Is There Anybody Out There?
I started posting to my blog on a regular basis 2 1/2/ weeks ago and wasn't sure whether I was writing a form of "thoughts" diary for myself, or a series of comments on life and the universe as we know it for an unseen audience of thousands (or one!). Looking at the stats, I've had over 560 hits on the site over the past 2 1/2 weeks and it's now averaging 50 to 60 a day. Very gratifying and a responsibility....I have to keep on blogging.
I looked at a, internet thought / comment chain on whether a blog should be the random thoughts of the writer, should be consistent and on one theme only and should never deviate from that theme, or should be a Thought for the Day. There was page after page of comments full of angst and after a bit I stopped reading and started thinking.
A Blog can have a number of reasons for being there:-
1. To entertain
2. To provoke thought and comment
3. To irritate (why not? That provokes counter comment)
In my blog I try to put down entertaining thoughts and comments on the events of the day that make people laugh (great if that's achieved), make people think, make people agree or just as likely to disagree.
Luckily every person on this planet is an individual, has reasonable freedom of thought and decision making ability and can decide whether to read my posts, just as they can decide whether to buy my books or not
(Time for a plug!):-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Temporal-Detective-Agency-Series-ebook/dp/B007XYIFO4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339080347&sr=1-1
Most writers I know have a blog in one shape or form and some have a number of blogs for different subjects. Promoting their work is only to be expected, and yet I've seen posts tearing into bloggers because their books are available on Amazon at such and such a price. It's like going into a shop and having a hissy fit because someone asked if they can help you. How dare they????
I shall continue to blog about the world in general because that's what interests me and I hope that;s what attracts my blog readers.
I shall be watching the stats!
A blog can be whatever you want it to be. Whether it resounds with readers is another thing entirely. If you get repeat visits and consistent comments it means you are building an audience. Then it becomes a matter of keeping that old audience while gaining new readers.
ReplyDeleteI experimented with mine, and still tend to experiment, to see what generated the biggest responses and what falls flat. It's a continual learning process. The main thing is to establish ties and hang onto the relationships we have among other bloggers and eventually you will have a community.
Lee
Tossing It Out