Yes, making money, blog traffic and talking about how bloggers can make more money or get more traffic is something that is getting a lot, if not the most, attention. It’s very funny: most people make money by talking about how people can make money. Isn’t that interesting? I like your use of “its million copies”; yes, more and more people daily are trying to copy ProBlogger. I am thinking everyone is under the illusion that if someone digs up gold at point x, someone else will also dig up gold at point y.

Now, there is nothing wrong with copying in certain manners that the original idea thinker approves of. However, copying because someone else’s idea works and one does not want to think of anything to sell, results only in copycats who earn a little bit every month and drooling at the prospect. No one is coming up with an actual product to sell, but just an illusion: you come to my site, I’ll tell you how to make money, I’ll make money.

One question: you said “This seems immediately traffic self limiting.” Could you explain a bit about this please? Thank you.

Yes, it does tie in, if I understand it correctly. Thanks Greg, again, I really appreciate your input on this!

Also, good thing you did that [to get notified by e-mail]. Sometimes I forget to do that and then months later I visit a site to find out someone had responded to me.

This seems crazy. But it appears (at least from the outside) that the most successful topic to blog about is how to blog or how to make money blogging.

This seems immediately traffic self limiting.

I’m not sure how that specifically ties in, it just seems to.

Yes, I have seen people complaining about not getting enough visitors, and at the same time, they show the stats which clearly shows that a blog is not receiving any visitors. I wonder if such bloggers have a principle where they want to show the stats, and at the same time, they want to tell the world that their principle isn’t working, because of not having that many blog readers or commentors.

Well, sending such a message shouldn’t be cruel, if done politely, like “Maybe you can replace that with…” or “Maybe you can wait until you have a lot of visitors….“, or something similar. Some bloggers might feel offended, as they consider their sites to be very dear to them, even if they do not value the readers, and telling them to change their site in any manner may cause them to think you are showing off. Could that be a good thing to learn and practice: telling others politely how to change their blogs?

Thanks for the comment Steve, that was a good question. I really appreciate it.

Stats at #1 and the latest gadget at #9, when taken together, are possibly the clearset indicators of the extremely naive blogger.

That is, the blogger who puts the latest technorati gizmo (as an example) on their site because it seems that it is the thing that the ‘in’ bloggers are doing, despite the fact that said gizmo shows a grand total of three visitors a day!

That is very definitely sending out the wrong message, but it is amazing how many times you see it, often accompanied by a plaintiff message bemoaning a lack of visitors!

I’m never sure whether it would be cruel or kind to send a brief ‘take that down NOW’ message.

What do you think?

Steve

I personally do not think you are a naive blogger. Yes, the first two points, stats and comments, are something almost everyone who wants almost any kind of traffic should think about. I know what you mean, yes.

Good point about not forgetting the ones you helped you [kind of what I was saying in the other post also], and you are right: for the benefit of the readers, one should not blog simply to become famous.

The personal blogs you described in your last paragraph; many bloggers fall into that kind of a category, even if they are not personal bloggers. I was not aware of Piczo until you mentioned it; it seems to have a lot of young high school students as its members. I am guessing it is a more concentrated, specialized version of Myspace? I am also guessing you do not use Piczo.

Thanks!

A few of them don’t apply to me very much (they would if my site was as successful and big as I’d like it to be, but I know it’s not because of the effort that I myself have not put in).

I think #1 and #2 everyone must think about… unless one’s blog is purely for their own diary, and do not care for comments or hits. They may have 0 hits, as it is just for them only. But I don’t know many sites that want no hits or commenters (or perhaps I just haven’t seen them, as if they do not care for hits or comments they may not interact with other sites). Do you know what I mean?
Well, I would like more hits and commenters, and expand my online network… but I don’t mind. I know I could achieve this, but I don’t because I know I will be one of the blogs that die and become in-active and no longer continues exchanging comments…

I think a couple of your other points are very valid for inspiration to create a great blog… as in, I want to create a great successful blog and on the way, I will also do/become this (well, not forget the ones who’ve helped you, but perhaps become famous or make a difference). Though one should not make a blog simply for that intent.

How about personal blogs, that blog daily (or once in a month) about really unnecessary things that you can’t comment much about, join billions of listings and link exchanges, don’t interact much with other web-owners and bloggers, and expect the readers, viewers and stats to roll in? I’ve seen a few of those… especially the geocities/piczo/myspace types. Piczo/Pizco whatever it is, was bigggg in my school recently… everyone made one, they all looked bad as they were drag and drop sites with tons of ads, and all the same content… about me, my friends, tons of links to other friends with the same thing.

I agree; I didn’t mean to imply that such points guarantee that someone is a bad blogger. I think such points, when taken too seriously or focused upon more than other things, can result in someone being very naive. Also, being naive does not mean a bad blogger, but a blogger who probably needs to learn a lot more about the blogging world. Of course, being naive or very mature is all relative too.

You are right; it is very hard these days to get into the top list, specially if one is a new blogger. You need to work on your blog. However, even if no one calls someone naive, the signs of naiveness are there. For example, take myself: I sometimes think I can really make a difference in both the blogosphere and many online people’s lives, in a very good and positive manner. I have already done a lot, according to many people and agencies, in the offline world, though in my own view I feel being naive as I am aiming for something which seems unreachable. Online also, I am succeeding on many levels, while doing even worse than failing on many other levels. Why can such a thing be naive? Because I am putting my hopes in something that depends entirely on other people’s willingness to change. Of course, such a labeling is relative. However, if I become obsessed with it, by only preaching to others and telling them that they are wrong and should improve, I have a problem on my hands.

Hmmm, I am not sure where Chris G and his coffee example came from. Can you elaborate a bit more please? I reread number # 3, and unfortunately could not figure out or remember what you were referring to. I apologize!

Regarding the list, thanks for breaking it down. Here we go:

1 : What I meant was obsession. I know bloggers who will stop answering phone calls or even interact with bloggers that they linked to, if some of their posts do not bring in enough views. Finding out stats is fine; I do it almost every few hours. However, letting my blog stats affect my interaction with others negatively when others have no part in it, or even others directly, is something I consider to be bad.

2 : Again, feedback is good. However, focusing on the number of commentors, as many blogs today too, proves to be unfair to people who seldom leave comments, but when they do, their comments are of excellent quality and usefulness. For this point, I would consider blogs who reward top comments, regardless of the comment content, to be people who are probably naive.

3 : That is why I wrote my other post about reacting to criticizing comments. It can be a very hard thing to do.
4 : heh, good examples. What I meant were also prominent blogs that make money directly or indirectly. There are dozens of blogs that already make money through writing, since they put ads on their blogs or link via referral links.

5 : I was thinking more of a John Chow or someone similar clone/wannabe while also aiming only for the prospect of money or fame and not caring about the readers used along the way, or something similar, but good example!

6 & 7 : Very good. Many people never think that they can do enough good and they keep trying, so it’s good that you are already satisfied that you have done a lot. Like I said above, I have my own level of trying to make a difference, and my goals are a bit different. I know I haven’t done enough, since I see no major changes on many things and mentalities that I am focusing on. So far, everyone has their own relative opinion whether or not such goals are realistic, or whether I am being naive and wasting my time. I am giving my own example to give an idea on how a person, who falls under this point/category, may be acting like.

8 : Good point. As I explained to Vivien above, it was the point of simply blaming and not doing anything, and repeating the cycle and affecting others around us, that I was pointing to. If someone blames me for something I didn’t do, it becomes my business since I am being forced into a blaming game, and I do not like being blamed for something I didn’t even know existed.

9 : I use MyBlogLog because it brings in visitors, though almost everyday, multiple times during the day, I see my blog loading slowly or halting because of MyBlogLog/Yahoo servers taking a long time to load images.

10 : I should have explained this more. What I meant was using other people for business means. For example, I hire you to do some contract work and then in the middle, I simply cancel the entire contract, not paying you anything, and all your current work going to waste. I, in the beginning, rely on any friendship or trust I may have to make sure you sign or depend on no contract but a verbal agreement, allowing me to use you and then simply move on by saying “Sorry, next time.” Or, I come online and bug you from time to time, asking you to look at my post or vote for my site or rate my site, yet in return, I make promises to help your site but keep “forgetting.” Even making people comment a lot in order to give an illusion of a reward or some great content, and in the long run, not providing anything useful deliberately, is manipulation in my view. I was thinking something along those lines. Does that make sense? I was not referring to the concept of commenting at all; sorry if it sounded that way.

11 : I didn’t get this, sorry. Could you explain a bit more please?

Thanks again Roger. I am glad you took the time to point out those issues. I am rethinking about many points in this post already, in order to explain and elaborate them more some time.

There are so many blogs now that it seems hard for a new person to break into the crowd without a bit of self-promotion. I said this the other day - if you start from scratch every time you will never get to the level you need to be noticed. Just like starting a business. You can’t just open teh door and hope people find your store. You promote, you advertise, and you try to get your name mentioned until one day it starts to work. No one calls you naive they just see that you are inexperienced or new to the market.

I chose to start blogging as a way to open my doors to people who want to discuss business issues. It may be that the target audience is not out there. I will never know until I have been able to make myself visible (Everett Rogers’ rules for the adoption of innovation #1).

As for teasing Chris G. about drinking coffee - it’s a joke. Get over it. He found it funny. I did not force him to choose. I just suggested I would feel better if he used my donation for something other than coffee. (I hope you are rereading your #3 at this point.)

So let’s go down the list
#1 - guilty - how do I know if I have readers?
#2 - guilty - feedback helps one improve
#3 - NOT guilty - but you are free to try I’ve been called worse
#4 - NOT guilty - Only Stephen King, JK Rowling, and John Grisham types make money writing
#5 - could happen - I could hook-up with Lindsay Lohan and my blog #s would skyrocket. (Hey there’s your gratuitous name drop)
#6 - guilty - I already have
#7 - guilty - See #6
#8 - NOT guilty - Not my system, not my fault, but in either case not anyone else’s business
#9 - NOT guilty - See #8
#10 - NOT guilty - I hope but maybe I have unintentionally. If I comment somewhere it is because I feel I have something to say. Isn’t that what blog comments are for? To comment on the post? If you don’t like the comment or it appears to be spam you can delete it.
#11 - Maybe now and again to make a point. See response to #5