Comments on: Getting Over the Blogger’s 6 Month Itch

By: betting strategies

betting strategies — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:07:28 +0000

I’ve been writing my blog for 6 months now and I can relate to people quitting at this time. It seems as if you have put a lot of time and effort into your blog, but it’s still to early to reap the rewards of that hard work. It seems as if you’ve made every mistake in the book but you still have so much to learn about blogging.

By: psychic medium

psychic medium — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:37:58 +0000

Get In the Hot Spot In marriage they talk about a seven year itch. It’s the time when people get restless and think about giving up on their relationship. For bloggers that itch and desire to give up comes sooner. In fact, most bloggers give up on their blogs after only 6 months. I’ve been writing my blog for 6 months now and I can relate to people quitting at this time. It seems as if you have put a lot of time and effort into your blog, but it’s still to early to reap the rewards of that hard work.

By: Massage Brisbane

Massage Brisbane — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:13:34 +0000

I have decided to focus on one blog rather than the two that are now active. Focused energy should help me grow traffic as I continue to add content.

By: QwkDrw

QwkDrw — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:58:49 +0000

Annabel Candy’s self help & development blog posts are interesting, often inspiring, occasionally humorous, and provide a perspective on one’s own life skills. The technical features of her blog, and the complete attention to encouraging readers to return, are indeed awesome.

You may wish to also become a follower of my blog: GIVE ME A MOMENT a lifestyle. Active since 2007, newly researched content (hopefully widely interesting) currently publishes bi-weekly on Thursdays. Writing under the moniker QwkDrw, I fancy GIVE ME A MOMENT an internet-based “column” containing easily researched written pieces with links to additional information, sometimes written in series, that are interesting to someone of my background and often more widely appealing — a sort of Cliff Notes or Reader’s Digest version of larger matters or subjects that are still interesting when condensed into a reasonable amount of reading time

By: Dean Saliba

Dean Saliba — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:51:31 +0000

There have been times I’ve wanted to give up on my blogs but if I did I’d miss the money they bring in.

By: Living with Balls

Living with Balls — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:28:54 +0000

I’m approaching that six month mark and I am definitely frustrated. I’m not ready to give up though because I feel I am putting out a good product. I’m going to work at for a year and then evaluate if I should continue.

Thanks for the post.

By: Durkin

Durkin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:40:20 +0000

Great post. One of the hardest things is keeping a blog going month after month. Persistence definitely pays off though.

In my experience of working in small niches It took me about a year to get established, and the same amount of time to be grabbing the top spots in Google.

Thanks for the post

Durkin

By: Web Designer

Web Designer — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:30:04 +0000

Lots of people have higher learning curve. It may be lesser or more than 6 months. But I stress more on the action part. I spend way too much time on reading, but not contributing much of quality content. That’s one thing, I want to rectify.

Thanks for the post.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:17:17 +0000

I want to thank you for writing such a great post. I have been doing this for less than a year and wanted to give up many times, but kept pushing on. I still have a long way to go, but I feel as if I’m starting to see a little something starting to happen and I feel a whole new level of excitement! One word I would use to describe what it takes to start and see the mission through is, relentless.

By: Annabel Candy

Annabel Candy — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:39:30 +0000

It seems that the 6 month itch is definitely a common thread with bloggers. And if it doesn’t happen at 6 months it’s because the blogger has already given up.

Vanessa – You have a point. Some blogs may have a natural life cycle and end quickly because of that. But any blog you’ve maintained and written for even a short amount of time will have given heaps of valuable lessons that should make your next blog quicker to get off the ground and more successful.

dsi r4 – Great idea to connect with other bloggers by reading their blogs and leaving comments on their posts. You’ll be encouraging their writing and many of them will then visit your blog and leave a comment which will give you a boost.

I love reading all these stories about how people nearly gave up but hung on in there and are now being rewarded for these efforts. Thanks everyone!

By: Bill Morgan

Bill Morgan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:32:32 +0000

Just saw this article. I am 4 months into it and it’s tough to keep it up consistently as it’s an evening projects to help my career. I’m a recruiter and my blog is for all people to find the job they seek.

I’ve learned so much though:
1. Keep the blog topic narrow, not so broad (mine is a career blog that speaks generally on jobs and careers. I now realize it should be much more focused towards certain demographics, types of careers, etc..
2. How more people use RSS Feeds then email and Twitter (which I’m just learning) is incredibly huge.
3. Videos get so much more traction
4. The people that blog are generally some of the coolest people I’ve ever met. Bloggers really like helping other bloggers.
5. You’ve gotta blog about what you’re passionate about
6. The wackiest topics often get the largest attention.
7. Don’t pre-judge what people want to read
8. Making money at this is very difficult and what worked 2 years ago may not work today
9. Be genuine
10. Don’t crowd your blog

I make most of these mistakes still so I have a lot to work on. Anyone else have inspirational things they’ve learned?

By: Chris Mollo

Chris Mollo — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:07:49 +0000

It’s funny you wrote this post right at the time I’m approaching the six month mark. I wrote a post just the other day about how I was getting so frustrated and thinking of giving up. After five months I’ve managed to get listed with the search engines and get my PR up to 2, but still don’t have many readers. I do have over 100 feed subscribers and over 100 followers, so I guess that’s a good thing. Heck, it’s keeping me going! Your post helped a lot, too.

By: dsi r4

dsi r4 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:34:49 +0000

Leave your blog. No blog is an island, and the bloggers that leave their blogs and ‘join the community’ by participating in the comments on other blogs are rewarded with more visitors, not to mention the benefit of learning from other bloggers.

By: Vanessa D. Alexander

Vanessa D. Alexander — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:01:49 +0000

You can grow out some blog topics and need to move on in that case. A number of bloggers have had several blogs before landing that topic that stabilizes. It’s a growing process. I think you have to enjoy blogging. It’s like a home based business, why try it if you don’t like being at home?

I’ve been blogging since 2003 but not the same blog. I finally landed in my zone after I took up photography along with writing. It is a learning process. You can grow out of a blog like growing out of clothes as you get older. It’s not always a bad thing. You get to a point where you mature and no longer grow out of clothes, you just improve on your own style. Good article…

By: Kory Taylor

Kory Taylor — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:05:23 +0000

You did a great job with the article Annabel. Gives a lot of value on how to persevere when times get you down. I really like the pep-talk you gave: “Look at anything you’ve achieved in your life. It probably didn’t come easily. There may have been times when you wanted to give up. But you’re glad you didn’t. Take heart from that and carry on blogging.”

Best Regards,
Kory

By: Paul Hassing

Paul Hassing — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:58:39 +0000

This was a ripper, Annabel. A lovely end to my week and a great introduction to your writing. Many thanks for your beautifully articulated insights. Best regards, P. :)

By: crazy blogger

crazy blogger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:32:30 +0000

Great post on blogging.

i found that my blog is getting good readers and also i got pagrank. so now i will continue my blog.

By: Randy Primm

Randy Primm — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:17:27 +0000

Nothing comes easy and thats the truth. I have been working on an interactive travel blog for six months exactly…hmm weird I just noticed that. Anyway there is a rush at first especially since I’m on the road in my RV while I blog, but after a month or so it slows down and the energy and determination seem to to fade.

But if you are truly determined to make your blog work, you must believe in it no matter what the results. For “there is no trying, only doing or not doing”

Also unless you quit… you cannot truly fail.

I have just hired a Blog Manager to assist in my blog and I have found a new sense of determination and passion in the fact that I haven’t given up so far so, and don’t plan on quitting anytime soon.

Cheers!

Randy

By: Annabel Candy

Annabel Candy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:54:07 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing all your amazing thoughts here.

It looks as if some bloggers burn out faster than others. I speak to people who give up after only 2 posts! I suppose they didn’t think about what their aims were and how much time they were prepared to put into it before they started blogging.

Broderick – I like the idea of having a 4 or 5 year plan but I think it could put some people off. I know a lot of bloggers who understand the importance of blogging in the longterm but the longest period they can commit for is a year. That seems fair as it should give you enough time to start to understand what you’re doing and why. Hopefully there will have been positive results after a year and at that point you can project that if you carry on for another 4 years the good results will multiply.

Steve – Loving the idea of keeping moving our blogs forward like a shark:) It is good to assess, fine tune and make changes as long as they’re for a reason. Pointless fiddling for the sake of it won’t get you too far though.

Jessica – I jumped right in to my blog and wasted a lot of time altering and changing it because of that. I’m a web designer and spend hours planning my client websites to avoid making mistakes so why I missed this vital step before setting up my own blog is a mystery. Your year of peculating your ideas will have been well spent.

I’m delighted to have inspired and helped so many people by having an article posted on Problogger. Personally, I’m having fun writing my blog, keeping myself engaged and my mind active because there’s so much to learn and giving myself a creative outlet too. Keep blogging everyone – who knows where it will lead and what you’ll get out of it?

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:21:23 +0000

These are GREAT hints. I started my blog and July and am already feeling the itch. However, I was lucky to find guest bloggers and writers who would write great content for me for a minimal cost, in exchange for a short bio at the end of the article.