Never Take Counsel Of Your Fears
photo credit: rvaphotodude
Okay. Back home from Phoenix. 
I love road trips. I didn’t post much in the last week. Which brings me to a question. How often does a blog need to have new content?
I have noticed that there is a very wide variety to the frequency of posting on some very popular bogs. Of course, the really big ones add content pretty much every day, and some of them several times a day. Others don’t necessarily add anything every day. Some add every few days. So to refine the question further I am asking, does the time between new additions to your blog really make a big difference to your readers?
On Problogger there is new content every day, yet I find that I don’t check it every day. Daily Blog Tips, the same thing. I don’t necessarily check it every day. I have many blogs in my reader and I don’t generally visit a blog unless I see from the title of an article something that interests me.
As an experiment I have not posted in several days. While I have continued to move up in the Alexa rankings, I have noticed that my bounce rate has been climbing. This can only mean one thing. I have readers coming to see what I have written and upon finding nothing new, they leave. I feel guilty, and I think I should apologize. I will henceforth go back to frequent new entries on this blog.
Having now promised to post frequently, there is something else I am going to start doing with more regularity too. Commenting on other blogs. I am going to start treating this more like a job. At the same time I am going to start some niche blogs and see what I can learn about internet marketing. I will be posting more on that subject soon. Quite a bit of my time lately has been spent trying to learn as much a I can about making money online, and just trying to work up the nerve to try.
I am reminded of a period a few years back when I had earned a real estate license and hooked up with a broker. It didn’t go well. I failed for a couple of reasons. But the main reason was a lack of confidence which frequently kept me in “getting ready” mode. “Getting ready” mode is deadly to any endeavor when it goes on too long. The truth is you are not really getting ready. You’re avoiding that which makes you uncomfortable, or causes you to feel fear. In my case, although I had passed the real estate licensing exam easily, I still didn’t feel like I really knew what I was doing. I told people that I quit real estate because I felt that it took a certain arrogance to tell people which house they would be best suited for. I had all sorts of reasons for failing. The truth was that I should have just plunged in and made my mistakes. There were plenty of experienced people at the brokerage who would have been more than happy to lend a hand if I floundered. But I didn’t even really try. I don’t want to make that mistake again with internet marketing.
That last paragraph was hard to write. It’s hard to bare your failures before the world. But there was an important lesson there too. That’s why I decided to share. As you progress along the blogging road, do not allow fear to play a part in your decisions. American Civil War General Stonewall Jackson said it well. “Never take counsel of your fears.”
As always, comments are encouraged.
Excellent post man, trying not to counsel into my fears is a big work in progress for me. I want to be able to one day support my family comfortably while doing what I love to do which making the transition onto getting to that point produces great risk just not for me but my family. The fear of failure and sticking with what you know instead of just stepping into the unknown with a plan is pure intensity.
I will say it again, great post man. I really enjoyed this article.
Ryan Hanzel´s last blog ..Going with the flow
Well done for baring it here Ryan, I know that takes guts. All in all it’s not a bad one though; got you to where you are now, right?
Anyway, I have a schedule for my blog (which sometimes gets stretched a little) but I’ve noticed that when I also blog on the other days I get more traffic etc (obviously, because there’s more to look at). Couldn’t really post much more if I tried at the moment though!
I think it’s more down to what you think you can manage consistently; readers will get used to whatever pattern you put in place so long as you stick to it.
Heather´s last blog ..Three Sites that Play with Colour
Thank you both. It’s interesting to me that you seem to have on different parts of the article. Heather, you focused on the frequency of posting part, but Ryan, you focused on the fear part. To be honest the part I am most attuned to is the latter part about fear. I had almost forgotten that I had written about frequency of posting, and I wrote the thing. I guess it shows that people remember what most interests them. Thank you both for commenting.
Ray,
Right on about the ‘getting ready’ mode. It is my curse as well. I just never seem to get ready enough. And then on the few times I actually start, I immediately get cold feet and begin to talk myself out of plunging on. I have to keep reminding myself that ready, fire, aim is ok.
RE: Frequency. Right now I am into daily posts (short ones – 400 or so words). It is all subject to review.
I understand exactly what you mean, Ralph.
Sometimes you just have to pull the trigger and let it go.
I love writing in English, because it helps me reach widest range of audience. Unfortunately, my native language is Bangla. I think I’m pretty well in Bangla and I’m a technology journalist of a national newspaper in Bangladesh.
But, still I like to write in English. I can’t write in English newspapers as my writings do not meet their standards. So, blog is the only place I can write in English. Still I feel limited and extremely sad when I face situations like “I know what to write but I don’t know how to”.
Dropped here from your response to my comment on CopyBlogger. Thank you for your reply.
Aminul Islam Sajib´s last blog ..Easiest Solution on How to Change WordPress Login Logo
I’m very glad to see you here. I am also glad to see you working on your English. I guarantee that your English is far superior to my Bangla. Keep working, and your English will be good enough soon. It looks to me as though it’s getting close.
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