Written on November 4th, 2008 at 07:11 am by Darren Rowse
What Blog Carnivals and Memes do You Participate In?
A year or two back ‘blog carnivals’ were all the rage as a way to put yourself out there and promote your blog. I know that they still exist and many bloggers still get into them - but I’m wondering how many bloggers use them these days?
For those not familiar with the concept - a blog carnival is an event where a group of bloggers all blog on a certain blog topic and where those posts are all listed in a central place (which is usually promoted by all those participating).
There are many variations on exactly how these ‘carnivals’ are held (sometimes the central page moves from week to week to give everyone a turn, other times they centre around a single blog each time) - but carnivals can be a good way to interact with other bloggers and get your blog noticed by others.
Of course there are other similar types of ‘memes’ or ‘projects’ that are not called blog carnivals. For example here at ProBlogger I’ve held quite a few ‘group writing projects’ which are quite similar to blog carnivals.
You can learn more about blog carnivals at BlogCarnival.com (a site that lists current carnivals to participate in).
- So - do you participate in blog carnivals (or other similar types of projects on blogs)?
- Have you hosted them on your own blog?
- Do they bring you traffic?
- What other benefits have you had from participating in them?
92 Responses to “What Blog Carnivals and Memes do You Participate In?”
Sarah H.
November 4th, 2008 7:10 am
As a new blogger I haven’t heard of blog carnivals. However I was ‘blog tagged’ last week by another blogger (in the form of a meme) and I in turn tagged a few more blogs. So far it has paid off…I’ve gotten some new readers!
DJ @ Fermentarium
November 4th, 2008 7:34 am
I did a few “memes” to see if it would improve traffic. It didn’t because I think many others were doing it for the same reasons. Or maybe beer is too niche…
Heather of Maternal Spark
November 4th, 2008 7:35 am
I run my own meme at Maternal Spark. It’s called Monday’s Muse http://www.maternalspark.com and I link to those who participate.
I know many Mom bloggers use carnivals still - Bloggy Giveaways is a big one that’s going on now (or maybe just ended) and people have said it brought a lot of traffic. I didn’t participate myself but may in future.
Steven-Sanders
November 4th, 2008 7:39 am
I participated with a Bloggy Giveaway Carnival at the beginning of this year with another blog that I had.
There were literally thousands of participants in this carnival and even more web surfers that wanted to win free items.
It only ran for 1 week, but I saw 2-3 thousand new visitors in that one week.
Pat with SPI
November 4th, 2008 7:41 am
I don’t know much about blog carnivals, nor have I ever participated. I’m interested though and if it’s a way to gain some readership and stumble upon new blogs, I’m all for it. Thanks!
Deb - Mom of 3 Girls
November 4th, 2008 7:44 am
I don’t do as many of them now as I did a year ago. Back then I did the Carnival of Family Life regularly, and also the Mother-Daughter Blog Carnival, but I’m not sure if that one’s still even around anymore. I do several of the weekly memes - Wordless Wednesday, Thursday Thirteen, Aloha Friday, Photostory Friday Tackle It Tuesday - and again, used to do more of them. I just felt like my blog was becoming too meme-oriented and I missed doing ‘regular posts’, so I had to let several of them go.
I did start one of my own a few weeks ago, called “I Remember When”. It’s meant as more of a writing prompt with a weekly topic focusing on your childhood memories. The kind of things that are one of the reasons I started my blog - for my kids to be able to read when they get older. :)
On my product review site, the only carnival I participate in is Works For Me Wednesday, from a product standpoint (no paid or sponsored products, just ones I really love and want to share about). And I only participate in this one when I have a product I want to share about, so not every week.
SparklyD
November 4th, 2008 7:46 am
I’ve participated in two blog projects or carnival-like events, and I’ve only had success from the ProBlogger event. The other was much larger, but I got no traffic from it.
John, AceOnlineSchools
November 4th, 2008 7:53 am
Blog Carnivals are basically dead, the only people using them still are SEO’s.
Robert Hruzek
November 4th, 2008 7:53 am
At Middle Zone Musings, I run a group writing project every month called “What I Learned From…”. I set the topic and folks write a post and send me their links.
We’re in the midst of our 18th one. Largest participation to date has been 44 entries. Come join us if you like!
axel g
November 4th, 2008 7:56 am
Blog carnivals bring in links which over time increase traffic from the search engines. I haven’t received a lot of traffic from any carnival as of yet. The most I’ve ever seen was 22 visitors from a single carnival, in a month.
The carnivals is also a great way to get to know other webmasters in your niche +_+
The Nester
November 4th, 2008 7:56 am
I’ve participated and hosted them and I don’t do it often but I feel like it builds community and helps to connect my readers. Me with them and them with each other. I have a DIY home decor blog so we love sharing our ideas!
I get a little more traffic just for that day but nothing to brag about.
Simple Sapien
November 4th, 2008 8:00 am
I participated in a group writing project at http://createabalance.com/how-do-you-practice-the-art-of-life-balance/
It was all about finding balance in your life. That is about it though. No carnivals or anything like that.
- Jack Rugile
Simple Sapien
Sheryl Schuff
November 4th, 2008 8:05 am
I participated in these three:
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_560.htmlworking at home blog carnival
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_3220.html
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_4553.html
Didn’t notice any results.
Amy @ Taste Like Crazy
November 4th, 2008 8:08 am
Wordless Wednesday is a staple. It’s a super easy way to fill space and get blog exposure.
Juggling Frogs
November 4th, 2008 8:08 am
I host the Carnival of Overdue Thanks (http://cot.clkl.com) and frequently participate and avidly read Haveil Havelim (http://esseragaroth.blogspot.com/2008/11/haveil-havalim-189-elections-edition.html) and the Kosher Cooking Carnival (http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2008/10/post-shemitta-kcc-35.html)(which I hosted once last year). I also like JPix (http://www.leoraw.com/blog/2008/11/02/jpix-20-post-sukkot-edition/), though only as an observer, not a contributor.
BlogCarnivals build community and allow me to discover other bloggers, or articles by some of my favorite bloggers that I might otherwise have missed. For some of the “regulars” it feels like a house party.
I’m generally shy about blog promotion, but I don’t feel as timid when submitting a link via the blog carnival form. Since I’ve had the experience hosting, I know that the host probably appreciates the help, and, worst case, since I’ve done the effort of getting the link formatted, if the host doesn’t like the link, she/he can just delete it.
As long as it’s on-topic and a good link, it doesn’t feel spammy to share, since by definition, it has been requested.
Maria | Never the Same River Twice
November 4th, 2008 8:10 am
I use to participate in carnivals, but they all seem to have died off in the past year. None of them ever brought much traffic, but they did provide a way to network with other bloggers.
Now it seems like social media has taken over the networking and traffic generation that carnivals used to provide.
I will occasionally participate in a meme or group writing project that I find interesting. Blog Action Day is by far the largest one I’ve done. I try to avoid all of the lists of stupid questions (What is your horoscope sign?) that seem to circulate endlessly. I don’t see how they add any value for my readers and I certainly don’t enjoy them.
bonoriau
November 4th, 2008 8:10 am
My friend LadyJava started Monday Music meme last week and the respond not bad, more then 30 sites join the meme.
Mademoiselle Robot
November 4th, 2008 8:12 am
I participated to the Fabulous Festival’s latest edition, as I heard a lot about blog carnivals and wanted to see what benefits it had. So far, it hasn’t dramatically increased my traffic, so I suppose I won’t be using it for this. However, it was a good way to discover blogs I didn’t know about.
In the future, I don’t think I will be participating much anymore, but I will definitely read the carnival posts, to discover new blogs.
I created a carnival myself for Fashion blogs called the Fashion Carnival, in the hope to aggregate interesting fashion related content, but most of the submissions so far have been really poor and I am thinking of cancelling it.
Squawkfox
November 4th, 2008 8:12 am
I’ve participated in numerous Blog Carnivals. I’ve also hosted three on my blog. Blog Carnivals can still be an excellent means to meet new bloggers, increase subscribers, and gain links. The key to participating is to only submit your BEST articles. The key to hosting is to be creative, unique, and perhaps humorous.
I had great success and found good traffic when I hosted the Festival of Frugality: Bare Necessities Edition
Marcus Goodyear
November 4th, 2008 8:12 am
I came over to plug Robert Hruzek, and he beat me to it. Figures. Memes don’t work for me. Neither do blog carnivals per se.
I’ve seen blog book tours raise visibility (with limited success in converting that to measurable sales). But I’ve seen group writing projects like Robert’s build some real community amongst bloggers.
Does community turn into traffic? I don’t know. I guess in the long run it probably does.
Roberto @ Psychbits.com
November 4th, 2008 8:21 am
As a new blogger, I do participate in carnivals. I agree with some comments; traffic from the carnivals is not great, but the links are good. I do not mind the exposure. I do participate in multiple carnivals every week.
Eric
November 4th, 2008 8:27 am
I regularly participate in Haveil Havalim, the Jewish/Israel blog carnival.
Participating has helped me network with other Israel bloggers and hosting has driven traffic to the site.
My first hosting of HH introduced by blog to the J-Blogosphere and led to a handful of repeat visitors. My second hosting of HH happened to coincide with my first time going high on the Reddit list, so the results were hard to discern. There was a lot of traffic into the page though.
I think the marginal benefit of hosting a blog carnival decreases as time goes on, but it is worth it to help new bloggers in the sphere.
Just Lizabell
November 4th, 2008 8:34 am
Carnivals have never really been my thing. I try to spend that time/energy spreading word about my blog via social media sites. Honestly carnivals are just too time consuming and they end up being counter productive for me.
Nancy
November 4th, 2008 8:34 am
I haven’t participated in a blog carnival, but I have done similar things (ProBlogger group writing projects; Blog Action Day; NaBloPoMo; Blogathon). Those activities bring me a bit of traffic, but the traffic always eventually returns to normal levels. They are still a lot of fun, though. :)
Dave
November 4th, 2008 8:36 am
I’ve been running a Fall Color Project. Since it is fall in the northern hemisphere I’ve been encouraging bloggers to write about their fall colors. My blog is garden themed and trees certainly fit into that. In exchange for putting up a post and advertising the project I put a link to each post in my sidebar and write a short summary of their post designed to hopefully direct traffic to their blog. <a href=”http://thehomegarden.blogspot.com”The Home Garden: Garden Blogger Fall Color Project
It’s been fun. I don’t care much for the memes that ask you silly questions, but if it pertains to the blogs purpose/goal I’m all for them.
Dave
November 4th, 2008 8:39 am
Oops, sorry I messed up that link, here’s a second go at it! The Home Garden: Garden Blogger Fall Color Project
Jacob from Group Writing Projects
November 4th, 2008 8:45 am
The repetitiveness of blog carnivals has turned them into link dumps that few people follow any more. The magic now is in group writing projects like Robert Hruzek’s above. Coming soon will the first Twitter Group Writing Project ever…
Talking Books Librarian
November 4th, 2008 8:51 am
I was in an assistive technology blog carnival. What I like about carnivals is reading the other similar posts on a particular topic. It’s a great way to find other niche blogs! (book & librarian type blogs, disability blogs, etc…)
I’ve been invited to memes, but never really had time to do them yet!
Talking Books Librarian
http://talkingbookslibrarian.blogspot.com
Momma
November 4th, 2008 8:55 am
We have participated in some great frugal and bargain saving carnivals. They have been fun! And yes, they have definitely brought traffic to the blog. (and it helps if you submit a really useful post) It’s also a fun way to meet other bloggers.
Momma
Feature Blogger at Engineer a Debt Free Life (bringing you lots of freebies, bargains, and money saving tips) at http://engineeradebtfreelife.blogspot.com
George
November 4th, 2008 8:59 am
I manage and participate in the Festival of Stocks. It’s one of the only blogcarnivals on the topic of my blog. I’ve hosted it on my blog and find it a nice source of traffic and a great way to find new readers.
SEO UK
November 4th, 2008 9:01 am
I use them from time to time and have seen little traffic from the blog carnivals I have participated in. Although traffic has not been the best they do sometimes provide backlinks to my website and increase my technorati rankings.
Condo Blues
November 4th, 2008 9:07 am
Most of my blog posts are “how tos” on DIY, craft, and green living so blog carnivals do increase my traffic quite a bit. However, I seem to get better traffic if I participate in a carnival listed on Blog Carnival than when I participate in some of the weekly well known Mommy Blog carnivals that have almost a hundred entries per week.
I hosted the Green It! http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_3855.html with good success. It was good experience if I ever want to start my own blog carnival to generate traffic. Which I’m not sure if I want to do right now. I think I’ll stick to guest hosting carnivals every once and awhile because it is a lot of extra work.
Lightening
November 4th, 2008 9:24 am
I seem to go in fits and starts. Every now and then I’ll go through the blog carnival website and enter relevant posts into some carnivals. Mostly for my personal blog. I don’t do it as often as I used to when my blog had less traffic. Although that’s mostly a time thing more than a perceived value thing.
I do participate in a couple of Mr Linky meme’s from time to time. Again, on my personal blog. I also run one called Smiley Saturday (http://www.lighteningonline.com/smiley-saturday/) which I find good for building backlinks (participants link back to my blog).
Franklin Bishop
November 4th, 2008 9:27 am
I don’t really care for blog carnivals.
Liz@Inventing My Life
November 4th, 2008 9:29 am
Not sure if it qualifies as a carnival, but I love Wordless Wednesday! I do get traffic from it, and lots more comments than usual, and I like the challenge of being creative in a different medium from the rest of the week. I have picked up some regular visitors from participating in WW, and have also discovered some new blogs for myself.
Now I’m off to check out Home Garden from one of the comments above! Thanks for this post, I look forward to learning about other carnivals and group writing projects out there!
Kimberly/Mom in the City
November 4th, 2008 9:34 am
As a momblogger, I currently participate in the following carnivals/memes:
* Contesting Monday
* Tackle it Tuesday
* What’s on Your Nightstand
* Wordless Wednesday
* Works-For-Me Wednesday
However, I must say that I received the most new subscribers from the “Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival”.
maya
November 4th, 2008 9:37 am
I participate in something similar to a carnival, but so far it is quarterly, not weekly. I’ve gotten a couple of new readers both times I’ve participated.
I take a lot of photos and they are often on my blog. I recently decided that I would spend the month of November taking photos in black and white. When one person expressed interest in joining me, I opened it up to everyone and have been pleasantly surprised at the response. I have a very small blog, but I have had double the hits over the past week, in large part due to this b&w photography project. It’s been a very good experience for me, especially since I have only just started reading info on how to gain more readers/subcribers.
Chris Foley
November 4th, 2008 9:52 am
I’ve been asked to host the Music Education Blog Carnaval (a monthly feature that moves from blog to blog) for January 2009. As to whether it generates traffic and interest, that is something I aim to discover in a few months.
Mike Nichols
November 4th, 2008 10:01 am
Since my niche is so narrow — mental illness and the Anxiety Disorders — I have not participated in blog carnivals much. There’s not much leeway to blog on off-topic subjects. I don’t have anything against blog carnivals, it’s just that I can’t participate without violating the trust of my readers.
I did participate in Blog Action Day and was pleased to do so. I did not realize much if any extra traffic, but it was gratifying to work with so many others toward erasing poverty.
Thomas
November 4th, 2008 10:25 am
I haven’t had too much success with blog carnivals. :(
Graham's Travel Blog
November 4th, 2008 10:50 am
I’ve participated in a Green Travel Blog Carnival since I had a post on green travel that I was publishing. Traffic directly from the carnival was minimal but my traffic increased quite a bit that week, could be a fluke. I’ll be trying it again coming up since I’m planning on writing about collapsible chopsticks and titanium sporks.
Chris Guthrie
November 4th, 2008 11:07 am
I don’t participate in blog carnivals but would be very interested in joining them. Email me at my blog (click my name) if you know of a few good blog carnivals.
I write about internet marketing and in particular my adventures with them.
dj of OrbitalHub
November 4th, 2008 11:13 am
I run OrbitalHub, a space blog, and I participate in the Carnival of Space every week.
> have I hosted a carnival on my blog? yes, and I have to admit that it had increased my traffic… the day I hosted it, g-analytics reported me 10 times more hits than in a normal (what is normal? :D) day;
> do they bring traffic? definitely yes if I host a carnival, not that much if I just submit a post… it makes me wonder why! Darren, maybe you have an answer for this.
> benefits? you get your name out there and make connections…
Michael
November 4th, 2008 11:27 am
I have participated in the Book Review Book Carnival (http://bookcarnival.wordpress.com/) twice now, and each time got a bit of traffic off of it. It’s nice for me, too, because I’m relatively new to the book review community, and it gives me exposure to other book review sites.
I’ve also participated in a ‘meme’ on Semicolon (http://www.semicolonblog.com/) called the Saturday Review of Books. That’s much less formal, but is still a great resource for me to find other sites, and it’s brought me quite a bit of traffic.
I haven’t hosted a carnival yet, but I’m still building my readership. Once I have something to offer, I’m sure I’ll host one.
Obed Ward
November 4th, 2008 11:38 am
Actually I wasn’t fully aware that these were called “blog carnivals”. I think I might just research into it more. I like the concept of bloggers interacting with each other in such a good and positive way.
Tina Kubala
November 4th, 2008 11:41 am
I do several weekly memes on a semi regular basis. Self Portrait Sunday, Give Me Five Monday, Booking Through Thursday, and Four Foods on Friday. I have done Wordless Wednesday and Thursday Thirteen in the past. I don’t hold myself to every week on any of them.
B. Durant
November 4th, 2008 12:12 pm
When I looked into them several months ago for A Blog about Nothing I decided not to join. My reasoning is that I wanted to expand my readership beyond other bloggers and a Blog Carnival seemed counter intuitive to that goal.
Suzie Cheel
November 4th, 2008 12:20 pm
An interesting question on which I have written often, after hosting a carnival for many months.
I now participate in Law of Attraction Carnival which has become selective and only posts that are on topic are included.
Here is a comment I wrote a few months ago on Lightening’s blog.
Thanks for including my post, I am so glad I raised the topic- besides getting fame, it seems there are lots of bloggers wondering. I am planning to keep thinking out loud.
Great Carnival, just the way I believe a carnival should be done. I was going to write a comment earlier on the post you had about carnivals at you Blogworld but never got around to it, so maybe this will start some discussion.
This carnival is an example of how I believe a carnival should look and be, not what most carnival are: just link farms.
Congratulations! You have actually read the posts and included your own comments, I just love the pink I would be curious to know if you selected the posts, rather than as most carnivals do, just drop in what you get from using Blog Carnivals instacarnival. There are carnivals out here that seem to accept anything which I believe lowers the value of a carnival.
I know I started the Abundant Thinking Carnival after doing Wendy’s 10 Days to a better blog course. She suggested just finding carnivals in your niche, there wasn’t much on abundance or LOA , so I started Abundant Thinking, was great for a few months, then I was getting 40 plus entries , maybe 10 worthwhile,and sometimes that was pushing it. I was also looking for entries that were different, added color,light and movement. Then I joined forces with Carole Fogarty and we decided, so we thought to simplify it and focus and specific areas, the first ones were okay and then the standard dropped to the extent that last month I closed it
you can read about that at http://www.abundancehighway.com/the-carnival-is-over/
I remember when I first started Colin Campbell ( who by the way always presents a high quality carnival) saying carnivals were a lot of work! I took that with a grain of salt, now I would agree with him. I also closed the carnival as it no longer was fun and wasn’t bringing joy to me, so I doubt that it would inspire my readers.
Some people put anything everywhere just to get links and I have discovered recently that you can pay $97 a month and the guy who runs it drops anything and everything in- I was getting at least 1 or more a week from him that had nothing to do with LOA or abundance. Some people do it for the 20 odd link back they get each week. It was through someone I know who writes great articles on blogging tactics that I discovered this. I was finding at least 2 posts a week coming in, so I emailed him to ask if he had read the guidelines?
I then realized why I was getting so many off topic entries.
Would be interested in others views, as I know I no longer read carnivals that are just lists.
I have also taken to submitting to carnivals that have maybe only 10 posts, yes I may not get selected, that’s okay as I know the standard has been high.
Do carnivals bring you more traffic? Carole found after a month or so of submitting to many carnivals, that no it didn’t.
Lightening, hope this answers some of the questions you posed at http://www.lighteningsblogworld.com/2008/03/31/blog-carnivals/. off to leave a comment over there to link back here.
I now do participate in group writing projects adn blog action day etc.
Have a deliciously abundant day
Suzie
Jonathan
November 4th, 2008 12:23 pm
Hmm. Interesting. I’ve never heard of a blog “carnival”, but it seems like a neat concept.
Stacey / Create a Balance
November 4th, 2008 2:19 pm
I recently hosted the Life Balance Group Writing Project (thanks Simple Sapien for the mention up above). It brought a lot of new traffic and I met many new bloggers during the project. It also created a sense of community for the bloggers that regularly contribute to my blog.
Mary@SimplyForties
November 4th, 2008 2:22 pm
I participate in several blog carnivals. Some are better than others. Some bring in more traffic than others. Some provide you with more interesting reading than others. It’s best to find carnivals tailored to the niche for which you write.
ashok
November 4th, 2008 3:11 pm
The blog carnival I’ve loved the most is the Philosophy Carnival - the entries are usually of very high quality, and I’ve met some awesomely talented individuals there. I have not hosted their or any carnivals, though.
The philosophy carnival homepage: http://philosophycarnival.blogspot.com/
Natasha @ Maw Books
November 4th, 2008 5:15 pm
I participate in three carnivals a month: Bookworms Carnival, Carnival of Children’s Literature, and Book Reviews Carnival, all obviously related to books. I think it’s a great way to find new blogs in your niche and foster a sense of community.
As for tags and meme’s I really dislike them. I’ve been tagged for about a dozen now and have never responded because they don’t enhance the content of my blog. I have toyed with the idea of doing all the tags together on one page maybe every six months or so because I feel like other bloggers view me as a “party-pooper.”
Clare Swindlehurst
November 4th, 2008 6:53 pm
I’m a book blogger like Natasha and take part in a couple of Blog carnivals with a twist. Sunday Salon and Weekly Geeks are two weekly events where book bloggers talk about what they are reading, or take part in book related challenges. There is a central page with links to all participants and RSS feeds available too. My site traffic increases significantly on the days I take part in either of these events and I have met many great bloggers too.
German Romance
November 4th, 2008 7:02 pm
The blog carnivals haven’t done much at all for my business, perhaps I need to go to the next one and it will turn around.
Ruchir Chawdhry
November 4th, 2008 7:35 pm
None really, I can’t find any memes or carnivals related to technology.
Caitlin (Roaming Tales)
November 4th, 2008 8:06 pm
I often take part in the Carnival of Cities with my travel blog, http://www.roamingtales.com.
Ali Hale (from Alpha Student)
November 4th, 2008 10:27 pm
I did start off by submitting posts to a few blog carnivals, but found the process quite time consuming and rarely or never saw traffic from them. I also felt it was all a bit “take take take” on my part as, to be honest, I rarely use blog carnivals to find posts to read.
The advantage to submitting posts to a wide range of carnivals is that it can help with backlinks, so I do still do the occasional carnival submission — but it’s low on my list of priorities.
I get much better traffic — and more enjoyment — from writing guest posts and from “regular” links on other blogs.
Rhea
November 4th, 2008 10:27 pm
I participate in a carnival that features baby boomer info. I started it with a site called LilfeTwo. We are now on our 93rd carnival. I think that’s a lot of longevity for a carnival. We switch the host each week. There are about 12 blloggers. Members come and go but not much. We lose a member only every few months and there is always a waiting list to get in. Our members say their traffic benefits. I don’t have hard numbers. For the amount of work it takes (very little) I think it’s worth it for the links we get and the traffic.
Rhea
November 4th, 2008 10:27 pm
I participate in a carnival that features baby boomer info. I started it with a site called LlfeTwo. We are now on our 93rd BloggingBoomers carnival. I think that’s a lot of longevity for a carnival. We switch the host each week. There are about 12 blloggers. Members come and go but not much. We lose a member only every few months and there is always a waiting list to get in. Our members say their traffic benefits. I don’t have hard numbers. For the amount of work it takes (very little) I think it’s worth it for the links we get and the traffic.
Ian Brodie
November 5th, 2008 12:11 am
I participated in a number of Sales/Business related carnivals. they brought in some good backlinks, but limited traffic.
Some of them faded gently away, and in truth, I didn’t really read many of the other posts as they weren’t as related to the core topics as I would have liked.
I’m currently participating in a blog meme on Warming up Cold Calls started by “Bizzie Guye” (http://bizdevblog.wordpress.com/) Knowing that some of the other posters on the meme are really high quality thinkers - and that participants are selected rather than just sending in stuff gives me higher hopes for the quality of the threads.
Ian
Grace
November 5th, 2008 12:33 am
I have a regular schedule of participation in blogs. Every three weeks or so I gather the permalinks of my best posts and travel to Blog Carnivals. It takes me about 2 hrs to of that period and post to about 15 different carnivals–I tend to go down the whole list, stopping at those that have a close publication date. Because I write on a variety of topics, there’s always one that seems to fit. That’s the upside. Easy to do, not a big time investment. Plus I get continuing links to my blog. They have a long tail, too. I am getting hits from Carnivals that I posted several months ago.
The downside is that I don’t get a lot of return traffic without additional effort on my part to actually VISIT the posted carnival and respond to other links that I find there. So both pros and cons to the technique. I’ll continue to use it, but nothing like the Stumble hits I get with a juicy post. G.
Download Free Software
November 5th, 2008 12:35 am
I just signed up for my first Blog Carnival 2 days ago and now I see this… I don’t expect to see too much traffic from it but anything I get will be cool. Since it only took me about 2 minutes to sign up for it. =)
If it works, maybe some day I’ll host my own.
Swim University
November 5th, 2008 12:54 am
I do not use blog carnivals because even after reading this post I still don’t quite understand what they are. Plus I use to be on a blog carnival and it didn’t really give me that much traffic.
Blog Marketing Diva
November 5th, 2008 12:56 am
I’ve never participated in Blog Carnivals or Memes before, but great information and will definitely check this out. Thanks for your insight, as usual :-)
George
November 5th, 2008 1:07 am
I haven’t ever participated in a blog carnival although I used to participate in your blog writing projects which are similar to a carnival. I almost always participate in memes that I am tagged with, although I don’t see them as often as I used to.
Marta Strickland
November 5th, 2008 1:14 am
Wine Blog Wednesday has always been a fun one. I like the idea that everyone not only has to blog, but has to drink a wine related to a certain theme. I hope it continues, but I get the feeling that the Twitter tastings might take it over. Far more convenient and instant share satisfaction.
Andrea
November 5th, 2008 1:17 am
If I have something that I consider really good enough to submit, I’ll participate in the Carnival of Personal Finance. I’ve gotten some new readers and found some new blogs that I like that way. It hasn’t been overwhelming traffic but I think it’s nice to “get out there” and meet people.
Laura @ Practical Homeschooling
November 5th, 2008 1:24 am
I started participating in blog carnivals shortly after starting my blog (in September). I post on the Carnival of Homeschooling and while it hasn’t exactly brought in a landslide of traffic, there is still a nice trickle that has come in from it, resulting in new readers.
I haven’t hosted any yet, but plan on doing so in March. It keeps me on my feet. Like a visitor coming to your home, you want your “place” to look as good as possible.
passivefamilyincome
November 5th, 2008 1:54 am
Having a very young blog (6 months), I try and participate every week in 1 - 3 personal finance blog carnivals. This has help me slowly build traffic to my site. It has helped me establish links on many other sites.
charles
November 5th, 2008 2:54 am
Isn’t it quite boring to read many articles of the same topic from various writers? And if i am a writer, i wouldn’t want to be in a very competitive world. VERY COMPETITIVE.
Vintage Mommy
November 5th, 2008 3:10 am
Five other bloggers and I just launched a carnival/festival this week called Holidays by Hand.
We’d love to have more folks join in; you can get information at the link below.
Holidays by Hand
Bayou Bags
November 5th, 2008 4:21 am
I occasionally participate in giveaway carnivals (Bloggy Giveaways is a good example), and they do result in some nice traffic spikes and a small increase in regular traffic. I’ve also picked up links and a few subscribers this way, and usually get some great project ideas from the comments.
Nick
November 5th, 2008 5:20 am
I’ve been trying to get involved with a few food/recipe carnivals. So far I have had very limited success.
I’m getting much more traffic for my time by being active on Twitter, facebook, and participating on other people’s blogs.
That’s not to say that they aren’t useful for some, but my experience has been pretty blah.
Macheesmo
Carla
November 5th, 2008 6:11 am
I used it for the first time about a month ago for this post http://greenandchic.com/blog/blog-lists/green-and-chic-lists-10808/ Because I’m new to blogging, I never heard of it. I do get a lot of submissions that are not related to the subjects at hand, but it is a good way to network
Robin
November 5th, 2008 9:05 am
I’ve just set up a Carnival of Intuition at blogcarnival.com, so this is very timely for me! - it’s great to read the comments above. I’m planning to run it monthly, moving the hosting around - I’ll see how it goes.
It’s description page is at
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_5533.html
Nate
November 5th, 2008 9:13 am
As a food blogger, I participate in various blog carnivals or recipe roundups. These can be weekly events such as Weekend Herb Blogging, bi-weekly events such as Grow Your Own, monthly events such as My Legume Love Affair, or other one-offs such as Mee and My Malaysia. I also participate in monthly food photography competitions such as Does My Blog Look Good in This and Click! the Photo Event.
All these events bring various amounts of traffic. Most come for the food pics and some stay for the recipes and content. I have not hosted a roundup but plan to do so next year.
What’s good about these roundups is you get to see what other people are doing and meet bloggers you’ve never heard of before.
Internet Marketing Do-Follow Blog
November 5th, 2008 3:51 pm
I lover carnivals, they bring lots of traffic
Keral Patel
November 5th, 2008 3:59 pm
I haven’t tested it yet. So its time to see what it brings. Last time I tested twitter after reading a post here and it was really helpful.
Vinayak
November 5th, 2008 4:37 pm
I have participated in one on Indian History here:
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_3393.html
Financialtales
November 6th, 2008 12:33 am
The Financial Tales website is only a month old, but since then I have participated in two blog carnivals - The Festival of Frugality and The Money Hacker’s Carnival, but have yet to host one. So far, I have found that participating in carnivals has helped in terms of visitors, and I’m wondering… Does hosting a carnival drive more traffic to your site? Thanks.
Angel Cuala
November 6th, 2008 10:29 am
Well, I am participating at a small time Blog Carnival. Actually, it is for Filipino parents - Pinoy Parenting Blog Carnival (PPBC) in which I hosted 2 editions, and here is one of the entries before
The Happy Birthday that never was – A PPBC 9th Edition entry.
It is a twice a month activity, where the host decides the topic.
I think I had a small traffic, but I don’t care. I met fellow Filipino parents and eventually became my virtual friends. I will still join them if my time permits me.
Thanks!
Tsahi Levent-Levi
November 6th, 2008 2:22 pm
I have joined a moving carnival called Carnival of the Mobilists a few months ago and became a “host for one week” just a few weeks ago.
It is interesting and fun - it also opens up an easy path to building relationships with other bloggers in the same domain.
I even took the time to discuss my experience with writing as a host of a carnival just this week :-)
Lexi Sundell
November 9th, 2008 1:17 am
I have participated in many blog carnivals and hosted a long running one of my own. I discontinued mine when the fellow mentioned above started his submission service.
I figured I already was spending a lot of time going through too many mediocre or worse submissions that were not particularly on topic. And that my time might be better spent on other projects for my blog. His new service looked like a nightmare to me as a carnival host.
That said, I did gain traffic from carnivals and made worthwhile relationships with other bloggers by hosting my own. Unfortunately the overall quality of carnivals has gone downhill and I see them as far less useful now.
Dan McCarthy
November 11th, 2008 1:48 am
host a monthly Leadership Development Carnival that brings in decent traffic and exposure. It helps if everyone links back to the host site, but only about half will bother.
The Blog Carnival submission form makes it easy to administer. I end up screening out about 25% of them, but still end up with 40-50 decent submissions.
Blogging Tips
December 21st, 2008 9:44 am
I have yet to ever participate in a carnival … no reason why .. just something I have never done .. I suppose I should give it a go
Colorado Springs Real Estate by Kathy Torline
December 23rd, 2008 9:34 am
I’ve particupated in several real estate carnivals on Blogcarnivals.com; and just submitted some other blogs today. Fun to do!
how to manage personal finances
February 4th, 2009 10:39 am
Great post. Even better comments. I’m trying out a bunch right now at blogcarnival.com; not sure how good they’re going to be, but I’ll willing to give it a try. Why not, right?
I’ve done a couple in the past and gotten a few clicks here and there. I don’t know if it’s really great for direct traffic. I think it’s probably more for networking and links.
Ashley
March 13th, 2009 7:43 am
I participate in both carnivals and “memes” occasionally. I’m pretty choosy and don’t necessarily stay with one week after a week. There are a few good ones that I’d definitely recommend though, and I’ve seen a pretty big increase in my blog traffic - like 200-1,500 visitors in one DAY from the main site, where others are linking over to me.
Of course, the key is to post stuff that other people will be interested in reading, and this is basically another way to spread the word.
hhy
March 18th, 2009 12:32 pm
Great post. Even better comments. I’m trying out a bunch right now at blogcarnival.com; not sure how good they’re going to be, but I’ll willing to give it a try. Why not, right?
I’ve done a couple in the past and gotten a few clicks here and there. I don’t know if it’s really great for direct traffic. I think it’s probably more for networking and links.
Katy Allgeyer
April 5th, 2009 1:11 pm
I think it’s up to the blogger to choose wisely and participate in carnivals that target the same audience as your blog. Women are more inclined to be interested in my topic and my client base consists of lots of moms. So, recently I participated in The Ultimate Blog Party 2009 (http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com/2009/03/22/the-ultimate-blog-party-2009/) and saw dramatic results in traffic, comments, and I even made the Wordpress Growing Blogs list. I’ve also found commenting on other highly popular and related blogs raises my profile and traffic more than anything else I’ve done
Brian @ Live Longer
June 20th, 2009 8:38 am
I know this post is roughly 9 months old but I wanted to weigh in for the trickle of viewers that still make it this far down the comments section.
I started my first professional blog about a month and a half ago and have found through reading ProBlogger, among many other blogs, that incoming links are crucial to developing a presence in the search engines. Darren preaches that linking out to other Bloggers often is a great way to develop a sense of community with other bloggers and as a result it will often be rewarded by links in return.
In my blog I have done this as best as I can so far but I have also looked for other ways to get inbound links. Carnivals seem to be an excellent method. I’ve participated in a number of them now (maybe 10 or so) and have always made it a point to link back to the blog host as well as 1-2 of the other authors represented in the given carnival. The people I link to are usually my favorite posts from the carnival and I make sure they are given more exposure to their blogs due to the carnival.
I think the problem with many carnivals is the fact that many people submit to them but do not read or respect the other authors. Those that do promote the work of others tend to make carnivals worthwhile.
In the end I don’t expect a lot of traffic from carnivals but I do expect some targeted traffic from bloggers who tend to link to others and tend to form relationships with others. These links and relationships are what make carnivaling worthwhile in my opinion. The reward is not the small rush of new visitors or the few new subscribers it is the long-term benefits of inbound links, relationships with fellow like-minded bloggers, and the opportunity to showcase the work of others.
My blog is nearly seven weeks old and each week has received more traffic than the last. I firmly believe that if I were not participating in carnivals (as I have been to this point) my traffic numbers would be significantly lower and I would feel more alone in my work.
Thanks to everyone else for the opinions on this topic; I was searching for opinions on Carnivals when I stumbled on this post.
-Brian @ http://www.howtolivealongerlife.com
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