The Retrospector

I’ve been doing a lot more reading than writing the last few months. I’m inspired to write again today after seeing that one of my favorite bloggers has just published a book and released it this week. The book is actually a more formal version of his entire blog worth of thoughts, and probably more. Either way, I’m ordering a copy for myself and can’t wait to flip through it.The blog is Rands in Repose by Michael Lopp, and his new book is called Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager.

Stumbling onto Rands

About 6-8 months ago I stumbled onto a post Rands had that just cracked me up. Something about ‘What To Do When You’re Screwed‘ just made me want more, so I started to dig into the archives and see what this guy was like. I was hooked after spot-checking a few more posts about N.A.D.D. and Agenda Detection so I just decided to start at the beginning and read or skim through this guy’s entire last five years of articles.

Now, normally during any given week I’ll surf the web and come up with a bunch of great articles that I want to write about myself. Reading Rands’ archives made me want to just keep on reading to the point where I’d hear a little voice in my head saying “just go read a couple more of his posts, you can always write your stuff later…” Madness, I’ve never been quite so mesmerized by someone’s blog since I went through Joel’s a couple years back. It literally took me a few months to get through Rands’ archives, mostly because I kept reading even the stuff that wasn’t interesting just because I wanted to know more about the author and loved his style of writing. He’s got a great sense of humor and writing style, that I’ve found myself doing the same things.

Turning your blog into an opportunity

I wanted to give a little exposure for this guy because I really think the audience of this blog (yes, I still actually have quite an audience according to my logs) would enjoy his material. Secondly, I’d like to point out that this guy has really done things right by building almost a brand on his old net handle. He started a blog, let it grow over time by adding valuable thoughts (and plenty of other not-so-valuable tid-bits, but they’re pretty funny either way), then formally bound them all into a book that people can BUY (read: CHA-CHING!!!) and read. This is a perfect example of how someone can make an indirect income as a result of their blog.
Sure, there’s plenty of people out there that have published books about their related blog material…I’m sure they’re interesting too. None of them have ever made me want to do the same though. Not that I’d write a book about IT or management, but everyone has so much in life to contribute for others to learn from or laugh at…it’s a shame I haven’t tried already.

So to wrap this up, a big thanks to Rands for sharing his thoughts with the world via web and paper. (I’ll probably refer to him quite a bit going forward.) And to everyone else out there, take a peek at his site if you haven’t already. He’s definitely a worthwhile RSS subscription.

For those of you familiar with the previous site design, you’ll probably notice a significant change. The new layout contains a number of changes that are behind the scenes and may not be noticeable to most of you, but it has been quite an enlightening project for me.

Getting more technical

For the past couple of months, I’ve spent more time concentrating on hosting the site in a more maintenance-free design where I can focus on the content instead of the look and feel. The previous version of the blog was a very rough-drafted hack that was more of a rapid prototype than anything else. I used it to learn a bit more about php and blogging in general.

I’ve now applied the knowlege gained the last year toward a design that I like and know that the plans I have for the site will be easy to put in place because of the thought put into the project.

Designing for the future

This really leads into my next post that I’m working on about designing towards low maintentance, but I’ll just not discuss it more. Mostly, I’m excited about finishing up some major projects and milestones in my life and am celebrating by launching this new design at the same time.

In the meantime, please know that I’ll continue to tweak things and wrap up some of the customizations I’ve yet to complete that didn’t seem quite as important as the change-over happening now instead of later.

Ok, so now what?

Another side-effect of spending more time on the site mechanics the last couple of months is that I have just tons of topics that I’m wanting to post about. I look forward to sharing my thoughts again on a more regular basis. In the meantime, I’ll just marinate my posts for awhile until they make their way to the site.

Darren is at it again with another group writing project at Problogger. This will be my 4th participation in his group projects, and things are really getting interesting now that he’s managed to find sponsors to donate incentives for the participants. The project’s topic is ‘LISTS’. Come up with a list of some sort, be it a ‘Top 10′, ‘How To’, or a ‘My Favorite’…whatever suits your fancy.

I’m somewhat dissapointed that we can’t use previous posts in this project, as one of my most popular posts (and continues to bring over 50% of my traffic each week) is a Top 10 Ways to Motivate Geeks list. Nevertheless, I don’t see why I can’t just come up with another list on short notice. Though the first thing that really comes to mind just isn’t related to business or technology. The first thing that hit me was a Top 10 list for things I’ve learned while reading Darren’s post at Problogger.net.

Finding Problogger is actually what convinced me to give blogging a try. I never realized it was something you could gain back expenses with using the techniques Darren talks about in his fairly deep archives. So here they are, the Top 10 things I’ve learned from reading Problogger.net:

1. You can make money from blogging

Now, at first I thought this blog was dedicated only to those that really wanted to make a career at blogging. In a way, it is. Darren does a little more though. He also posts things that are helpful to the casual bloggers. When I discovered that you could just make enough money to cover the expenses of blogging (assuming you want your own domain and control of hosing) I was baffled. Just the fact that you could make money at all, let alone as a full time job was the first thing I learned at Problogger. I really didn’t think it was feasible for just anyone to do it. My first lesson was that anyone can do it…

2. Blogging is easy, but it’s a lot of work

Most sites will tell you how simple it is to get started on a blog. Their tutorials are designed to just get you to click on their affiliate links and continue on through their site where you may click on more affiliate links. This is fine, but a lot of them will just say that “well, it’s a lot of work…but you can do it!!!”. I felt that after reading Problogger, I really had a handle on how much work I would have to put into this. Darren has always been very up front with how overwhelming it can be sometimes. I’m just a part time blogger, and I enjoy it just because it’s a new experience that I’ll probably continue on for a really long time. I’ll probably never become a problogger though, just because my goals are a bit different. Even though it’s just part time, WOW is it still quite a bit of work. This is definitely the #2 thing I’ve taken away from Darren’s site.
3. Content, content and more content

Everywhere you go, to learn about blogging you simply hear “need lots of content” and “get yourself some deep archives”. I wasn’t really sure how much content was needed until spending some time on Problogger. It wasn’t just emphasized by Darren, it was reiterated over and over by commenters on many posts. I learned from the habits of highly effective bloggers group project that content was one of the top habits shown in the definitive list I created. (Which I still get a regular stream of daily readers from after Darren posted links to it shortly afterward, thanks Darren!) I’m on my way to a decent archive size, but after just 3 months of blogging I can see how content really does help a lot.

4. You need to engage with other bloggers/blogs

This may seem like a no-brainer to you all, but before visiting Problogger, I’d have never thought to read another blog. I stumbled onto this site just because I was looking for how-to tutorials on creating a blog. In the last 3 months, I’ve learned so much about so many different things just because I’ve opened the doors to the blogosphere and raced right in. Reading is great, but I find myself actively engaging with the posts that i find interesting. I especially enjoy finding things relevant to my niche that I can relate to by leaving links to my own thoughts and ideas for others to see and respond to. This side of blogging is something that I probably wouldn’t have bothered pursuing had I not stumbled onto Problogger.

5 & 6. How to utilize feeds and subscribers

I’ve combined the two items because I find them very closely related, but deserving enough of their own numbers in the list. Learning how to use feeds and make the best use of them is something I probably wouldn’t even have considered doing. I knew what RSS was before blogging, but I never realized how many people actually utilize feeds once they see something good on a site. Gaining subscribers doesn’t sound very hard, but holy cow…I was running on pure adrenaline when i saw the first few feed subscribers show up on my feedburner count! (Not to mention the 5 email subscribers I have! ) Now that I’ve learned more about what feeds are, and how subscribers really help ensure the foundation of your traffic stays consistent…it’s much easier to maintain a decent readership. (partly because I now know what drives them away, not just because I know how to gain them) Very key things I’ve learned from Darren…

7. Site layout and ad placement

Ok, at first I was like “What? Who cares where that stuff is at, nobody looks at banners anyway!”. Boy was i wrong. Adsense, banners, affiliate links, the whole works…all of these items work very differently when utilized correctly with proper layout. I’m no expert, but changing from just chucking stuff down at the bottom of the pages to placing them throughout the site in multiple arrangements has proven very useful in finding the most effective place for my site. This is one of the first topics I learned from reading Problogger, and though hundreds of other sites are explaining the same stuff…I was drawn to Darren’s style so pretty much read all his stuff first. Either way, this was a good lesson to learn.

8. Participate in carnivals and/or group writing projects

Wow, if you thought I was kissing up to now, get a load of this point! This is partially related to the engaging with other sites/bloggers, but I think it has it’s own merrit because of what it does for you as a blogger. For me, it really helped me see in more detail how other bloggers accomplished the same tasks, approached the same problems, and shared the same frustrations. I felt the sense of immediate community with many participating readers coming to my site to check what I had to say on the matter that they were likely posting about as well in the same project. Rather than a gradual community-building exercise, immediately dozens, if not hundreds of people are thrown into a common cluster where they can relate to each other and collaborate in ways you just don’t get in one-on-one environments.

9. Be yourself, have fun

One thing I really take home from reading Darren’s post is that he really knows how to be himself. He knows who he is and doesn’t present himself in a special manner to accomodate a select few. I don’t know if he realizes it, but he sounds like he’s really having fun when he’s writing. Each time a new announcement comes up, I picture him hopping in his seat grunting “ooo ooo, the whachacallit that just came out is soooo cool and useful looking” as he types his posts. I could be waaaay off, but hey…it sounds like fun. So I try to remember that this is for my enjoyment. I never stress about not having a post ready. I just do what I can when I can do it, and I enjoy it.

And last, but not least…

10. Blogging is GLOBAL

I don’t know how many times I jump to the assumption that everyone is on the same time-zone as I am. “What do you mean it’s August 15th already. How on earth could he have posted that when it’s only August 14th right now!!!” Blogging has brought the internationalization back on the radar for me. I’ve not worked for a global company for a few years now, but I’ve not had to think about others being from other parts of the world for awhile. I really enjoy this aspect of blogging that makes me realize we’re a global community with very different views on life. I really thrive on reading how people of all different backgrounds and environments communicate together on a variety of topics through the same interface.

Conclusion

So there you have it. My ‘Top 10′ list of things I’ve learned while being a Problogger.net reader for the last 3 months of my blogging career. I know it sounds like a real kiss-up thing to post about, but it’s definitely a sincere learning experience that many people from Problogger will definitely relate to if they’ve been reading Darren’s posts since they started too.

What things have you learned from reading Problogger? Was there somethign I didn’t mention that would be in your ‘Top 10′ list? Share it up!

Tags: blogging, problogger, group+writing+project, list, top+10

Time to participate in another Problogger group writing project. With this project Darren is asking everyone what they would do differently if they were to start their blog all over again today.

Since I’ve only been blogging for a couple of months, I have to admit I don’t have much to say on this subject. However, the following is my short list of things I would have probably done differently:

• Spent more time on site appeal and/or branding - I don’t think I would close my eyes and picture the same type of blog as the one I see when I look at my site. I think if I had to start over again, I would have had a much more eye-candy site to look at with custom graphics that relate to my “theme” of hindsight and/or learning from my experiences.
• I would not watch the site’s income so closely this early - I don’t know how many times I’ve refreshed all the monitoring pages to see each and every cent come in over the last couple months. Maybe it’s something I’ll continue to outgrow, since I pretty much just check a couple times a day now. Perhaps it’s just the novelty of watching the pennies roll in that are going to pay for my next year’s hosting expense. I wish I would have just focused on the content and on reading/commenting on other sites instead.
• I would not have told my wife about the site’s ability to make money - she’s got $$$ in her eyes now that she’s realized a site can make some extra money (as little as it is). I told her if she wants money she should get her own blog. I’m interested in using whatever money comes in toward a few other internet projects I’ve had in mind for awhile, not some new purse that just went on sale at the mall. I established my goals for this blog long ago (which was another Problogger group writing project), and I completely intend on sticking with them until they’re no longer applicable.

I really have to admit that there isn’t much else I think I would do different. I didn’t know much about blogging when I started, and still have tons more to learn. This is my first blog, and I have been learning as I go every step of the way as I mentioned in my effective blogging habits post (which was also a group writing project that I summarized into a top 50 list). I thank Darren for being a good role model in how to make blogging more fun and more effective.

For those of you who are also bloggers, what would you do differently if you were to start your blog all over again today? Share your thoughts with us all, I think it’s a great opportunity to learn something about yourself and your experience blogging so you can take a step back and see what you could do better the next time. A perfect example of something I like to do on this site…learn from experience and share it with others.

Tags: blogging, problogger, start+over