How Much Is That Blogger In The Window?
Note: I wrote this post before I received an email that Blog Explosion is allegedly up for sale, whatever that means. Now you may continue reading, for pleasure.
If you've been around the blogging block for awhile, chances are you know all the tricks about how to get more clicks for your buck. Hell, you might even have tried a few yourself. After all, the more traffic to your blog, the better the blog IS, right?
Arguably the most popular program out there, Blog Explosion promises (and delivers) more traffic than even a blogger's wildest dreams. But money ain't for nothing, and your clicks ain't for free. In other words, with Blog Explosion, just like in life, you have to give in order to receive.
So for every post you make, every click you take, Blog Explosion is watching you. Before you know it you're raking in double, sometimes even triple the traffic you normally do. Only problem is there's a reason they say quality comes before quantity.
The truth of the matter is just because you are getting a lot of clicks doesn't mean you are getting a lot of what I like to call "clickers that care". These are people that truly enjoy reading your blog and show their appreciation by blogrolling or commenting.
That's why I'd like to provide people who visit AOGB with a "caring comment guarantee". Yes, unless I miss the comment (because Haloscan can sometime be as trusty as a weatherman), you can always count on me to recipro-comment. This is because in blogging I've adopted a simple philosophy that also applies to the real world: Do unto others as you'd have done unto you.
In the best case scenario you meet a blogger you like, you make a comment and they in turn comment on something you have written. Case in point, my latest renter Lyndon. You go back and forth like that for awhile till before long, you know there's a place you can go where every blogger knows your name.
It's so simple really, yet for all the time I've been blogging, all the blogs I've visited and all the comments I've made, the ratio of bloggers or "clickers that care" is relatively low.
Recently, Blog Explosion launched a program called Rent My Blog that attempts to capitalize on their "more traffic to your blog" campaign. You write an ad for your blog, pick your price (anywhere from 10 to the insane amount of 500 credits) and then wait for other bloggers to make you an offer you can't refuse. The same thing works in return. You can take those credits and hoard them till the cows come home, or you can turn around and bid on others to showcase your blog.
Choosing the blog to feature on your blog is like choosing where to sit on your first day of high school, freshman year. Should you only associate with the "cool kids" or should you invite the new girl to join you in the cafeteria? Just like on The Bachelor, at the final ceremony, only one blog can accept the final rose and also just like on The Bachelor, the relationship lasts for a week.
In the short time I've participated in the Rent My Blog program I have had mixed results. For the most part, I'm like any other blogger. I've been bidded on and I've bid on. I've been accepted and I've been rejected. I know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run.
But just like with any relationship, sometimes I make bad blogging decisions. For me personally, I hate having to "choose" one blog over another. This is why for every bid I receive, I visit each blog and I always say something to the effect of, "It's not you, it's me. Can we still be friends?" I'm flattered they bid on my blog and I like to let them know. Very rarely, however, do those people comment on my comment or give me the same courtesy.
Then there are those bloggers, that, God love them, bid on you week after week yet they never once leave a comment on your blog. It makes you feel like the lone hot girl whose managed to hold out. Do you really think my blog is sexy, or do you just want me to be another notch on your Blog Explosion bedpost?
Which brings this post full circle. Why do people join programs like Blog Explosion in the first place? I joined because I like the idea of people reading my blog, but I also like finding new blogs to read. But to shack up with another blogger for a week and have no communication whatsoever? What's the point of that? It's like two bloggers, passing in the night.
Then there are those in the "inner circle of blogging" who obviously have read books like THE RULES entirely too much. Wait 'x' amount of days/hours until you comment on a blog. Wait for the blogger to come to you, not you to them. Deblogroll anyone who does not bow to the altar of your greatness. Only associate with those who know the secret password.
Sometimes you bid on a blog, only to have the offer expire. Dawn, who I'm currently renting from, said it best. She basically said that it's pretty sad when you don't have any other offers and you still won't accept a perfectly good offer staring you right in the face. What, so like my blog isn't good enough for you? Huh! HUH?!
In my blogging universe, comments are just common courtesy. Comments tell the writer I came, I saw, and I read. Now I'm going to tell you what I think about it. If you ask me, caring is the direct route to getting more traffic. All of this other stuff is just like taking the long and winding backroads to get to the same place.
So from one blogger to another care enough leave a comment. Come on now. Help a blogger out.
If you've been around the blogging block for awhile, chances are you know all the tricks about how to get more clicks for your buck. Hell, you might even have tried a few yourself. After all, the more traffic to your blog, the better the blog IS, right?
Arguably the most popular program out there, Blog Explosion promises (and delivers) more traffic than even a blogger's wildest dreams. But money ain't for nothing, and your clicks ain't for free. In other words, with Blog Explosion, just like in life, you have to give in order to receive.
So for every post you make, every click you take, Blog Explosion is watching you. Before you know it you're raking in double, sometimes even triple the traffic you normally do. Only problem is there's a reason they say quality comes before quantity.
The truth of the matter is just because you are getting a lot of clicks doesn't mean you are getting a lot of what I like to call "clickers that care". These are people that truly enjoy reading your blog and show their appreciation by blogrolling or commenting.
That's why I'd like to provide people who visit AOGB with a "caring comment guarantee". Yes, unless I miss the comment (because Haloscan can sometime be as trusty as a weatherman), you can always count on me to recipro-comment. This is because in blogging I've adopted a simple philosophy that also applies to the real world: Do unto others as you'd have done unto you.
In the best case scenario you meet a blogger you like, you make a comment and they in turn comment on something you have written. Case in point, my latest renter Lyndon. You go back and forth like that for awhile till before long, you know there's a place you can go where every blogger knows your name.
It's so simple really, yet for all the time I've been blogging, all the blogs I've visited and all the comments I've made, the ratio of bloggers or "clickers that care" is relatively low.
Recently, Blog Explosion launched a program called Rent My Blog that attempts to capitalize on their "more traffic to your blog" campaign. You write an ad for your blog, pick your price (anywhere from 10 to the insane amount of 500 credits) and then wait for other bloggers to make you an offer you can't refuse. The same thing works in return. You can take those credits and hoard them till the cows come home, or you can turn around and bid on others to showcase your blog.
Choosing the blog to feature on your blog is like choosing where to sit on your first day of high school, freshman year. Should you only associate with the "cool kids" or should you invite the new girl to join you in the cafeteria? Just like on The Bachelor, at the final ceremony, only one blog can accept the final rose and also just like on The Bachelor, the relationship lasts for a week.
In the short time I've participated in the Rent My Blog program I have had mixed results. For the most part, I'm like any other blogger. I've been bidded on and I've bid on. I've been accepted and I've been rejected. I know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run.
But just like with any relationship, sometimes I make bad blogging decisions. For me personally, I hate having to "choose" one blog over another. This is why for every bid I receive, I visit each blog and I always say something to the effect of, "It's not you, it's me. Can we still be friends?" I'm flattered they bid on my blog and I like to let them know. Very rarely, however, do those people comment on my comment or give me the same courtesy.
Then there are those bloggers, that, God love them, bid on you week after week yet they never once leave a comment on your blog. It makes you feel like the lone hot girl whose managed to hold out. Do you really think my blog is sexy, or do you just want me to be another notch on your Blog Explosion bedpost?
Which brings this post full circle. Why do people join programs like Blog Explosion in the first place? I joined because I like the idea of people reading my blog, but I also like finding new blogs to read. But to shack up with another blogger for a week and have no communication whatsoever? What's the point of that? It's like two bloggers, passing in the night.
Then there are those in the "inner circle of blogging" who obviously have read books like THE RULES entirely too much. Wait 'x' amount of days/hours until you comment on a blog. Wait for the blogger to come to you, not you to them. Deblogroll anyone who does not bow to the altar of your greatness. Only associate with those who know the secret password.
Sometimes you bid on a blog, only to have the offer expire. Dawn, who I'm currently renting from, said it best. She basically said that it's pretty sad when you don't have any other offers and you still won't accept a perfectly good offer staring you right in the face. What, so like my blog isn't good enough for you? Huh! HUH?!
In my blogging universe, comments are just common courtesy. Comments tell the writer I came, I saw, and I read. Now I'm going to tell you what I think about it. If you ask me, caring is the direct route to getting more traffic. All of this other stuff is just like taking the long and winding backroads to get to the same place.
So from one blogger to another care enough leave a comment. Come on now. Help a blogger out.
<< Home