I think everyone out there who blogs with passion and with creativity and with skill should speak up and declare themselves a Writer with a capital W. I think it's time that all bloggers, especially daddy and mommy bloggers (no, I don't resent that term - I embrace it) should demand the respect that their traffic, their influence and their talent commands.
I wasn't really looking for ads or trading ads, etc. Came across Blog Friendly PR on another blog. I signed up for WordGrrls. Will see how it goes. Does look interesting but I'm not keen on making posts to advertise anything. The sidebar is ad real estate, not my posts.I do have a soft spot for PR after taking a college course in PR and communications.
I read your first post and nothing else. My first thought was why do you want to do a personal blog? Seems you are all against the whole point of a personal blog. Plus you don't want one set of people to read it yet want to promote it to find readers. Which is it?
I've been keeping a personal blog since 1998. My current one started in 2004. It's freewriting. It's temper tantrums. It's rants and links you want to find later but forget all about and then realize they just didn't matter all that much anyway. I go for months without promoting my blog. I don't write it for anyone really so what does it matter who reads it. I don't even know why I read it some days. I've been through a divorce in my personal blog. I've been through immigration, toe lint, nose picking and the agonies of online dating. I've written about being very unhappy and I've written about the best days in my life. I write things I hope family don't read but still I post them, daring fate. If you can't write about all of that in your own slant what is the point? Stick to a topical/ niche blog.
I don't hide much about who I am. If you find yourself in Barrie, Ontario you can find me there. That is a real photo of me in this forum. If I looked like a movie star I'd plaster more of them around. Having a personal blog is liberating. I don't give my URL to anyone I know but they sometimes find it. Most of them are not Internet types so they read one post and wander off like cows grazing in a field.
I've had two online stalkers in the time I have been online. I have had my blog hacked once (mild stuff and once I changed the password it was over). I've had people go totally off their rockers when I posted about being Pagan and really go bonkers when I posted about being a Witch. Then I posted about picking my nose and I had tons of comments from people laughing along with me. That's what a personal blog is. Throw caution to the wind, sit back and laugh at yourself.
I do use my real name, first name. I started using the stick figure drawing... a few years ago I guess. I drew it myself so no one can say it's not uniquely me. I don't post a photo of myself. I know it's kind of silly but I like my looks (overall) and I don't intend to set myself up for bashing any more.
I guess the stick figure face is branding at this point. It's kind of cute and friendly.
I'm very much myself online. I think it is easier to be myself in my blogs. I tend to be too honest as it is just so much easier to be honest than try to remember what all the right games and lies are. I get fed up with that stuff. If I contradict myself in my opinions it's because I changed my mind and I've given myself the freedom to do that. I'm not suiting myself to a persona here but in the rest of my life I get stuck that way. I find travel is the best cure!
I do memes if they are interesting or if someone I regularly read tags me with one. I pass on most of them because they are repetitive. It's easy to jump all over memes and be part of the "in" crowd. But my blog is personal and having traffic is interesting but not the reason I keep a blog. I do a meme if I want to. Answering the questions are fun if you don't take them seriously. No one needs to know your first pet's name but you don't have to take it seriously and give a real answer. Instead of writing a pet's name write the name you called your last boyfriend when you played naughty games. That's far more fun than reading anything real or true.
I wrote a confession to being a nose picker once and had loads of comments, most laughing about my post. One posted about how unsanitary that is and blab, blab, blab. It didn't matter. The post was fun to write and it still gets traffic even though it's well buried in my archives now.
Last of all, you're making a mistake if you write a blog to please your readers. You lose something when you write for an audience. It's much more interesting to step inside a blog when someone is writing just to please themselves. You take more chances and are far more likely to be unique and original. Anything less is just following the crowd and then you're just one more blog in the swamp.
You Are a Life Blogger! |
 Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And you make it as entertaining as possible. You may be guilty of over-sharing a bit on your blog, but you can't help it. Your life is truly an open book. Or in this case, an open blog! |
Your Blogging Type is Artistic and Passionate |
 You see your blog as the ultimate personal expression - and work hard to make it great. One moment you may be working on a new dramatic design for your blog... And the next, you're passionately writing about your pet causes. Your blog is very important - and you're careful about who you share it with. |
Your Blog Should Be Purple |
 You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say. |
Maurica had the first blogger type quiz. The rest I picked up while I was taking the first one.
The click me ads are never going to make big money cause they have had their time and now it's gone. People don't even look at the ads any more. Sidebar content may as well not exist unless it is something personal. I do find people notice my flickr badge which shows photos I have taken. But, the rest of the stuff on my sidebar may as well just be there for me. Which, most of it is.
I used to think the best way to use the Internet was the traditional way, the Information highway. But the highway is clogged up with billboards and you can't always find the highway through the signage.
Freelancing is great. If you can do that. I freelance but do not find the Internet useful in this. No one ever found my resume online except those who came to spam my email. So, not exceptionally useful.
These days I think the best way for a company/ business to use the Internet is to give information about themselves, offer sales/ coupons and such. But, don't hope people will find you. Bring the people to your site. Offer the link on business cards, flyers, and so on. The Internet can be information storage. The highway is just a traffic jam now.
Alas, this isn't gonna be just a white pages for bloggers. We are gonna have fun over here. I plan on having guest bloggers, selecting a state/country and it's bloggers to feature daily just to ram traffic through your sites, and starting next week I will spotlight and interview a particular blogger. And no questions like "where do you see yourself in five years" will be asked. Blech ick. If you want to be included in the listing or individually spotlighted at some point, go to your state/country of residence and sign in. I'll link you up.
I'm getting a little irked with "professional" bloggers who don't know a damn thing about writing, maintaining or creating a blog. Try using a dictionary if you want anyone to take you seriously. Don't know how to fix an error on your template? Then do not call yourself a professional blogger until you can load a new template and make it work.
Grumpy Cow has this template for sale. I like it but can't see it working here the way I have mucked around with my template. If you are interested it can be customized with your blog name, of course. It is one of a kind, only one will be sold to one person for $15 (US dollars).
NaComLeavMo--National Comment Leaving Month (the national refers to wherever you are reading) from May 25th to June 25th. A full month of intense comment leaving. Leave 5 comments a day and return one comment a day for the month.
