One of my fatal flaws is that I am just too dad-blasted honest for my own good. This is why I could never be a partisan blogger. I am not going to sit here and lie and say that I am swimming in the hits. Because I am not, and if you click on my counter, you will see that to be true.
One of the reasons why my blog is not the popular with the “right” is because, quite frankly, I was once on the left. I was a skeptical “left of center” really. More a populist than anything else. I still consider myself to be a populist, of sorts. I am just no longer a “progressive populist,” but more of a Conservative populist or a grassroots independent conservative or something along those lines. What I can say is this; my loyalty is not to the Republican Party, or to Mitt Romney. I support him and all. However, he is not sending me any money at all. My loyalty is to this Country and to Jesus Christ. It is just that simple.
Another one of the reasons why I am not that I am not that popular among the right wing blogosphere, is that I have, in the past, dared to challenge some of the darlings on the right wing blogosphere. I also did, unfortunately; accidently insult a conservative blogger’s dead wife. I had no idea what the man’s last name was, and a blog war erupted and stuff got said. I wish now, that I had just ignored the stupidity. But, I didn’t and things happened.
Anyhow, I happen to read on the Daily Beast, about how the left wing bloggers are not happy about their influence and because their numbers are down. Now, if I were a partisan hack, like this guy here; I would say it was because your politics suck or something. But, I know better than that.
Guys, I have to be honest, I am not making a dime from this blog at all. Oh, I get the occasional donation. But, I just started back with pay-per-click ads here and so far; I have not gotten a check at all. I have added some new “pay per action ads” But mostly, they are not paying either…yet. I have in my personal checking account at the moment all of $34.78. Sad isn’t it? No, I am not the “rich” Republican business owner that the Democratic Party keeps on carping about. I just am an American that happens to believe that the Government is just not the “all to end all” solution to the Country’s problems. Needless to say, Murdoch, Koch or any of the rest of the Democratic Party boogeymen are not funding this writer! Some people might think that I have too much advertising; to them, I ask, “What do you have against capitalism?” 
There are some reasons why I believe blogs and bloggers are not what they once were:
- Facebook – Like it or not; Facebook is stealing eyeballs away from long-form blogs like this one.
- Twitter – Same deal, but in 140 characters
- So many blogs — For better or for worse, the blogosphere has grown, in a big way — since back in 2006 and earlier. It can hard to build a following.
I have some advice for those just starting out, and for those who could use the advice, who have been around a while:
- Keep it original! – News aggregation sites are a dime a freakin’ dozen. If you want to link to a story, related to your posting; fine, link to it. But, linking and over quoting, without an original opinion of some sort is a huge turn off to many people. Reading a story in different place, does not change the story. Please Note: I have a problem adhering to this rule myself. So, don’t think that I am not guilty.
- If you must quote, don’t overdo it! – Just quote enough to get to the meat of the story. Cutting and pasting an entire story and linking to it, with no original thought is lame and turns people off.
- Avoid deceptive headlines! – Don’t lie in a headline, just title the blog posting what the story is truly about. People will respect you more, trust me.
- Avoid swearing – I know it can be hard; I tend to swear sometimes myself. But, if you swear a bit in blog postings, people will tend not to take you as serious as they would, if you did not swear.
- Grammar is important! You can be the best darned blogger on the planet. But, if your postings look like they have been written by a 6 year old; you will not get taken seriously at all. Try to use, “However” and “Therefore,” instead of “But.” It will help, trust me.
- Avoid the “Echo Chamber!” — This goes on, on both sides. The left was horrible about it, during the Bush era and now, the right is horrible about it, during the Obama era. Group thought! Everyone saying the same thing. Believe it or not; some people do really like honesty and original thought. Do not be afraid to go against the grain, if you do not agree with something! It is okay to have finite position on something. It is also okay to say, “Hey, I am a Conservative or a liberal; and I happen to think this is wrong, stupid” or whatever. Being a fish, that swims downstream, during upstream season, can be rewarding.
- Let the people comment! — Comment sections are what make blogs a community. I see websites, and commercial blogs restricting comments, closing comment sections moderating or even censoring comments. This is insanity. Let the people speak. You set the limits, about what is allowed and what is not and open your blog up for comments. If you are using SEO, comments will bring more hits to your site. If you use blogging software, like WordPress, you can set a list of words, that are not allowed, and if said commenter uses that word, it will end up in the spam folder. If you need a list, contact me, and I will send you mine!
- Link around! – Don’t be afraid to link to other bloggers, even if they do not agree with your politics. There is nothing more fun than linking to a blogger, who think he’s an island. Believe me; they might not say it, but they’ll respect you for sending them the traffic.
- Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little! — I am not advocating blog wars! I am advocating representing your cause. Sometimes a good public discussion is a good thing, when it is between bloggers. As long as it does not devolve into name calling and fights; a good discussion is a good thing.
- Promote thyself! — Facebook and Twitter can be invaluable for blog promotion. Facebook has the feature that allows you to create a page for your blog. There are also free services like twitterfeed, that allow you to automatically post your blog entries to facebook and twitter. Also, word of mouth works well too. Also, do not be afraid to show up in comments sections of your favorite blogs and drop a URL. As long as it is not excessive, the blog owners usually will not mind.
- Capitalism is not a bad thing and it will not hurt your blog! —-Whether you are a tree hugging liberal or a gun-toting Conservative. Capitalism, in the form of ads, of some sort, preferably in proper context and with the theme of your blog – can help with revenue. There are are TON of ad companies. Adsense, Adbrite, Blogads, infolinks, Commission Junction, ShareaSale and many more. Sign up for them, put the banners on your blog, don’t be afraid to try new stuff!
- Don’t be afraid to try something new! — Remember, it is your blog, and the only person that you really need to make happy, is you. Your readers are your guests and while you want to make them feel at home. The person you should strive to please, is yourself.
So, there, hopefully these ideas will be of help to someone. Much of this, comes from my years of blogging. I have blogged since 2006. I have learned a bit over the years. If you have any questions. Contact me! I will be glad to help out, if I can.
To blogging!
-Patrick
Others: Welcome Back to Pottersville, Booman Tribune, Mock, Paper, Scissors,Firedoglake and Suburban Guerrilla, driftglass