I’m very new at blogging, and not ashamed to admit that… I don’t know what the hell I’m doing! But am constantly trying to learn something from other bloggers, so here’s a list of what I’ve learned so far:

          -1-   You think you know…but you don’t! You think blogging is a piece of cake, anybody can do it! Yeah, sure. After a few weeks, you want to give up. It’s lots of hard work even getting a handful of people to read your trifles!

          -2-    Traffic is a word that will completely change meaning. When you’re trying to get to work and are stuck in it, you’ll think “I wish my blog had traffic like this. Then I could make some money, quit my job, and never have to be stuck in it again!”.

          -3-    You have to give some to get some. You want comments, visitors, reviews, links…Don’t wait for them to come to you, it will never happen. Start networking, visit and comment on as many blogs as you can, and join forums.

           -4-    So you thought you can completely be yourself, no more rules to obey, like in real life? Things I’ve learned that matter a lot: pleasant personality, nice attitude, communication skills, tolerance, politeness, respect, good grammar and vocabulary, etc. All this make you or brake you. If you thought you can freely express yourself, be rude, write and do whatever you want, you’re wrong! You are in front of a harsh audience, that will not come back if you offend them in any way. So you have to be very careful about what you put out there, and how you present yourself…

          -5-    Posting often is very important. Of course, blogs that do well don’t need to post every single day, or week for that matter, people will still come. But if you’re a beginner, you have to make a good impression and give people something to read. Nobody will come back to your baby-blog if you post once a  month.

          -6-    Making your blog all about money, placing ads everywhere, including the header, gives a really unprofessional look.

          -7-    Simple is best. The design of the blog is crucial, and the simpler it looks, the best. Use light colors, don’t overdo with lots of artistic embellishments, don’t use flash and music. A custom design and a logo are good things to have.

          -8-    Writing about something. You see lots of bloggers rambling about nothing, posting about what they ate this morning and how their neighbour’s cat is in heat. Write about something people you don’t know would want to read, not just your friends, your family, your neighbours, or “nosy parkers”.

          -9-    Don’t rush into things. Sure, you’ve just started your very first blog, and want all the traffic and subscribers in the world. Now, please! Don’t spam people with your URL, write things like “Go here: http://myblog.com now!”, leave 100 comments every day without even reading the posts, just for promoting your blog: “Nice, dude! Now check this out: http://myblog.com !”.  Don’t get fooled into things like paid links, link farms or whatever they’re called, or use any get-traffic-fast methods. There’s no such thing as a magic formula for making your blog number 1 in the world over night! Constant work will slowly get you there.

          -10-   One last thing I’ve learned: go get some fresh air every now and then. I know this blogging business is taking over, but your brain really needs the oxygen. And helps to see things from a different perspective.

When I learn some more I’ll post it.

Any advice from you is greatly appreciated!