Back, at Last

So, after an absense of about 5 months, I am back. This is just a "I am back" mail. I'll come back with regular articles soon.

Till then, enjoy the week end.

My Post Has Ranked No 1 on Google Search

The regular visitors of this blog know that I always emphasise on quality content for success of a blog. If the content is good, you'll get traffic as well as high Search Engine ranking.Today, while checking visitors of my other blog (letusgrow.blogspot.com), I found a visitor's link from Google. Tracking it back, I found that my article "Achieving Life Goals Daily Through Weekly Planning", which was posted on 7 Aug 08 has been ranked No. 1 at Google for search key words "daily planning and life goals". You can find the ranking at www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=daily+planning+and+life+goals&btnG=Search&meta...

The article and its title were never intended for Search Engines as I write for human beings, not machines. The article was an in depth description of planning process; how I plan my days and weeks for achieving life long goals and having a better, more fulfilling life. It's high ranking at Google is indeed, a great encouragement for me.

So the bottom line is "Quality Content is the King".

100 Blogging Tips – A Time for Self-Assessment – Part II

Here are the next 10 (11-20) great blogging tips and my assessment of where I stand.

11. choose your niche wisely, not too big and not too small Guilty. Both my niche (personal development and blogging) are quite big.

12. proofread Qualify. I do proof read (though I am not a good proof reader).

13. proofread one more time Guilty. I can’t proof read again. If there are still a few mistakes, let there be. My aim is to communicate ideas, not to show my (non-existent) writing skills and vocabulary.

14. interact with other bloggers Qualify. I do, though not a great deal. Perhaps I can invest more time here. But expressing myself is more important for me, so I am not going to trade my writing time for interaction. YES ….. I know. It will cost me heavily, but at present, I don’t have time for both writing and interaction. So writing first.

15. leave meaningful comments Fifty fifty. I do. Though not a great deal. Rest as for tip No 14 above.

16. leave funny comments Qualify. I enjoy leaving funny, but encouraging remarks.

17. leave the first comment Guilty. Never cared about being first.

18. get rid of the sidebar calendar Qualify. I never had any calendar.

19. participate in online forums Qualify. I do it quite regularly.

20. put a link on your signature Qualify. It is really a great tip. It costs only 5 minutes and pays heavy dividends.

100 Blogging Tips - A Time for Self Assesment (Part I)

I started my main blog LetUsGrow in Jun 08. While “learning the ropes”, I somehow became interested in “Making Money Online” and started another blog “Journal of A Money Blogger”. The goal was obvious; Make money while blogging. But soon, very soon, I realised that “blogging for money” does not resonate with me. Don’t take me wrong; I am not claiming to be a saint who does not want money. No. I like to have money, but price in terms of time and efforts that is required to be paid to earn money “honestly” (which I define as “to provide equal or more value than the money you receive”) from blogging is too much. There may be some quick fix methods, some of which I know. But I have never tested or tried any, as apparently, these do not provide sufficient value to people who are Paying the money. So I soon abandoned “Journal of A Money Blogger”. However, I was reading and learning a lot about blogging to improve my main blog “Let Us Grow”, so I thought to share my knowledge with others in this domain. This is how “All About Blogging” was born; to provide information to other bloggers, to share, to contribute. My primary blog, however, remains to be “Let Us Grow”.
Today, I am going to do a little self-analysis; to see if I have been doing the right things w.r.t blogging tips I have read over the period of time. I have a list of about 100 blogging tips to make a (new) blog successful. But in this port, I’ll discuss only 10. So here is my self-assessment.

Tip 1. if you are not, start blogging today Qualified. I am already running two (plus one abandoned) blogs.

Tip 2. write about something that you love Qualified. In Let Us Grow, I write about topics about which I am passionate. In “All About Blogging”, I write about topics in which I have interest.

Tip 3. if you are serious about blogging buy your own domain Guilty. I have not done it so far. But I am planning to have my own domain name within next 2 months. I have started the home work.

Tip 4. make sure your domain name is equal to your blog name Guilty. Yet to be done.

Tip 5. use a short and easy to remember name Qualified. I think both my blogs qualify this criteria.

Tip 6. use Wordpress Guilty. I have read a lot of recommendations for WordPress. However, starting a blog with blogger was more for convenience than a calculated choice. I am going to start a WordPress blog also. After experimenting with both formats, I will finally select one of the two and then, will implement tip No 3.

Tip 7. use Wordpress plugins ????? Since I am not using WordPress, so there are no WP plugins. However, I have other plugins, so as a technology, I am comfortable with plugins.

Tip 8. blog with consistency What is consistency? One post daily? 2 posts per month? In my case, I set the goal of having 100 posts in my first year, with at least 5 posts per month. So far, I am maintaining this (perhaps easy) target.

Tip 9. write at least 5 posts a week No. I never aimed at 5 posts per week, so I never posted 5 posts a week. For me, around 2-3 posts per week is perfectly OK. Being a full time worker, 5 “meaningful” posts per week for two blogs is a tall order.

Tip 10. backup your blog Good tip and I Qualify. I do it on weekly basis and strongly recommend every one to do so. After all, what it takes? Less than a minute and a few mouse clicks.

Thanks - My Top Entrecard Droppers For Nov 08

Each month I start the blog posting with list of top 10 entrecard droppers for the previous month. There are four main reasons:

1. It gives me a topic to write about.

2. I feel connected with people

3. I provide a link to their site, without wanting anything in return.

And most importantly

4. I start the month with a thank you post.

Those who know the power of gratitude will understand the importance of starting the month with gratitude.

Here is my list of top droppers for the month of Nov 08:

Healthy Tips For A Healthy Lifestyle
LOL Celebs!
Reveries of simplyJACY
Cash Rules Us
chikkador
kramlo
My Investing Blog
Blogosauros
The Matthias Chronicles
Riding a Buttertub Down the Stream of Consciousness

I'll request you to visit my top entrecard droppers?

Thanks every one.