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Mindless garbage good for blogs?
Posted by MartinPlatt • 11/05/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Was wondering how well mindless mumblings and random whinges are for getting viewers, or should I be more focussed?
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What I'm getting at here is, does blogging about whatever pops into your head suffice as a blog, or should I be looking to have something a little more structured?
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that depends on what you want your blog to be and do, martin. when I started blogging I looked on it as a personal journal and in a sense it was successful as a personal journal. I later came to want to use it for other purposes. There are as many reasons for blogging as there are bloggers and every one of them will define what a blog Should be a bit differently.
If you want your blog to be your personal notebook to jot down whatever comes into your head, it certainly can be. If you want your blog to be a well organized information resource for thousands of people that is also possible. IMHO, deciding for yourself what your goals are and how you want to go about trying to achieve them is one of the most difficult aspects of blogging. And the fact that your goals will likely evolve and change over time will also require that you continually re-evaluate how you measure your blogs success.
The fact is that there is no one right answer to any of these questions.-
Those are fair points. So if it is whatever comes into my head, is it still applicable for people to read, and like, or is the decision mututally exclusive, do you think?
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I personally appreciate focused content. I'm not a big fan of fluffy blogs. If you are looking at it from an SEO standpoint, then focused it better.-
Is there a way to write about a broad range of topics, but still manage to classify them well, do you think?
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I've got a blog for doing pretty much the same thing .. callHART.com/crazy - random musings of myself. So, I think it's perfectly natural (and I would EXPECT that from you) to be all over the board on a blog called "Mumblings of a Madman".
Now .. if your blog was called "Mumblings about Toyota Cars" .. anything other than talk about cars, or Toyota would probably not be good - and you would probably lose the viewers you did have rambling and mumbling about other stuff.-
Fair enough, so the warning is fair enough, and people may still be interested in what I write. Cool. Thanks.
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A lot of this has to do with why you've chosen to blog. If you've decided to blog as a way to earn extra money, then the answer may be quite different than if you started blogging because you felt you had something particular to say.
Either way I think it helps to carve yourself some kind of niche or hook to make your blog stand out. There are a ton of blogs that rant and rave. How successful they are has something to do with the authorial character positioned behind them.-
What it it is both? Maybe you think that you have something to say, AND want to make money? I know, supply and demand will tell you eventually whether people do want to listen to what you say, and ultimately make money, won't it?
I would like to make fairly random comments, and hope that it gets a lively debate going. If it makes some money, that would be cool, but it isn't honestly the main focus. Probably more of an experiment at this stage, so see if it will get readers and make money.
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Having looked at your title, “Mumblings of a Madman”, I suggest you do something more to communicate who you are and where you want to go with your blog. Your subtitle has some words that emphasize some negatives: “mumblings,” “rants,” “whinges” and “shouts”. “Ideas” at least gives some hope about what you might say in the positive direction. Already you’ve made me look up a word, “whinges.”
Your navigation areas, “archives” and “about me,” really should be near the top. Folks use these areas to make quick decisions about reading your blog. You need to entice them to look around.
As for “mindless garbage” . . . If you have something intelligent and/or witty to say in your mumblings, I believe people will read your blog. Write what you know and be you. From an aritst’s perspective, I suggest paying attention to your gut instincts and just listen to your self.
Also do pay attention to when you earn more traffic and/or comments.
Somewhere between your journey and audience response is where you want to be. It’s all going to be trial and error. Right now you’re searching for “your groove.”
One organization I belong to has a “Trash and Treasures” table. The point is that what’s trash to one person might be a treasure to another person. One person voiced the opinion that she thought we should drop the word trash.-
Maybe I should add educational too? "Whinge" is a word that is use in both places on the opposite sides of the world that I have lived. I learnt something too, that it is obviously slang!
I'm hearing what you're saying. If I come up with something as a compaint, or a concept then they are ideas, I just thought that mumblings, whinges, etc. were more off the cuff, and descriptive? Don't you agree?
With respect to the about part. If someone has to go to the bottom of the page, something might catch their eye on the way down? And the archive used to be at the top, but many people said that content is what people want to see first, so I guess it depends on whom you ask, doesn't it?
I agree that I'm fine tuning what works and what doesnt. Hopefully it will work and in time reader will understand words such as "whinge"
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I think that every sort of blog has a place. You just need to decide what you are trying to do:
entertain?
provide information?
express your opinion?
sell something?
invoke a response for a cause?
keep your family posted on your activities?
keep a record of your travels?
share your hobby?
I personally appreciate blogs that are written with the reader-in-mind (not simply an outlet for the writer to vent something). If you want people who don't know you to read your blog, then your content needs to be more than your personal diary/rants/opinions.
I also appreciate a blog that has short and concise posts... I won't usually read a post that looks long.
that's my opinion, anyhow.-
Yeah, the length of a post I think would be important. What happens if the subject is long? Better to break it up, do you think?
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Personally, I do not read mindless rambling blogs. They irritate me. If you have a specific focus for your blog and informative content, then I'll read it.
Like I said, it's just my personal preference, though.-
Fair enough. It's not supposed to be information as such, but might be the starting point of subjects that can become blogs, or whatever.
If it was completely mindless, and only relevant to me, then I agree it's not going to get the readers. I guess only time will tell...
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I ramble, but not mindlessly.
Still, if you want a big audience, you might want to try and be informative... Maybe even structured.
Myself, I enjoy the ramblers more than the lecturers.-
Yeah. I was realising that some of my blog posts have been very serious. I for one prefer the more relaxed entertaining but informative style.
Not sure how I would structure things that just pop into my head, ideas, opinions and so on? What do you think?
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Didnt that woman called whats who name write what came into her head I think it ended up being a book called harry potter-
Good point. I will have to come up with a name for my blog then won't I? How about "Edward Beckwith", I write what comes into my head, and make millions. Do you think it will work? I hope so!
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It's all about what motivates you. If it's money, focus is a must. I'm not motivated that way. I enjoy writing for the sake of it. When I started out 3 months ago, I wrote a mishmash of stuff, including technical tips for the non-technical user. What happened with that? It bored me to tears. Now I just write strictly humor stories because it makes me happy and they make my readers laugh for 5 minutes every day.
Point is.... do what you love, do it well and readers will come.-
That's a fair set of comments.
I thought that ideas are where entrepeneurs come from, and ideas need to start somewhere, no matter how random the thoughts are, they start discussions that can turn into businesses?
Anyway, that's not why I do it. It's because I'm disorganised, and want to discuss whatever is on my mind.
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I'm with JunkDrawer.-
What, you're an item or something?!
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