What I learned during Broadcasting Brain Year One
One year ago I decided to switch to a self-hosted blog with its own URL. Although it started with the somewhat unwieldy name of The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog, the blog that became Broadcasting Brain received its first post when the Earth was roughly in this position in space 365 days ago.
So here we are over 300 posts later. That’s a lot of words. And interaction. And learning.
Image by Crystl
For your consideration, I’d like to share some thoughts on things that I’ve learned during the past year:
- Blogging can be very hard work, especially if you try to avoid the echo chambers. It can take a long, long time to reach your goals, so both self-motivation and pacing are important. It’s OK to slow down and take a break at times; sometimes that’s the most healthy thing to do. EDIT: don’t underestimate the need for stamina (re: How to be Creative by Hugh MacLeod, which I covered here).
- It’s better to have goals and a vision of where you want to go instead of flailing aimlessly. Venturing into new territory can be tough, especially without a map.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an important tool that a blogger can use, in conjunction with networking and high quality content, to develop their blog and that’s perfectly fine. The folks at Search Engine People are one group that knows a lot about this.
- You’ve got to try different things, and learn from them, while blogging. Learn, learn, learn but also practice, practice, practice. Experiment, reflect, recalibrate, retest.
- Use abstraction sparingly – people seem to like concrete value, stories, case studies.
- StumbleUpon is like crack for blog traffic; it’s easy to get hooked and it feels like withdrawal when it goes away!
- Show me the money, don’t just spout theory and position yourself as an expert. This is one reason why I don’t blog about social media so much these days – I’m not a professional, I don’t have the experience of working with clients in this field.
- Set big goals (I’m at 4x my original subscriber goals for my first year, so I’m definitely aiming higher for next year!)
- Great things can happen anywhere, even in a small town in Canada.
- It’s all about people: their wants and needs.
Thanks to you for being here and I hope this wonderful relationship continues between us, dear reader.
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Roberto @ psychbits.com:
I do agree that to have a blog, you need to have a goal. Posting articles aimlessly will not cut it, unless that is your goal, lol.
I also agree that is hard work. When I started mine, I had no idea how labor intensive thing are when you are starting.
Another tips is that blogs grow when you work them. You ignore you blog and people will forget about your blog too.
In part is due to the learning curve. With time thing should get easier.
Very good article. I look forward to the follow up article:” “What I learned during Broadcasting Brain Year TWO”
11 December 2008, 7:58 amMark Dykeman:
Thanks for stopping by!
11 December 2008, 8:07 amrobdiana:
Mark, congratulations and happy birthday to the blog! I had no idea that we started at the same time, and seem to be taking the same path. Good luck to you in 2009!
11 December 2008, 8:42 amMark Dykeman:
Thanks man!
11 December 2008, 8:44 amBarry Welford:
Congratulations and happy birthday. Broadcasting Brain is a most feed-worthy effort. I can't wait to see how this has evolved by the time you get to be two.
11 December 2008, 9:04 amMark Dykeman:
Many thanks Barry!
11 December 2008, 10:42 amSterling Camden:
Happy Blogiversary, Mark!
11 December 2008, 2:13 pmMark Dykeman:
Thanks!
11 December 2008, 2:33 pmGemStar38:
Congratulations on one year of hard work and success Mark!
11 December 2008, 3:32 pmMark Dykeman:
And thank you!
11 December 2008, 3:49 pmMarelisa:
Happy birthday “Broadcasting Brain”! And I completely agree that you have to be continuously recalibrating and tweaking, measuring what works and what doesn't.
11 December 2008, 3:58 pmMark Dykeman:
Thank you for stopping by!
11 December 2008, 5:31 pmnicefishfilms:
Mark,
Kudos to you and Happy Birthday to Broadcasting Brain. I enjoy reading about your entire experience, from loving XTC (the band) to wrestling with tech. We need more great music, community and insightful creative ponderings in our world.
11 December 2008, 5:43 pmMark Dykeman:
Gracias (that's the only Spanish word I feel comfortable saying)
11 December 2008, 5:58 pmChristopher Ming Ryan:
Mark: You are right about trying different things. Spur of the moment, I decided to take a picture of the Rockefeller Xmas Tree in NYC and put it on my blog and wrote a heartfelt post about Optimism. It had some real appeal and got totally surprised me.
Also, Show me the money. Very good. I want to hear about what YOU do and how you bring excellence to it every day. Sure, we all want to be a commentator (it's much easier) but where I can bring some value is by throwing my work into the mix every now and then. Not in a advertisement way but in a sharing way.
@chrismingryan
11 December 2008, 6:09 pmMark Dykeman:
I'll have to check out your post about Optimism!
11 December 2008, 6:12 pmDoreenatDMS:
Thanks, Mark — for the post and for your blog. Being relatively new blogger (under a year), I've found you to be a source of inspiration, esp. –a great resource, and also twitter-worthy
… I wish you all the best for the coming years.
11 December 2008, 7:03 pmMark Dykeman:
Hey Doreen, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it!
11 December 2008, 7:05 pm