Be a Better Blogger? WTF??

Okay this has been brewing for a while and against all my powers of restraint I just have to ask - what exactly is a better blogger?

Really.

I'm one of Darren Rowse's 121,000 RSS readers and hate to admit it. Did I say "reader" - I should have said I get his daily Post Title sent to my inbox and then two seconds later I delete it. Today I actually clicked through to his blog just to read the 121,000 comments he must get from his "riveting" posts or in this case his "guest" poster; some fella called Seth Waite who must have stayed up all night in the throws of ecstasy, just waiting for Darren to publish his eye opening work entitled "Forget the Fatal Flaws of Blogging". Thank GAWD I read it - now I know that I have to overcome the two things that have been holding me back - WISDOM and Effort!

CheeeeeRiiiiiist - Darren must want to put a gun to his head. Imagine starting a blog about blogging, somehow attaining an audience for such an inane topic and then having to barf out a fluff post everyday to keep the masses happy. Turns out I'm not the only one who deletes his daily updates unread - apparently 120,995 or so other twits like me also keep the subscription but never read a word. All the posts I checked managed to draw 50 comments or so which sucks given the vast army of subscribers. Those who do comment are nothing more than the usual ass lickers and bone heads you'll find spewing crap on other A list sites.

I don't blame Rowse of course - he's just trying to make a buck and why not, by cashing in on the advertisers who think they are going to make money from his readers. The thing is - every post is as mind numbing as the last - "Some arbitrary number of days to be a better blogger" which consist of lists of horseshit items like the following;

(Keep in mind that Rowse claims his blogging tips are to help you make money online - check his byline "Blog Tips to help you make money blogging")

I present Darren Rowse's Problogger's tips (with full link credit) with my own version in bold.

1. Giving up too early - blogs take time to take off. DOH

2. Putting off starting a blog - waiting until everything is just right before launching can mean you never do it. Uh Doh again

3. Echoing what everyone else is talking about - say something unique and share your opinion. Haven't I heard this a thousand times already!

4. Not blogging on your own domain - I know some swear by using hosted blogs but if you want ultimate control of your blog it is best to do it on your own domain and hosting. Hehe - Yup - no one could possibly be successful using a free host...

5. Irregular Posting - you don’t have to post every day but try to establish a regular rhythm of posting. Oops really - regular posting matters huh? Shit...

6. Being too apologetic - ’sorry I haven’t written for a while’ can end up being the most common type of post on a blog - yes apologize if you’ve messed up but don’t be too hard on yourself - keep investing your time into building your blog up rather than highlighting it’s problems. Gee sorry I haven't been posting for a while... Why did I gain 1800 subscribers over the last 3 months with only 3 posts?

7. Focusing more upon Quick Traffic than Loyal Readers - there’s nothing wrong with a big rush of traffic from social media or another blog - but just as important as that is building reader loyalty. Sometimes growing one reader at a time is more fruitful than getting spikes of traffic that never returns. Yah - or maybe it's better to just get search engine traffic and make money instead...

8. Clutter - too many buttons, widgets, navigation elements. What difference does it make if no one ever clicks through from their email or feedreader?

9. Great Posts but Terrible Titles - don’t short change yourself by investing hours into writing great content only to slap a mediocre headline/title onto it. Yah, Careful or you may never get a reader because your post titles only attract targeted search traffic...

10. Not Defining a Topic - the most successful blogs have a well defined topic/niche (or they target a certain demographic) Holy Crap - he actually got one right but not sure how he defines a topic using "Snappy Post Titles"

11. Choosing a Topic you have no Interest in - for your blog to be successful you’ll need to blog regularly on your topic for years - if you want to sustain it choose something you have an interest in or love for or you’ll run out of steam. So why are all my 10 post sites targeting acne and weightloss still making money years after I lost interest in them? Wait - I never had an interest in them.

12. Too many Ads - I don’t have a problem with ads on a blog from Day #1 but when they overpower the content and push it down the page too far they hurt your chances of building a loyal readership. Yah - readers hate it but they make money from the search visitors. I hate it when people don't read my crap and just click ads...

13. Being too Insular/Expecting Readers to come to You - many bloggers starting out fail to realize that the more you put yourself out there and interact with other bloggers the more chance you have of being read. So get out and spam Darren's comments and make yourself known or write a fluff post on his blog telling people they need "Wisdom and Effort" - I bet Seth is rolling in cash today.

14. Blogging about Making Money Blogging (as a first blog) - I’ve lost count of how many bloggers I’ve seen start blogs on the topic of blogging for money when they’ve never made money blogging. Start with something you know. True I guess unless you plan on outranking everyone in the niche... hehe.

15. Not Being Useful - blogs that meet needs and solve problems are blogs that people will keep coming back to and which they’ll spread news of to their network. Like this post is useful for beginners to stop wasting time reading Problogger.

16. Writing for Search Engines Before Humans - you can always tell when a blogger discovers Search Engine Optimization for the first time. Suddenly titles don’t make sense, keywords appear in posts for no real reason, links to other pages on the blog that are irrelevant to the post keep being used. Learn SEO - but keep your readers as your #1 priority. Hahaha - or just dominate the serps and learn that readers don't click ads or buy crap.

17. Becoming a Stats-a-holic - the lure of checking your stats is understandable and common to new (and older) bloggers - but it can become an unhealthy obsession that leads to distraction and depression. I can't imagine how depressing it is to see a stat like 121k of RSS subscribers and only 35 comments on your post...

18. Link Baiting with Personal Attack - taking pot shots at other bloggers might get you some quick traffic - but hate breeds hate and the type of readers you attract and the culture it’ll breed on your blog could come back to bite you. Plus you’ll get a reputation that you might not want to live with. I can live with it...

19. Not Knowing Why You’re Blogging - while most of us don’t really know what we’re doing at the start - the faster you can work out what the purpose of your blog is the sooner you’ll start moving toward achieving that purpose. The sooner you realize that all your posts are inane fluff the better - just get those RSS subscribers and the advertisers will line up. Or quit being a blogger and become an internet marketer.

20. Not Selling Yourself - one thing I don’t think many bloggers get is the power of blogs to sell yourself as a blogger. There’s nothing wrong with monetizing a blog with ads - but maybe a better long term strategy is to use a blog to advertise who you are and what you can offer readers. You could offer your readers a list like this while telling people you don't like to publicize yourself like Darren's post publicizing himself... "Since launching 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook there have been many reviews written by other bloggers of the resource. I’ve not really linked up to too many of them as I’m naturally a little shy about promoting my own work - but today was challenged by another blogger to step out of my comfort zone a little and share some of the testimonies"

21. Thinking You Have to Know it All - one of the best things about blogs is that they’re a great medium for involving your readers in the process of learning. Leave space for others to interact, share what they know and contribute. Apparently I do everything you shouldn't do according to Darren Rowse which means I definitely don't know it all - whew at least I got that one right...

Now while I am having a little fun at Darren's expense I don't blame him for all the crap he spews - he has to come up with something everyday and the fact is there is only one thing you need to be a better blogger - be interesting. If people find you interesting you will develop readers just by word of mouth. It may take a while but it will happen. Vic developed an audience in a heart beat because he was fun to read while he was posting on Blogger Unleashed. Ben is interesting and has become a favorite in a short time on his site Make Money Online with SEO. My real point however, and it has always been the same, is that if you are a beginner trying to make money online you will be wasting your time reading any advice given out by the A-List bloggers. They are bloggers and while they make money due to their popularity they do not give advice on how to make money online if you are not a popular blogger. Telling people to become a popular blogger is not a recipe for success. Spend your time learning SEO, Internet marketing and how to build sites that can convert search traffic into buyers and you will be miles ahead of the Bloggers. I started this blog long after Rowse was a popular blogger and while I don't have his fame I can assure you I make more money than he does. From free hosted blogs no less and the reason is simple - I get search traffic by the ton looking for what I have to offer.

My readers have heard this before but this post is really for the 5000 or so people who dropped in from the search engines today. There are three camps in the "Make Money Online" racket and the sooner you get them straight the better.

Camp 1 - the Bloggers. Also known as the A-list. This is Darren Rowse's camp and if you find any site with links pointing to him or John Chow, Shoemoney, Copy Blogger, Yaro etc then do yourself a favor and run. You will piss away your time trying to be another A-Lister and fail. Read Costa's take on this; Are you Still Dreaming of Being a Famous Blogger

Camp 2 - the Product Pimps. Also known as the list marketers. I won't bother with the many names suffice to say these people make money selling crap using email lists and I'm sure your inbox is already full of them. They hang out on forums like Warrior and Digital Point and exist to make money off of you. They have never produced anything that will enable you to make money yourself. Do not waste your time on those forums - nothing but useless advice from people who have never made a dime online.

Camp 3 - the Internet Marketers. This is the far end of the pool and to date very few of them have come forward as they really do make money online and don't for obvious reasons spend time telling others how they do it. Aside from myself and Vic and Ben as mentioned above, there is Courtney Tuttle who gives no nonsense advice on his blogs and offers the best paid course online with the Keyword Academy Coaching program. Over the years I have urged a lot of otherwise quiet Internet Marketers to come forward and you can find a number of them in my sidebar. The common denominator is that we understand SEO and make money from the search engines and not from readers. All the info you need to make a living online is freely given by us as we are not competing with each other selling the latest crap ebook to bloggers. We don't target bloggers - we target civilians and provide targeted info to the people actively searching for it online. Our methods worked 5 years ago and still work today and you don't have to waste time with dumb ass things like Twitter, Facebook, Stumbleupon or any of the other time sucking social network sites.

I get a dozen emails a day asking "how to make money online?" - the answer is to start reading this blog, or Vic's, or Ben's or spend a dollar and sign up with Court. If you really want to make money then get off your ass, read the right stuff and run like hell if someone tries to tell you how to be a better blogger!

I tee off in an hour...

Cheers

Griz

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