As you can probably imagine, I love reading blogs on a variety of topics including freelance writing, internet marketing, making money online, sports, and many others. The great thing about blogging is that the author is in charge of everything from topic selection to length and much more. Over the years I have found that shorter blog posts are best for me. There are many reasons for this:
1. My readers have told me so. On many occasions I have spoke with readers who have told me that shorter posts are better for many reasons. Not only are they easier and quicker to read, but they get to the point without all the fluff. I know that freelance writers are busy professionals, so I try to stay away from posts that will take too much time to read.
2. They are easier for me to write. Sure, I could go on and on and make each post 1,000 words or more. I know many bloggers who do this, but it is not a style I enjoy. It is easier to write shorter posts, and by doing so I am forced to get my point across in a concise and efficient manner.
An average blog post for this site is between 300 and 400 words. Of course, there are times when I need to say more so they stretch to 500 words or more. To be honest, I don’t think about how long a post will be before getting started. I brainstorm an idea, follow several points that I want to get across, and see where I am at in the end.
Remember, your blog is your blog. As long as you are comfortable with the length of your posts and are giving readers what they ask for, you are doing something right.
Today, I want to talk a bit about the design of your blog. If you do not have a blog this post may not pertain to you. But even then, there is a good chance that you will be starting one in the near future. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when starting a blog is spending too much time worrying about your design. I am guilty of doing this at times, but have found that it is a waste of my time for the most part.
As you may remember, I used a basic template for this blog for many months. Even though it was not a unique design, I achieved solid results. The point of this is that you do not want to let your lack of design skills, or a unique design, hold you back from starting and/or growing your blog. I have several other blogs in addition to this one, and I have learned over the years that spending a lot of time on design work upon getting started is a big mistake. Sure, you may want to get this out of the way so you can move on but don’t forget about the real power behind your blog: your content. Your blog could have the best design in the world, but if you don’t offer quality content you are going to struggle to gain traction.
I am no different than most of you guys and gals. There are some design elements of my blog that I would like to change, but since they are not major components I keep them on the back burner for the most part. In my opinion, getting caught up with small details will keep you from the big picture. In turn, you will begin to lose focus and your blog will stray off the path that you want to follow.
As long as your blog’s design is clean and offers a good format for your content you should continue to forge ahead. In the future, when you have a defined path and an established base, you should then begin to think about a unique design that is better suited to your wants and needs.
At the end of January I mentioned that I was in the process of starting a new blog, Workathomescoop.com. After about a month of constant updates and marketing, it is finally gaining some traction. Not only are more and more people subscribing to the blog, but search engine traffic has been surprisingly solid despite its young age.
If you are an avid reader of this blog you will probably enjoy Workathomescoop.com as well. A lot of the information is similar, but Workathomescoop.com is not related specifically to freelance writing. Instead, it offers tips on starting a work at home career, choosing an opportunity, avoiding scams, setting up a home office, etc.
If you have yet to check out Workathomescoop.com I would love for you to visit in the near future. And of course, if you get the chance subscribe to the RSS feed. This way you don’t miss any of the daily updates!
A couple weeks ago I got started a new project, Workathomescoop.com. I decided to start another blog; this time based on the work at home industry. As you probably know, millions of people either work from home or are interested in moving in this direction. Although there are many blogs based around this topic, after doing my research it is obvious that there is plenty of room for more high quality information.
Why a blog on working at home?
1. The economy is bad. For this reason, more people are interested in taking their career into their own hands. To go along with this, quite a few Americans are being pushed into a new career because they were recently laid off. What better way to take control of your career than to work for yourself? Since I have more than five years experience working from home I figured I could lend some insight on everything from getting started to setting goals and much more.
2. A lot of people say they want to work from home, but never get started because it is either “too much work” or there “isn’t enough help out there.” It is my goal to help interested work at home professionals get past whatever is holding them back. Starting a work at home career is not impossible with the right information. I hope to offer this.
3. I know a lot about working from home! As a freelance writer I work from home day in and day out. Over the years I have learned a lot about what it takes to get started, succeed, and maintain a successful work at home career. Hopefully this experience will rub off on my readers, and help them reach all of their goals.
Top Posts, so far
Although the blog has only been active and live for a few weeks I have already added some great “pillar posts.” To get a better idea of the content behind Workathomescoop.com take a look at the following posts:
For two years I have been interacting with my audience here at ChrisBlogging.com. It has been a pleasure, and I hope that many of you will take the time to join me at Workathomescoop.com as well. If you get the time, check out my new blog and let me know what you think. And of course, I would greatly appreciate it if you would also subscribe to my RSS feed and/or opt to receive updates via email.
Workathomescoop.com is already bringing in a bit of traffic here and there, and I hope it will become a success, just like this blog, soon enough. Hope to see many of you guys and gals both here and there!
A couple months ago Stephane Grenier sent me a quick email asking if I’d like to receive a free copy of his new book, Blog Blazers. Since I love reading, especially about topics I enjoy, I took him up on his offer and promised to add a review to my blog.
So what is Blog Blazers all about? The front cover says it all: 40 top bloggers share their secrets to creating a high profile, high-traffic, and high-profit blog! If you have any interest in blogging, no matter your aspirations, this is the book for you.
In my opinion, learning from others is one of the best ways to increase your knowledge base while also working towards success. After you read Blog Blazers you are sure to know more about what it takes to build a successful blog. And to go along with this, you will be more motivated than ever to take your blog to the next level.
Simply put, Blog Blazers is a great book for anybody who wants to succeed as a blogger. Not only does it offer top notch information from some of the biggest names in the blogging industry, but it is also well written with a killer layout.
For more information or to buy your own copy of Blog Blazers visit Blogblazers.com. This is one purchase you will not regret.
From time to time I like to ask my readers for suggestions. This time around I have a few important questions. Most importantly, do you monetize your blog? This is something I have been thinking about for quite some time, and for good reason. More and more people are asking if they can advertise on my blog in a number of different ways.
At this time I am strongly leaning towards monetizing this blog, as well as many others in my network. It seems that this is a great way to earn some extra money while also offsetting the costs of hosting, etc. That being said, I don’t want to go overboard by cramming in so many ads that it takes away from the content.
So do you monetize your blog? Do you shy away from sites that have advertising and paid reviews? In my opinion advertising is okay as long as the site is not loaded with ads and continues to offer valuable information.
Any feedback on this subject would be great. You can either leave a comment for everybody to see or send me a quick email. Again, I have been semi-monetizing my blog for a few months but it seems that I can now begin to earn a decent income by doing so even more. But before I get started I want to get some feedback from you!
A few weeks ago I made a post stating that one of my goals for the end of the year was to reach 500 RSS subscribers. Yesterday this goal was reached, and I wanted to thank all of my readers for helping me get there. While this number is sure to fluctuate above and below 500 for the next few weeks, it was nice to see this nonetheless.
Now that I have met this goal I need to set another. After all, I need something to reach for in the new year. By the end of January 2009 I hope to see my RSS count at 600 or above. While this would be a huge leap, with the help of all my readers I am sure this is more than possible.
If you want to help me reach this goal you can do a few things:
Why is your RSS subscriber base so important? The higher the number the larger your regular audience. And for me, this is important because it means I am reaching more people. As you know, the overall goal of this blog is to assist as many freelance writers as possible. With each new RSS subscriber I am reaching one more freelance writer. If you get around to it any help would be appreciated. The end of January 2009 will be here before we know it!
When I first started this blog, my main goal was to reach out to the freelance writing industry in an attempt to give something back. After only one year, I feel that I have reached a few of my goals. Traffic is currently growing, my RSS readership is hovering around 350, and my freelance writing course has taken off.
This past weekend I was surprised to receive an email from somebody who is interested in purchasing ChrisBlogging. Over the past few months I began to move away from personal posts and more into freelance writing information in general. That being said, I never thought that somebody would make an offer to purchase the blog; especially since it is not listed for sale.
I was not sure what to make of this offer, so I asked the potential buyer to contact me via phone; which he did. While I believe that the buyer is serious, I immediately turned down the deal. Simply put, I am not ready to give up the blog at this time. It has become a big part of my freelance writing career, and is beginning to generate more revenue than I ever thought possible; this is probably why the offer was extended to me.
This leads me to the question of whether or not you would ever sell your blog? The offer for my blog was not huge, but at the same time, enough to get me thinking. Of course, a lot of this has to do with the increasing RSS count as well as the $1,000 monthly income from my course.
Are you like me? Or would you jump at the opportunity to sell your blog if a solid offer was made?
One year ago I started ChrisBlogging.com not knowing if anybody would ever read what I have to say. Although this blog has not grown nearly as fast as many others in this niche, I am glad that I have been able to help so many aspiring freelance writers up to this point.
In order to make this upcoming year as good as the past 12 months, I wanted to ask for some input from my readers. More specifically: what topics do you want me to cover the most? Is there anything that you want to know that I have been missing? It can often times be difficult to generate ideas that appeal to the majority of readers. For this, I am hoping for some help from you guys and gals!
Once again, thank you for making the first year of ChrisBlogging.com so memorable. As 2008 wears on and 2009 comes into play, I hope that all of you continue to read and comment on a regular basis. And of course, it is my hopes that everybody reaches all of their freelance writing goals.
Since talking about the benefits of starting a blog, I have received a few questions about how much success I have with ChrisBlogging.com. Although this blog is far from being the biggest or most well known, it is something that I enjoy immensely. To go along with this, it has grown quite a bit as of late.
Last month, ChrisBlogging.com received approximately 5,000 unique visitors. Is this a lot? When compared to some blogs on freelance writing and making money online, the answer is no. By overall, it is not too shabby. Personally, I do not keep close tabs on my traffic. Instead, I judge the success of the blog by how many people I help. And judging by the emails I have been receiving as of late, this is quite a few.
If you follow the blogging industry, you are well aware that the number of RSS readers a blog has can be a big deal. I am a regular reader of many blogs that boast a readership of 20k or more. As you can see by taking a quick peak at the right sidebar, my RSS number hovers right around 220. While this is far from 20k, I have been making some progress in this area. If you have yet to sign up, you can do so traditionally or you can opt to receive updates via email; either way works.
Just like my freelance writing career, I set goals for the progress of ChrisBlogging.com. By the end of the year, I would like to increase traffic to 7,500 uniques per month. To go along with this, I am hoping to crack 350 RSS readers. These may seem like modest goals, but for somebody who does not know much about SEO or technology, they are just fine for now!
