Image by -nathan
“Should I quit my blog and start Lifestreaming, Videocasting, Social Messaging/Networking etc?”
There’s been another round of ‘blogging is dead’ posts doing the rounds of late and as a result I’ve had a number of emails hitting my inbox over the last week from bloggers asking if they should stop blogging.
Here’s some of the advice I’ve been sharing:
- Blogging is not dead – it’s evolving.
- You should be evolving too (read Blogs are Out of Beta, But Bloggers Should always be in Beta)
- Keep being useful, keep solving problems and keep meeting needs – whatever the medium this is key.
- Keep producing content – people continue to search the web for content in huge numbers. It’s not all about networking and bookmarking – whether it be text, video or audio – keep producing content.
- Experiment with different mediums – to the best of your ability keep abreast of the ‘new’ mediums that are emerging.
- Build a ‘Home Base’ – many people flit from one medium to another and end up with nothing of their own (read more on the Home Bases and Outposts that I use).
- Build a Brand – the mediums are tools. They’ll come and go in time – the key is to build something that lasts beyond them.
- Don’t be Precious about your ‘Blog’ and be open to change – there’s no one ‘right’ way to blog. Blogs can have comments or not have comments, have full RSS feeds or partial ones, look like a traditional blog or act and look more like a lifestream or portal. The key is to know what you want to achieve and let that shape what you do with your blog.
- Don’t abandon your blog too quickly – your primary efforts may move into a different medium but blogs can be an important part of the mix of what you do online. Don’t abandon your blog – build upon it, let it evolve, leverage what you’ve already built and use it where appropriate in the mix of what you do.
My last piece of advice is particularly for those with limited time or capacity to fully engage with all of the mediums and tools that are currently at our fingertips.
I get the sense from a lot of bloggers that they feel that they’re being left behind – that all this new stuff that is emerging is beyond them – that it’s hopeless to keep on blogging. My message to you if you’re feeling this way is to keep at it. Even as a full time blogger/web entrepreneur I don’t have time to fully engage with all of the new technologies that are currently emerging. I too feel some of those ‘overwhelming’ feelings.
I think the key is to engage with the new technologies to the point that you’re able but to know when to stop and focus upon what you already have in front of you.
The problem as I see it is that whether it be a blog, a Twitter presence, a podcast or some other kind of website or presence – it takes time to build these things up to successful levels. If you only give a medium a short time before moving to the next one you’ll just end up with a trail of abandoned accounts and sites behind you.
I see a lot of people running from one thing to the next and not really achieving anything. They live in a constant state of distraction and experimentation. There’s nothing wrong with new things and testing them out – but unless you’re fortunate enough to have a lot of spare time or an amazing capacity not to sleep there comes a time where you need to choose a handful of things to do (or even just one) and to do it to the best of your ability.
For me – this means focusing mainly upon building blogs. My blogs are evolving and looking less and less like blogs as I experiment with different ways of presenting the information on them and play with different technologies on them – but I try to keep my focus steady upon the long term goals that I have. As a result I’ve managed to build them into profitable properties.
Yes I’ll continue to experiment with other technologies but for me they are only about adding value to my primary web properties.
What do you think? How are you approaching what you do in this ever changing web?
I don’t think anyone should quit blogging because quitting is in fashion! Or because blogging is dead – it is not.
I look at a blog as if it is a magazine – just that it is produced by a single person instead of a team (at least initially).
As long as there is demand for what you write about, and you fulfill that demand through your writing, your blog can not just survive but can also flourish.
And if you are not solving someone’s problems through your blog, you should not have started the blog in the first place!
Blogging for me just became really serious since i landed a HUGE advertiser. I must say, thanks to you Darren ;)!
I think blogging is a great long term solution to share your message, and over time – grow a great database of useful information. I never understood writing great content, and then submitting it to sombody else’s site. Why not put it on your own first?
@ BlogSEOExpert – I completely agree with your idea of a blog as a magazine. In fact, I routinely refer the The Casual Observer ( http://www.observingcasually.com/ ) as a web magazine (to reinforce its lack of niche-ness – more like a New Yorker type of magazine)
I’ve personally thrown all my energy into blogging, with minimal effort in the othere spheres. Of course, I think of myself as a writer at heart, so this makes a lot of sense.
The Casual Observer covers such a broad range of topics (from coverage of Nathan’s Hot Dog eating content to an interview with personal finance blogger Lazy Man) that we manage to avoid feeling like we’re in a rut.
The people saying blogging is dead or on its last legs don’t seem to get the point. A blog is merely a means of publishing content. So too is Twitter, or Facebook or a static web page designed in DreamWeaver. It’s no different to publishing in any other form – it’s just publishing.
In just the same way, people said radio would be the death of newspapers, then we were told TV would be the death of radio and videos apparently were going to kill the cinema. None of these predictions came true because they are based on the same false assumption that the “blogging is dead” crew start with.
They assume that each new technology is a “replacement” for prior technology. It isn’t; it’s an addition. Publishing content takes many different forms offline – newsletters, weekly newspapers, evening newspapers, monthly magazines, quarterlies and even annuals. They all have their place.
Just because a new form of publishing comes along does not necessarily mean an older method goes out of the window. Indeed, I understand that many people still write things with pen and paper….!
If you are a blogger, carry on blogging. But consider how you can also use newer technologies to publish your content in alternative forms so that you access the widest possible audience.
I’m relatively new to blogging, but I’m not worried about it. Since I -am- new, it would have been equally easy for me to spend all my blogging-time on twitter or something, but I know from the start that it won’t have the same positive impact for me or for my readers, than a blog.
Furthermore, the way I look at it, so long as you’re solving a problem (or just being interesting), readers want that. So if I hear about a bunch of people giving up blogging, that just means that there are more readers for me!
I don’t think blogging is dead at all. However, I do think that it is important to adapt to new technology.
Vlogging (video blogging) was the hottest thing for the past few months, but some people don’t have the patience to sit through a video and would rather read something. Give them both! Make your blog a hybrid where you offer both a short video related to your post as well as your written content.
Embed a Twitter powered chatroom into a page on your blog using Tinychat.com. Schedule regular times where you will login to the chatroom via video broadcast. Engage your readers, fans and followers.
Embed the new Tweetboard discussion forum into your blog. Let people interact with you as well as with others. Ultimately, a well organized threaded discussion will form. More people will become engage as the forum is powered by tweets so others can see your interactions.
Engage and adapt!
Thanks for this post, Darren.
I’ve been steadily seeing an increase of hits at my own blog over the past year (went from just 10k hits to 40k – ok, not huge, but it’s a tiny blog I’ve worked hard at getting out there). I’ve seen a bigger growth since joining FB and Twitter. It’s a wordpress blog so I’ve incorporated the Twitter Feed feature on the front page which has netted me some followers familiar with my work. I didn’t start the blog to be huge; I started it to help other women who struggle with Postpartum Mood Disorders. So for me, blogging will never die – it will always be a viable way to get information to new moms in need.
@ Larry: LOVE the idea of an embedded chat – thanks for the tip! Not sure how crazy I am about vlogging yet – been hashing that one out in my head the past few months. I’m much stronger in writing than on-camera.
oops! Should have been @Philip! Sorry! (don’t ask where I got Larry from – see what happens when you try to get serious with toddlers in the room!)
The thing that irks me about the “blogging is dead” crowd is that:
1) It comes from the mainstream media outlets who would benefit the most from blogging actually being dead.
2) It comes from early adopters who, while influential in their own crowd, don’t have much (if any) sway over the more mainstream crowd.
Both have a bias, and both have an agenda to push. The media wants the advertising dollars, the early adopters don’t want to lose relevancy among their fickle audience (and clients.)
So, blogging isn’t dead, not at all. If anything, it’s just getting started.
I don’t think blogging is dying at all. What’s really changing is the level of engagement that is required from anyone on the Internet. Now, instead of bloggers just writing in response to their topic, they need to respond and correspond with their readers. That’s all that twitter and all of these other online mediums are creating – new avenues of engagement.
Great post!
I agree, Darren.
I think blogs will never die, because they are the online voice of individuals.
Social networks can be:
a distraction;
a tool;
If you use them like a distraction, you waste your time. If you use them like a tool, you can give value to your blog.
Sound points, indeed. Evolution isn’t death. I mean really now… radio has “died” so many times that a cat’s nine lives wouldn’t be enough.
Adopting and adapting technology to help you tell the story you want to tell is important in any field, of course, and probably heightened online. Still, that’s also different than “blogging is dead.”
The way blogs create influence is changing constantly, and becoming a trusted source will be more and more important. And that would actually argue for continuing to blog rather than stopping now. Blinders are always bad… but knee-jerk reactions are usually worse!
Darren, as usual, what an excellent article. Sometimes, I think we all want to give up but the key is to not give in to that. You throw away weeks and months that you invested in building a blog. Thanks for the article, it really helped.
This is a great post. I think bloggers all at one point or another wonder whether they should just give up.
Whenever I get that feeling, I take a look at the content that I’ve completed over the last few months and observe how it’s evolved and enticed the readers that have taken the time to comment. I use it as a springboard on how to present other ideas and think about how what I know can help others to succeed. Isn’t that, after all, the core of what social media is all about?
Great questions and great strategies for keeping it up Darren. I appreciate your insight and your advice…and you encourage me (and I’m sure more than a few others) to keep chugging out good content.
Thanks!
Since I am an ‘ole gal’ that is yelling down the back slope of my life, I blog as a therapeutic process for me. May only have a handfull of followers or readers, but I see value in what I do. We need to keep some humor in our lives. So, I’ll keep trudging on getting my ‘gray matter’ exercise while I’m doing it…..
This is a great article. I’m one who has those trails of neglected sites behind me. Facebook, Stumbleupon and twitter used to be some of them. Now I use them regularly and have found a way (method) to do it and yet still keep up the blog. The key is moderation! ;)
My main deterrent to blogging this past few months hasn’t been twitter – it’s been my 3 month old baby! That’s a blog post waiting to happen.
I agree that bloggers need to evolve with the landscape and adapt new technology while also staking their claim to a hub page/site. The biggest blogs today were the blogs that did the same thing 4 or 5 years ago… so the strategy makes complete sense.
Blog gives a great “haven” to base your online presence on. Keeping up with the latest “trends” and incorporating new media to it seems to be the things at the moment (audio, video and even just pictures). But all that is still one form of content and that’s what blogging is about, creating great content, whether it’d be blog post, podcast or youtube video.
If i don’t have enough time to blog, definitely i will quit blogging. becoz i am doing this as an hobby not a full-time blogger like many others.
So time should decide everything for me. :-)
-Ven
I know there comes time when i think about quitting, but instead have evolved with my site (quite recently). I’ve evolved by now making a more informational site w/ a bit of added personal. Added twitter. But, I did this so I can start focusing on the other tasks I have planned. Like starting my journey on producing green products. Evolve or die! LOL. ;)
This blog post is so encouraging. Being totally new to blogging, I’ve grappled with going with a traditional format or something that reflects me. In my mind’s eye, I want to convey information in various ways, using non-traditional means to really engage my audience. Building my blog has come to a standstill because of my search to find the right “voice” and “feel” for my blog.
As a 40’ish baby boomer quickly approching 50, I know what my generation is feeling and what we need. I want to offer, via my blog, solutions, insight, and confirmation that we will embrace aging just as well as we have embraced every other challenge thrown at us!
Darren, I would like to thank you for inspiring me to move forward with my ideas and build a blog that reflects me but speaks for many!
Quit blogging if you’ve spent a year on it and nothing is working. I use 12 months as a timeframe because bloggers can built up their blog in six months to a year usually, depending on the topic. If a blogger is using your 30DBBB Workbook, then thay might even speed up the process but I figure that a blog should have at least a few dedicated readers or subscribers and a combination of feedback and writeups or links from other blogs within a year and move on if that does not happen.
How am I approaching what I do in this ever changing web, you ask? I try to stick with things that work and skip mediums that don’t like Facebook for instance. Facebook has becoem very popular but I did not have a good experience with them when trying to start a profile and build it up. Therefore, Facebook is not on my list of priorities for promoting my blog and maybe that is not helpful since a lot of bloggers are implementing Facebook plugins for their blog to get more interaction with Facebook users. However, they left a bad impression on me and I’m not up for any of that.
Stumbleupon has not worked well for me so I am rarely on there and I’m just getting into the gist of this Twitter frenzy.
It is best to know about new developments online and in social media but that does not mean bloggers have to necessarily use all of these tools, at least I don’t and am not going to. I do agree with you that we should be aware of and learn how to use the new technologies that are emerging. That’s the only way to find out what works for your particular blog and what doesn’t.
The most important thing is to KEEP CHALLENGING YOURSELF. Maybe you’ve written to death about social media marketing – try your hand in philosophy and religion. While it’s important to martket yourself as an ‘expert’ in your field, it’s equally important to challenge your own writing – depending on your style of blog this might mean starting a new blog for your ‘random thoughts’ or figuring out how to incorporate new themes into your current blog’s message. Diversity is the spice of life – reach out and connect with new people, do some guest features on other blogs, bounce ideas off of your social media connections.
Blogging is not dead, in fact, it’s far from it, but in order to maintain my own interested, I have to keep challenging myself. Those ideas that you tell yourself will never amount to anything – revisit them and you might be surprised at what you can come up with.
I say keep changing and trying new things, but agree that keeping a home base is critical. I think your blog should always be your home base….but it has to evolve to stay that way.
I think the issue is that the “leaders” of social media will always be WAY ahead of the mainstream. I remember hearing that Facebook was dead right before everyone I actually knew (High School whatever) just signed up.
I think blogging is still new in many areas. I’m in arts and crafts (and also houseblogging) and I think people in this area are still “finding” blogs.
Sure, there’s an evolution, but there will always be a mass of people behind any curve. Unfortunately for the leaders, those people are the ones that ultimately decide the nature of the curve.
I agree, blogging isn’t dead, but you do need to evolve. One blogger said it best, blogs need a reboot and they do, however I am overwhelmed by everything out their, but I’ve been blogging for 4 years now at RaceDriven and I am not stopping.
With that said, I am interested in building something more like a home base, a site that is separate from my blog under another url that displays me as a brand with everything I am connected too from blogging to Twitter, MySpace and well thats it for me.
One question, what would partical RSS feed really do, would it bring in visitors to the site, more then just reading the RSS feed? .
I’ve felt like this several times over the last couple of years. But lately my sites have taken off and I’m making very good income from them so now more than ever I feel like it’s a great time to be blogging. At the end of the day I find that readers respect and appreciate the quality content that so many blogs provide.
It’s an interesting question.
Linking your blog with other marketing strategies certainly has merit.
I think it boils down to the question. Is it interesting what you are writing about or showing your audience? Which is the same for any medium.
The other question you need to answer is, what is your end in mind? Then does what you are doing with social media move you closer to your goal?
Not wishing to ‘sit on the fence’ interesting bogging isn’t dead, regurgitating other peoples material can be boring.
Regards
Mark Wheatley
As my Great Aunt used to say, “keep on keeping on.”
This is great advice, I’ve been reading many of these blogging is dead posts and find them to be funny. I am having so much fun blogging and I find it extremely rewarding. I am constantly receiving positive feedback on it, so I have intentions of quitting.
While I am experimenting and having fun with the different mediums, my bread and butter is my content, on which I’ve been putting a lot of effort.
People who blog for the sake of pretending to be money experts should probably quit, but those of us who bring unique content and fresh perspective to the web should keep chugging away.
I hope that you continue to make these posts, as I’ve taken a lot of your advice and although I haven’t agreed with everything, I know that you are educated about what you speak about. You’re not a trend jumper and this post really solidifies that.
– Jessica
I think blogging is alive and well, at least in my small corner of the web it seems to be doing pretty well.
With all the new technologies coming out, I’m only using them to augment and accent my main web properties. I use twitter to promote and build relationships with readers. I use friendfeed as one place people can find all my content. I use stumbleupon as a great place to share things I’m reading with my readers. And all of those mediums point back to my main site.
I think you have to work with the new technologies and use the ones that work for you, and make them part of a whole blog strategy.
If you have a following that you cater to, and have content people need, you’ll always have traffic regardless of technological advances.
These new innovations and mediums should serve more as extensions – its all about extra leverage, when you can afford the time and resources to do it.
Sometimes we lack focus and foresight.
All you have to do is look at someone like Dooce (and many other “mommy bloggers”) to realize that blogging is still profitable. What I do is read and study the most successful blogs, trying to understand what they do that makes them successful. For instance, Dooce started her blog in 2001 and it didn’t become profitable until 2005. That’s persistence!
I was on the DemocraticUnderground.com for four years from 2004-2008. The management and I then had irreconcilable differences.
In August, I joined another smaller forum, but felt as if I needed another audience.
Decided to join Twitter when I saw Evan Williams interviewed by Charlie Rose. It fits right in with my radio talk show training. Short burst of information, then another short burst, like sequential telephone calls.
I’m finding Twitter quite addictive! I could do this all day. Once in a while, I have! The dishes are in the sink and no dinner is planned.
Have to keep my blog because I need to publish film and entertainment reviews to qualify for complimentary tickets. I’ve been reviewing since 1971, in longer formats as well as under 5 minute recordings.
I was “born to tweet” — and it’s lots of fun to tease my 20 year old grandson. Hey, Michael. Is it possible that your 70 year old grandmother is really further along the “Twitter Twail” (yes, we make up all kinds of TW names) than you are?
Ha, ha, ha, ha. I love it.
Peace, love and happiness,
Ellen Kimball
Portland, OREGON
The “blogging is dead” crowd always makes me giggle. I remember when they were saying, “Quit blogging – start Twittering!”
Um – excuse me – but my most meaningful Twitter connections are those made through my BLOG, thank you!!!
Blogging has never been a “get rich quick” business… despite what your spam emails say…
Darren, one of the things I love BEST about you (and your blog) is how OPEN you are about the fact that blogging is NOT the end all, be all way to overnight success.
Your blog is a communication tool – pure and simple. Shut it down if you’ve got nothing left to say. I believe several celebrities (Farrah Fawcett, Micheal Jackson and Billy Mays) have all reached that point… why, because they’re dead!!!
Otherwise – keep blogging – keep sharing – keep communicating. Revisit your initial goals for your blog if you need a boost to get back on track!
Interesting blog post!
& yes, at times I’ve thought of giving up too (but not due to Twitter lol!!)
Honestly, since I’ve become more active on Twitter, I’ve read more blogs & fun posts than ever before – so actually Twitter makes it easier to read fun & exciting new posts – if only the headlines are catchy enough!! :)
& there are a few blogs I’d really GREATLY miss if the owners stopped writing in them – must admit they’re a mixture of vlogging & writing & photos & an occasional audio – so they’re really very exciting!! :)
I think the main message you are conveying is add value to people’s lives and they will come. This is the same with any business be it selling lemonade on the corner or million dollar jets to billionaires.
You have to change somewhat with the time to keep connected to your target market, but if you add value to a person’s life and they enjoy hearing what you have to say or using what you sell your business will stay afloat.
I just started my blog and am trying to figure out all these new technologies, but amongst it all I’m trying to stick to my blogs core message. It’s difficult, but if you always keep the core basis of your blog in mind that your customers like then you will be well off.
Another great post Darren.
@ BlogSEOExpert – I also agree with the magazine (or Ezine) allegory. This is an opportunity to put your imprint on your blog or give your magazine your feel.
I’m going to ride out the whole “blogging is dead” thing, if it even exists. My blog is still young (7 months) and I’m not noticing any bad traffic changes with it. I’ve got my subscriptions that I read and relate to, just like a magazine that others have mentioned. Thanks for the good post!
Great post! I’m glad to hear that so many people agree that blogging is not dead. I’m someone who is enjoying the writing and the blogging and I have no intention of quitting. I’ll admit that I’m avoiding twitter and other media right now because there are only so many hour in a day. We really can’t do it all and do all of it well. I’ve chosen to keep my focus on the blogging. I know I may be losing out on some opportunities, but it’s a choice that works for me at the moment.
I’m a freshly starting blogger with an idea that I feel is timeless, so I am not overly concerned with these pronouncements. If anything, newspapers and magazines are dying while blogs and websites are replacing them. Of course a few old media hawks will be ready to scream about the glut of blogs that have been started in recent months. Think about the number of magazines and newspapers that are launched and fail each year though. The starting capital is prohibitively high, but they still fail to reach an audience all the same. Blogs and websites are no exception. I estimate that the internet is largely filled with abandoned or sporadically updated blogs.
It is definitely hard at times, but news like this just makes me all the more determined.
Great Timing on this article. Never have commented on your site before but this post definitely sparked some enthusiasm to reach out and share/comment. I love your point of “evolving,” from a conscious development standpoint I would call it expanding.
I’m somewhat new at this blogging phenomenon (about a year in) just started my second site and as I began looking for new resources to create a great presence I came across your site and was immediately hooked.
Why? Because you evolve. AND Because you have original content. As I searched around for support, I can’t even tell you how many times I saw the same content on different sites (I found it a lil frustrating). It gave me the impression that what I found here, I can find anywhere, so their is no reason to stick around.
As I read your post, I started thinking about why this is. I really believe its because people are more caught up into the fad of blogging rather than truly having a desire to add value to mankind and it’s efforts (such as yourself). If people are blogging just because they want to create income, this seems like a very very very poor life plan. Where is the genuine excitement in that (my opinion).
The point is growth. Not just to increase your numbers, but increase your capacity to create value. I don’t see much value in ‘copy and paste’. Maybe we need to reevaluate the “Why” and if that “why” is not consistent to what we truly desire for our lives (as far as what we give), then maybe we need to get the hell out and find something we are actually passionate about; rather than trying to catch the fad train. The point is Growth, it’s suppose to be challenging and joyous.
I don’t subscribe to many blogs (3), and only follow you and another on twitter (currently). Because you create genuine value and you seem to genuinely care about the success of your visitors. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard you say recently that the blogging sphere is cluttered, I agree. Imagine how much more productive we’d be as bloggers if we focused on caring, being genuine, and offering original content. Yes, many would go by the wayside sense they are not going to be happily successful any ways.
Expand yourself, let blogging be a tool for personal growth. I believe all else will fall in line. But then again, I’m new to this so I could be totally out of touch lol.
Namaste
-Tiger
This post came at exactly the right time for me! Thanks for the encouragement I needed to continue on my blogging adventure.
They have been saying that blogging is just a fad since it first started becoming popular. Critics have touted that it would come and go like bell bottom pants. But they were wrong then and I am pretty convinced that they are wrong now. I think that some of the “Here’s what I did today” blogs may end up being swallowed by the evolving social media available now, but I think that bloggers who blog on topics and issues will be around for a while! I plan to keep on blogging and I’m glad that you do as well!
Hey Darren Great post as always. Personally what I think the problem is people don’t understand the unlimited potential of a blog. I have seen blogs transformed into market places, chats, forums, and any other medium that you can think of. If you think you are behind the times whether it be with a blogger or wordpress blog simply do a search for plug ins. You also make an excellent point when you say don’t give up easily. The reason I like this is people put in a ton of work into their blogs or website then when they don’t see the immediate pay off they drop it thinking setting up a new presence not realizing they will have to do the same amount of work. Well anyways good post.
Kris,
Perhaps being new to blogging is an advantage for me. I can see the juncture of content and technology, choosing the appropriate course for my blog by watching the mistakes and successes of others. One key thing that seems to stand out is the word “content”.
Be it Pepsi or Coke, you drink it because of the “content”… the taste. You may market that taste with any myriad of new technologies or plans; “ The Pepsi Dome” as an example, or “Coke” Sunglasses, Viral cola drinking party videos, or tattooing “RC Cola” on the bosom of a supermodel. These technologies may get them to your product, but they will continue to drink only if they like the taste of the content.
Like many others here, I am pretty new to blogging – been dabbling about 3 months. My biggest challenge with blogging, and the new technologies is staying up with them. I have never been a “on the cutting edge” type of person. I have always come into something about the time it starts fizzling out in popularity.
To be honest, I don’t understand Twitter (most of the time I log in and just stare at the “What are you doing now?” thing, and think..”Umm.. I am typing, duh”. I hate Facebook, Digg, Technorati (all the social bookmarking sites), and don’t even like cell phones :) I am addicted to StumbleUpon though.
Anyway, what I’m getting at is that you need to stick to what you are good at doing, and what you like doing. If you run around trying the next hottest gadget every time it’s featured on Lifehacker (or similar site) you will get frustrated, get burned out, become overwhelmed and WISHING blogging was dead.
Darren, what a comforting yet pragmatic message that bloggers should keep blogging and not flit from space to space. I, too, see a lot of people quit or give up hope if their blog doesn’t produce instant results. As Seth Godin points out in a recent blog post, it’s pretty much a low barrier to entry “free for all” out there, so it does take time to build an online presence, whether on a blog or on Twitter. We each do need to have a home base, and then branch out to outposts as we feel comfortable doing so, and within the limits of our time. And thank you for pointing out that no blog should be confined to a certain look or feel. A good blog expresses digitally the warm body behind the blog — personality, good points, warts, and all. Lovely post!
I’m glad I stuck with blogging.
I’ve had some bad experiences with my first blog (although I’m determined to revive it), but I continue to persevere to learn and use as much as I can.
As a result, my new blog is starting off faster (traffic, subscriptions, even comments) and I have a better feel for what I’m doing.
I love Darren’s take and a lot of the comments here, that may serve as an antidote to discouragement.
Thanks all!