PDA

View Full Version : whats the goal of your blog?



greenoak
10-23-2008, 09:31 PM
are you after fame or actual business or is it a creative outlet?.and what kind of business? like in cyberspace or ads on the blog or ebooks or real customers to your business...
i think i want mine to be local and authentic and centered on the store with the goal of enriching the store with real creative pleasure on the side..i dont have any national goals or web goals...... but ive really enjoyed getting to kenw people thru the blog also...
...i dont get it when someone says i got 1000 hits and no response and they want more hits...isnt something wrong if 1000 people came thru and didnt respond?
the women in business web world is filled with things i dont want to participate in....because they are too far away from bringing business to the store...here i mean the webtag, the top 100 lists, the forums all about you go girl, the web awards,the mass trading of links.... ..i just feel llike i need to put my web effort into a more targeted plan...not sure what yet...
ann

the goat
10-24-2008, 12:27 AM
Mine is just as a creative outlet. I try to keep it light, entertaining and funny. I don't even use my real name on it, it's just for fun.

It's basically all the stuff I would write for print, but my editor's won't let me. Interestingly enough, it is by far the most popular of my sites. I guess the old cliche about loving what you do is right on in my case.

vangogh
10-24-2008, 03:41 AM
I suppose I have a few reasons for blogging. I do enjoy the creative outlet and writing for my blog does help improve the quality of my writing overall. I also enjoy sharing things I've learned with people so it's natural to blog with advice that hopefully helps people.

Still given that my blog is attached to my website it's purpose is mostly marketing. The blog is there to help people see I can really do the things I say I can do on my sales pages. The added content helps with search engines and posts more naturally attract links further helping with search engines. There's not much reason to link to someone's sales page, but there's often reason to link to good sources of information.

The blog also helps to keep people coming back to the site. Just as there's little reason to link to someone's sales copy, there's little reason to revisit that sales copy. The blog is a way to keep people coming back and interacting with the site and me.

That doesn't mean marketing is the only reason I do or would blog. But my current blog sits on my site and has the primary goal of helping to market me and my services. It also helps bring in a small revenue, which I hope to grow over time. On another blog my motivation might be purely about the creative release, but at the moment I have just the one blog.

KristineS
10-24-2008, 08:49 AM
Depends on the blog. The corporate blogs are designed to promote the companies. I'd love readers, but I feel the same about awards etc. The goal is to get more information out there about the companies and to give our customers a way to relate to us.

The OBS Blog is to publicize that organization and talk about issues that face bloggers who write about outdoor activities. It's the mouthpiece for the organization.

The personal blogs are just about me writing to dissect and discuss various aspects of my life. It would be nice if those generated enough income to support hosting fees at least. They're not about being famous, but it would be nice to have lots of readers.

Patrysha
10-24-2008, 09:54 AM
One is a purely creative/social thing and the other is my business website so it's for marketing. I market to both real life offline clients and online clients, but the website is geared more towards the local clients at the present time.

Of course, at times it seems like the blogs are just a theory. Real life gets in the way of a lot of my self promotion efforts and there are times when I don't post as often as I should. I'm working on ways to improve on that.

orion_joel
10-25-2008, 02:22 AM
Well i have three different blogs, and while all of them share the approach to allow me a creative outlet, to write about what i want and such, each has a weather planned or not and weather implement or not alternative motive.

One of my blogs - which i attempt to keep as a separate entity for the most part, is something i initially started purely as a trial, on a concept and also for how i could build a blog. It worked and is working reasonably ok, it has kind of taken a back seat a little to the other two however.

No Fixed Office - This is my newest blog and serves really two goals, one for me to contribute an idea and to help and encourage any number of people to try that idea. While also working as a potential way to direct business to my own business. The goal is eventually to have a tool that directs business without it really being that noticeable to the consumer.

Joelbrown.id.au - The main goal here is really to build a potential income source, while i know it will be a long hard road to actually achieve this i think it is something that could be possible, however one of those things that i don't really know how just yet.

Blessed
10-25-2008, 06:55 AM
My blog is mainly for fun and personal writing development - I do some product reviews to which either pay a minimal amount or give me free stuff - I'm signed up with a couple affiliate programs and with an advertising source but those haven't generated enough income to pay yet!

Harold Mansfield
10-26-2008, 02:17 PM
I have 2 blogs, one is just for my love of dance music. I like keeping up to date with what is going on that genre, while preserving some of the history. I had no plans or direction when it came to monetization, it just kind of fell together over the past year.

The second blog is a place for me to express my views in politics and support my Presidential candidate, with a few informative articles.
They both have one purpose in mind, advertising my other sites.

I use my real name on them, I see no reason not to, but I could care less about any fame or recognition. I just want them to be good, and attract quality traffic.

Both came about kind of recklessly.
I started 124 beats Per Minute because the domain was available and it is significant in dance music descriptions and the Technic 1200 turntable.

I put up The Mansfield Herald because I liked the template and thought it would be a decent enough Idea to advertise my own sites and programs. Also because I love politics and none of my friends keep up enough to hold a decent conversation, the same with Dance Music, so they are both outlets.

There was really no plan on either of them, they really just kind of fell together.

greenoak
10-26-2008, 07:21 PM
eborg9.....your blogs are so neat and complicated and rich...
also like your planning method..philosophy ..and your politics...
i think a blog should be kind of loose and individual.
.i havent made a direct penny off mine....but probably quite a bit indirectly...
ann

Harold Mansfield
10-31-2008, 05:36 PM
eborg9.....your blogs are so neat and complicated and rich...
also like your planning method..philosophy ..and your politics...
i think a blog should be kind of loose and individual.
.i havent made a direct penny off mine....but probably quite a bit indirectly...
ann

Thanks for the kudos. I know I have been told to many times that I have too much on my blogs. "Complicated" has been used before to describe them.

In my mind they are not detailed enough and I don't cover as much of the subject matter as I think I should...I actually find myself scaling back the categories.

We probably all do the same thing in a way. When I look at my blogs, they never seem to be good enough or have enough appeal and information.

greenoak
11-02-2008, 08:34 AM
my blog just endorsed obama!!! with a nice antique image.....
eborg..how do you keep any focus?
..all the categories get me in so much trouble....i lay something out and add and add....and it just gets impossible....but i cant stand to limit myself..things are so interesting and i see so many possibilities...
...like our website or the blog...they are too broad ...maybe it should be just about retail or just about wholesale...they are 2 different parts of the business..the site is big and unorganized and the blog and has to be fun and about my interests and it kind of gets worse and worse...or better and better ...the store is kind of the same way...more and more...and so many parts...but thats what my customers like in a way....
i need to focus and get my new web ideas going on the right track..having trouble here!!!
ann

Harold Mansfield
11-03-2008, 10:52 PM
my blog just endorsed obama!!! with a nice antique image.....
eborg..how do you keep any focus?
..all the categories get me in so much trouble....i lay something out and add and add....and it just gets impossible....but i cant stand to limit myself..things are so interesting and i see so many possibilities...
...like our website or the blog...they are too broad ...maybe it should be just about retail or just about wholesale...they are 2 different parts of the business..the site is big and unorganized and the blog and has to be fun and about my interests and it kind of gets worse and worse...or better and better ...the store is kind of the same way...more and more...and so many parts...but thats what my customers like in a way....
i need to focus and get my new web ideas going on the right track..having trouble here!!!
ann

Who told you I was focused ?:p

It looks like a lot to keep up with on the surface. I could never write 6 or 7 different articles a day, I just don't have the time. I made a decision to write new articles in the other categories once a week (usually on the weekends when I have more time ) , but I post a new Featured Editorial everyday, which has been easy during the election.

As long as the main post is fresh, the others just fall into place when I have something to add.

You can add categories forever, and get so detailed that it will bury you. I used to do that all the time, but if you sit back and see where you can combine subject matter, you can get it down to a nice manageable number.

You don't have to update each category everyday.

Organization is very hard, you have to start with one thing...set up the maintenance schedule (posting articles) and then move to the next.

It's easier to blog about things that you already know, or would normally keep versed on naturally..

There will always be more that you can do, and you will always have new ideas.

Do one thing at a time and get that the way you want it, or you will find yourself playing catch up with multiple things running at 60%, instead of one thing running at 100%.

greenoak
11-06-2008, 08:36 AM
i never thought of a main post and then seperate topic categories....that sounds very cool and kind of a great framework...
...not sure how to do that on blogger....i seem to be getting readers from a few kind of different background interests....which i like of course....it would be awful to have to stick to just one thing!!!
i think i will try and research how to use the side bar area on blogger better...
im still thinking of going for a pure wholesale blog....with product for sale......
i should probably be on wordpress....but blogger is so easy i can do it myself.... maybe i should research that too...im not on blogger just becaus e its free....altho i dont get why its free......


ann

KristineS
11-06-2008, 09:35 AM
Wordpress is quite easy to use. I'm pretty much all thumbs when it comes to updating code and I can make Wordpress do what I want it to do, most of the time anyway. If you take a bit of time to learn how things work it's really quite easy.

As for Blogger being free, it really is a pretty smart idea on Google's part. They built a blogging platform that anyone can use and they designed it so that it would work easily and seamlessly with Google advertising products like Adwords and Adsense. If you have a blog and want to advertise what would make more sense than using the plug and play products that are already integrated with the Blogger software?

vangogh
11-06-2008, 11:28 AM
WordPress also has a free service. The software is free anyway, but if you go to wordpress.com instead of .org you can sign up just like at Blogger and have a free blog. Not all WordPress plugins will work on the .com service, but enough do.

greenoak
11-06-2008, 09:58 PM
kristine, i hope you are right.......and that i can find some good new ways/ alternatives on blogger..what would i look under? i did put plug and play into their search and got nothing.... ..i want to try something more complex....like eborgs... to make it easier on the readers.to check out their favorite parts....i do have lables for that now...
...one person emailed me today and said she just read the whole thing...
i read some of yours today... the print was too little for me.....it was neat...i wonder who died, and if it was someone from the old forum?.
the tekkk talk is so over my head...i can hardly get the help blogger offers, just starting tho.... ann

Harold Mansfield
11-18-2008, 10:55 PM
Ann I would suggest if you are going to make a switch, don't go from one free blog to another, when you are ready, you can add (self hosted) wordpress onto your existing domain (for free), and play around with templates an such in your spare time , while keeping your blogger blog going...

When you feel comfortable, you can import your old posts into your new wordpress blog that is on your already existing domain, and go forward.

There is a learning curve going from blogger to wordpress, but in the end (after a few weeks) you will be very happy with the platform.

With wordpress, you will be able to do just about anything your heart desires.

KristineS
11-19-2008, 12:57 PM
i read some of yours today... the print was too little for me.....it was neat...i wonder who died, and if it was someone from the old forum?.
the tekkk talk is so over my head...i can hardly get the help blogger offers, just starting tho.... ann

I know the print is small on the personal blogs. Haven't quite figured out what to do with that yet. It may be time to change themes again.

Someone (who shall remain nameless but he owns this forum) is supposed to be designing themes for me. That probably won't happen for a while though. In the meantime I should probably do some research on pre-made themes and find a few with larger print.

As to who died, that was someone on an embroidery forum that I post to for work. It's nobody who is associated with this forum or the old small business forum.

Harold Mansfield
11-19-2008, 04:11 PM
I know the print is small on the personal blogs. Haven't quite figured out what to do with that yet. It may be time to change themes again.

Someone (who shall remain nameless but he owns this forum) is supposed to be designing themes for me. That probably won't happen for a while though. In the meantime I should probably do some research on pre-made themes and find a few with larger print.

As to who died, that was someone on an embroidery forum that I post to for work. It's nobody who is associated with this forum or the old small business forum.

Kristine, you can find the font size on your blog theme's STYLE.CSS folder. It's usually right at the beginning of the code.

Here is what it looks like on one of my blogs. Change what I have in bold (on yours) to change the size of the font. You may also need to adjust the line height to give your larger font more room.


*========= SETUP =========*/

*{
border: 0;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
body{
color: #666666;
background-color: #FFFFFF;
font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12px;
line-height: 18px;
}
a{
color: #000000;
text-decoration: none;
}
a:hover{
text-decoration: underline;
}
input,select,textarea{
border: #999999 1px solid;
font-size: 12px;
padding: 2px;
}
select{
padding: 0;
}
li{
list-style: none;
}

______________________________________

If you want it to be a uniformed size, you may need to adjust every instance of font size that relates to the main page.

Make sure you copy the original file and save it to your computer while you are testing sizes out, so that you can re-install it if you mess it up too bad.

KristineS
11-20-2008, 03:41 PM
Thanks eborg. I'll take a look at that.

It's good to know even if I do change the themes, which I think I will. I get bored with them every once in a while and it's good to change things up.

greenoak
11-20-2008, 06:08 PM
thanks eborg....that sounds like a good january project for me...i really want 3 columns and the ability to frame it more like yours...
just being on blogger has forced me to learn stuff thats been so hard for me....i dont get why they dont have a 3 column template....im happy there and can manage quite a bit of it....
playing around on blogger, i accidentally destroyed my heading and couldnt retrieve it and ended up with one i like better..so i am learning ..that time about the save feature!!!..at snails pace...
ann...