My blogging journey so far

Many of my readers are also bloggers and so today I thought I would write about blogging. I started a few years ago on Blogspot, but WordPress is much better. I started this blog about 2 years ago and it has subscribers and the page views are into 7 figures. I have recently started a Zillion ideas and that’s making progress. One things I think I have done right is take a lot of photographs and use those in my blogs. I would consider doing things a little differently If I was doing it all again though. The different subjects was a good idea too, but I did make mistakes doing ‘pages’ on different subjects. I learnt from that mistake and avoided it on a zillion ideas.

There is  lots of room in the side bar for advertisements and affiliate links but I wouldn’t have those on this blog. I have even more room on a zillion ideas for advertising and I might consider that in a few years time. I would only have graphic advertising and not text and only for advertisers who are reasonably respectable and established. I would also like the blog sponsored by a major company. That potential for advertising can make the site very valuable. Maybe when I go completely senile, I can sell it!

If I was starting a Zillion Ideas again, I would think carefully about the name. I like the name I have and it will suit it’s purpose. If I was doing it again though, I would consider a hyper-local news site. If I was reporting on local events and taking photographs, I could publicise it locally with leaflets and business cards. I could build up readers much quicker. At the moment I publicise through Facebook, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and search. A hyper-local news site could also do advertising for local businesses and even classified advertising for individuals and so would be easier to monetize.

My motivation isn’t money, being a blogger gives me some influence and I seem to have become part of the blogging community. I see blogging as changing, some bloggers are losing interest. I think only the most committed and the best will continue for years to come. I do have other writers interested in writing for a zillion ideas now and that was my intention to make opportunities for writers and photographers. I don’t like editing, but I think I’m going to be editing both blogs and photos in the future.

I have added another plug-in to a zillion ideas this week that puts a thumbnail of the lead photograph of my blogs below related blogs as links and that’s proving to be a good idea. The plug-in is called linkwithin and that is worth checking out. It helps if you use photographs, of course.

There are websites that will ‘value’ your blog and although the valuations don’t appear to be too accurate it can be interesting to see what your site is worth. Two British websites have sold for millions of pounds in the past year and so it is possible to make a fortune, with determination, dedication and patience. You also need to know how to write!

There are more amazing blogs on a zillion ideas and on the home page.

Related articles

• How to write blogs (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• This week in blogs (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• Neodigital Art | angles and depth (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• The weeks review (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• Neodigital Art | Guest photos (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• This week in the trenches (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• New Blogger Initiation! Pledge by Tuesday, August 14th. (samjshah.com)
• This week, it rained – again (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• This week – the sun came out (mike10613.wordpress.com)

Advertisement