Do you make time for your blog?

Twitter. Facebook. Google+. LinkedIn. Pinterest. Email. Sometimes it feels that by the time I’ve checked all my social networks, I don’t have any time left to actually visit my own blog. It’s only a matter of time before I’m caught with lipstick on my collar, so to speak. I love my blog, but sometimes I feel like I’m cheating on it.

There are only so many hours in a day, and most of us suffer from shiny ball syndrome. I should really write some new posts today. Ooo, look at all those new pins. Ooo, someone sent me a funny email. Ooo, I have new messages on Facebook. Ooo….

Our blog feels stale and boring with all the interesting things to do online. And we tell ourselves that our blog will always be there, waiting for us when we get home.

But we all know that isn’t the case, don’t we? If we don’t give our blogs enough attention, one day, we’ll come home to find that the house is empty and there’s a note on the kitchen table telling us it’s over.

Now really, a blog can’t just get up and leave like a scorned lover, but if you’re “cheating” on your blog by spending more time on social media outposts, email, etc., any success you find will be short-lived and packing a suitcase before you know it. Blogs need to be nurtured, or readers won’t remember you.

A see a lot of bloggers saying, “I only write when I have something to say.” That’s great. You don’t have to have a blogging schedule to have a great blog. But if your blog isn’t in the forefront of your mind, you haven’t given importance to it and you’re not going to suddenly think of ideas. If you haven’t had anything valuable to say on  your blog for two or three weeks, why are you maintaining your blog at all? Put your blog first and you’ll probably find that the ideas start flowing.

More importantly, all the social media outposts that you love don’t actually belong to you. What would you do if Facebook suddenly disappeared? You don’t have control over whether or not your content stays live on those sites, and you certainly don’t benefit from advertising on other monetization efforts on these networks. You blog needs to be your home base and the place most important to you online. It’s cool to connect with readers elsewhere, but you want to always encourage them to interact with you most on your blog itself.

They won’t if you aren’t there. Be aware of the different between not having time and not making time. Don’t lie to yourself. If you had time today to play Words With Friends, you had time to check your blog.

If you’re guilty of being a dirty cheater, the good news is that you can rebuild your relationship with your blog. Here are a few things you can do to recommit:

• Right now, do all that maintenance work you’ve been avoiding. Update to the new WordPress. Clean up your sidebar. Add that new plugins you’ve been hearing so much about. Redo your header. All those little tasks that have been piling up in the corner aren’t going to do themselves. If you’re really short on time – hire someone to do them for you.
• Write a post at least twice a week. I can appreciate the “only blog when I have something to say” mindset, but if you don’t have something to say about your niche at least twice a week, why are you even blogging about that topic in the first place? It’s about putting your blog to the front of your mind. When you do that, rather than just wait for ideas to strike like lightening, you’ll be amazed at just how much you actually do want to write about.
• Start your day on your blog. Before you check your email, social networks, etc., check your blog comments and stats, get some writing done, and promote a link or two. Again, it’s about putting your blog in the forefront of your mind.

And don’t be afraid to let it go if your blog really isn’t that important to you. You aren’t a quitter and you certainly aren’t a failure by admitting that you just aren’t that into your blog anymore. Move on to projects you do care about instead.

Bouncy balls? Lots of smiles! Bouncy readers? Not so much...

Right now, I’m compiling links about bounce rate for Brilliant Bloggers, and it stuck me that a lot of bloggers out there might not even know what bounce rate is and why they should want a lower number. So, I’ll get to all the links and tips for creating a stickier blog tomorrow…today, I thought it might be helpful if we all talk about why this matters in the first place!

What is Bounce Rate?

Bounce rate is a number hidden in your states, usually reflected as a percentage. This is the one case when a lower number is better! Basically, a bounce rate is the percentage of people who leave your site after reading only their entry page, the page that got them to your blog in the first place. They don’t click any internal links. They don’t go to the home page. They don’t click the “read more” button. They just leave.

So, you actually want a lower bounce rate. The lower the rate, the more people are sticking around and checking out other areas of your blog, maybe even subscribing to your RSS feed or mailing list.

They Like Me…They Really Like Me!

Traffic is a great way to measure your success as a blogger, but I think sometimes the numbers can be more complex than we’d like to admit. Traffic spikes from, for example, a popular post on StumbleUpon can make your monthly totals soar. However, when you look at the bounce rate from that traffic, it tends to be very high.

It’s not that you didn’t have great content, because if you didn’t, it wouldn’t have gotten popular on StumbleUpon, but it’s more important that a person likes you, not just your blog posts. When a person is interested in you, not just your content, they want to read more, and they even want to subscribe or bookmark so they can stay connected in the future.

Readers to Consumers

Your readers consume your content, but you want them to be a consumer in another sense as well – you want them to buy your stuff, whether that’s items through affiliate links or your own products or services. People who bounce away from your site quickly don’t become consumers. The next step after becoming a consumer is becoming a brand advocate, where they actually go out and tell other people to buy from you as well…and that definitely doesn’t happen when the bounce from your site quickly!

Tricky Stats

Bounce rate is just one part of understanding your stats. I think it’s important not to have blinders on when examining numbers. Even bounce rate doesn’t alone accurately reflect what is happening on your site. Stats are tricky! But don’t ignore bounce rate, especially when you see a traffic spike. Understanding whether or not people are sticking around to check out the rest of your blog can help you create better content.

How much importance do you put in bounce rate versus raw traffic numbers? Leave a comment to tell us!

Today is not a hot summer day. I’m not in the middle of a blizzard or anything, but it’s January in Northern Virginia. The nights are cold, snow is a constant threat, and we have a bag of rock salt waiting by the door just in case it’s needed.

Now, I probably wouldn’t say no to an ice cream cone right now. I love ice cream! But it’s not the same. During the winter, ice cream is still good, but it’s just not the same. As you stroll down the street with your favorite flavor, your fingers and lips get cold and it just doesn’t have the same refreshing effect.

Blogging can be similar. Your content might not change, but it doesn’t always taste the same.

The “if you build it, they will come” idea of blogging is a romantic one, but the quality of your content isn’t the only things that plays a part in your overall success. One of the factors that few seem to talk about is timing. You’re the ice cream maker. It’s up to you to serve your customers the best treats for the season. Some customers might still want ice cream during the winter, but you should at least offer some hot chocolate too.

Timing is about two things: research and your gut.

Timing Research

Ever wonder why so many products launch on Tuesdays or why Sunday night Facebook posts seem to get a lot more attention? It’s not a coincidence. There are certain days and times of the day that are statistically better than others.

When I was younger, I worked in a butcher shop and deli (sexy, I know). At the end of every month, we’d see a dip in sales – people didn’t buy as much because they were waiting for their social security checks or government assistance. So, my bosses would put the more expensive items on sale. The way, people could afford these items – and the tended to buy more. It was a well-timed sale.

Think about why people do things online. If your target audience is under 18, they probably aren’t going to be online at 10 AM on a Tuesday – they’re going to by online when they get home from school. If your target audience is older, they’re probably going to be online after the kids go to bed. If your target audience is technologically-minded, they probably are going to be online during the day at work (at least a little), and will be especially hungry for content on Fridays when they’re anxiously waiting for the day to end and the weekend to begin.

Do a little research with your content. Test out your theories by releasing posts at different times and on different days and recording what happens. You can even set up split tests with your email lists to see when you get a higher open rate. The numbers don’t lie – and this could help you drive higher traffic number with little extra work.

Going with Your Gut

Sometimes, you have to throw research out the window. As much as it might make sense to announce your new book on a certain day or send out an affiliate email during a certain window or time during the day, don’t let your research cloud your good sense.

My birthday is in February. And I want ice cream. Normally, ice cream isn’t as good during the winter, but there’s an exception to this rule and if my friends didn’t bring out the ice cream just because it was “too cold,” I’d be very disappointed.

Going with your gut makes sense. When something is timely, release it while emotions are high, before people have the chance to cool off and stop caring about a topic. When your blog needs a pick-me-up, post sooner rather than later. When you’ve built up some anticipation for content, give the people what they want because if they have to continue to wait, they’ll loss interest. If you have a really innovative idea, post it!

Do research and follow the rules regarding the timing of your blog posts – but don’t be afraid to break those rules.

Personally, I’m still studying the best times to release new posts and when to follow the rules versus when to go with my gut and post immediately. Do you have a certain time you like to post on your blog? Do you think it matters?

Today, Google announced that they’d now be allowing both nicknames and pseudonyms on Google+. This makes it much easier for anonymous bloggers to use the network, which will definitely be an advantage for Google as it continue to try to attract more users. But is it doing any favors for the Internet as a whole? Will this encourage the use of pseydonyms – and is that a good thing?

Critics had told me that they feel my pen name allows a certain level of dishonesty. Because I’m not writing under my real name, I’m not as accountable for what I write on my blog, and it also makes it easier for me to deceive people.

These things are true. Blogging under a pen name is powerful, and with great power comes great responsibility.

But I would argue that, online, it’s possible to deceive people whether you use your real name or not. I don’t believe that anonymous blogging makes a blogger more likely to be dishonest, but I do believe that some people find it easier to create better content if they are able to use a pen name – and that’s a good thing for our community of content creators.

Having more opinions or ideas is rarely a bad thing, but if people aren’t allowed to anonymously express those opinions or share those ideas, they’ll often remain silent. Depending on the topic, blogging can jeopardize your job or reflect poorly on your family and friends. A pen name allows your to write without the worry that you’ll be judged. This freedom can be liberating.

Some people abuse this power and use a pseudonym to be nasty to others, share confidential information, or do other unsavory things. Don’t allow these people to form your opinion of anonymous bloggers. There are bad apples in every bunch. Most of the bloggers who write under names other than their real ones simply don’t want to be defined by a single piece of content during their daily lives. The freedom of being able to use a pen name allows us to create better content on Google+ and in general.

I believe that Google+’s decision to allow nicknames and pseudonyms is good for the online community. What do you think?

Needless to say, we weren’t successful and we ended up losing money. But I had been bitten by the online bug and knew this was where I belonged.

Start with a Topic You Know and Love

Fast forward a few months, when we decided to create another website. It was on a topic I could sink my teeth into, write hundreds of articles off the top of my head and just enjoy. My husband did the keyword research and I wrote the articles. We started making money within a few months and I knew we had something legitimate on our hands.

After working on the site for about 8 months and increasing the income to just under $1,000 a month on average, we decided to sell. I was bored. I felt like I really had nothing left to give to the site and I was ready to move on to something else. We listed the site on a popular online website marketplace and within a few days sold the site for a high four-figure sum.

Show Me the Money

This site had around 25 pages of content, so let’s do the math here: sold for $7,500, which was making $900 a month and we created around 3 pages per month. The first three months we made just about nothing. Then it went from $200, to $400 to $600 and stayed at $900 up until we sold. Let’s figure we made around $11,000 total from both the sale and the combined monthly income. That means we were paid around $440 per page we wrote. Not bad. The buyer was purchasing a website which was ranking really well for highly searched keywords in the search engines, plus a steady income we had built. It was a win-win.

I think this site sold for what it did for several reasons:

• I was writing about something I was passionate about and had first-hand knowledge of and experience with
• We did the research up front to make sure we had a reasonable shot at making the site quite profitable if we did the work required
• We wrote the content with our readers in mind first of all, but using words that the search engines would like and would reward us for

And Then Blogging Entered My Life…

After building websites, I discovered the world of blogging. I have not looked back since. Not only have I built and run several successful blogs, but I have also sold several. Some I built with the intention of selling, while others I decided to sell after simply losing the desire to continue pouring myself into it. Chalk it up to a short attention span.

Let’s play with the numbers for a minute, shall we?

I sold one blog for $4,000 after building it for 6 months. How did I come up with the idea for the blog? I focused on both keyword research and knowledge about the topic. Do you see a pattern here?

The blog was making just over $500 a month and I was working on it for about an hour a day. It’s not an extreme amount of money by any means, but $500 a month can make or break the bank for some people.

The Moral of the Story

What’s the moral of the story here? There are several actually.

Each post you write has value. Whether you are writing the posts on your blog for your readers, for the search engines, or to appeal to a potential future buyer, each post you write has value. So treat it that way.

It is possible to make a decent income with your blogging efforts. I have people ask me all the time “Can I really make money from this?” Yes. But, it takes knowledge about your topic, passion and a willingness to consistently do the work required.

You don’t have to be an A-lister to make money. I am by no means an A-list blogger. Most people in the online world don’t even know I exist. I kind of like it that way. But I can tell you this; I make a full-time income from my blogs and am thankful every day for this opportunity that I have been given.

Do you have any secrets to your blogging success? Have you bought or sold a blog? Share a little of your blogging story in the comment section below.

Here are 10 ideas for a top 10 list on your blog.

1. Top 10 Posts With The Most Comments – Look at the posts with the most comments. Were they controversial topics?
2. 10 Posts With The Least Comments – Maybe you can update these posts and they might make it to your most commented posts next year.
3. 10 Posts You Wish You had Written – Sometimes I read a post and I think, “Gee I wish I had written that post.” Make a list of those posts.
4. 10 Posts With the Most Retweets – Looking at these posts each year might give you a good idea of the type of posts your readers want to hear more about. It also may be the 10 posts on your blog with the best headlines that year.
5. 10 Ideas You Had, But Never Did Anything About – We all have ideas that we never get around to doing. Write down all your ideas and then make a list of 10 that you didn’t get around to yet. Writing them down may help you turn those ideas into reality.
6. 10 Posts That Are In Draft Mode – I currently have 121 posts in draft mode. I would be interested to see what others have in draft mode. Maybe swap lists with someone and complete each other’s posts.
7. 10 Silly Keywords Searched To Find Your Blog – Some of the keywords that people use to find my blog make no sense. Those would make a fun list.
8. 10 Pictures That Didn’t Make Your Blog – I have taken thousands of pictures when I’m working on a post and some of them are horrible. Show me your worst pictures so I won’t feel so bad about mine.
9. 10 Reasons Why You Blog – As my blog grows, my reasons for blogging change. Why do you blog?
10. 10 More Ideas for Top 10 Posts – I’m sure you can come up with another 10 ideas to add to mine. Link to it in the comments. I’m always looking for more ideas to add to my drafts.

Happy new year!

Today’s topic is simple: how to write link bait . I think the term “link bait” has a bad connotation sometimes. People often use it to refer to articles that have fantastic headlines, but that don’t deliver on content, but that’s not really an accurate way to use the phrase. It can also be used to describe posts that are overly critical and insulting, even if the author doesn’t believe it, just to get people upset.

But link bait doesn’t have to be bad. In fact, good link bait can really help your community grow – or at least give you a boost in traffic for a few days, which is great for advertising and SEO purposes.

What makes a post good link bait? Humor, list posts that are easy to scan, heart-warming stories…Let’s take a look at some awesome posts about the art of writing link bait.

Post too long? Head to the Quick Links section for just a list of the links included in this post without all the analysis and quotes!

1. ‘Tis the Season for Link Baiting by Stephan Spencer at Search Engine Land

This post is right on the money if you ask me. Using whatever is being discussed in the news is a great way to write link bait pieces, and whatever holiday it happens to be is always a current event. Hey, why do you think I’m doing a series that coincides with Christmas? It’s my way of (hopefully!) making good content even more interesting. Stephan’s post also highlights another really cool holiday series and what makes the series such great link bait. He writes,

Noomii did a lot of things right with this campaign in a limited amount of time. For one, the site was built with off-the-shelf tools (WordPress and various free plugins), which means the creators didn’t need to spend a lot of time or money getting it up and running.

The concept is simple and easy to “get” right away. Someone stumbling upon the site will instantly understand the what it’s all about without the need to read the “About” section (the button for which, incidentally, is cleverly labeled “WTF?”, for “What the Fruitcake?”).

To read more about using the holidays to write link bait pieces, check out the full post at Search Engine Land. Stephan also writes at Stephan Spencer’s Scatterings and you can check out his book, The Art of SEO, if you’re interested in search engine optimization. Stephan is on Twitter @sspencer.

2. The Doll Experiment: What Babies Can Teach You About Writing Catchier Article Titles by Aman Basanti at Age of Marketing

Although link bait isn’t only about the headline, the title of your post really does matter. I like this post from Aman because it talks about the psychology behind writing a good post, rather than just being a list of tips we’ve all read before. Aman writes about an experiment where babies were show something unexpected and their results were measured. From the post:

If people pay more attention to unexpected events then it stands to reason that by using an unexpected element in your title, you can increase the chances of the title being noticed and clicked. That is, if you want your post title to be noticed give it an unexpected title.

After checking out the post, you can pick up the free ebookMarketing To The PreHistoric Mind, which is available if you sign up for their mailing list. You can also follow Aman on Twitter @ABasanti.

3. How to Rescue a Bad Blog Headline by Stanford Smith at Pushing Social

This post is actually not about writing a great headline, but instead about writing a great opening (or lede) to your blog posts, much in the same way newspaper journalists write their openings. While we don’t always like to admit it, most of us decide whether or not we’re going to share a post before we’re even finished reading, so the link-bait-y-ness of a particular post depends a lot on your opening. Writes Stanford,

Your lede helps yours reader decide one critical question: do I keep reading or hit the back button? If you fail here, your post will never stand a chance.

You can diagnose whether your ledes suck.

In addition to blogging at Pushing Social, Stanford is also the VP of Marketing for Fluency Media. You can like Pushing Social on Facebook and find Standford on Twitter @pushingsocial.

4. Positive and Negative Link Baiting: The Risks and Rewards by Jennifer Van Iderstyne at Search Engine Watch

I think this post is a fantastic look at the different ways you can write link bait posts on your blog – and why the traffic you’ll get from a negative post may not be worth the traffic and SEO rewards. In this post, Jennifer talks about the problems of “bad” link bait, so if you’ve been considering this technique for traffic, you might want to check out what she has to say. Writes Jennifer,

There’s an old expression about catching more flies with honey than vinegar. We’d like to think that holds up on the web. But when it comes to negative link bait, it appears that some flies really dig Balsamic.

It may be less work that goes into negative link baiting and it may yield more results faster, but in the long term is it really good for you, your reputation, or your site? And positive link baiting may take longer and sometimes prove fruitless, but when you do well, you do really well.

Jennifer is the Sales & Marketing Manager for Internet Marketing Ninjas. You can find her on Twitter @Vanetcetera.

5. How to Build Links to Your Website Without Selling Your Soul to the Devil by Marcus Sheridan at The Sales Lion

Marcus and I must be on the same wave length when it comes to post topics, because this one is hot off the press at The Sales Lion. Like Jennifer noted in the last post I linked, you don’t have to be negative to write great link bait. In this post, Marcus gives some proven techniques to help you write posts that really get others to link to you. He comes from a small business background, so I really like how his post incorporates those experiences to show you what works. Writes Marcus,

When Panda came out, people that had built their links through awesome content got rewarded.

Others that had been working for years to ‘game the system’ and take link building ‘shortcuts’ shot down the rankings or even got penalized by Google.

Great content is the ultimate ‘Anti-Panda’. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Google loves delivering it to their customers, and their customer (that’d be you and me) love reading it.

And that’s where the links start to build.

After checking out his post, you can follow Marcus on Twitter @TheSalesLion, like The Sales Lion on Facebook, and add him to your Google+ circles. You can also grab a free copy of his inbound and content marketing ebook by signing up for his mailing list.

6. Link Bait -A Viral Marketing Strategy Businesses Missed by Mark Acsay III at Webby Thoughts

This is a great overview of just what link bait is and how it can help you site. Mark lists the different techniques commonly used to create link bait, the essentials you need in every link bait piece, how to market your post so it has the potential to go viral, and how to find the “linkerati.” That’s a term that cracks me up and I absolutely LOVE it! Even better, he talks about how to monitor your success with link bait posts, which is something that many bloggers forget to do! Writes Mark,

Marketing for products has advanced together with the technology. Now, marketing a single product can reach millions of people around the globe. The idea of link baiting provides an avenue for business organizations to introduce their product at a bigger market. However, the technicalities should be considered since it also has limitations and risks.

After checking out this post, you can find Mark on Twitter @markacsay and add him to your Google+ circles.

7. White-Hat SEO + Social Media = Link Bait Magic by Ben Jackson at SEO Discovery (guest post for Problogger)

I like this post because it isn’t just a how-to guide on writing link bait – it talks about how to combine your great post with promotion to get some attention. I especially love his Drop My Link tip, since that is a tool I’ve never heard of before. And, more importantly, even though he’s an SEO guy, I like that Ben’s post doesn’t talk about shady ways to get as many links as possible at whatever cost. The focus here is on quality content, quality comments, and quality relationship-building with other bloggers. Writes Ben,

SEO is becoming less and less about traditional link building, and spamming becomes a dumber idea every day. If you focus on sharing quality content, creating a great user experience, and integrating social media, you are bound to grow your traffic and increase your rankings.

This is a guest post, but you can find Ben’s main site at SEO Discovery. You can follow Ben on Twitter @SEODISCOVERYorg and like his Facebook page.

8. How To Make A Link Bait That Goes Viral by Rohan Pawale at TechLunatic

The terms “link bait” and “viral” go hand in hand, and in this post, Rohan talks about the intersection. He talks about some of the smartest tips I’ve heard in a long time! Create posts with information that people will forget (yes, really!). Map the success of other people. Use videos. The awesome advice goes on and on. If I sound like I’m gushing…it’s because I’m gushing, and y’all know that it takes a lot for me to gush. I love when I read a post where I learn brand new things about writing and marketing my content.

Writes Rohan,

It takes military level precision to execute a perfect link bait. Everything from the number of outgoing and incoming links to the preferred social media should be planned in advance. Link bait if taken means a surge of very high PR incoming links and traffic.

You can find Rohan on Twitter @techlunatic and like the TechLunatic page on Facebook.

Quick Links

For those of you short on time, here’s a list of the links covered in this post:

1. ‘Tis the Season for Link Baiting by Stephan Spencer (@sspencer)
2. The Doll Experiment: What Babies Can Teach You About Writing Catchier Article Titles by Aman Basanti (@ABasanti)
3. How to Rescue a Bad Blog Headline by Stanford Smith (@pushingsocial)
4. Positive and Negative Link Baiting: The Risks and Rewards by Jennifer Van Iderstyne (@Vanetcetera)
5. How to Build Links to Your Website Without Selling Your Soul to the Devil by Marcus Sheridan (@TheSalesLion)
6. Link Bait -A Viral Marketing Strategy Businesses Missed by Mark Acsay III (@markacsay)
7. White-Hat SEO + Social Media = Link Bait Magic by Ben Jackson (@SEODISCOVERYorg)
8. How To Make A Link Bait That Goes Viral by Rohan Pawale (@techlunatic)

Other posts in the 12 New Media Days of Christmas series will be linked here as they go live:

12 Bloggers Monetizing
11 Emailers List-Building
10 Google+ Users a-Sharing
9 Vloggers Recording
8 Links a-Baiting (this post)
7 Community Managers a-Managing
6 Publishers a-Publishing
5 Traffic Tips
4 New Media Case Studies
3 Must-Read New Media Interviews
2 Top New Media News Stories of 2011
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

You can also check out the all the posts from 2010 and 2011 here, and don’t forget: If you wrote a post in 2011 about today’s topic (Link Bait), PLEASE leave the link in a comment below to share with the community!

But just because it is important to have readers interacting with your site doesn’t mean that you can afford to focus on that end of things to the exclusion of considering the content of what your community is adding to your site.

The Extreme Version of This Problem

I’ve worked as a blogger-for-hire for quite a while. As such, I’ve often had posting privileges on sites that don’t belong to me and that I am ultimately not responsible for. In some case a client may hand me a user name and a password and tell me to write about a general topic on a regular schedule from here on out.

I try very hard to stay close to the topics that clients give me, but more than once, I’ve had clients come back to me and want to at least tweak the type of posts I’m writing. That’s fine — their blogs, their rules. But when a client comes to me six months after having me start posting, without giving me any feedback in all that time, and says that none of my posts have worked and he wants to take them all down… well, that’s a very worrying situation to be in. The only thing you can assume, then and there, is that the client in question hasn’t taken a look at their own site in months.

That can mean a lot more than someone is less than pleased with the actual content on his site. It can mean that broken images have gone unchecked, no one has responded to comments and there could be spam all over your posts from automatic commenting software.

Maintaining Your Blog is More than Creating Content

It can be a simple question of what you want readers to see when they come to your site. Do you want there to be comments that show that you don’t get rid of spam, whether or not you interact with your readers? The only way to avoid that situation is to make sure that the content of your site (posts, comments and all) is as well maintained as your design and other elements.

There are other concerns that can tie into the issue, as well: while it’s fairly rare, it’s not out of the question that a reader could add a comment to your post that infringes on a third party’s copyright. That, in turn, could put you on the hook for dealing with a copyright infringement problem. It can be something relatively easy to resolve — just deleting the comment in question can make the problem go away — but you have to be paying close enough attention to do just that.

Pay close attention to what’s happening on your blog, especially if readers or other bloggers have any access at all.

My favorite was probably #2.

Express their extreme annoyance at this work day today and hint that it deserves a much needed alcoholic beverage at the end of it. WINK WINK.

And #11.

Subtly yell at no one in particular while being very specific. “Wow, it’s hard to believe that you think you know someone and then they turn around and STAB YOU IN THE BACK. Will never make that mistake again. EVER.”

Okay … I’ll admit, I laughed at every one. And maybe I cringed at a couple of things I have done myself.

It wasn’t until later I found out just how successful the post had been (2.3 million views in 3 days, 1.5 million views yesterday alone), and I reached out to Mary Gelpi (the girl behind 25 Pills a Day) to get her perspective. People often wonder how to get their post/video/podcast to go viral. I don’t know that it’s easy to replicate. In Mary’s case she had a post that was funny, easy to identify with, but one that also ended up pretty controversial. Many of the readers took the comments and conversation to an issue of race. Mary admitted in a follow up post, “If I would have known putting ‘white girl’ in the title would cause such an upheaval, I would have left it out.”

But then it might not have gone as viral!

Tell us a little about your blog. Why did you start it, and who is your audience?
I started the blog a few months ago because after losing my health, job, and apartment, I had a lot of time on my hands. One day I was like, hmmm, maybe I’ll start a blog. It was meant to document the almost pathetic life I was living (being 27 and living with my parents seemed like a laughable yet perfect backdrop) I also really wanted to create a source of community for other people who were sick and didn’t really feel understood.

How did you come up with the topic for the 15 Things White Girls Love to do on Facebook?
It took me about 10 minutes to write that list, which I thought MAYBE 100 people would read. My friend Kaitlin and I have this “book” that we scribble our ideas in all the time. One of our chapters is called “What Kind of Facebooker Are You?” The list stemmed from that idea and I just threw in the more recent things I see everyday on Facebook.

How did you learn that the post went viral? What was your initial reaction?
I came home from my A&P Final and casually signed on to see if any of my friends/followers had said anything. At that point I had 9 followers. When I saw the numbers I thought it was a mistake. I screamed. My mom asked what the ruckus was about. I told her, we laughed, and then we watched that movie Message In a Bottle.

Why do you think that it went viral?
Good question. I think it rang true to a lot of people. And then it made some people mad. Mostly I just think people like to laugh, and that’s what it offered-an easy laugh.

What do you hope that readers learn from your blog, and about you, and is there anything you will try to do to get them to come back?
There were three goals I made when I started: Make people laugh. Create some understanding about the illness. Show people how cool I think my dog is. I guess I’ll just keep trying to do that!

I admit, it’s a little weird for a kid to be so enthralled with Rolodexes and address books, but it’s a fascination that has done well for me. I have a massive contact list — about 11,000 people last time I checked — and it’s the best asset I have for my blog.

Why Your Address Book Matters to Your Blog

We’ve all heard that we need giant mailing lists, scores of Twitter followers and generally a huge network to promote our blogs to. Our address books (and the email, snail mail and face to face connections that they represent) are just as important, if not more so. In the last day, I’ve used my address book to:

• Find a guest poster for one of my sites that I can’t cover
• Find the perfect interviewee for an ebook I want to write
• Line up coverage for the next product launch I’ll be running
• And plenty more…

Building the Modern Rolodex

As much as it breaks my heart not to get to handle physical cards, my dad’s Rolodexes have gone the way of his slide rule. There are so many better options now, that do a lot more than an eight year old with a glue stick can. You should consider exactly how you use your address book for your blog when choosing the right software.

Make sure you can tag contacts: While not ever single contact in my list is tagged, most are. That means that if I need ten fashion experts to comment on a specific question for a list post, I can just check everyone who is labeled ‘fashion’ to build my list. I can do the same if I’m offering an opportunity to past advertisers or guest posts.

Integrate social media as much as possible: Twitter is just as legitimate a way to reach out to someone these days as email or phone — and it’s often faster. If your address book doesn’t at least offer you a space for adding social media accounts, you need something a little more modern.

Let the software do the heavy lifting: There are tons of tools these days that will automatically build out your address, importing your contacts form different sites and even automatically making new contacts whenever someone emails you. While maintaining my contact list by hand may be something I enjoy, I’m confident that’s rarely true of anyone else, so why not choose a tool that handles most of the work for you?

Image Source: SXC