This was originally published on my other site, named at the time My Small Cents. At that point I was hovering around fifty visitors a day and pouring my heart and soul into making it work. I’m still as dedicated, but I’ve learned a lot since then! The mistakes are still just as relevant however, and still to be avoided wherever possible. I decided to post this at Pretty my Blog, because a blog about blogging is obviously an appropriate place for a post about blogging! My comments, with the perspective of six months of hindsight, are in italics.
My Small Cents (now Almost Frugal!) is going through some transitions and growing pains at the moment and I thought I would make a list of my blogging mistakes. After all, it’s not until you’re really aware of your mistakes that you can begin to fix them… right?
What does this post have to do with personal finance? Well I started this blog to help me meet my goals, and I want My Small Cents to be the best it can be. So, in no particular order, here are ten of the biggest blogging mistakes I’ve made. I’m sure there are more to come…
- Getting distracted. For example, right now! I sat down to write this post, then followed one link to another, to another to another and ending up writing an email. Not the best way to work productively. When I have limited time I end up getting even more distracted. (Just as applicable today, unfortunately!)
- Posting too often. Sometimes I think that posting every day is good, for fresh content, but other times I think it’s not great as it leads to burnout. I’m going to try to shoot for five times a week, and not kick myself when I don’t make it. (Three times a week is even better.)
- Comparing myself to others. Lynnae, from Being Frugal, posted her choices for the top ten most influential blogs. (Not surprisingly) I wasn’t on it, but I felt bad for a minute anyway. Only a minute though!
- Not understanding sites like StumbleUpon, Reddit, Technorati etc. I know I could be making better use of them, but I really have little idea of how they work.
- And in general, not making enough use of sources outside of the personal finance blogosphere. I tend to comment on the same blogs over and over, not on new ones. I’m also not really commenting on other blog networks like Blogher or MsnMoney for example.
- Jumping in too quickly. I chose the name SmallCents (and then MySmallCents) without really thinking about it and now I’m having serious second thoughts. I don’t know if I should change it or not. (Guess what? I did! It was one of the best moves I made, even though it was a ton of work.)
- Not sticking to my niche. I think that I’m the only American blogging from France about personal finance and frugality although of course I could be wrong. I’m also one of the few bloggers that disclose numbers: income, debt, budget categories etc. I’m aiming for a mix of stories about my life and discussion about my problems staying on track. What am I doing with posts on consumerism? (I’ve actually changed the direction of my writing and it’s much easier to stay on topic and stick to the niche. My stats are reflecting that as well, I’m starting to rank quite highly for my preferred keywords.)
- Sticking too closely to my niche. On the other hand, sometimes I think people get tired of hearing about France and the United States, my vacation and how big (or small) my grocery budget is. Posts on consumerism actually generate quite a few comments. (See above.)
- Making stupid mistakes. Publishing unfinished or poorly edited posts and then having to go back and fix them up. Letting an ugly semi redesign sit on the site for a couple of days. Stuff like that, that as an editor drives me nuts, yet it continues to slip through my fingers.
- Being too self-judgmental and self-questioning. If my subscriber count drops by one or two or three people, or the average number of visitors descends slightly I start questioning and doubting everything that’s happened recently.
How about you? What are the biggest blogging mistakes you’ve made, or are making?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
If it’s any consolation, I do consider you to be a great up and coming blogger. It was really hard to choose just 10!
And I STILL make a ton of those mistakes. You’ve come a very long way in just 6 months! Good job!
I think my biggest mistake in blogging is not planning ahead. I tend to write posts the night before they go live, and sometimes I just don’t feel like writing. Then I post a substandard post and get all self-critical on myself. Life would be much better if I wrote a bunch of posts when I was in a creative mood and scheduled them in advance.
Hi Lynnae,
At the point I wasn’t really that great… now is another story, but I could and can see the difference between myself and the other bloggers mentioned there. I write a bunch of stuff in advance and then autopost- although that doesn’t help with the editing problem!
linked from beingfrugal
Interesting post for those of us wondering if we should stop just being commentors and
get our feet wet with our own blog…. I think I’ll just be a commentor and spend the rest of the time with the grandkids!
There are some problems with parking my blog at http://www.myfrugallife.com/blog_pamphyila.html (not to mention the long url) – as I can’t get feeds to work – altho I do post updates on twitte.com/pamphyila FYI – But I like being parked there – and my blogging is a supplement to my years as a frual commentator – I have written a newspaper column and still want to write my book!