Blogging On My Mind

Have you hopped on to the blogging bandwagon? Oh, what a silly question to ask. If you’re reading this right now, you’re probably a blogger. But just in case you’re not yet into this wonderful world of blogging, you may like to know a few things why people are surfing the Web.

Anyone can start a blog. Why blogs and not websites? Because a blog is comparatively cheaper to set up than a website. Some blog services like Blogger or Wordpress are free.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to install your own blog. Any savvy teenager can do it. So can you. But you can skip this post if you’re already an intrepid blogger. This post is addressing newbies who are just starting on the learning curve.

Big deal.

Now, if you don’t already know, blogs are reshaping the social landscape of blogosphere. They have become a very effective and powerful tool for communication. . .and for making money, too, if that’s your life-long dream of making it big time on the Net (but how you go about it is another story to tell).

Entrenched traditional print media like newspapers and magazines are sitting up because blogs are stealing the thunder from them in many areas of information dissemination.

As the popularity of blogging grows exponentially, you can bet that marketers are sensing great opportunities in the blogosphere. If they have something to sell or an idea to promote, marketers know they can benefit from using blogs.

Corporates such as Nike, Sony, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard and many others are already using blogs to build branding.

Other marketers and advertisers are looking for sites with good traffic to place their advertisements. Many are looking at ways like using paid links to promote themselves. However, this is one method of getting backlinks which Google, the mother of all search engines, frowns upon.

No one likes to get on the black list of Google. If you run foul of big Goog, your new blog may be “kept on hold” in the sandbox which means you site is under the radar of other bloggers and search engine spiders. If you’re using Adsense and start clicking on these ads yourself, Goog will smack you down with a ban.

These are a few of the pitfalls you may face in your blogging experience. The learning curve is there for you to overcome and be on your way.

Anyone with some individual skills and talents or interests can also promote his or her own enterprise by using blogs. If you surf the blogosphere, you will discover many of them out there.

If you can hack it as a blogger, you got a brave new world right in front of you to conquer. But all this comes with a price - you got to work at it if you’re aiming for some kind of success at the end of the day. Hard work pays, lazy blogging is like someone we like to refer to as a ‘couch potato.’

By and large, does it matter who or what you are to become a blogger? Not really. You can be an entrepreneur, trainer, journalist, salesman, actor, travel guide, retiree, or work-at-home mom (WAHM). Blogging is open season for anyone.

I guess it’s about time I put up a new post on this blog but sometimes the writer’s block keeps getting in the way. Much as we would like to move on, the writer in us just won’t come out.

Remember what the famous author Ernest Hemingway once said when asked about the most frightening thing he had ever encountered during his flamboyant life of writing and adventure: “A blank sheet of paper.”

Okay, we need not look at a blank sheet of paper here. I’ve put together some snippets of things that one should do or not do that will, hopefully, provide you with food for thought regarding your blogging experience:

Focus on success online

Success is everything to most people but you need a game plan to move forward in the right direction. Everyone wants success — and it’s no different with bloggers. So what do you need to be a successful blogger?

Studies have shown that to make it online, you need to have focus. Have a clear-cut direction in what you’re going to do…and do it. There’s a gadzillion of sites but many of them don’t have that single iota of focusing that will bring them success online.

Don’t Suck Up To The “Gurus”

It’s tough finding the REAL shortcuts to success in Internet marketing despite what the “gurus” say. When you’re just starting out to become an online entrepreneur you’ll be tempted by all kinds of offers. But be more conscious of the fact that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

You’ll be well advised to be more circumspect about any offers that come your way. Most “gurus” will tell you how they started with nothing, then they met somebody who has that most sought-after “secret” that will open the door to El Dorado. If you lap this up hook, line and sinker, then you’re in for a big disappointment. You may even lose your pants in the process.

Beef about Blogger Blogs

No doubt, every blogger has the right to do what he/she thinks fit for his/her own blogging space. But to deride another blogger for using a Blogger blog and not Wordpress with caustic, dismissive statement without weighing the argument in a rational manner is certainly unwarranted.

Looking at the bigger picture in blogging, what impression would a newbie get when he/she reads this kind of crap? If not for free blogs (thanks to Blogger/Blogspot.com and Wordpress.com) many would not be able to afford to blog at all. The blogosphere would be much poorer for it.

The bane of comments

A top ranking blog can touch on any topic and the herd will rush in to make comments. Some constructive, some are just ingratiating themselves, others are just spam and cleverly disguised. Go to any “big-time blogs” and you’ll always see the usual suspects rushing in to supply their regular quotas of such comments.

Herd Mentality: Do You Follow?

Herd mentality will never go away so long there’s a continuous flow of newbies coming onto the blogging scene. I usually make my own judgmental decisions on whether to go forward or hang back. Sometimes you’ve to take risk because it’s better than sitting on the fence and missing the boat. After all, you can always pull back if you sense something is not right. In this respect, I consider it as not following the crowd - it’s just your own judgmental decision.

Are We All Google Zombies?

Is Google a greedy, self-serving entity? Yes! Yes, they are. But lots of entities are greedy and self-serving. For that matter, so are a lot of people. The fact of the matter is, I happen to like certain things about Google. I think they’re a fine search engine, and they perform a very valuable and much needed service, writes Dean Philips.

No, my articles are not directed at Google per se. My articles are directed at the tens of thousands of Google zombies who blindly follow and applaud Google’s every move and whim, like rats following the Pied Piper of Hamelin

Control What You Publish

Conscientious publishing is not about being unique. It is impossible to be extremely original in every article; every good blogger repeats himself or herself. It’s a natural extension of how minds remember and work with ideas. But by controlling what is published, you can influence how you want to be perceived, writes Maki at Dosh Dosh.

Credit: A Quixotic Adventure - Lamerie

I assume we are all on common ground if you happened to be reading this right now. Let us not pretend. Most people are surfing the Internet looking for that little “El Dorado” in cyberspace. You know what I mean…

Okay, trying to make sense of this whole darn thing might be a piece of cake for some. But for others, especially newbies, it’s like a minefield, strewn with uncertainties and pitfalls.

So there you are, you need to know what’s going for you. You need to know how you can benefit online without stumbling into some cyber potholes. You still need to know what’s hot and what’s not.

Staying on the right track and making sense of everything that permeates the Internet is a sensible thing to do. Don’t you agree?

And I believe that you can enjoy the whole blogging experience, if you have the right information in your pocket.

Mark my word, information is the key to your success on the Internet. You’ll be a lame duck if you don’t have the right information.

But…

HERE’S AN EYE-OPENER: Let’s face it. Surfing the Internet can be like a Don Quixote adventure full of promises and dreams. But if you’re not careful you may land yourself in a quagmire with shattered dreams. There are too many stories out there of how people were taken for a ride, so don’t be wild-eyed.

Hype and outright fraud, the WWW (Wild, Wild West) is over-run by snake oil salesmen, selling so many get-rich-quick schemes.

Try as we might, there’ll still be a sucker born every minute who jumps in where angels fear to tread.

There’ll be people who will get ripped off by some Internet marketing systems that don’t really work.

There’ll be some naive newbies who think they can cough up a lump sum of money (hard earned or from a rich dad) to buy a website or blog and this site turns out to be a proper sting.

HERE’S A SOBERING THOUGHT: If an online business is your set target, you can overcome these hurdles. I assume only that you know your “subject matter” (from work experience, hobbies, passions, or pastime)… and that you are motivated, because a genuine, profitable online business takes work - whether you are working on a website or a blog.

If you have already tried and failed (and think that “the Net doesn’t work”), it’s time to start again. You can overcome the barriers. Successful online-business-building is all about following the right process, using strong tools, and smart work - and learning from the right people. You need to learn how to be an infopreneur.

If you’re truly aware of all the pitfalls that may come your way and avoid them, then you could well be on your way to online success.

Would you take the trouble to conduct due diligence first if you’re going take on a project that costs money or simply plunge in with your eyes shut?

I’m not saying you’ll become a Net millionaire in double-quick time, but if you can make some decent income to enable you to pay your bills and throw in a vacation…yes, why not?