now. Why? Because you have nothing to sell. And selling other people’s products is surely difficult, isn’t it? It would be different if you were actively selling your blog’s ad space. Except who is really buying advertising these days? Newspapers and magazines are going out of business. And outdoor billboards sit empty.

Confession: I’m NOT A Blogger

Blogging is a tool — not the end product. I think I am more ambitious than that. And more entrepreneurial. Aren’t you? Your time is money.

Most of what I do online to make money has NOTHING to do with blogging. I simply try to target opportunities that I can connect to my LLC. (Atlantic Equity) Although Atlantic Equity makes most of its money offline pursuing AFLAC and Comcast.

As a matter of fact, I have difficulty trying to include what I do into any of my blogs. What are some of the income-generating projects that keep you busy online?

Although I make much more money in these other online ventures (online lending, ecommerce sites, stock market investing, reseller sites, eBay stores, etc.), I spend most of my time online doing what I love to do the most — blogging. It just doesn’t make sense! (chuckles)

But, I acknowledge my blog is merely a tool to connect with other online professionals.

In Closing

Spend some time to determine what your product is. Create your own business model. Reconnect with your goals. And then incorporate that in to your blog!

Content can build relationships. But, then what are you going to do with them? People buy products and services online every day. You shouldn’t feel guilty because they spent it on you.

I know that this is a very provocative and controversial topic and many of you will want to defend content. I used to be the same way.

I told you you will never look at your blog the same way again!

Most professional blogs today have a privacy and disclosure policy. These policies are created to inform your readers about some of the more legal aspects of your website.

However, writing your own privacy policy or disclaimer can be somewhat difficult unless you’ve had years of law school or have extra cash to pay a high priced lawyer.

I’ve discovered two free websites that will take the place of your lawyer and help you create a privacy policy and disclaimer for your site.

Why Do I Need a Privacy Policy?

Most people online like their privacy and like to keep their information to themselves. The thought of giving out your Social Security number or email and having it be used in a way you don’t approve of scares many Internet users.

Privacy policies let all of your readers or users know exactly what you do with their data.  If you don’t plan to do anything with it, it is good for your readers to know that. This might make them more likely to sign up for your service or whatever your website does.

How to Create a Privacy Policy

The Privacy Policy Generator makes it extremely easy to make your privacy policy.  All you need to do is type in your company name, mark if you accept credit cards and enter your email address.

Conclusion

These two websites allow you to quickly and easily make a privacy and a disclosure policy. My privacy and disclosure policies were made using these websites, and I feel confident using them.

Do you have a privacy and/or a disclosure policy? Why? Why not?

Yeah, great article! (Damn, that was boring!)

Someone asked last week something to the effect of “Why do bloggers keep repeating the same message” and/or “Why do bloggers keep recycling the same message?”

I can answer that question — because it is the best advice they can give you — and is often ignored.

What bloggers fail to realize is what readers are really asking is: “Why is your blog so damn boring?”

It’s true.

Let’s take a closer look at what is causing the problem and see what you can do about it, shall we?

Saved By Google

When you really think about it, your blog is merely a formulation of text on a webpage. So, it has the potential of being passed over by other means of online entertainment such as video, images of bikini girls, games, chat, or music.

Fortunately for bloggers, our  intelligent, informative, relevant, engaging — and entertaining content is in demand too! Right? Oh, but if only that were true for all of us — and you know who you are.

If detecting and locating online content was solely based on quality, some of you might be in trouble!  You better thank Google for the traffic it sends — without judgment.

Wanting To Be Everybody’s Friend — Comes With A Cost!

Networking is great — but you will not ever satisfy everyone, nor will you always become their friend. So, stop trying.

The safe, sanitary, “politically-correct,” “corporate-friendly” approach is a loser’s game.

Unless your plan is to vie for the attention of a media company or are trying to integrate your blog into some type of non-profit entity or university program, what are you doing?

You are giving other bloggers the impression that in order to “fit in” they must conform — which is so counterintuitive!

Branding – Personality – Uniqueness

The stiff, corporate image of blogging has never been my approach. I want to really evoke a reaction from someone. I want to inspire them, anger them, or throw them into deep reflection.

There are far too many blogs out there competing for a reader’s attention in any one given day. Your unique style and personality is not coming out in your content. Having an About Me page on your blog is only a beginning. It has to be alive in your content.

You can’t keep slapping a “magnetic title” on a recycled piece of work and expect for a different response from readers. A sexy title with content that fails to deliver is…a blogging felony, in my opinion!

So, piss someone off, take a stand on an issue, offer an opinion that conflicts with the majority consensus, tell someone what really happened. Not your dull, over-optimized version of what YOU think readers want to hear.

No one is telling you to be rude or socially dysfunctional — just memorable!

Blogging is about fire. Blogging is about passion. Blogging is about your personal journey. Blogging is about creativity. Blogging is about expression – without limits.

If I even sense that a blogger is timid, fearful of conflict, or afraid to bring attention to an issue, it’s a major turn-off! You’re just “going through the motions”. Readers deserve the truth. Readers deserve advocacy.

The truth might get you invited to less fancy parties, but will sure make a lasting impression on readers.

What do you think?

It often surprises me how many tools and resources there are available to bloggers! If you can think it, it probably already exists!

On one of my (Blogger) blogs that consists of mainly images, the idea of adding music would have been perfect. So, I looked all over the net for a simple approach to doing this — with no luck. I didn’t want to spend my entire day signing up for services, trying to find URLs of MP3s, only to find out there were limitations such as trial periods or not truly being able to customize the widget to my liking or to the added value of my site’s visitors.

Well, after a few more weeks of passive search,  I found what I was looking for. This service does more than I even I could have expected…and then some!

OK, perhaps music/audio multimedia is NOT a good match for your blog environment, but if it is look no further!

Let me show you how to add music to automatically play on your blog in two minutes flat!

Why is audio such an overlooked choice of multimedia for blogs? Forget about that! Let’s incorporate some music…or your original audio to your blog.

SoundCloud, an online platform for receiving, sending and distributing music, offers a ton of options, allowing you to upload any track from your computer and share it instantly. You can add track descriptions, catalogue numbers, a website to purchase (if applicable), keywords, artwork and even BPM and track type. While it’s a format more geared towards musicians, it’s a terrific way to include an audio intro or CEO interview in your post. After you save changes, click share to get the embed code or click any of the icons in the dropdown menu.

SoundCloud is completely free and includes smart features like the ability to add comments at specific time markers (perfect for breaking a long clip into chapters). Lastly, make sure you have the rights to your audio if you are using it for commercial purposes.

Take the tour?:

What An Audio Music Player Needs To Have For Blogging – SoundCloud Delivers!

1. Easy, Hassle-Free Sign-Up
2. A Blogger-Friendly Interface / Ease of Use
3. Attractive In A Blogging Environment
4. Does Not Overburden Site’s Loading Time
5. Fully-Customizable (Appearance, Track Lists, Library)
6. Visitor Control — Ability To Turn Music Off/On (During NSFW Occasions)
7. Dependable Service – Backed By A Contemporary Company

Sometimes, something to good too be true…is truly good. =)

As was mentioned in “Top 10 Reasons Why Source Blogger Moved to WordPress,” making the transition to WordPress was well overdue.

Why did it take so long? Well, I don’t know actually. Maybe you just get comfortable with the idea of not having blogging expenses — no themes to buy, no special plugins, and no hosting. But, I think, eventually, for most of the bloggers using a Blogger template, the day comes when making the switch just makes sense. And I have to say, as demanding as I am, especially when it comes to my expectations from a blogging platform, WordPress has knocked my socks off…every single time!

One of the first thoughts you have as a blogger even before the process begins is: “Will I be able to transfer the content from my Blogger blog?” Of course, we know by now that answer is yes. And for the most part, very easy to execute.

But, something happened after the transfer that scared the hell out of me — and I have to share it with you!

Importing Content: Blogger To WordPress

Moving to a new blogging platform, presents us with a fresh start — even though we are importing our previous content. (OK, that sounds weird to even me — but, you get the point, right?)

Looking back, maybe I didn’t do it right. Instead of going through those old articles for bad links (those bad links were links that were often directed to my old blog URL — which was different than the URL I have now!), missing alt/image tags,  and choosing which articles I wanted to publish right away – I elected to make all of the articles to go live all at once!

I Had Duplicate Content: Yup, the same article appeared on source-blogger.com as it did now on sourceblogger.com. (word for word) And to make matters worse, I did not immediately shut down source-blogger.com right away — which made it all more confusing (and conflicting) for Google! (Remnants of Source-Blogger STILL exist in Google search results although the site has been down about 3 months.)

Eventually, Source-Blogger was retired, but I had a new task. To go back over hundreds of articles!

Articles with bad links, with no alt/image tags, and some that referred to events in the tech world or what was going on in the old site that were no longer valid.

But, that was not even the scary part. As I soon discovered!

The Terrifying Part!

Some of the articles were just not that good. I don’t understand. I wrote them myself. They just were not even worth republishing. What could have happened?

Terrifying #1: I had to admit to myself I was not reading my own blog. (Or proof-reading it well)

And since I wasn’t reading it, I was allowing items that should have been discovered in the “proofing” stage to “infest” my blog.

As bloggers we spend countless hours reading content…but, not our own?

Terrifying #2: Grammatical Errors and Misspelled Woods Words

“…As blogers we know we had better shown…” Wait, what the hell was that? What does that even mean? What is a bloger?! And what was I trying to say? But, worst of all, what did you think of me when you read it?

In the blogging community, there is very little understanding or tolerance for grammatical errors.

Terrifying #3: Utopian Ideology

“If we could just come together…bloggers…with a common purpose to…love and cherish each other”  Stop! Wait! Someone…PLEASE PUNCH ME IN THE FACE!

OMG was that syrupy or what? Why was I writing as if I were in the Ms. America Beauty Pageant and someone asked one of the hopeful contestants about “How to accomplish world peace?” Source Blogger, dude… get a grip!

Terrifying #4: The Big “Push”

“If you would just buy this, subscribe to this, be my friend, follow me, vote for me, come back next week, sign up here, scratch my back, i’ll scratch yours…”

No wonder we hate pushy salespeople! There’s a subtle approach to directing readers to a desired goal — and that wasn’t it!

Terrifying #5: Blah! Blah! Blah!

Damn, was that boring! Was I trying to put you to sleep? Maybe I liked the sound of my own voice? Sorry!

Terrifying#6: The Muhammad Ali Of Blogging

The Best Of All Time! I AM The greatest! My content is better! I will eat your blog for lunch!

(Slaps himself on the forehead) What was I thinking? How embarrassing!

Is There A Silver Lining To Any Of This, People?

Thankfully, yes.

I think many of us can go back and look at our writing over the years and see how it has evolved. We’re better writers now. We can stimulate you, inform you, educate you… and still be entertaining at the same!

Maybe I should be grateful of the short memory some of you have?! No, I don’t  think that’s it.

I think it is the goodwill and decency of other bloggers to be patient as we perfect our craft — without being too judgmental.

How often do you go back and read older content? Have you discovered misspellings and grammatical errors in your work? Have you ever felt inclined to just delete old articles? Would you contact a nother blogger if you saw a glaring mistake in their post? Why or why not?

It probably never dawned on you that Facebook, Digg, Networked Blogs and Blog Catalog would be in collusion to steal your Adsense earnings, did it?

Thanks to the recent upgrade to Digg, the Iframe toolbar was (finally) retired!

Unfortunately, the Iframe toolbar is still a reality for readers who access your blog through Facebook, Networked Blogs, and Blog Catalaog.

Does this mean they are laughing all the way to the bank? No… although, they are diverting your revenue and preventing you from cashing in.

Still in disbelief?

Let me explain… I’ve done a little research on this.

Are Facebook, Blog Catalog, and Networked Blogs Stealing Your AdSense Earnings?

The dreaded framed page.

If you are a frequent (or infrequent) user of Facebook, Digg, and Blog Catalog, do you remember clicking on a link that successfully brought you to the desired page, but it was framed?

I can tell by that blank look on your face, you either don’t remember or it’s not sunk in yet.

Digg.com

Let me show you. Here is an example of Digg’s Framed Page: See that toolbar?

This is at the top of your page when viewing an article. It’s almost like a built-in toolbar with many user interfaces.

Take a closer look:

This is how your blog URL appeared to the legions of  Digg readers:

Does that look like your blog’s URL? Of course not! Would anyone even remember your blog after viewing it? So, remember that flood of traffic you used to receive with Digg? Guess what…

This shouldn’t look all that foreign to you. You probably just never realized the repercussions of this and whet it meant for your blog.

Blog Catalog

That’s the framed section of the page for Blog Catalog.

And the URL?

Yikes! Does that look like http://sourceblogger.com to you?

You say you get a significant amount of traffic from Facebook ,Blog Catalog, and Networked Blogs? But are these REAL 100% pageviews and hits? Well… now that things are being made more clear to you, How does this make you feel now? How did this impact your traffic and your earnings? Think about it, my friend.

Facebook

In addition to the framed page on Facebook, you get screwed penalized in many other ways!

The fans who signed up for your blog’s Facebook Fan Page can go to the Notes tab and read your complete blog article without having to visit your site.

If it was a summary that enticed the reader to click a “Read More” that brought them to your site, that would be OK. But, the whole article?

It’s no secret that Source Blogger is on record as being publicly opposed to access to blog content that exists away from my blog pages – including many article marketing sites.

Is there anything worse than having to compete with your own off-page content that is nesting in other larger, more visible, and well-SERP’d locations that is like a magnet for Google? That jazzy little article you wrote is buried on page 6 of the search results, while the same article placed on Facebook is showing up on the first page. The Google keyword search user goes straight to that page, via the ‘Notes” tab… and leaves!

There’s no way to subscribe, leave a comment, or even get a CPM zone view (or potential CPC or CPA click) from the visit! Right?… Damn!

Networked Blogs

OK, you’re going to be slick here. You deleted the ‘Notes” tab in Facebook and intend to replace it with the ‘Blog” tab. Brilliant! The Blog tab shows a snippet of your article (from NetworkedBlogs) and the reader must click on the title of the article to read more.

Wait! Not so smart. Here is how a recent article on Source Blogger appeared to NetworkedBlog readers:

That sure doesn’t look the permalink that I assigned! http://sourceblogger.com/dealing-with-emotional-reality-of-shutting-down-blog

The Effects of A Reader Viewing Your Site Within An I-Frame

1.  Steals traffic – Blog Catalog,  Networked Blogs, and  Facebook  double their traffic by showing your content in its frame and redirecting the shortened urls back to their site instead of to your site.

2. Steals links – By creating shortened urls whose sole purpose is to redirect the viewer back to the parent site.

3. Steals content – Your content is essentially being “hosted” through the framing structure

4. Steals potential revenue – By either blocking your content/ads or by stealing ad impressions/clicks

The Solution

Since your website then is inside of a “window” type frame, your site is not getting the actual traffic from that click, Digg and/or Facebook are.

Let’s prevent your blog from displaying the frame!

There is a way to stop this from happening to you, and it is so very simple. This script is actually quite simple, you just paste a few lines of javascript code into the HEAD section of all the pages in your site EXCEPT the index page:

The code is as follows:


<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">

if (top.location != self.location) top.location.replace(self.location);

</script>

This will prevent your website from being framed in the future, and will prevent any loss of traffic and or revenue from ad providers such as AdSense or AdBrite.

Some of you may be in shock over this. I know, I know… no one has ever explained this to you. Take a moment. Catch your breath. Now type your response in the comment section below. I want to hear what you think!

I have been using Digg, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, and BlogCatalog for years now! Say it isn’t so!