What Blogging Has Taught Me

I’ve been blogging for just over a year. However, I’ve had jakelacaze.com for only 3 months. I thoroughly enjoy blogging and see it as my own little slice of the Internet, my one opportunity to get my voice out there. I’m amazed when I check my analytics and see where I get hits from. Although my bounce rates tend to be high and viewers don’t stick around for long, I’m nevertheless amazed at the fact that I have the opportunity to connect with people from all over the globe. I never could have guessed some of the keyword searches that would have sent traffic my way. But I’m not complaining — search engines, keep ‘em coming!

I’ve never tried to pass myself over as a social media guru. And it’s a damn good thing because if blogging has taught me one thing, it’s taught me that I’m nowhere near being such a guru. I don’t get much traffic on my blog — on average, I get only a handful of hits. But that’s fine because I’m not necessarily in it for hits and popularity. I’m not expecting my blog to take off and earn me a fat paycheck every month (although that would be NICE!). As I said previously, my blog is about expressing myself. And the fact that I can do so on such a platform for almost no money is priceless.

From time to time, my blog posts may get featured on the social network Brazen Careerist. I can’t lie — I get giddy like a schoolgirl when it happens. The fact that anyone thinks enough of my posts to feature them anywhere is a compliment. I’m just a guy who rants about things. There’s no reason anyone should listen to me, so when people do, it means a lot. When Brazen Careerist features my posts, they usually send out a tweet with a nice little catchphrase in it. And this is what Brazen Careerist has taught me — my catchphrases and headlines SUCK! When I see how they promote my posts, their phrases are always concise (they have to be due to Twitter’s 140-character limit) and they always reflect the point of the post. It’s a bittersweet moment because I’m glad they’re promoting my work, but they’re constantly showing me that I have a lot to work on. So for two reasons, I owe some thanks to those guys.

I love when people comment on my blog or when I get a retweet on Twitter. I comment on other people’s blogs, but honestly, I know I need to do it more. That’s part of my failed promotion. I wish I got more comments, but that falls on me. Apparently, I haven’t given people a reason to comment or I haven’t created an easily accessible environment. If the latter is the case, please know that you have the go-ahead to share your thoughts and feedback. Really, you do!

I’ve learned some valuable lessons from my short time of blogging. And I hope to learn much more in the future. If you’re a blogger, what has blogging taught you? Comment! Please!

Tagged as: Brazen Careerist, promotion