Completely 100% Free Advice on How to Make Money Blogging

Bored with your job? Want to get out someday?

If you've ever wanted to quit your 9-5 job and make money by blogging, or you blog now, and want to, someday, use blogging to make money; or if you want to blog and use it as a vehicle to promote your work (and make money by your work), whether that work be book writing; business consulting; selling your art or paintings; getting people to know your music or films; or just to spread the word about you and promote yourself and what you do, then today's blog is for you.


Today I am going to tell you exactly how to make money blogging and how to start to get out of your regular job. There are no costs, books to buy, courses to study or gimmicks or catches at all. This is the simplest, and most direct, way to make money blogging. If you follow these short tips, then, within 2 ~ 3 years, you can start cutting down your regular job hours and start shifting over to the job you dream of doing and all because of dedication to blogging. All because of a desire to do with your life as you want.


And it's all 100% completely free.

Today's blog is especially for people who have a "regular" job yet they have a dream someday to escape that job and the rat race and to make enough money to do what they want with their life. Today's blog could also be for people who want to make a good amount of money by using blogging so that they can live well.

With blogging, as a vehicle to promote or market yourself or your work, that is possible. I, myself, do not do this as 100% of my income, yet; not even 50% of my income. But my teachers do. For myself, after study and effort (mostly effort), I can now see where this is possible very soon for me and am slowly climbing that mountain to where I can see from the top on exactly how to do that. 


I have very good teachers showing me how to do this - two of them are very famous people and, with their help, I am giving you this information.

If you do any sort of Social Media or Internet surfing (and, if you didn't, you wouldn't be here) then you've seen tons of messages and notes about how you can make money blogging. It's true. You can make money blogging. You can't make a lot of money blogging and using banner click-through advertising (unless you are FARK). 

Of course, the most widely used and understood way of making money blogging is by having click through banners on your blog. But I don't really want to talk about that at all. I don't think that is a good way to make money blogging. I mean, if Google asks you if they can use your blog to advertise then you know they are the ones making the money. 

But I will say that, in the last year, I been asked twice directly from companies in the USA and the UK to place banner ads on my site but have politely declined. Why? It was only for $150 a year (about ¥11,000 yen) and it looked like it might be a hassle. Also, why in the world would anyone pay $150 to Japan when the bank transfer fees are $70 dollars a transaction? I wouldn't. That made me figure that those folks, while meaning well, didn't really have any idea what they were talking about. 

One of my friends is a blogger well known all over the world and, while not telling me a dollar amount, he told me that the click through ads were nice but they only pay for dinner a few nights a month. You might think, "Wow! Free dinners a few night's a month?" But when you realize that my friend's blog gets 1.2 million hits per day, you realize that banner click-through advertising is not all its cracked up to be.  

He, by the way, makes well over a quarter million dollars a year as a financial advisor. Do you know how he gets his clients? You guessed it, people read his blog and then ask him for advice. That's how he makes money blogging. It is an advertising tool for his services. 

This is the way to use a blog that I want to talk about.

I have been asked to give advice five times in the last year too. That's where the money is. Even though I haven't made large amounts like $10,000 (USD) a month directly by blogging I can say that I have made over $1000 a month indirectly by blogging. I did this because, through blogging, I have been hired as an advisor (like my friend above) to companies who have jumped into the Social Media realm in order to market their products. In fact, as I mentioned above, I have been asked five times in the last year. I took four of those jobs and two of those were in the last month. 

Even though I averaged over $1000 a month in the last two years by use of blogging, one month - a year ago or so - I made $5000.


Like I said, you can do this too. 

There are three things that you must do in order to set yourself up for a situation whereby you can start to consider using blogging to make money. They are:


1) Consistent daily blogging
2) A focused topic
3) Interesting writing


That's it. Just those three. Now let me briefly talk about each one.


1) Consistent daily blogging: Yes. This is hard. But you must do it. You must make daily updating a habit just like brushing your teeth; you can't sleep until you do it. And not just any trash. Good, consistent, interesting writing (I'll talk about the interesting part below). Why constant writing and updating your blog is important is because you must understand how the Google search engine works. The (new 2010) Google search engine is called Caffeine. The old search engine gave priority to blogs and web sites that have many links. Caffeine does not. Caffeine gives priority to consistent and regular updating. Please read the link about Caffeine. But here's an example to show you that I do know what I am talking about. This blog is called "Modern Marketing Japan." That's not a generic title at all. But "Modern Marketing" is an extremely generic title. Do a Google search for "Modern Marketing" and you should see this blog listed in the Top 3 ~ 10 or so of 22,400,000 results for the entire world (the results change constantly with Google Caffeine). That's proof of the power of consistent blogging.


2) A focused topic: As far as the Internet is concerned, we are talking about Long Tail Marketing. Focus on your topic. In the Internet world it is better to be a big fish in a small pond. Read about the Long Tail here in A Primer on the Long Tail and Is the Long Tail all Junk? also read why the Long Tail is beneficial for you even against the Internet giants as it is, for example, damaging Google's own business by reading: Why Google Worries About its Own Future. 


Now, my blog is supposed to be about Japan; media; and marketing and sometimes it gets all over the place, but trust that I do always try to think of a Japan, media or marketing angle for everything I write.


3) Interesting writing: This is the hard one. All I can say are a few things. First, write with your own voice. Stop trying to write like you're Hemingway or writing a business prospective. You're not. If someone wants to read Hemingway, they'll buy the book. If they want to read a business prospective, they won't be 
looking at your blog. People read these things because they want real. They want to hear what real people think. Readers of blogs don't want bloviated nonsense. If they want that, they'll go to CNN's site.

Now, here's a hint on how to write with your own voice and to help yourself have good topics all the time. It's not 100% but it will definitely help you. It helps me immensely. How many times a day do you think about something and then think, "Wow! That's a great idea for a good blog post!" Only to, a few hours later or the next day, not remember what that good idea was? I used to do that all the time. But I've stopped recently. Now, I almost never forget good ideas (good ideas, remember, are money in your pocket!). How do I not forget? I use a notebook. I've written about the benefits of always using and keeping a dollar notebook in the back of my pocket in Pocket Notebooks: The Secret of Millionaires and People Won't Listen! I always have my notebook. So when I have a good idea - about anything - I write it down. It helps me greatly especially when I am stuck for an idea on what to write about. 

As with everything in life, practice makes perfect. If you think that you are going to just start writing one day and become a good writer than you are dreaming. Keep doing it consistently and you'll get better and better as you go.

Like I said, focus on what you are doing; do it consistently; do it well. If you keep doing these three things, for a period of 2 ~ 3 years, then you can start to use blogging to make money.

I know. I've done it. Anyone can. You can too.

NOTE: Please look over my May and June 2010 blog postings. There you will find many articles that will help you to do your blogging smarter and better and tips on how to make money. You might as well read those so that you can learn in a few minutes what it took me a few years to find out on my own. Good Luck.

Also read: Ways to make money from your blog for a pretty generic answer to the question.

This blog is dedicated to my friends Andrew, Peter, Ryu and Jimbo. It might seem tough guys. I know. Been there, done that. But never lose sight of why you do this in the first place. There is a reward down the road.

Marketing, Internet, SEO & SEM Experts? and CEOs? Charlatans Everywhere!

If you were to judge the amount of Tweets you get from people who claim to be Marketing, Internet, SEO and SEM experts or CEO's, you'd think the US economy was booming. Jobs galore. But it would all be just an illusion.

I often get Tweets from people who claim to be "Internet Marketing Experts" or "SEO Marketing Experts..." I wonder by what measure they use to give themselves this sort of classification? 

JERRY LEE LEWIS - YOUR CHEATIN' HEART

The ones that immediately raise red flags for me are the ones who claim to be "CEO" of some company yet, judging by their photo, they don't look to be much older than 25 or 30.

I've never met any good CEO's who were under 35-years-old. I'm not saying they don't exist, but the big guns and real players are not 30-year-old CEO's of little companies with classification of LLP, LLC or family organizations.

Those are the sorts of titles I hate. Why even bother with the title of CEO?  I mean, who are they trying to impress? Other clueless people? Clueless people usually haven't much money. Why impress them? 

What's the point of being a CEO of a dinky company that has one or two employees? Bragging about it is even more embarrassing. If you do that, stop... It might be OK for picking up some witless boyfriend or girlfriend, but for picking up any investment, it is a detriment.

It certainly isn't any credit to your worth or credibility.

Would you buy a used car from this man? How 

about letting him set up your company SEO?

Do these people use the CEO title because they think they can fool someone into investing into their little company or throwing a big contract at them? Maybe. But I don't think that will work.

"Fools and their money are soon parted"... Most rich people are not fools. That's why they are rich.

I haven't really noticed any serious CEO's using Facebook or Twitter too often. I suppose they do, but not too much. I do know that, and I won't say his name, the CEO of AirAsia X uses Facebook. We became friends that way... And I did arrange a few promotions for them in Japan because of it...

But I think he is the exception to the rule.

I don't think most CEO's have time to bother with this Social Media stuff. The CEO's I know avoid this, if they can, and I know from experience that they try to avoid even looking at their email if at all possible.... Spending time on Facebook and Twitter?! I don't think so. 

I get these invitations for Twitter and such, and, if the photo looks like a young guy and his title says "CEO" or "SEO expert" I know it's BS.... But I'm a nice guy, I friend them anyway... It's just quicker that way and I don't have to think about it for more than a second. Friending them takes one click. Deleting them takes two clicks. Friending them is faster. 

I check their photo and go to their Twitter page. If I don't see at least a blog or a company page, then I know they are bullsh*tters. That's OK. Everyone needs to start somewhere... Maybe they will learn some useful lessons along the way. I certainly have.

One of the big lessons I learned was not creating idiotic titles like CEO for myself when there are only one or two employees at my company in order to impress people I don't even know. Impressing people who haven't a clue is a waste of time... People who do have a clue will know it's BS, so it is actually self-defeating to do so.

Here's a good test for you. I never claim that I am an "SEO or "Internet expert" yet go to Google Search and search the words, "Japan China." You will get 1 billion 380 million results. On page one of search results you will also see two articles that I wrote. See here: http://bit.ly/rjaMbu

Even with that, I do not claim to be an SEO expert. 

If you are a customer, and the guy is telling to you to give him him your business because he is an "SEO expert" then give him this test:

1) Do they blog? If so, check their blog and see when they started. 


Blogging for six months is nothing to brag about. That's not even a rookie. Search some generic titles and see if you can find any results where they show up at the top of the list (and, no, I don't mean specific searches for the exact title of that particular blog post. I mean, if they write an article about, say, "Sicily pizza"... Search "pizza" or "Sicily" and see if you can find their article on the first few pages of results. If they are hot at SEO, you should be able to).

1a) If they do blog, check to see if they post everyday. Posting everyday for at least a year shows dedication and resolve (and that they are crazy). If they don't do that, or haven't, then they are poseurs and not players or, at best, students of the game.

2) Go look at their Facebook or Twitter account. Check the dates when they began. Is there a corporate page for this person's company? If not, forget it.     

On the other hand, If you are one of the many who are guilty of making these wild claims on expertise or being a "pro", then I suggest you stop. There are far too many charlatans running around as it is. If you get the label "charlatan" it will be quite hard to shake. 

Building trust and a good reputation takes a long time... It isn't made in an instant by creating a Twitter account and claiming, on the spot, that you are an expert. As former Soviet president Michale Gorbachev once said, "A lie told even ten thousands times never becomes the truth."

Stop claiming that you are "Internet savvy" if you are not. Just being able to do Internet searches or use G-mail does not make one internet savvy. Stop claiming you are a "CEO" unless you have a company that has at least, say, ten employees minimum...

And stop claiming that you are an "SEO expert" if you are not. It's easy to find out if it is all BS or not. You make the rest of us poseurs look bad....

You can become these "expert" things but just saying that you are or reading one book doesn't make you one. It will take a few years of effort and study.

The fastest and simplest way? Start a blog and start writing. Do that everyday, religiously. Use Twitter and Facebook to drive traffic to your posts. Write everyday religiously. Before, bowing to the east every morning, blog... Blog before that and after that... 


And blog before and after that!  


Study why some articles get many reads and why others don't. Practice and rearrange...

It will take you between one to two years to get a basic understanding of how it works and how to jolt your writing and titles to get high SEO results.

It's a close guarded secret by those who do know how to do it..

This stuff isn't written in a book. You only learn through sincere and dedicated effort. 


A jawbone is never a replacement for a backbone. Get started.

As Japan's Nuke Troubles Deflate, So Does a Japan Blogger

The sub-title of this blog should be: "As people lose interest in Japan's nuclear problems, bloggers on Japan lose readers."

THE TEMPTATIONS - AM I LOSING YOU?

I think all of us bloggers on Japan now have much deflated egos. I know I do. I have to admit it. I'm no longer flying high. I was a hot-shot blogger but now, to borrow a phrase from George Foreman, I am a "po" blogger. I am such a "po" blogger that I can't even afford to add the "or" at the end of "po." I am not a "poor" blogger. I am a "po" blogger. 


I was all proud of myself during the "hey-day" of the nuclear crisis in Japan as this blog was getting anywhere between 4,000 ~ 6,000 readers a day, on average, for about a month there (my current record is 8,418 readers in one day!). Those numbers, now, have dropped to about 1,500 ~ 1,800 readers a day. I can get over 2,000 ~2,200 if I blog three times a day like I used too, but, as people slowly return to work, along with the rest of Japan, who has time for that?


I guess my numbers are still pretty good for a blog that is barely one-year old, but, after those skyrocketing numbers, it is a bit of a downer.


This reminds me of how it used to be in Japan when I first came here in the early 1980's. There were very few foreigners here. Foreign guys were extremely popular amongst Japanese women. You would see these shockingly beautiful Japanese women hanging onto dorky looking foreign guys everywhere. You didn't think, "Why is that gorgeous goddess hanging out with that stupid-looking guy?" back then because you, too, had your own 4 or 5 awesome babes hanging around your neck! 


If you were a foreign guy in Japan in the 1980's, Japan was like dying and going to guy heaven.


Those days are long past. Foreign men are no longer anything special and now you see dorky looking foreigners hanging out with plain looking (albeit nice) Japanese girls. You still see the awesome women, but they are back to reality and are hanging out, for the most part, with rich guys (in Japan that means rich Japanese - funny that!)


Oh, those were the days!... But I digress... This blog is about the waning popularity of English language blogs on Japan. I suppose the English language blogs on Japan that were mainly tech and gadget orientated have not felt any drop in readership, yet I would imagine the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident didn't really jump their readership, but I could be mistaken. 


I 'm talking about the drop in readership to blogs about Japan that are culturally, economically or politically focused have all seen recent drops in interest. I'm sure that I am not the only blogger on Japan that is experiencing this drop in readership. 


That brings me to the real purpose of this blog post. Actually, I am writing this blog post for bloggers, like me, who have seen their numbers drop, or fail to rise as expected, whether they are in Japan or not or blogging about Japan or not. 


Fellow bloggers who do not see quickly great fruits of their works do not despair! Keep up the blogging and keep up the good work! 


As for myself, I am inspired by Mike "Mish" Shedlock. Mish has been blogging since 2005 at Global Economic Analysis. He tells me that he now gets about 1.8 million readers per month. That's wonderful but realize that he's been doing it for nearly seven years! So just because your numbers haven't climbed greatly in a year or two of blogging, don't give up! 


This is not an overnight success job.


I've been blogging since 2004, but not at my own site. I blogged at Lew Rockwell (LRC) and a few other sites until last year. I still submit to LRC. In 2006, Lew told me that one article I wrote in 2005 was the second most popular post on his blog for that entire year and that I had received over 1.5 million views. That article was entitled America is Bankrupt. You can read it here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/rogers/rogers171.html  When I wrote that article, I was bombed with criticism from hundreds of people. No one criticizes me for that anymore. 


I didn't write that post to be popular, I wrote it because I wanted to tell people what I thought.


Don't forget, bloggers, to ask yourself, who do we do this labor of love for? It's not for other people. It's for ourselves. It's because this is what we want to say. 


You don't need to send out notices to people on Twitter and Facebook that say, "Please read my blog!" or "Please follow my blog!" You only need to keep writing those posts and then letting people know the subject matter. If what you write is good and you have a policy and are focused, then they will come. If you are consistent, they will follow.


Also, don't be ashamed of low readership! Be proud of what you are doing! I think everyone needs to put a visitor counter on their blog or web page if they can. If you don't put a counter on your blog, it seems that you are hiding a possible embarrassment over low readership numbers! Being embarrassed about something like that is not cool! It's like worrying too much about what the neighbors might think. Don't do it.


Like the hilarious remarks by Ian Faith in the classic movie, "Spinal Tap" your attitude shouldn't be that your popularity is low, your attitude should be that your popularity is becoming more "selective." After all, you only want the beautiful, intelligent, cool people reading your blog, right?

"Oh, no, no. I don't think the band's popularity is waning, 

I think their appeal is becoming more selective." 

- Ian Faith from Spinal Tap

So be proud of your audience and place that counter on your blog!


I am also reminded about my youth and playing in a Punk band. One time we played at a place called Madame Wong's in Los Angeles with Black Flag and Fear. All the bands expected a massive turnout. I thought we'd have at least 300 people there. Nope! I think there were only 8 customers.


My band's set was sh*tty and uninspired because of this. Black Flag's set was awesome! After the show I asked one of the members of Black Flag about it and he told me, "It doesn't matter if you are playing in front of 3 people or 300 people, you go out there and give it 10,000%!" Wow! He's right. Spoken like a true professional.


That was the difference between Black Flag and my band. They played their hearts out every time, like professionals, regardless of the crowd. My band's performance was influenced by outside factors beyond our control.


Bloggers! Do not be influenced by outside factors! Write your hearts out. Give it your all. Remember that blogging is not something you do for three months and then get thousands of readers! Think about getting a few thousand readers a day after two or three years solid effort. That's the way to approach the very rewarding effort of blogging.


Inspire and they will come. 

Blogger "Disappears" Several Posts

MIsh Fills us in:


As many of you are aware, Blogger posts on Thursday were wiped out across the board (all blogs) when Google restored Blogger to a state from Wednesday, having to back out maintenance gone awry.

I just spoke with the head of the Google Blogger team and he expects "full recovery" of any missing posts, sometime later today."


Well, it didn't happen. I lost a previous blog post about making correct decisions (that had already been commented on by several thoughtful readers about "Making the Correct Decision") and I lost the content of 4 posts that were in "Draft Mode." All four of those have completely disappeared. One of them was a two-part series on the government "take-over" of TEPCO that I had spent over two hours on.


Blogger team expected the posts to return yesterday, but that hasn't happened. Those posts have dropped down the memory hole.


Not only that, but, in my case, I was unable to access my Blogger dashboard to edit or write for almost two days. 


Sorry for the trouble. Maybe it is time to switch to Wordpress.

Blogger Down For Almost Two Days

Notice: Sorry that I was unable to post anything new yesterday. Google has been having much trouble with Blogger over these past few days. I was unable to update this blog for over 24 hours. I have to run now, but will update it ASAP.


You good folks could see the blog, but us bloggers could not access our dashboard to update new posts. It looked like this for the last 40 hours:

Earthquake, Tsunami, Nuclear Accident & Bloggers

I received an email this morning from Mr. Marc Shaffner who runs the excellent blog Searching for Accurate Maps asking me about why we do this blogging business and our future. I thought it was an excellent question and one I had asked myself several months ago. I think this conversation would be of interest to anyone who is doing Social Media, Social Media Marketing and blogging - or is thinking about blogging. I've written before that blogging blows Social Media away as blogging gives one a base camp; Social media is good but the party is always at someone else's house. With your own blog, the party is at your home and your are the host!

Here's Marc's letter and my reply. I hope you find this exchange useful: 

Mike, 

Out of interest, what is the purpose of your blog (I mean usually, before this nuclear/tsunami mess)? You don't make money out of it (that I can see), you don't sell a product. 

The reason I ask is, because Searching for Accurate Maps is now getting 200 or so visitors/day. 

Once this crisis is over, the blog will lose its focus point and hence its visitors, and I'm trying to think of ways to capitalize (I'm not thinking primarily of money at the moment). 

- Marc

A good question. Here's my reply to Marc:

Hi Marc,

Good morning.

What is the purpose of my blog? Good question. I think I might be like you! I started my blog  because I worked in mass media for so many decades. As a producer, part of my job was selling advertising for programs I produced. 

These last few years saw a rapid decline in advertisers for the Main Stream Mass Media  MSM (this recent event in Japan and the shoddy reporting by that media is one more good reason why) and  that, besides the facts that clients cannot actually count how many people are really watching or listening to a broadcast on the traditional channels made me realize that I had better change and get Internet savvy.

Today, you can go around you and ask many people if they are Internet savvy and most of the people under 45 will tell you they are, but they are fooling themselves. They are not Internet savvy by any stretch of the imagination. I don't think that being able to do email or use Google search or Microsoft office makes anyone Internet savvy. But, many of these people will fool themselves and tell you that they are.

It's laughable when you consider it like that, but it's true.

So, if I wanted to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, I needed to actually do my own blogging and Social Media. I had to do these things and learn by experience on effective ways to write on the Internet and how to use Social Media. There's a million lessons to learn. The only way you can learn them is by doing them yourself. There's even a totally different skill set at titling blog posts for maximum effectiveness.

There's not really any bible on the subject of how to effectively do blogging, Social Media and the Internet, short of David Meerman Scott's "New Rules of PR and Marketing" so the only way to know how it works is by jumping in head first and doing it...

Oh, Marc, how many times I've wanted to quit blogging too! Staring is one thing... Having the drive and perseverance is what makes the big difference. I gather that most people who start a blog quit after three months. But I've held on - in spite of myself - and persisted. I am glad I did.

My blog started out as a blog for Marketing and I wrote about the things I learned everyday concerning the Internet. Then it started to evolve. It is basically, now, about three things (I think) and all relate to Japan:

1) Marketing

2) Mass Media

3) Anything "Japan" that tickles my fancy

I don't run advertising on this blog because I want to fairly criticize if I can and not be compromised. I want to be as honest as I can be. Regretfully, at this very moment, there is a particular company that I need to expose but have been afraid to do so because there is one person at that company who is a great person (the rest? well...) and I don't want to make trouble for that guy... But, that company is messed up and needs to be exposed... I placate my feelings of procrastination because, if you search this companies name on the net and see what people are saying about it, you'll find that few say anything good about it... So, I guess it can wait. 

But I digress... This might sound like bragging but the fact of the matter is that, after doing this for these last 8 months or so, I have gotten over 200,000 visitors to which I am blown away and humbled. I have to thank my friends Mish Shedlock and Lew Rockwell for their fabulous support. Without those guys, I might still be at 20 page views a day (with more than half of those by me!) If you are getting over 200 views a day - and your blog is new - that's excellent! Keep up the good work. I don't think that you will lose readers after this crisis is over for three reasons:

1. This crisis is going on for a long time... With ups and downs over the next few months, I suspect.
2. This earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident shows us that it was the bloggers and a very few other minor medai that were doing the truthful reporting on the situation here. The main stream mass media - and even many so-called “Alternative media” were - to put it mildly - basically sucking at their jobs with the fearmongering and crass sensationalism
3. Your writing quality and style is excellent! Well done, really!

Like, I said, Marc, your writing is very good and level-headed. I may not agree with what you say, but I love the way you say it and think people need differing viewpoints to be able to draw their own conclusions (if, that is, that there are any left who can still think for themselves).

In the book, "New Rules of Marketing and PR" David Meerman Scott talks about doing this blogging and just doing it and learning while you go. He is right.  If you start out with the idea, "OK, I'll blog, but how do I get paid?" Then you are starting out on the wrong foot. In my case, I've actually been hired and paid quite well from two different companies to teach their people how to use the Internet, Social Media and to blog effectively... I've been approached by a few others but I declined because I didn't find their business "fun" nor appealing to me (Translation: I don't use nor even like their products and think they are unhealthy - not just for the body, but for society).  

By having a blog, I can show people with data what I am doing and prove by actions - not just words - that I do know what I am talking about. Well, at least I know more than 99.9% of the other people out there do.

You'd be very surprised by just how many Japanese advertising and PR agencies give advice to clients on how to use the Internet yet none of them actually blog or use Social Media personally. It's like the blind leading the blind.

I think, Marc, that if you consider the situation in Japan - about blogging - then you can see where there are very few people blogging about specific “adult” subjects concerning Japan (and I don’t mean “adult” as in porn). Most Japan blogs are Anime, Manga, Kinky stuff and other frivolity. Those are nice, but I think blogs like yours and mine are few.

Keep up your blog and keep it focused and the rewards will come... You are a great writer and you have no competition as you are probably the only expert in your field blogging in Japan, no?

- Mike

------

See Marc's excellent blog and top quality factual reporting on Japan's nuclear accident and the current status here at Searching for Accurate Maps. http://www.sheffnersweb.net/blogs/accuratemaps/

7 Ways to Lose Readers to Your Blog

A great piece out today on Social Media Today; Seven Ways to Lose 10 Readers a Day on Your Blog.

I think this is great advice and (I think  - I hope) I am not guilty of any of these. 


From Social Media Today:

Nothing is more important to a blogger than having a loyal following. However, even the best and bravest of the blogging community often make critical mistakes that not only fail to build a visitor base, but sabotage these efforts. Here are seven common mistakes that you need to avoid if you don’t want to drive visitors from your site. 

1. The giant brick wall of text.

Only one in seven people who visit a given entry will actually read the entire thing. The rest will skim through it, taking a look at headers, images, bold text, links, and other portions of the site that stick out. Nonetheless, many bloggers present their content in long paragraphs, with no headers, no bulleted lists, no bold text — in short, as a giant brick wall of text that’s nearly impossible to skim.

2. Selling out without subtlety.
Yes, we understand: You’re in the blogging game to make money. That doesn’t mean that your entries should be obvious advertisements for a product, or that ads should flood the layout of your site. Trying to sell without subtlety, and without already establishing reader loyalty, is like trying to kiss your blind date two minutes after meeting them — it comes off too strong, it makes it seem like you only care about one thing, and you’re likely to send them running.

Number 2 is the killer for me whenever I read a blog. My company does marketing and advertising for some major corporations so I can understand this concern by most bloggers. But I try to do my best and tell things like they are. 

The truth is best. Now, at this time, I sometimes think that if I can't say anything nice, I'll say nothing at all, but very soon I figure that this blog will be a blog for consumer advocacy and I'm going to write clearly about corporations who are not doing a good job. Sure, some of them will be mad, but, in the long run, when I complain about their product and service if they take that and consider it honestly then do something to fix the problem, I am actually doing them a favor.

Anyway, if you are a blogger, you might want to read more about the 7 Ways to Lose Readers to Your Blog here.