When visiting the many blogs that are part of my regular routine, I frequently see similar themes and formats.  When looking closer at “About Me” or “Profile” pages, I see the same blogger authoring multiple sites – some very similar in content to others. I understand if multiple blogs are used to address multiple topics or perspectives (like me), but it puzzles me when they are so similar. I have noticed that for some time, but only now have I made sense of it and acted on my findings.

In Multiple Blog Monetization, I made the case for multiple blogs allowing prolific bloggers to post frequently, but spread their posts among different blogs as to not overload their readers. I subscribed to the philosophy, but with one fatal flaw – I was not prolific in my posts.  My post frequency has proven to be much less often than I originally thought possible. The eyes were bigger than the stomach.

Simplify.

As part of the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit simplification process, I have moved to a new theme that provides more flexibility.  The reason is that to simply my blogging strategy, I will be combining some of the multiple blogs that I maintain. My post frequency should be better matched to the number of blogs that require care and feeding.  Also, in more of a “complexity avoidance” move, I will be adding a Marketing focus to the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit instead of creating yet another blog. This Marketing focus will include information for bloggers, online retailers and offline businesses as well – all with the intention of growing your business (or blog, as it were.)

I won’t bore you with my other blogging properties.  If you are reading the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, you aren’t reading the others.  If you also read the others, you’ll see on those blogs when and how I will be making my migrations.  This will take some time to execute properly.

I will be looking at the various sections of the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit with a critical eye and could use your input.  Since I still have a large number of Free Blog Review requests queued up, I am still intending to stand by my offer.  My “scattered” blog strategy recently has been a factor in helping me lose my focus.  This move to simplify should help me regain it.

But beyond the reviews, most other areas are fair game.  As I add more perspectives, some older “projects” within the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit may have to go away.  Help me make those decisions.

Take a look at your blog or blogs.  If you offer just one blog property, stay true to your purpose and your theme – or at least be clear on the multiple perspectives that your blog holds.  If you maintain multiple blogs, give some serious thought to whether they are all necessary.

Dave

First, if you are reading this, thank you for being patient.  I appreciate every one of you who follow.  I’ve been developing some other project ideas and I’m now in a position to move them forward – and the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit will be a part of them.  Stay tuned.

Secondly, for those of you who have asked about a Free Blog Review, again, thank you for staying with me and yes, I will be conducting each and every one of them.

Again, thank you and look for some new concepts to be introduced as part of the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit.  I’ve missed this interaction, but very excited to be bringing you fresh perspectives in the near future.

Dave

Grow Your Blogs

As I’ve explored many different blogs in a number of varied categories, I have found instances where the same apparent author has created multiple blog properties. They are all monetized and in some cases, look very much the same. The topics within those families vary to different degrees, but one thing seems to be common: they are all owned by the same person.

Why is that significant? I’ll take a run at it from a couple of different angles.

First, frequency.

As I’ve indicated before in Frequent vs. Relevant, frequency plays a significant role in enticing readers to return. Post too often and people may not want to keep up with all the posts in their blog reader. Post too infrequently and they get bored. Multiple blogs allow frequent posts (for those prolific bloggers) to be shared across each blog, keeping an “every few days” cycle for each one.

Next, relevancy.

In the same post, I suggest that knowing your audience and staying on target is also important.  Multiple blogs allows those of us with some A.D.D. tendencies to explore a wide variety of topics, but channel those topics to the appropriate venue.

Finally, monetization.

With an understanding that the “basic blocking and tackling” of frequency and relevancy must be performed on each blog property, casting a wide net allows a wider monetization coverage. We still need to post at the right frequency with relevant content. However, multiple sites means multiple Adgitize ad sets, more Google AdSense boxes and a greater chance that a blog will “take off.” More saplings planted means a better chance of a large, healthy tree – or maybe a whole forest.

OK, I’m about out of cliches.

But I’ve begun to take my own advice. In addition to the “business” blog of the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, I have previously mentioned my “casual” blog the New Blogged Word. Last week, I just launched Energication to satisfy my passion for education and renewable energy.  Energy Education. Energication.  Get it?  Sorry.  Had to play the game.  No monetization on that last one yet, but watch for it!

As humans, we have no end of opinions and perspectives. What better way to channel that energy than through multiple blogging channels. The only requirement is quality. A large number of bad blogs can’t compare to even one great one. But multiple good blogs gives us the best chance for monetization success.

Dave

Promoting Physical Jobs in a Virtual World

A friend of mine recently lamented over her husband’s challenges in marketing his new paint contracting business.  (This picture isn’t him, by the way.)  It caused me to think about my previous post entitled, “Crowdsourcing Your Next Creative Project.”  My self-imposed question is, “How can offline businesses benefit from the online space and the community that exists there?”  Let’s see if I can make some connections.

First, let’s look at a few of the topics already explored on the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit.    In Frequent vs. Relevant, I talk about post frequency to entice the search engine spiders into coming back more often.  In addition, I make the point about ensuring the subject matter relates to the readers.  How does that affect our painter?

What if our painter contacted the local elementary school’s parent group and volunteered to paint the wooden sign outside the school?  He could indicate his desire to assist the school, but acknowledge that he would also like to promote his business, and would appreciate a simple mention in the school newsletter.  It would be relevant since schools are not usually sitting on dump trucks of cash and a professional painter has his own equipment and probably some leftover paint that could be used.  Everyone seems to benefit.

That’s fine, you say.  It’s relevant.  But what about frequency?  Once the sign is painted, the following spring our painter may offer to re-stain the raised planter boxes the students use to grow vegetables in their Environmental Sciences class.  Again, by reaching out to the parent group and sharing with them just how much he enjoyed sprucing up the sign last year that he wanted to tackle another task.  Hopefully, another mention in the newsletter might occur.  Frequency doesn’t have to be daily – it can simply be again during the next painting season – to allow the school’s parents to see again that this person is taking yet another step in becoming a friend of the school.

The beginning of a “relationship.”

In Social Networking to Promote Your Blog? But Which Platform to Use?, I make the following point in my “moral to the story” statement:

“Be social, but be selective.  Decide on the sandbox in which you should play, take your time to develop the right relationships for the right reason, and enjoy the benefits.”

Our elementary school is just one example, but let’s build on that.  In business, the best way to develop a relationship is to first provide something for nothing.  This lets potential customers see the benefits of your service through information sharing or in this case, painting a school sign.  By showing that our painter’s heart is in the right place through occasional offers to assist, people begin to:

1. Think kindly toward our painter for helping their beloved school
2. Appreciate the benefits being provided, with no expectation of reward (aside from a simple mention in the newsletter, of course!)
3. Get to know our painter from repeated exposure
4. Begin to develop a relatoinship

So, when you need a garage painted, or a room freshened up, or an entire house painted, with whom do you like to talk to have the work done?  I would venture a guess that it would first be someone with whom you have a relationship.  It doesn’t have to be a brother-in-law (in fact, I might argue against that, but that’s a topic for another day), it simply needs to be someone with whom you are familiar and about which you have a neutral to positive feeling.

Can our painter push too hard?  Absolutely.  Too frequently, or too impersonal in the content, and the recipients will begin to tune out.  In “When is a comment SPAM?” I make an example of a few of the blog comments I’ve received (and deleted and will continue to delete!) where any sort of attempt at a relationship is non-existent.  Be relevant; be on topic; be appropriate. Again, reach out for the right reason.

These are just a few ideas, but you can see how the online world’s tenets carry over into the offline version.  So how might our painter start to also use the online world to help his offline pursuits?  Sure, there’s the static web site and possibly a blog.  Regular readers of the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit know that I like to share seemingly unrelated topics from around the Internet and attempt to tie them together to make a point.  This is no exception.

In “Crowdsourcing My Renovation – How Faceless Friends in Web Forums Helped Remodel This House,” a Canadian blog showcases a process whereby a homeowner faced with a renovation used Crowdsourcing to garner advice.  The advice sought ranged from paint colors on birch cabinets, to acrylic sink issues, to fireplaces on corner angles.  My point?  A presence and active involvement on the web can not only further the relationship cause, but it can also begin to position our painter as a trusted expert in his field.  Sharing perspectives and opinions, without expectation of direct remuneration, will not likely make someone run the other way.

Whether or not I’ve made the intended connections is entirely up to you.  More imporantly, what other creative ideas would you offer to our painter friend for kickstarting his painting business?  And remember, the ideas can either be of the online or offline nature.

Dave

Feeding the spiders that crawl the web, indexing content, is what’s driving the suggestions in the “5 Tips” post from the UK.  The thought here is that frequent updates will train the spiders to come back more often.  The 5 Tips blogger suggests that now that the spiders are trained when visiting, posts don’t have to be as frequent – and the spiders keep returning frequently.  I would assume though, that over time, the spiders could be “untrained.”

In this decidely more clinical perspective from a blog called Google SEO, “The Freshness of Web Pages” takes a detailed look at the Google patent for their ranking algorithm.  Although this post seems to point more to web pages than blogs specifically, the rationale is sound: if Google ranks “fresher” pages higher, one could assume that it is to provide a richer user experience by serving up more recent information.

Yes, frequency seems to give your blog more search engine juice, but it would be just as important to understand how your subject matter relates to your readers.  If you have a fast-paced, news-like theme, you had better be posting daily – AT LEAST!  But if your topic is say, more like the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, I’m not feeling like multiple posts every day is needed, but rather, every 2-3 days.  Personally, I like having a bit of time to let new concepts sink in, try new things, and explore on my own.

On my About page, I talk about content being both “sizzle and bacon.”  It really boils down to the fact that people who first find your blog because of optimal SEO results due to strategic management of your content won’t come back if there’s poor subject selection, uninspired topics and C- writing.

Dave