Breaking the Blogging Code
My goal of being a full time writer is now within reach. I have met most of my objectives (picking up more online jobs, getting queries out, working on my novels, etc) but my blog is still a thorn in my side.
Writing the material is not the problem. Most days it motivates me to do more Γ’β¬β itΓ’β¬β’s my writerΓ’β¬β’s block lucky charm. ItΓ’β¬β’s the traffic situation that is hounding me. Every time I THINK I understand what I need to be doing, my traffic stays the same or even goes down. I havenΓ’β¬β’t been able to find that magic key. IΓ’β¬β’m beginning to believe itΓ’β¬β’s more like a magic bean.
Things I know:
ΓΒ· Blog what you know (passion)
ΓΒ· Comment on other blogs
ΓΒ· Visit (and be active) on forums
ΓΒ· Participate in blog carnivals
ΓΒ· Blog consistently
What I donΓ’β¬β’t know is what matters the most or what makes the real difference.
Like anything else, I need to know what IΓ’β¬β’m doing and when IΓ’β¬β’m doing it so that I can see the effect. Journaling is my favorite way to do that. I have a bird journal (where the family keeps track of all the birds we see, where, and when we put out feed), a gardening journal (to keep up with the last frost and first frost of each year, what we planted, what died, etc) and I have a personal journal.
Today I started my first blog journal. Every day this month I intend to try something new to increase my traffic. IΓ’β¬β’ll keep a record of the numbers so that I can see what is effective for me and what is not so effective. Posting will continue as usual, but I will note what subject I posted on, whether or not there were links, and if graphics were involved Γ’β¬β IΓ’β¬β’ll also come back and list when I get comments on the posts.
This is doable. With persistence and ingenuity, anything is possible. I can break the code. Blogging can become a source of income in my life. Γ’β¬ΕI know it can, I know it can, I know it can.Γ’β¬Β