Jan 14 2009
The Two Terrible Mistakes Some Bloggers Make
Anyone who has attempted to blog has a common confession to make: It’s easy to start a blog, but it takes a Herculean effort to keep it going.
It takes great stamina and will power to last the marathon race.
Many have the potential to last the blogging marathon. However, due to some self-defeating habits, they fall out of the race and give up altogether.
The first self-defeating habit is expecting every post to be perfect, to be of the standard of a New York Times article. If you expect that, you shouldn’t be blogging but writing for NYT.
You can’t expect every blog post to be perfect. It’s like a game of darts. You can’t expect to hit bull’s eye each time you unleash a blog post.
It is enough that you’ve said what you’ve wanted to say. So long as readers are not commenting how terrible your post is, you have no reason to doubt the quality of your posts.
Maintaining regular posts is more important than writing masterpieces. You don’t have to write to the highest standard. Just write to an acceptable standard. So, don’t send your posts to the recycle bin yet if you’re not entirely satisfied with it. Publish them and give your readers a chance to decide.
Then there are bloggers who worry about not getting enough comments or getting none at all. For them this means their posts are not good enough. Believe it or not, to some bloggers comments will determine whether they’ll go on blogging or not. They tell themselves what’s the point of going on blogging when nobody is commenting.
No comment is always better than a bad comment. You know people - when something is good they just remain silent. When something is not right, they would spring to their feet and point out the mistake.
Don’t worry, if you’re not getting any comments. Your blog will be around for a long, long time. Eventually the comments will come.
Meanwhile, look ahead to the next post, because your mission as a blogger is to keep making posts not worry whether they are good enough or whether you’re getting enough responses.
Spot on! I agree with you. I have maintained four blogs (cover for of my interests), and they’re all doing well for almost 3 years now.
In fact, this blog at Today is my fifth. I write what I’m interested about, and the knowledge and thought just flow naturally. I never even bother about comments. You’re right, some people may not openly comment but it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t appreciate the post.
You are welcome to visit my blogs!
Cheers!
Tel
As a new blogger, I’ve been concerned about not having very many comments. I know my topic is fairly specific and not likely to draw many browsers, so I appreciated your post. I’m adding you to my blogroll so I can find you again!
Anne
www.permissionsplease.today.com
Thanks for reading the posts. The majority of folks believe in the `no comment’ philosophy.
Or they may have comments, but don’t know how to express in writing.
So, without knowing it, you’re getting many `silent’ comments for your posts.
The test is: If you’re excited about a topic, there will be many others in the same boat. Don’t expect them to come out and shake your hand and congratulate you.
Look forward to your next post and think of ways on how to make it more interesting.
The next post is always more important than anything else.