Blog Envy

As I toodle around the W W W, I'm noticing how small my Follower list is. Even The Least Read Blog on the Web has surpassed me. On the face of it, that's a bit discouraging.

However, my Follower list isn't representative of who reads this blog. I know 3 people who aren't Followers but read almost daily, and at least 2 on the list may have read only the first 1 or 2 posts. They signed on to offer moral support as I got going. If they still read it, I'd say "thanks!" I'll say it anyway.

Thanks!

However, as I read up on marketing, the whole issue of Followers has led to some reflection. Why would people Follow this blog?

The most obvious answer at the moment is because they know/love me. Those two don't necessarily go together.

My first year was an experiment. I was told to blog. I blogged. I'd never read a blog before. I had no idea what blogging was. It's possible I still don't. Even my tagline showed my caution: a beginning blogger's search for meaning in the experience.

I wrote about stuff I found interesting. Mostly, I wrote about myself. I am my favorite topic. That should be quite clear. It may have been the wrong approach, but it was the avenue I took.

TT: My two other blogs follow different topics with the same approach. I do not consider myself an expert on either politics or Farmville, but I play one on the Internet.

With the advent of my second year, I hope to focus more on the journey of publication. Hence the tagline change. I hope to write more about writing, submitting, and editing. I hope to include stories of other writers doing the same things. This may draw Followers with that interest, people who don't know me personally but identify with my journey.

I handicapped myself (on purpose at the time) by choosing my brand. Ranunculus is hard to spell and turtles have nothing to do with writing. Being naturally cautious and uncertain of my resolve, I did not choose howtogetpublished.blogspot as my name, even if it would show up first on Google search. That's part of being a Type BB personality. I don't bull my way through the world, and I don't bluff in new situations (well, not much, anyway).

I should focus more on other people. The blogs with lots of Followers seem to be those that conduct interviews, write reviews and promote other people (you know, the things that don't interest me). Success in any business is about networking. Quid pro quo and all that.

I will try to follow those examples, but I'm still an Island. My Bridges end halfway across the water in a tangled mess. I could really use a publicist, except I wouldn't listen to him. I yam what I yam.

I would set a more quantifiable goal - like 2 interviews a month - but I would fail to meet it. It is my nature to rebel against my own goals. Instead, I'll meander beside my intentions, plodding forward while crossing the line and eating a few goal-killing buttercups along the way.

That's in my nature, too.