‘When the Wind Stops Blowing, Start Rowing’ – Darby Checkett, “Leverage”
Have you ever felt like the wind in your blogging ‘sails’ disappeared? Perhaps it’s time to start ‘rowing’.
Wind in Your Blogging Sails
Over my three years of blogging there have been many times where it felt like the wind was blowing and my blogs were moving forward at fast speed – almost without me doing anything to make it happen at all.
Perhaps you know the feeling?
You get in the groove with your writing, ideas just come, the writing of them is easy, readers respond, people link up, viral like traffic comes…. you feel on top of the world and blogging is a real joy.
Most bloggers have felt the wind blow at one time or another to some level. I still remember the first time it happened to me just a few weeks into my first blog when another blogger noticed me for the first time and sent me readers. For the first time people who were not family members or close friends were reading what I had to say. In the scheme of things it was just a handful of readers – but I didn’t care, my blog had caught a gust of wind and it felt good.
It’s a feeling that has happened numerous times over the years. Sometimes in relatively small ways and other times where it got so windy that it felt like it was blowing a gale!
Nice metaphor, Darren. We’re just putting up a sailing blog so we’ll be bearing it in mind :-)
That was an awesome post Darren, and I love those pictures – where do you get them from? I noticed in your other posts that your pictures tied in perfectly with what you were saying. Is it just Google Images?
Nice post Darren. Adnan…the photos are from flickr.com…click on any of them to see.
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AC
That was interesting. Thank you.
Love your site. I am just starting a blog, and always learn something when I visit here.
Yes, indeed. I’ve found it critical to make the most of that time when the wind *is* in the sails – especially when the new wind means a spike in traffic. :)
Great post Darren – one of my faves in the last few weeks. For SEO, I just found out about HitTail (hittail.com). It analyzes the keywords users use to find you, then offers ways to incorporate those keywords so that you can own that part of the ‘long tail’. It’s been only a few days, so I have yet to see results. Hopefully they are good – it’s a tool with great potential. :)
The obssessive “external” focus on site traffice and stats can easily demoralize you when your blog is not going anywhere. I understand that you need traffice to make money but there also needs to be a balance with the “passion” factor.
Consider the following:
“Better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the public and have no self.” – Cyril Connolly
“The Audience Of One is the single most important principle behind creating a blog – or anything – that is fresh, interesting, and compelling.”
So when your blog is not going anywhere, just write as if you are writing for yourself and sing as if no one is listening.
I think the blogs that will survive and have longevity are those that have a passion beyond just making money.
Very nicely said GBT :)
Excellent post here. I’m kind of going through a downturn with a couple of my blogs now, so reading your words has been very helpful. I definitely think I need to get back to the basics. Thanks for the timely reminder!
[…] I just read an interesting post by Darren Rowse. It’s about pushing forward when the world pushes you back. It’s about going against luck or whatever you call it with sheer determination. It’s also about not sitting back when the wind is in your sails. Excellent post, using the analogy of sailing when the wind stops blowing. Read the full post here. […]
My blogs get their best speed when I create series’ posts, as you’ve described how to do in the past.
For example, next week my series is all about marketing ideas based on photographs captured in New York City. With a series, readers are more apt to stay tuned and return long after the series is done.
I think that many bloggers, like anyone else, want instant gratification. We’re prone to quit the moment it seems no one’s listening. Your suggestions should be used as part of a long-term plan. That’s the only way to get and keep momentum.
Great suggestions and timely for me as well. I’m starting a new blog on my own domain finally and with all the work of setting it up (as well as working full time, family, etc), I haven’t had as much time to spend on content, networking, and the rest.
[…] I came across a timely reminder on problogger.net regarding how to deal with the times when blogging slows down. Lately, I’ve been caught up in getting this new site up and running and making decisions about layout, etc, and I haven’t been able to post as much as I would have liked. There’s also a lot of uncertainty about changing domain names and everything else. […]
[…] Sailing vs Rowing (or how to get your Blog going when it loses Momentum) […]