What is it that makes someone think they can visit a blog, leave a stupid, sarcastic comment, leave no website url, and think that’s gonna ride. It won’t ride here.
I’ve never made a comment policy, or even felt the need to. But lately, I’ve been getting comments from trolls, and that’s why comments automatically go into moderation for someone who’s never commented here before.
Here are a few points that outline what I think is and is not acceptable.
Alright, I’ve been doing a lot of research on different strategies of turning a profit online. After reading quite a few affiliate marketing blogs, I’ve come to realize that most blogs that center around this topic, have little to offer. I think most of them make their money through affiliate program referrals, selling ebooks with re-hashed content, or they make their money on other websites. Other than that, I don’t see a blog about making money online as being profitable. The same would hold true about blogs that center around web design and blogging (like mine). The truth is, traffic from search engines is a much more profitable audience, than other bloggers.
If you haven’t noticed the last few months, I’ve not posted as much as I used to. The primary reason for this is the fact that I’m rethinking the direction I want to go with this website. When I started this blog, it was just a personal website…nothing more. Then I figured out how to build a WordPress theme, and that knowledge + the little HTML and CSS know-how that I had, I ran with it. I put together a fairly nice variety of free themes. Then I started writing a few tutorials and taking on work for pay. Most of that work has been me fixing things for people(adding logos, sidebars, fixing errors, etc.), and there has been the occasional custom theme.
As my current blog approaches it’s first birthday on February 1st, I’ve started looking at different ways to make it better, and to push it to a higher level in terms of usefulness and readership. One of the key components of this strategy is using social media in an effective way. This post will cover a few basics, so if you’re an old pro when it comes to mingling on the social web, feel free to add your knowledge to the mix.
For me, the term social media conjures up images of blinking neon MySpace profiles, but fortunately, there’s more to social networking on the web than what MySpace has to offer. In my opinion, MySpace is the trailer-trash of social media…maybe that’s a little harsh. I think it can be used in a positive way, but it seems to be more about keeping in touch with friends, connecting with musicians, and it’s a haven for very sleazy spam….and I truly hate spam, sleazy or not. On the other hand, there are a number of social media websites that offer a more concentrated purpose, and focus on content rather than your profile. Among the best I know of are Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon.
It’s strange, I’ve posted here on Antbag.com a lot less over the past two months or so as I’ve picked up more work, but my blog seems to be picking up a little steam. My subscriber count is higher than it’s ever been, my daily unique visitor count is up. I’ve had some much larger days than I’m having right now(days I’ve launched a new WP Theme, with it’s subsequent announcement on Weblog Tools Collection), but not on a consistent basis.
Another neat thing, due to backlinks from my WP Themes, is that I’ve been listed this week in Technoratti’s Top 100 popular blogs at #99. I seriously would have expected this to bring in a rush of traffic, but truth is, it hasn’t. According to my stats, I’ve not had even one referrel this week from Technoratti….strange.
As for being in the Top 100, I know there are quite a few designers out there who have WAY more back-links than me, but are not listed in the Top 100 popular blogs. My assumption is that once they figure out the reason I have all those back-links(WordPress Themes), I’ll be off the list. Anyway, kinda nice to see my blog listed.
Every so often, I seem to lose all motivation to write new posts on my blog. Sometimes it’s because I’ve gotten so busy, I don’t feel I have the time or energy to put into making a post that may actually be useful to someone. However, I have to remind myself every so often that it’s just a blog. If you take it too seriously, that takes all the fun out of it. So what are some resources for when you’re fresh out of ideas? Read along as I lay out a few suggestions.
