3 things I learned from 1 year of blogging

Okay, I've definitely learned more than 3 things from 1 year of blogging but these 3 things stand out.

1. Comments. Comments. Comments. The mainstay of a blog. I think I'm better at commenting than I am at writing posts. Especially answering questions. I've stopped leaving single word comments because when people leave me those, I wonder if they actually read my post. So if I comment, it's actually at least 2 lines. More if I like the person and we've become friends. Way more if you ask a lot of questions. I leave a comment on every blog I visit (unless there are technical difficulties) and I visit return blog visits unless the person hides their profile.

2. Google reader is the best invention after cable tv (in my opinion :). It's a time-saver...really helps you organize the posts you want to read ( I hit the blogs I follow FIRST). You can share posts with friends and bookmark items you want to revisit. The only scary thing is when you go away and have no internet connection and then check back to see that you have 1000 + unread posts...lol..

3. Playing in carnivals is possibly the single best way to make new friends with a common interest. I started playing in photo memes, then card carnivals and blog hops. It is a lot of work but the fastest way to network.

What have you learned from blogging?

This layout was inspired by the challenge at Method Playground to go green. I used a mirror (from an old compact), a key (spoiled lock) and a brown paper bag. Patterned paper from Collage Press, vinyl letters from American Crafts. Some pearls, buttons and bling. Pin It

10 reasons

Supplies: Patterned paper: Graphic 45, Cardstock: Bazzill, Mask & metal embellishments: Tim Holtz, Chipboard & puffy stickers: American Crafts, Letter stickers: Toga, Others: Distress inks, glimmer mist, brown pen, transparency, white pen, crackle paint, wood embellishment, ribbon,lace

This post 10 reasons is dedicated to my blogland friend Unseen Rajasthan who has the most amazing blog featuring pictures and information about the places he has visited in India. Thank you for this award... :)

My layout features the 10 reasons why I enjoy blogging. I started blogging initially just to take part in online craft challenges but it has since evolved and become a "forum" for communication with friends I meet online. None of my family or friends IRL reads my blog. Really. What about you? What are your reasons for blogging?

This layout was inspired by the challenges at The Next Step & The Story Matters.

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Dear Blogger team

I have been blogging for 7 months now and was just wondering if you could maybe help me out ...
1. Any chance of reducing spamming such that word verification would be a totally unnecessary function?
2. Any possibility that you can prompt when someone's trying to leave a nasty comment...something along the lines of..."Hey, that's not very nice!"...then we won't need comment moderation and approval...?
3. Any chance that URLs are automatically linked so that we don't have to do html coding when leaving a simple direct link to our post?
4. Any chance of working out all the existing bugs in the current widgets instead of adding new widgets?
5. Is it possible to click on a commenter's name and be brought immediately to their last blog post instead of having to go to the user profile?
6. Can we have a lot less down time?
7. Can you tell me why my comments sometimes disappear into a mysterious black hole when I am in the middle of writing one?
8. Can I get the awesome post I wrote yesterday that I intended to post today that *gasp* is no longer in my drafts folder? Why? Why? Why?
9. Why do I have to constantly clear my cache & cookies before I can load pictures?
10.Why do IE users always get an error message?
11. Why doesn't anybody from Google blogger respond to my queries? Hey, I need help!
12. Why can't I leave a comment on a blog?
13. Should I switch to a different platform?

Inspired by Thursday 13. Pin It

13 ways to get more blog comments

Whew! I made it! 6 months of blogging. [I did a post at 3 months.]. So now I'm way past people just visiting my blog, I want them to comment. Don't you just love comments? :)

I did a little research, both online and through some books I found at the library. Here are 13 ways to get more people to comment. These are not exhaustive. Some I've tried, some I haven't.

1. Write short posts. Especially if you want people to read through your entire post.

2. If your topic is really descriptive, add pictures to sustain interest. And keep important points at the beginning of the post.

3. Ask questions. Try to do it subtly in the beginning and at the end. People love to answer questions. Somehow "what do you think?" is a better call to action than "let me know what you think".

4. Respond to your commenters. Reply to their questions. Visit their blogs. Familiarity breeds participation. Whenever I participate in memes, I always visit blogs of people who have left me lovely comments first because I remember them..:).

5. Relevant content. Content can be targeted for a niche group of people or to a wider audience. People like to respond to something they can relate to. Just last month, I blogged about something as mundane as scissors and people commented and answered my questions. I guess it's because everybody has a pair somewhere.

6. As much as you wish to be thorough, leave your post a little open-ended so that readers will comment to point out to you what you missed out.

7. Have a giveaway. Personally, I haven't tried this but by observation, this seems to work. Have you tried it?

8. Ask for help in solving problems...people are generally helpful and sympathetic.

9. Visit blogs and leave meaningful comments. This really really works. I no longer leave meaningless single word comments that add no value because you really get what you give...:)

10. Disable the word verification function. Apparently this is a turn-off for a lot of people. Personally, when I experience difficulty in leaving a comment (because blogger sometimes hangs at this stage), I just don't. I've disabled this function for two weeks now and so far no spam and a few more comments I think....:) Have any of you had problems?

11. Substantiate your posts with relevant links. Check to make sure the links work.

12. Be positive. No one likes to read a whiny post. Vent if you must but stay generally upbeat. I gave up visiting a blog entirely because the writer blamed everyone else for her "miserable life" and the language was totally offensive. Have you had such an experience?

13. Be yourself. You don't have to be an open book but people respond positively to authenticity.

I leave you with this post on how to leave a great comment. There's a hilarious YouTube video in it that you must watch! Oh yeah, before you go, have you left a comment on my post? ;)

Inspired by Thursday 13. Pin It

Thursday 13 - 13 things I've learnt as a 3-month old blogger

1. Blogging is hard hard work.... it requires effort and some level of commitment to keep at it. It takes up more time than what I initially thought it would...linking to posts, inserting pictures, writing meaningful posts. Blogger's help function isn't really very comprehensive and a google search isn't very helpful if you can't narrow down the focus. I stumbled and struggled a little to get started even though I grew up with computers and the internet.

2. Blogging is a two-way street. Participation in other blogs through commenting is important because it shows appreciation for other bloggers' opinions/posts. That said, I do comment only when I feel I can offer something of value that is relevant to the type of issues being discussed. Or sometimes, if the author explicitly asks visitors to say "hi" . I now spend half my "blogging time" reading other people's blogs, learning about what I like and what I don't and appreciating other bloggers' efforts to engage their audience. Respect begets respect, right?

3. That I dig the comments people leave me. Seriously. I've never been the attention-seeking sort but this fuels my narcissistic side somewhat. To think I wanted to disable the comment function...what was I thinking? Of course, people have been nice so far...

4. Succeeding as a blogger is like most things in life - it takes time and practice. I can only get better at it. If I keep at it.When I read about the demise of the world's oldest blogger, I knew that this shouldn't be an excuse..given life expectancy rates, I have a good 80 years to get better at this, right? Blogs are a work in progress. Always.

5. That I need to make the effort to be objective. Sure, it's my blog and I should be able to express my opinions. But I should also be mindful that there are others reading who may not agree with me because our social realities are different. Culture. Religion. Age. And a whole load of other things.

6. That after reading so many blogs, I want to be REAL and be able to relate to people's life in a meaningful way. I did put some thought into last week's post about 13 good things about the economic downturn but it could be better if I wrote it in a more personal way..it could have been a good dialogue for discussion especially since it is something that is affecting everybody. See #12.

7. That I should include relevant links in my posts. This can sometimes help readers understand your posts and add credibility to the issues you are addressing. This is something I'm doing right now in this post..:)

8. That it is not quantity but the quality. Blog readers have discerning tastes...afterall, there are many blogs to pick and choose from so they definitely expect content of a certain quality. To a certain extent, I think blogging is really about reinventing journalism. In the internet age, you don't need to be a good writer to blog. There are a lot of blogs that offer visual stimulation/inspiration like the photo memes I discovered this week - Ruby Tuesday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday and Skywatch Friday. Interesting stuff that I intend to try out.

9. I should be more focused on my blog posts. I find it confusing when some bloggers cover many things in one post...sometimes I get so lost, I give up reading altogether. My intent is not to be a prolific blogger but to be a proficient one. Does this make sense?

10. That I still don't understand a lot of things that are associated with the blogosphere...Twitter (I really don't get this phenomenon, am I missing out?), Technorati (this is supposed to help my blog get noticed and searched but is it necessary?), Trackback (how does this work?). Honestly, I still don't know how to link a direct URL within a comment box.

11. That there are a lot of blog tools available for FREE. But what are the tools I really need? I don't want to focus on all the bells and whistles and create a beautiful blog with no real content. So at this time, I'm still trying to fine-tune and narrow the scope of what my blog should be about.

12. It is important to be yourself. I realized that the blogs I gravitate to are not those who write in the impersonal, third person voice but those who are excited, engaged and sometimes enraged about things in life...because that's life..Some of these bloggers are people like Aimee McEwen whose blog is really a reflection of her fun, artistic side (I can feel her excitement as I read her posts and her original artwork is amazing), Kirsty Wiseman, who is able to describe her daily living and artistic pursuits with wry Brit humour (she's really funny and she writes very well), Nic Howard, who blogs about everday living and scrapbooking in New Zealand (her layouts are true to life and she's funny too). And through Thursday 13, I've discovered Anthony North who writes about everything with "an offbeat style" while retaining "a high level of rationality" (his own words) - his writing is profound and I haven't left a comment because I honestly don't know what I can add! And also, I did like Rian Fike's piece on squids - I find his blog fascinating and in his own words "completely controlled by chaotic creativity". That said, I am still defining who I am and trying to find my own voice in the blogosphere. When I first started, it was just about having a channel to take part in creative challenges, now it has evolved and I want it to encompass my other interests as well.

13. That I've made some "mistakes". (a) Like not responding to comments. Because behind every comment is a real person, with opinions and feelings. If someone took time to write something, I should at least let them know "hey, I hear you!". (I started doing this just this week...after I discovered I could redirect the comments to my email account and respond directly to the commenter...I know I know..you must be thinking "duh"! So, I'm on a gentle learning curve...appreciate some help here.) Right now, the comments are manageable but I'm wondering how this is going to be possible when the numbers increase?? (b)Not subscribing to a whole list of other stuff (see #10 & #11) which is a chicken and egg thing. Help! (c) Not choosing a fantastic blog address that tells readers exactly what it is all about but instead chose one with my initial and last name (yeah..boring..)..this I think I can salvage when I can finally think of a fancy all-encompassing name for a blog.

Thanks for reading my list. Please feel free to share with me your experiences on blogging, I'm keen to learn! Check the rest of the Thursday 13 participants, they have interesting things to share! Pin It