Follow these simple rules and you’ll be on your way to blogging misery…
1) Forget blogging for yourself. Just blog about what you think other people would want to read about.
2) Just blog for money.
3) Gauge the success of your blog by the number of comments you receive.
4) Freak out each time you receive a negative comment or email.
5) Make the A-List (or some other Top List) your Ultimate Blogging Goal.
6) Allow blogging to become just another chore.
7) Never live outside the blogging world.
Compare yourself to other bloggers. A lot.
9) Don’t attempt to connect with other bloggers in any way or level. No comments. No outbound links. No projects.
10) Expect certain people to visit and/or to comment on your blog.
11) Go on a regular Bloggers’ Guilt Trip - for not posting enough, for not living up to your readers’ expectations…
12) Follow every single tip or advice you read from various “Blogging Experts”.
13) Blog about things that you’re not particularly proud of - or interested in.
14) Set unrealistic blogging goals and expectations.
15) Believe that you will only get and encounter good things from your blog.
16) Be obsessed with every single blog metric or statistic.
17) Try to be nice to everyone. Even those who annoy you.
18) Be nasty to a lot of folks. Even those who didn’t do anything wrong to you.
19) Pretend to be someone you’re not.
20) Stress about the bloody idiots who steal your blog entries and repost them on their blogs without permission or attribution.
Photo by: Rajesh Sundaram (from sxc.hu)
Slightly Edited via Picnik
*Partly inspired by Keri Smith’s How to feel miserable as an artist.
Technorati Tags: blog community, bloggers, blogging, ideas, weblogs, what not to do
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Nick Hodge 09.24.07 at 11:56 am
Shai– hai. I am going to immediately follow #12 right now. KTHXBAI.
–Nick
[Reply]
Deranged Delusions 09.24.07 at 12:32 pm
Wow…I stumbled on this page, and I have to say: as a beginning blogger, I’ve noticed 3 or 4 things that I’m doing already - namely gauging my success by comments/views, blogging about what other people want to see, and setting unrealistic goals.
This article was very informative, and I am going to use it as a reference and a motivational piece to keep myself enthused about my blogging.
Thanks again!
Jay
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Kari 09.24.07 at 6:43 pm
All too true. Great tips!
[Reply]
Shai Coggins 09.25.07 at 3:50 am
Nick: Good on ‘ya. Happy miserable blogging.
Jay: Thank you! I’m glad you found it useful. I initially wrote it to remind myself of what’s really important about blogging. And, it’s be great if I can help other folks remember that too.
Kari: Glad you thought so!
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Junnie 09.26.07 at 6:14 am
if it was 3 years ago, i would’ve said, oh, that’s me, this too, this too, this too…these days I don’t care…i went into blogging 5 years ago to capture moments and update my family back home…so i’m sticking to that…
yeah # 12 may be there for sure…especially if they’re coming from thee
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Serg 09.26.07 at 5:37 pm
Nice. Excellent points for common development
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ChewMouse 09.30.07 at 8:27 pm
Beautifully said, Shai.
I hate to see blogs/blogging and certain “writers’ websites” on the internet become competitions. It discourages those who cannot write well and it angers the others….especially if they don’t score well with their own material.
Frankly, it’s vicious.
I do not have a single friend that blogs. I don’t want to hang with another blogger. And people KNOW so much! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been led astray….it’s like my mother leaving one ingredient out of a recipe she types up for someone. or worse.
I have had people tell me they plan to make a full-time living wage by keeping a blog.
When they say this, I look very thoughtful.
But later?
I laugh and laugh and laugh.
-ChewMouse-
I LOVE YOUR ARTWORK AS WELL! This is a wonderful site, congratulations on making it so…nice. Orderly. Easy to follow.
k, Mouse needs a nap.
[Reply]
Shai Coggins 10.01.07 at 6:03 pm
Junnie: Haha (on your last line).
On the rest, I think we all fall in to the ‘trappings’ of blogging at one time or another. Unfortunately. :-p
Serg: Thanks.
ChewMouse: You’re very kind! Thank you! And interesting metaphors you shared there. Again, thanks.
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