Most bloggers will agree that, a relatively low number of posts generate the vast majority of their blog’s traffic. How easy and simple it would be, if only you could see which posts will become these traffic generators before actually writing them (and especially before writing all the rest, that later prove to be useless).
I’m pretty sure that you have quite a lot of topics in your head that you are planning to write blogposts on. This easy-to-use checklist helps you determine whether they are worth the effort of writing them. This list, of course, cannot guarantee success, but it can provide you with solid guidelines for providing value for your readers that can result long term high, quality traffic (significantly different from the traffic you receive when you ask your friends to digg your article).
Note: This post is the introduction of a series of articles covering uncreative ways of making your blog (or online business) successful. If you like what you read, subscribe my RSS feed to stay tuned, because there is more to follow.
Do you consider yourself creative? I sure do.
If you are anything like me, you are always full of brilliant ideas, and these ideas seem to come faster, one after the other, than they could be accomplished. If you are anything like me, you take a piece of paper and a pen, and write those ideas down, so that you don’t have to keep them in mind, and also to make sure that they are not forgotten. And if you are anything like me, you have at least three notebooks (the analogue ones) full of these ideas, many of which you will never achieve.
I have a creative job (I’m an editor and a journalist, beside managing the newspaper I write for), and I started both my personal blog and this one, to write a piece of my creativity out of me, then, after a while, I noticed something.
And if you’re anything like me, that’s bad news for you, too.
Your blog’s success, and your personal success as a blogger has nothing to do with creativity. In fact, for reasons that I will unravel in another post, your creativity can be the greatest hurdle and threat to your blog’s success.
Okay, this post has a very little to do with online business (maybe even less than that), but it’s almost New Year’s Eve, so I decided to share some beauty this time, as a farewell to 2008.
I’ve mentioned a couple of days ago, after our holiday in Rome, that every simple concept may work, if you consequently stick to it for a while. I found proof, when I pointed my camera to the sky on the second day of our three-day trip, and shot a picture that I pretty much liked.
What follows is a breathtaking set of images based on this very simple concept: I kept pointing my camera to the sky (almost) randomly. Less than 48 hours, almost 20 images.
I hope you’ll like them too. If you do, please share them, comment them, and regardless of whether you like them or not, a very Happy New Year to all of you!
In this 2,000+ word, massive article, 12 Google services fight their non-G alternatives to boost your blogging career. Way beyond first blood.
1. Blogger vs. Wordpress
The first dilemma when launching a new blog comes pretty early. You have to decide which one of the numerous blog engines you want to choose to provide the CMS background for your blog. Although there are a number of available options, the vast majority of bloggers tend to pick one of the two (three, really, but I only want to cover free services here so that disqualifies Movable Type immediately) most popular blog engines: Blogger or Wordpress. The subject of which one you should choose has an extensiveliteratureon the web, so I’m not going to dive deep into details here.
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. You may or may not like New Year’s resolutions, but since New Year’s Eve is literally around the corner, it is worth to give change a thought. Especially, since, we’re closing a year so full of changes. To make the process of picking your perfect New Year’s resolution, and more importantly, to help you stick to it, I have put together a vast list of brilliant resources on the subject. Forget the financial crisis: 2009 is just gonna be great! So, without further ado, here comes everything you’ve always wanted to know about New Year’s resolutions, but never dared to ask. Continue reading 33 Ultimate resources to pick the perfect New Year’s Resolution (and to stick to it afterwards)
Three weeks into blogging, I’ve found myself unhappy with the design of ZsoltBalla.com, and although I still like the look of the Redoable Wordpress theme. Even though I still dig the basic elements of the theme, I’ve already made a couple of modifications, and given certain difficulties I had to face when trying to modify it further and further, I’m not sure if I will stay with Redoable on the long run. Anyway, I’m sure I will change it to something else only if I completely run out of workarounds and alternative ways. But before that, here are the few modifications I made to make the site look better (I’m still not 100% happy with the result though, but I think I still have plenty of time to experiment).
I hope everybody is having a great time throughout the winter holidays, and I also would like to chip in by wishing happy holidays to all of you.
But while everybody is busy with preparing for the next year I also wanted to remind you that 2008 is far from over! If you want to make the most of the last days of this year, here are the six things you’ll definitely need to do before 2008 is coming to an end. Continue reading Six things to do before 2008 is over
Every journey has a lesson to learn. Furthermore: if you are lucky (and if you pay attention) there are more than one lessons to learn from a three-day journey. After a really exhausting autumn, I was fortunate enough to spend the last three days in Rome with my wife. Being one of the cradles of European culture, and of human intellect as we know it, Rome is also a bottomless well of inspirations and an endless source of creativity. Its sparkling sunshine and 12-15 degree Celsius temperature, along with the great red wines, provide an unrivaled environment to recharge one’s batteries. I didn’t have internet connection or a laptop with me (I proved wise enough not to bring one), still I always found myself thinking about how this unique aura will help me in my daily work and life.
As you may know, I’ve only just begun this blog a few days ago. Still I have already learned a whole bunch of important things about blogging – by blogging.
Now I’m running over a couple of them. I plan to have this as a weekly regular (listing each week’s important lessons by the end of the week), so stay tuned, I’m sure that there’s more to come.
1. Bloggers are really-really nice people When you start blogging, expect the first week to be busy. Extremely busy. You’ll have to play around with templates, establish your blog, watch out for all the technical details, and you’ll have to put a huge effort into planning the content as well. On the other hand, you’ll need to start networking with other people from your niche, let alone fellow-bloggers from outside your niche.
The blogosphere has some zillion blogs, websites and e-books focused on helping freelancers, sofa-entrepreneurs and bloggers, who are trying to make a living online. But if you mean your online business seriously, you will surely have limited time to read these blogs, simply because you will have to focus your time and energy on your own business. These 11 feeds, however, are really the ones you must follow right from day one (hint: count ZsoltBalla.com in as #12).
1. Problogger
Darren Rowse’s Problogger (good ol’ Problogger, as someone dubbed it, I don’t remember where) is the ultimate alpha and omega of making a living off blogging. Darren has been a full time blogger for more than four years. He launched some 25 blogs, made his mistakes, learned his lessons, and now focuses only on three projects blogs, one of which is Problogger. Problogger is both a great source for ideas, tips, tools to use for blogging, and and abundant source of finding fellow bloggers or building relationships. Furthermore, Darren writes in a very consumable, interesting style, while his ethical and quality standardsmake him the blogging hero of many of us.
I love Ben Barden’s Top Ten Blog Tips because of it’s simple, transparent and clear style. When we started talking, it turned out that we have a lot in common with Ben, maybe that’s a part of the reason I enjoy his blog so much. (Maybe people, who start writing with a structured, IT background tend to pile up things into lists of 10 or eleven, like his posts are, or like this one is.)
Anyway, if you want an easy-to-read, straight-to-the-point style of guidance in the world of blogging, Top Ten Blog Tips is always there for you.
Last week’s favorite post: 10 things I’ve learned about blogging by actually doing it
