Aussie Bloggers

From time to time I get asked how I manage multiple blogs. “I have trouble keeping up with one blog, how DO you do it?” is a common question. I will admit that I am currently in a phase of life where I do have more time than some to devote to blogging. There are however a few things I put in place that help me to keep multiple blogs under control (at least some of the time ).

Be Clear WHY You Are Starting a New Blog

Two blogs are NOT twice the fun of one blog if your only reason for starting a new blog is the fact that you love blogging.

In fact, multiple blogs can suck they fun right out of blogging if you’re not careful.

Usually the “why” has to do with a new niche. Consider whether this is likely to be a “passing phase” before you go out and get all enthusiastic about starting a new blog.

Have a Clear Understanding of What Each Blog Is About

I started blogging with a personal blog and no idea what a niche blog even was. The beauty of personal blogs is that you can write on anything and everything. This was fine until I found that I was wanting to post multiple posts a day. Instead of subjecting my readers to a constant barrage of posts, I decided to start niche blogs in particular areas I was passionate about and give my readers a choice as to whether they wanted to read regular posts from me on these topics.

Each of my individual blogs has it’s own purpose and subject matter. I try not to overlap these blog topics too much.

I guess you could say that having multiple blogs is my way of organising my content. If I want to post about my garden, I’ll do so on my gardening blog. If I want to post something relevant to blogging, I’ll post it on my blog about blogging. If it doesn’t fit anywhere else, chances are it’s a perfect candidate for my personal blog.

Start One New Blog at a Time

The formation stages of a new blog are very exciting. Everything is fresh and new and you just want to spend lots of time with your new baby. This baby stage is also the stage that demands the most on your time.

Starting several new blogs at once is likely to leave you feeling overwhelmed and under appreciated. Instead, make sure you only have one blog in the “baby” stage at any one time.

This also gives you time to adjust to an extra blog and get a feel for whether you can keep up with the extra workload before even considering adding another one.

You Don’t Have to Post Every Day

I post to my personal blog pretty much every day (with the exception of Sundays which I consider “optional” when it comes to posting). Changing to a commitment of posting every day worked really well for my blogging and I believe has made a difference to my traffic levels as well as helping me keep a flow of post ideas coming.

BUT.

I don’t post to all of my blogs EVERY day. In fact, my other 3 blogs get posted on 2-4 times a week.

So most week’s I’m averaging around 13-15 posts. That might sound like a lot to some of you but daily posting to 4 blogs would take me up to 28 posts a week which is a LOT more than 13-15.

Have a Clear Idea of Your Priorities

One of the dangers of multiple blogs is that nothing ever gets done properly and you run the risk of all of the blogs falling in a heap.

To try and avoid this trap, I have a clear order of priority in my own mind in terms of my blogs.

Lightening Online (my personal blog) always takes first priority.

Lightening’s Blogworld takes second priority.

My other two blogs are much smaller and I post to them as I feel the urge (although I do try to maintain a 2 post minimum most weeks).

I do it this way so that no matter what happens, my main blog doesn’t suffer as a result of my addiction to blog collecting.

Conclusion

Having multiple blogs CAN be a lot of fun and is one way of ensuring you don’t overload your readers with too many posts. It is also a good way of organising your interests into more specific niche topics. That can be good for both search engine optimisation AND attracting readers with a common interest in what you’re blogging about.

If you’re a blogging addict like me, it can also be a fun way to experiment with different blogging platforms and/or various themes and layouts.

There are many reasons why multiple blogs can be the way to go for some bloggers.

That doesn’t mean they’re the way to go for ALL bloggers.

What about you? Do you write multiple blogs or are you in the “one blog is more than enough for me” camp? Do you have any handy hints for others on ways to cope with juggling multiple blogs?

The Aussie Bloggers Blog and Forums were officially launched on the 21st of January 2008. Monday marked our six month birthday, and we thought we would like to give you a present.

Our moderators and administrators were given a short story, and asked to fill in the blanks. The results have been combined into The Lazy Bloggers Blog Post Generator.

I have seen it said around the web that a blogger should never write a blog post that apologises for not blogging – no matter how long it has been, no matter what happened to get in the way of blogging, you should return as if you never left. And now you don’t have to write the post – you can let the blog post generator do it for you. All you have to do is use the drop down boxes to choose the text you want, then click on the create your blog post button. Just like this -

Holy Snapping Duck Do! I just had a terrible scare when I thought I have not updated this since Hammertime was in the charts… You would not believe how hard it is being waited on hand and foot and generally lounging around. I prostrate myself in sorrow and beg thy forgiveness..

I am absolutely consumed with setting fire to people wearing Crocs watching Dexter just generally being a biatch to my local police, my day is a magical flight from the first cockadoodledoo from the rooster to 11pm at which point I fall asleep on the couch. I am putting money aside so I can run away. I need a nap.

I absolutely, positively promise to update at least once a week. Honestly! Don’t hold your breath though, you’re likely to turn blue..

So, let us know if you have any problems with using it, we have tested it across a large range of browsers but this is the first time it has been available to all and sundry.

I’ll be back later today with another post which gives you some new options for blog badges, and also with links to posts people wrote about us, so make sure to check in later – for now feel free to let your blog readers know about the generator. Enjoy!

(Update - We seem to be having an issue with Internet Explorer browsers and the generator. We are trying to fix this issue, but while we do that, maybe you’d like to download another browser? Perhaps Firefox, Opera, or Flock? Because just quietly and in my opinion, Internet Explorer sucks. No other browser requires so much effort on the part of web designers to make things work with it. Including this blog, which actually has two sidebars, but can you see two? Not if you’re using IE, you can’t.)

(Update on the Update – we think the internet explorer problem is solved. But I still think you should get a different browser. I’m just sayin’.. )

Trust (noun)

1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
2. the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed: a position of trust.

Source:Dictionary.com

Recently I wrote a post on my own blog about my daughter, Daisy as she is known on my blog, and the ongoing effects of problems my daughter had with her Kindergarten teacher (for NSW, the first year of school). Three years down the track Daisy still has issues with confidence and self esteem, among others.

The comments that people made about that post were heart-warming, encouraging and supportive, as well as some that said that they personally had similar issues either for their kids or themselves.

One of the comments was from Anonymous. But this person chose to leave an email address in the required field that is linked to their blog. So, I know who it is. And the comment was one that tore at my heart strings because this person had suffered a similar thing at school, and now as an adult is still coming to terms with it.

I am blown away that this person that I hardly know in the blogging world has placed that much trust in me. Trust that I will not ever betray.

Much has been written recently in the blogosphere about how much we do or don’t reveal about ourselves while we blog, so how do we as readers decide who we can trust? And how do our readers decide that they can trust us, especially when its a blogger that we haven’t become familiar with. Thank you Anonymous for placing your trust in me.

For me, trust has to be earnt and is not something to be taken lightly. Maybe I said something in that post that Anonymous felt comfortable enough to leaving details that I would recognise.

Have you had someone leave an anonymous comment on your blog but with other details that mean that they can be recognised??? How do you feel about the trust that they have placed in you? Have you ever thought about trust and blogging? I guess I hadn’t really until I saw that comment.

Apologies to Douglas Adams.*

But it’s true! Every time I visit the Aussie Bloggers Forum I shake my head at all the people who twitter and stumble and friendfeed and plurk.

How do you find the time?!

I struggle just to keep up with my reader list – admittedly it is lengthy – and blog – which I try to do every day – or rather feel compelled to do every day.

To spend time following twitters and plurks and whatever else seems impossible!

I gather it results in more traffic to your blog. Does it? How much more traffic?

Does the time you spend twittering/plurking etc take time away from blogging or does it inspire you?

I’m a simple soul. I blog. I comment on other blogs. I work. I say hi to my kids on the way to the computer nook. I sleep.

For me, the joys of twitterhood and plurking are heights to which I can only imagine.

In a perfect life.

You know the one, where actual life doesn’t get in the way.

Yes I can feel my bum slipping…

What?

Oh I see. That’s middle aged spread is it?

*Zaphod: “Hand me the Rap Rod, Plate Captain!”
Waiter: “I’m sorry sir?”
Zaphod: “The phone, waiter, the phone. Gee, you guys are so unhip it’s a wonder your bums don’t fall off.”
Waiter: “Our whats, sir?”

A question posed by a new blogger in the Aussie Bloggers Forum inspired me to write this post. What is the best way to find blogs that cover a particular topic or niche? You may wish to do this for various reasons: to read for learning and leisure, for study and research, for business purposes or to connect with others that share your interest areas.

Static websites may satisfy your needs but there is a wealth of valuable knowledge and information to be found in blogs sites. How can find your way through the maze to those that are relevant?

Search engine searches can be useful, especially if you provide specific enough or advanced search criteria, but this is not always satisfactory. The results may be littered with advertising sites, forum posts with no replies or highly rated sites and blogs that mention the topic you are searching for but do not specialize in it.

A more targeted way is to use specific blog search engines such as Google Blog Search or set up Google Alerts to email you when your specific search words or terms come up in its results.

Specific blog search sites – Examples:

• Icerocket
• BlogScope a University of Toronto project that displays results based on popularity curves, identification of information bursts, related terms, and geographical search.
• Blogdigger
• Twingly which is a newly launched site, currently concentrating on indexing European blogs and aiming at spam free search. (We can only hope it succeeds)

Search for RSS feeds using directories on feed sites. Example: Bloglines where results also show the number of Bloglines subscribers next to each feed.

Social bookmarking sites such as reddit or del.icio.us

Some blog/web directory sites have higher quality listings and variety. Examples:

• Eaton Web where blogs are ordered according to “perceived strength, momentum and overall quality” using a range of criteria.
• Blog Search Engine which aims to focus on high quality blogs.
• BlogFlux which has a big range of categories.
• Blog Hop
• Technorati which indexes blogs and ranks them by the number of incoming links they receive.

Social Networking Sites that have good directories, helpful search functions and ways to connect with other bloggers:

• BlogCatalog
• StumbleUpon
• MyBlogLog – not the best for search but good for networking.
• Ning which is a blog platform as well as a networking site has groups that cover a wide range of topics.

I must mention my own favorite site here which combines bookmarking, web annotations, directory listings, search functions and social networking – diigo. You can join communities based on favorite sites, interest areas and link sharing. Because you are able to clearly specify your interest areas, I have found that any links sent to me by group or individual contacts have been good value.

For some of the more popular niches there are specific networking sites and listings. Art, Photography, Crafts and Parenting spring to mind here.

One of the most effective ways is by personally recommended links. Once you come across a few blogs you respect, you will no doubt also find useful links in their blog posts as well as in their blogrolls. Participating in a blogs comments will lead you to other bloggers who share your interests. Joining active forums which cover topics you wish to follow can bring you resources too.

This naturally leads me to thanking those who participated in an Aussie Bloggers forum thread and shared their own knowledge on this topic:

Kathie Thomas author of Virtual Assistant – The Blog about our industry

Evan of Wholistic Health

fern who is Not Nigella

Gaida and her Lifestyle Discoveries

Mei who teaches us about Smart Online Shopping

Of course if you are looking for Aussie Blogging sites then you are in the right place already