Needing to get Something off my Chest - What about the Integrity of Bloggers?
That title is probably the worst ranking/keyword strategy/SEO disaster but at the moment, I don´t care.
I am getting a bit tired when I think of all the mistakes I am still to make, of all the pitfalls still to fall into, and all the rush-efforts that will turn out to be useless.
You see, I am spending at least 2 hours reading posts on other blogs on how to improve SEO, on how to create more buzz, on how to make a better blog because I know that deep down I have the stamina not to give up on myself and my blog which is becoming more and more precious to me every day.
But I am still having a hard time on truly finding my direction. I have thought a few times about throwing in some contest, give away entrecards in order to have people sign up for my rss feed or make more comments on my blog.
I see many bloggers using neat tricks, giving away cool gifts and yet another e-book which is only going to either end up in my trashcan o have me reading things I have already read a zillion times before.
Thing is, in the end I would not feel comfortable about having people sign up for my reader, only to win a lousy 1000 entrecards, almost sure that my words won’t be read anyways.
I see many newbie bloggers (like me) ending up in frenzy over stats, feed and rankings and than publish their monthly earnings, which could only buy them a decent breakfast. Depending on where you live that is, at least over here in Spain they make a killer warm bun with manchego cheese and a cup o´tea for only € 2.40 
Maybe it is that I am caught up in this never-ending circle of moneybloggers, thinking I should just step out of there and focus more on my own goals and actually get to setting up my plan of action, finally.
I almost find it funny to see posts on how to attract more traffic and the importance of a good design, great quality context blablabla, on blogs which could really do with a good clean up and maybe even a professional copywriter.
Is that who I really want to become as well?
The answer is a straightforward and loud NO! Last few days I can’t seem to stop pondering this thought, and I keep reaching the same conclusion time after time. No matter what, I want to stay close to my own values and myself, I want to remain sincere and don’t stare myself blind on stats and rankings.
I don’t want to compromise my own integrity in order to have a killer money making machine, nor do I want to waste other people’s time by recommending some shortcut techniques which in the end only turn out to be yet another marketing trick.
Maybe that sounds lame, but hey, that’s me!
I’d rather know for sure that the people that walk in here enjoy their stay and maybe even share some good advice, build some friendships and base of support. But more important even, hold on to the joy I have in blogging, the growing passion I feel while my blog is creating it´s soul, and never forget that my readers are real people instead of walking money trees.
Don´t you just hate the feeling you are actually being used by some bloggers as if only you were just another number on their list, just a bit of added value to their blog and part of their reason to brag what a wonderful blogger they believe to be?
Popularity: 34% [?]
My name is Mirjam and I welcome you to my blog about personal growth and the things I think about. I´m on a journey of improving my life and I hope you will drop in often and participate. Thanks for visiting!
Hi Mirjam,
Unfortunately this is yet another blogosphere reality.
What is the point of your and mine blogs if there aren’t any readers to participate.
The things you are doing to bring additional readers to your blog will shape your blogging down road, I think. I see it as an initial push that has to be done in order to get the wheels rolling.
Cheers,
Alex
Alex’s last blog post..A Real Emergency - My Quest for a Perfect Chair
Hi Alex,
thank you for your comment and participation. I understand what you are saying, a blog with no readers is just like a private diary and I do feel we start blogging to be read at some moment in time.
However, and this is why I wrote this post, I would hate having to attract readers to this blog by tricking them into it. I might be a dreamer, but I prefer them to come in slowly and stick around because they actually like what they are finding here, not because I am persuading them to stick around only to find out if they have won some contest.
I firmly believe this medium, the internet, is one of the most powerful media in the world. Every person can achieve tremendous power using their words and believes and as a blogger I think we should stand up for our integrity and treat that power with respect.
As far as needing “that initial push”, I don´t agree. There are plenty of ways to get visitors to your blog, without tricking them into staying around or participating. Of course I would love this blog to be read by thousands and thousands, but I would rather focus on its content first so they actually have something interesting to read.
See you around
Mirjam:
I really enjoy your blog post, because they are unique.
Trust me. I am one of them chasing the dream of making good money off blog. I haven’t give it up yet. I like blogging even though I am not very good at writing, but I have fun with it.
I believe money will come when your blog provides good contents. So I am focusing on good content. Here is the facts. Ever since I focus on my content, my revenue goes up! It’s not enough to make living, but I don’t expect that anyway.
So don’t give it up! Keep your faith. You will get what you want.
By the way, I am thinking to start a new blog project. It’s all about make the happiest blog in the world, which collect million happy faces and happy story. Would you be interested in providing your happy face in the photo and write something about it?
Thank you!
The Internet Entrepreneur Diary’s last blog post..Are you singing alone on your entrepreneur journey?
Hi Terence!
great to see you around here again, I truely appreciate you being around, your blog is the first I actively participated on and the first I felt touched by!
Thank you so much for yet again more words of encouragement and the compliment, you are making me blush
Of course it would be absolutely wonderful to make a good living off of this blog, although I have to confess I would even love it more if it would just have an impact on life, without the monetization, it is giving me so much already in terms of self-satisfaction!
The reason why I wrote this post is because I started to get trapped in this obsession with monetization. Not that I am doing a lot of it on this blog, but it was always on my mind, getting more readers, more links, more more more… without focussing too much on the actual quality I was sending out. I felt I was on the way of becoming “just another blog” while I started out wanting this blog to be my personal project on self-improvement, making it into something I could really be proud of…
Anywaysssss….
I would love to participate in your project, the world can do with more happiness! So, you can count on me, I will send you a picture plus story as soon as I have finished it.
Take care and see you around, either at your place or mine!
Hi Miriam,
You have wisdom in your words, and its a sincere thought that holds true for all bloggers.
As bloggers we have the uncalled responsibility to spread knowledge, and with that come the rule of producing truly meaningful content, not just some cheap tricks to drag some low-quality traffic.
I think its valid to ask ourselves what blogging has made us to become? Blogging is supposed to enrich our experience though life.
Warm Regards,
Jenz Iggo
Hi Jenz
Welcome to my blog and thank you for participating on this post!
You have worded exactly what I feel, we do have some sort of responsability every time we hit the “send” button, and I think we have to deal with that wisely.
So, returning the ball to your court, what has blogging made you become, is it really enriching your life?
Hope to see you around!
Hi Mirjam,
Great post! A lot of blogs just parrot the same stuff. It’s a real trap. We’re all guilty of doing it an extent, but some blogs seem to have nothing unique about them. That’s what you’ve got to find - a unique voice, something that makes your blog different from the others.
I think you’ll be more succesful if you write posts like this which are truly saying something unique, rather than just doing what everyone else does.
It takes time to be successful, but - for what it’s worth - I think you’re on the right track! Keep it up.
Stephen Cronin’s last blog post..Chinese New Year - Introducing My New China Blog
Hi Stephen!
Thank you very much for your participation and words of encouragement.
Time will tell how things work out, but I am glad to have caught myself before falling into the trap and still in time to turn around, and this post will probably become a personal reminder of my goals further down the line.
See you around, Xin nian kuai le!
Wow! You wrote everything I feel
. Your site is a GREAT. I will be signing up for your feed. I’ve been doing the same research you have and yes its help me but sure does take a lot of time. I don’t want to stress all day about STATS. I end up wasting so much time on HOW TO sites that I get all confused, lol!
I love your setup. Have a great day and you will see me here again.
~Pam
Pam’s last blog post..Men’s Weatherproof Nylon Jacket-$19.99
Hi Pam,
welcome to my home!
as they say over here, mi casa es tu casa :n
I don´t know about you, but I feel bloggin should be about having fun, like everything I do in my life.
sure… We all have our obligations, we all need to get to the end of the month, make car payments or whatever it is that controls our financial life… but … in the end, we need to Live, we need to feel, and eventhough I only started this blog a few weeks ago, the pressure of “moneymakingthefastway” already peaked in…
Anyways, I do hope I won´t let you down, please give me a kick in the but if I do!
Mirjam,
I know exactly how you feel. I too wanted my blog to be read by the world and was trying to find THE solution to attract more traffic. But then I stopped bothering. I stopped expecting something to happen. And you know what? It happened. All of a sudden people from all over the place seemed to find my blog somehow and were commenting on my posts.
So maybe the secret is that you should not expect anything and then be surprised when something happens?
Mindful Mimi’s last blog post..Television is more interesting than people. If it were not, we would have people standing in the corners of our rooms - Alan Corenk
Hi Mimi
I think the most important thing is to stay close to yourself, and eventhough there is a lot to learn from other blogs, nobody needs another copycat 
I had a look around your blog (love the title of it!) and there are a lot of posts that speak to me, I will definately visit you more often, so, see you around!
Thank you for your comment! Good to know there is hope
I really liked this post. Thanks for your honesty. Liked it so much, that I had to stumble it. I juuuuuust had to! lol…good luck to you.
Tamera’s last blog post..Sy’s World
Hi Tamara, I am glad you like it and thank you for the stumble!
Good luck to you too!
You perfectly put in plain words what irritates me too already for some time. Thank you. Wow, I would name your post a sip of fresh air because your article proves that the dry stats not overcame all of us till now: your dislike to being “just another number on somebody’s list” makes us the friends. Thank you. I would feel myself honored to see you on my blog. I hope my pictures will make you happy. Let my artwork be the flowers that I’m happy to gift to you. Just click on a link http://www.captains-bridge.blogspot.com
Thank you once more.
Hi Tomas,
By the number of people who have commenting on this post already, I can tell I am not the only one feeling this way, which is quite comforting!
welcome to my blog and thank you for commenting
I will have a look at yours, see you around
I think some moneymaker bloggers just steal content and ideas from successful blogging sites in hope of getting the same kind of advertising revenue. I know someone who does this and they do make a fair amount of money doing it. That is why if you can write and write in your own voice you will be very successful in the long run, if you are measuring your success but things other than just how muhc money you made. I’d like to make more money too but i am not willing to clog up the look of my blog just to do that. Mine is already crowded as it is. Keep up the honest posts.
francetales.com’s last blog post..Velo Toulouse Bicycle Rental Program
Thank you for your comments, they are very appreciated
I guess there will always be a big market for “money makers” blogs, but personally I get a bit grumpy when I come yet another one, with yet again the same posts and info´s, telling how to make money, get readers, traffic etc and then see they only have 4… 8 or 11 readers themselves…
I have to admit, when I first started blogging, the lure of the money that I can make is addicting that I spent countless hours obsessing over the traffic that my blog gets, I’m using statcounter to monitor my blog. I finally got tired obsessing over. I mean, so what if I didn’t reach the average number of visitors I had than last week? There are other important things to obsess about.
How to get rid of termites’s last blog post..OMG! Google is running Scientology ads on my blog!!
yep that is right, instead of constantly checking stats it is way better to actually promote and build links so your stats are worth looking at LOL