Blogging is new to me. I tried to do one prior to a deployment to Southwest Asia, but I just didn't have time while I was there to mess with it. So, I figured I'd try again. It's been very interesting.
I think the best reason for doing a blog is to improve my writing. I will publish a post and than go back again and again to fix the errors. It's also been interesting to see the feedback. Most of it has been good. I've rejected one response because it was fairly rude and illustrates some of the problems with the blogosphere: a loss of decorum and polite consideration.
I setup Google Analytics to track the progress of my blog. Zero, nothing, nada. Is anyone out there? I went and researched on how to drive traffic to my blog and found several great ideas. I think the main one has been to read other blogs and post. Reference the article from Ezinearticles.com
I followed their advice and saw my traffic begin to grow. I did get a note from Ryan Block at Engadget about "gratuitous spamming" of my blog. It never really occurred to me the problem this could present in terms of the potential for shameless self-promotion. In fact, I then noticed the following on every Engadget story:
"Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. . . . . To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Please note that gratuitous links to your site are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments." (My emphasis).
OK, that goes back to my earlier thought about decorum. It would be rude to leave your blog address when it doesn't matter. It would probably just upset others. I have to say I agree with Engadget's policy because it really is better to stick to leaving your opinion, but not your blog/web addresss unless it adds to or complements the story.
This is just one idea to create traffic. Visit ezinearticles.com for more info.
The result? Well, I've had a few hundred unique folks visit my site from five continents:
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When you get into the details, some stay for a while others do not. I was pretty surprised about my Asian visitors. I assumed they'd be Japanese, but they're not. They're coming from the Philippines (probably from searches on my last name which is Spanish, but fairly common in the Philippines), Singapore and Hong Kong primarily. I have had one visitor from Japan who spent zero time. I actually posted a Twitter in Japanese seeing if more Japanese would visit. My message went out like this: 私の場所を訪問しなさい。私は日本のスピーカーが訪問するか何知りたいと思う。 Who knows if I got it right? We'll see if it works.
The United Kingdom, Germany and Spain top out my European visitors. Again, I imagine the last name has something to do with Spain. I know Twitter is driving UK readers for a fact, because they've told me so. I have a special place in my heart for the UK. I'm half English from my Mom's side and I participated in a church missions trip to the UK when I was 15. It was great, but that's another story.
North American has been dominated by the United States. But it's pretty interesting to see Brazil, Mexico (last name again? there's actually a town in Mexico named for our family), Jamaica, Guatemala and others.
So far blogging has been rewarding. Some guys I work with think it's a great idea to display your breadth and depth of knowledge on topics, as well as your ability to clearly communicate an idea. Future employers or even friends are certain to google your name. Give them something to look at. My sister googles me to see what I'm up to.
My idea for you is to try it out. Visit http://www.blogger.com/ for a free blogspot site. There are many other sites that offer free and paid blog sites. Leave a comment with your favorite site and I'll publish it and links gladly. If you're rude, I'll reject it :-)
Cheers for now - Dan Mosqueda
Here are some links from Gorileo:
http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/2006/11/how_to_be_inter.html
www.inkbytes.blogspot.com
