The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Archives for December 2009

Three Tips For Gaining New Readers & Driving Traffic To Your Blog

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Here are three tips that you can use to make an immediate impact upon your blog and gain new readers.

  1. Write lists that provide tips/strategies for gaining new readers/traffic to your blog.
  2. Write a best of list, preferably in a category. For example Best News Blog, Best Mommy blog etc.
  3. Run giveaways- As in give stuff away for free.

 A couple of quick comments.

I am very cynical about best of lists. Too tired to explain all the reasons why or debate about what metrics should be used to determine who/what really is the best.

But what I can tell you is that they can be a very effective way of making an immediate impact upon traffic to your blog. Here is what you do:

  1. Create a catchy title for your list or award and a cool blog badge to go with it.
  2. Email bloggers to let them know that they are on the list and request that they help publicize it.

As long as your list isn’t titled “Biggest Douchebags of the Blogosphere” or “Most likely to be arrested for Pedophilia” you will find that many bloggers are happy to write a post about the award/list and then provide a link back to you.

In fact some bloggers are so eager for good press they will dress up the list/award. No one wants to publicize being part of something average.

The bigger trick is to turn that bump in traffic into something more meaningful and significant, new readers. That is the rub, how do you retain the new readers. An occasional bump is nice. A lot of my political posts have been linked to by Yahoo! but very few of those readers stick around for any real length in time.

Don’t get me wrong, I am appreciative of those links, but they aren’t enough on their own to keep people coming back. It takes something more.

A quick comment about review blogs. I take issue with bloggers who don’t really blog. They spend a couple of bucks on a nice template and write nice letters of introduction to PR agencies in which they sing praises of their blog and the mighty purchasing power of the men/women that frequent them.

My issue is that quite a number of them don’t write much of anything. They stick 300 words about diapers, breastfeeding or being a stay at home dad in between posts about contests. That is not a blog. That is a front for trying to get free crap for your family.

You can do reviews, contests and giveaways and be authentic. There are plenty who do. It is the others that irk me. I have done reviews in the past and will do them again in the future, but I like authentic blogs. And lately it feels like I keep stumbling upon fewer of the authentic variety.

But then again I am the first person to say that there is no right way to blog or tweet. However there are a lot of wrong ways.

Anyhoo, lunch time is over so it is back to work. One more tip before you go, Take a look at 51 Blogging and Online Marketing Tips for the New Year. There are some solid pieces of advice contained in that.

Don’t Worry About What You Can’t Control

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Scotch NightAbout 38 minutes ago I heard my grandfather calling my name. In theory that sounds innocuous, grandpa was a night owl and so am I. But the thing is, he is gone. Grandpa passed away, he died, he left this place 3.5 years ago.

And yet I heard him calling my name. It came from somewhere in the dark recesses of the house or perhaps my mind. I suppose that he heard me talking about him last night. Last night I smoked a cigar. I smoked a cigar and drank some scotch.

I smoke a cigar, drank some scotch and talked about women.

I smoked a cigar, drank some scotch and talked about women while sitting outside. It was on the balcony of my friend’s condo. He is single, my friend. Never been married, childless and happy about both conditions.

We sat outside and caught up on life. As we talked he handed me the cigar and a lighter.I said no thanks and he suggested that I reconsider. So I smelled that cigar and it took me back decades. I smelled grandpa and for the first time in 11 years I smoked a cigar.

Out there on the patio I smoked a cigar and thought about grandpa, drank some scotch and talked about women. And then we got serious and talked about life. The old man is going to turn 40 in a short time. He and my son share the same birthday.

The old man looked at me and asked the same question that so many of us have been asking. We’re 40 years old and what do we have to show for it. He is an attorney with his own practice and I am a father. And while I admit to having struggled this year with a variety of things, I do have my children. Among all other things I have very happy, well adjusted children.

And that is priceless.

But still we trudged through the mud and the muck of the roads not taken and the missed opportunities. We talked about things that could have been and what should have been. We toasted each other and agreed that 2010- The Year of Jack will be better because we are taking control.

It was a fine evening.

And now it is a bit after 1 A.M. and I am wide awake. Wide awake and at the computer wondering about how I am going to keep making it all happen. The house requires my attention. A number of issues have crept up as they do for all homeowners and decisions must be made.

I am a man. I am handy. And at times I combine the two and become the handy man. I like working with my hands, but some tasks are better left to professionals. They can do it better and faster than I can. So I look at these projects and try to figure out is it worth my time and if not, can I afford to hire someone to do it. And if I can’t, can I afford to let it sit for a while.

And as I sit here thinking about these things my mind starts to race and I think that I have to begin figuring out what the kids will do for summer camp. I have to figure out whether I can keep them at their private school for another year. I have to figure out how to do 1,298,893 things and they all cost money. And while my brain is processing all that I have to figure out what I am going to do if there is some sort of emergency, how will I pay for that.

Maybe I imagined it, but I heard my grandfather tell me not to worry about what I can’t control. I heard him clear his throat, felt his blue eyes staring out at me. The room is dark, but I stared out into the darkness anyway. Could he be there, somehow.

Nah, it doesn’t make sense. I don’t believe in ghosts but if I had to be haunted by one than grandpa is a good choice.

I am probably just over tired and a bit stressed out. Maybe that is all it was or is, I don’t know.

Last night I smoke a cigar, drank some scotch and talked about women.

Be A Better Blogger- My Favorite Piece of Advice

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Have I mentioned that you need to prepare for 2010- The Year of Jack? Just in case I haven’t let repeat myself and tell you that in a few weeks you can celebrate 2010- The Year of Jack. That isn’t authentic frontier gibberish but it is authentic.

And that my friends is my favorite piece of advice for bloggers, be authentic. Write in your own voice and tell stories the way that you would normally tell them. Blogging is a different sort of animal. It doesn’t have the same sort of rules and restrictions that we we were taught in school. Be yourself and write as you would speak and you will find that people are attracted to you because you are real, you are authentic.

Take a chance and share a piece of yourself with your readers. Step out from behind the curtain and tell an embarrassing story or two. Share your favorite recipe, talk about what you love, what you hate, what makes you laugh and what makes you cry.

Reveal and release.

It is not always easy to do. But it feels good.

Authenticity is part of what creates great content. Authenticity is part of what helps you bond with your readers and that my friends is important. Blogging is about building relationships and interacting with others. Blogging is about telling stories, receiving feedback and then responding to that feedback.

Tell your tales. Share your stories. Reveal and Release. It sounds goofy, like some kind of screwy new age mantra, but it works.

Try it.

Songs That You Have To Sing Along With

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It is no secret that I love music. Every couple of weeks I write another post in which I refer to song lyrics or list the last dozen songs that graced my stereo. Music is passion. Music is feeling. Music is emotion. Music touches you in places that are hard to reach. Music is a snapshot in time. Turn on certain songs and the memory parade makes an immediate appearance.

It is a universal experience. One of the most popular posts I have written is: What Are Your Favorite Song Lyrics? Not a day goes by in which it doesn’t receive traffic. Music has that kind of power and influence. To me it is not a surprise that there are some songs that you just have to sing along with.

Initially when I was writing this post I thought that I would share five or six songs with you and that these would represent the songs that I have to sing along with. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I cannot limit it to so few. There are too many good songs that catch my ear and hold me.

Instead I am going to try and come up with a slightly different angle. Here is an incomplete list of songs that are virtually guaranteed to make an appearance at campfires, parties and random gathering of people.

Hmm… I wonder if this is going to date me.

Your Song– Elton John
Rocket Man– Elton John
You Have Got a Friend– James Taylor or Carole King
Great Balls of Fire– Jerry Lee Lewis (If there is a piano this is a gimme)
Pinball Wizard– The Who
Cat’s In the Cradle– Harry Chapin
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling– The Righteous Brothers (Thanks Top Gun for killing this tune)
The End– The Doors (Obviously this is an end of the night, slightly inebriated tune)
Brown Eyed Girl– Van Morrison
Wonderful Tonight– Clapton (How many times have you seen some guy try to sing this to his date. It can be painful to watch.)
Piano Man– Billy Joel
Forever Young– Alphaville (I included this because of one of my little sisters. How many times did she and her friends cry listening to this song. Oy.)
In My Life– The Beatles
Down On The Corner– CCR
Bridge Over Troubled Water– Simon and Garfunkel
Do Wah Diddy– Manfred Mann
Thank God I am A Country Boy– John Denver
Annie’s Song– John Denver
Hotel California– The Eagles
My Way– Frank Sinatra
American Pie– Don Mclean

As I said this is incomplete. What am I missing?