In which Geds solicits advice

My first post at the old Accidental Historian blogspot site came in March of 2007.  At that point I just wanted to write and I didn't really give a shit who, if anybody, bothered to read what I wrote.

In the nearly five years I've been doing this I've rarely gotten a sustained circulation of more than 50 or so hits per day and I don't really have a large number of regular readers and/or commenters.  For the most part this doesn't bug me.  C'est la vie, really.  I've always seen that as a bonus: I can write anything and don't have to answer to anyone.  It also contains the blog's biggest weakness: I don't feel like anyone gives a shit, so why bother?

Don't take this the wrong way, my dozen-or-so regulars.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you.  I'm just saying, "Holy crap, I've been writing a goddamn blog on the goddamn internet for nearly five years and I have a circulation of basically NOTHING."  I read a bunch of blogs that started well after I did that get more hits in a day than I get in a month and more comments on a post than I...um, than I ever get.  Then I check my stats and see that part of the problem is that about half of my hits come from people Googling "why coldplay sucks" and ending up at a post I crapped out a year ago because I felt like making fun of Coldplay.

It's disheartening, is what I'm saying.

While I've got spare time and I just feel like it, blogging is an interesting diversion.  I've had copious amounts of spare time for the better part of the past half-decade.  As I see my time getting more limited, though, I'm seeing less and less need to maintain this particular, time-consuming hobby if all I'm doing is engaging in long-form talking to myself.

Thus, I find myself at a fork in the road.  Either I stop blogging more-or-less entirely because of the whole concept of diminishing returns or I change the way I blog.  The "way" might end up being shorter, but at the very least it would be tighter and more focused on flogging a few hobbyhorses.  Believe it or not, but I have developed a fairly keen sense of what's worth writing about and what isn't over these last few years.  I've also developed a fairly keen sense of what is and isn't working whilst writing.  The number of posts that I've started but haven't finished has increased dramatically over the years.  At least, it had up until recently, when I started throwing crap up against the wall just for the sake of doing it.

That's neither here nor there, though.  What I write will, ultimately, be what I write no matter what.  How I choose to write about it will be my responsibility, too.  It's time for me to actually acknowledge the issue of why I write this blog, which I've ignored for quite some time.

Anyone who blogs does so because they want to have a voice.  I, personally, feel that I have something to add to a larger dialogue.  I feel that when I'm actually putting effort in to said additions to a larger dialogue I do so in an artful and thoughtful way.  And, to put it crassly, I'm getting really fucking tired of putting a lot of time, thought, and effort in to a post, then seeing that almost no one reads that but a shitload of people are reading my "thoughts" about why Coldplay is a terrible band.

And so but anyway, all whining aside, we get to the whole bit about soliciting advice:

I know that several of my readers are, themselves, proprietors of blogs that have footprints larger than mine.  It's almost impossible, really, to have a blog that doesn't get more readers than I do.  I've not spent a whole lot of time thinking about promotion or circulation or any such thing, but I'm thinking it's probably time to start doing that.

As such, dear readers (who didn't come here through a Google search for Coldplay, as I'VE TOTALLY GOT THAT COVERED), how the hell does one go about increasing circulation?  Seriously.  I'm stymied by this one...

Comments

[Michael Mock]

Buggered if I know. Really.

My goal with my blog was just to be amusing (and hopefully brighten people's days here and there) and maybe have a "platform" in case I ever got published. Then I discovered that I actually did have a few things I really wanted to say - Friendly Evangelism being the one I'm most proud of - and that writing for the blog was a good way to keep that part of my brain from atrophying.

The things that have most increased my footprint (according to Google Analytics, anyway) have basically been small promotions here and there. Mainly, that means remembering to send my stuff in the weekly Blogaround over at the Slacktiverse. I get most of my referral traffic from there. I also get some from posting the occasional link on Facebook, or over on the snopes Urban Legends Message Boards (where I'm semi-active).

I did get a huge boost in readership when Vorjack picked up something I'd written, and then someone fairly major picked up Vorjack's article, including the links to my page - but that subsided fairly quickly, and doesn't seem to have brought in more than a handful, if that, of long-term readers.

Updating regularly does seem to help, which is part of the reason why I don't focus on any one particular topic; I find it easier to update regularly if I can vary length, topic, and seriousness of posts according to the moods of my muse.

The other thing that seems to help is leaving interesting comments elsewhere; I've had a few people filter in from other sites where I've commented.

Other than that, my advice is that you should never ask for advice, and always ignore any advice that you get.

[Janet]

Mr. Mock has the right idea. If you really want to increase circulation, you need to make regular guest appearances in more popular places. You pick up new readers when they see one of your articles featured on a blog they read regularly, preferably with a personal endorsement by the host. If the readers are impressed by your insight/writing style/funny name, they may follow the link (don't forget to plug) back to your regular blog and spend some time skimming the archive. When those potential readers see that you are consistently insightful and stylish and funny, they add you to their personal list. After that, you become responsible for feeding them regularly like all the other stray cats.

Professional webcomics do this all the time. Typically a comic will update on a regular weekly schedule. When the artist goes on vacation, (s)he solicits guest comics from other cartoonists to fill in. Those artists get the chance to introduce themselves to new readers, and funnel traffic to their own regular comics.

Courting search engines is like online dating: unlikely to result in real chemistry. You're more likely to find a lasting readership if traffic comes filtered through blogs that you admire.

[Geds]

Crap. I was hoping there was some sort of magic "go viral" spell.

[Michael Mock]

Oh, there is, but your have to have a wand which was made from a unicorn's horn, and has both a phoenix feather and a spike from a manticore's tail worked into the core. I can't afford that, and I certainly don't have time to go unicorn hunting on my own...

[The Everlasting Dave]

I gots that wand, but I use it to clean my pipes so you can't have it.

[Janet]

Ah! I remember now. It was the Right Behind site that first led me to your blog, Geds. I was sure it couldn't have been a search engine, but now I remember the "This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours" series that they specifically plugged. I had been impressed by "Lead Thoughts and Lost Horizons", and since there didn't seem to be any more of it floating around, I came here to see what else you had.

[Big A at Work]

If YouTube is any indication, the key to increased circulation is offering free shit to readers who will bug their friends on your behalf. Unfortunately, that's a lot harder to control in a multi-site system.