Let’s Make This a Better Place … Together

July 8, 2010 - Last Modified: October 6, 2010 by Julius

Most of the people starting a new blog these days think that blogging is simply about creating and promoting content. Then, according to the theory, readers will naturally follow and thus you will start to make money.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you start a blog and stick to the strategy mentioned then you are not going to get very far.

Let me tell you about my story!

My Story

I have been blogging for around two years now. At the beginning I was just in for the money. I had read on so many blogs that you could make money so easily through blogs that I thought I could do it too. I also thought I could simply create and promote content and everything would go from there, but it didn’t.

I have made $100 through my blog in around one and a half years. My blog really didn’t get any traffic at all when I started out. For almost one year I averaged below 10 visitors per day even though I spent so much time working on my blog.

Then came the moment when I realized that blogging the real reason why I was so unsuccessful: Blogging isn’t about making money. It’s about helping other people. It’s about connecting with people. It’s called being social.

It’s Not an Ego Trip

Blogging is not about staying to yourself. It’s about genuinely connecting to others. It’s not an ego trip. So let’s not make it one.

I believe that we, as bloggers, can create a great community. I mean there are so many people living and blogging all around the world why should we not try and accomplish something together?

Of course you can try to do it on your own but what good is it? Doing everything on your own without connecting to people is not going to help you get far in life.

I believe that what Hesham has created here at Famous Bloggers is a great community, a great place to start off. Why not try to take it to the next level?

EuroVision Song Contest

I recently watched the EuroVision song contest. I actually didn’t want to watch it personally because I thought it was stupid. It wasn’t until an hour into the show that I realized I wanted to do something similar that these people have done. The moment that changed me completely was the part of the EuroVision song contest I included below.

After I watched the show I felt united with all the people in Europe. After seeing all these people dancing together to the same song, people from different ethnic groups, with different backgrounds, different interests, I thought that we could achieve the same thing on our blog. You make a difference on this blog.

How Do We Start?

Well a community lives from people giving without asking in return. That’s one of the most important principals, not only in blogging, but also in life.

Of course it’s hard to always keep that up but even trying to do so will make you that much more successful than any other person.

How You Can Make a Difference

There are lots of things you can do. Contributing to FamousBloggers would be one way of doing it. You can write guest posts if you feel like it. That way you will support FB so that he doesn’t have to spend as much time doing it. But you can also stick to other things.

For example whenever you notice a spelling mistake, or something that looks odd simply contact us. We would love to get feedback whether it’s negative or positive. These are small things but they make a difference.

Commenting

To comment on this and other blogs is also a great way to support our community. Simply say what you think. If you have found a thing or two that you think could be corrected on that blog then be sure to mention it, most blog owners are happy to get some feedback.

Especially with this contest I believe that it’s that much more important to simply give. Even though it’s a contest that doesn’t mean that you should solely focus on your own good. Try to help other people when you can, even if it might be only by commenting or retweeting their posts.

Care for other people and they will care for you. It truly takes courage to give without asking for something back in return, yet that’s all what it’s about. Let’s make Famous Bloggers more special than it already is.

By the end of the EuroVision Song Contest I truly felt like there was no winner. Everyone had won. Let’s make that come true about this blog and this contest.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
-Albert Einstein

What do you think? Do you think we can make this happen?

This post is part of our amazing Blogging Contest, plz add a comment and tweet it to support the author.

About Julius

Follow @friendsandcooks

Hi, I am Julius Kuhn-Regnier. I have been blogging for more than a year and a half now over at And Break! My blog is about helping other bloggers to achieve what they want. Also be sure to check out my guide about speeding up Wordpress.

{ 86 Responses }

Stephanie Graham says:

Forgive me for doing this publicly as I didnt really know how to get in contact with you but in reading your post, which was great BTW I noticed a spelling error. You said thing and I believe you meant to say "think" Stephanie "To comment on this and other blogs is also a great way to support our community. Simply say what you think. If you have found a thing or two that you* thinK* could be corrected on that blog then be sure to mention it, most blog owners are happy to get some feedback."
- Hesham says:
  
  Thanks Stephanie , typo fixed.. you always can use the contact us page, link on the very top, or send a DM on twitter ;)
Kimi says:

I absolutely agree with you, especially #1. That blogging is not about money only, but also help the other people. I just think about it myself, when i visit a website and "pushing" me to buy this and that, i would immediately close my browser. I guess i apply that experience to my blog. Thanks for the post ;)
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Kimi. Blogging is really not about making money. I believe that money can simply be a side effect of it. That's why some people make a lot of money while others don't make money at all. If you love blogging then you will come further with your blog than if you were simply blogging to make money. Thank you for your great comment.
tonyknuckles says:

You are so correct on all levels of this post. I also got into the "blogging game" for the initial reasons you've stated. And having for years of skin in the arena have come to write more towards building community. Great article..
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thanks Tony. I believe that after a while you simply start to see that that's not really the reason why you started blogging after all. I mean there are so many people trying to make money through their blog, it's simply overwhelming. Helping each other out and building a community is much more beneficial than to simply be in it for the money. If you can build up a big community then money might be a nice side effect of it and not the other way around.
Stephanie Smith says:

I blog about gardening, and occasionally dogs and photography. I do it to be able to transmit my knowledge to new people and to make connections with other interesting people. While I would like to make money with my blog, that would be a nice extra. My primary interest is sharing my knowledge and building relationships. So I agree with your post, but also agree with the comments that building links is a way of building community. Good Luck in the contest.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thanks Stephanie. It's all about priorities and if you get them wrong then you might not succeed in blogging. Making money should be a nice extra but not your main goal in blogging. It's much more about connecting with other people which in the end is much more satisfying anyway. I think that Hesham has created a great place for bloggers here and that we should build upon it. Don't you agree Stephanie?
  - Stephanie Smith says:
    
    Hesham has made a nice place for bloggers to learn, meet, and cooperate. I am very glad I found Famous Bloggers and this contest.
Nabeel says:

I absolutely agree there. You see it's called the 'web' for a reason. Everything is and should be connected to each other. You are right about supporting through guest posting and commenting. It makes a huge difference. You get a great community, just like we have here at FamousBloggers! Kindest, Nabeel
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Nabeel. I think that it's important to support these kind of communities because Hesham for example is busy enough already. I mean a community gives you a lot and people should be just as kind to return the favor. The best communities are those which are made up of people who are simply willing to give.
Chadrack says:

Well put indeed. Blogging is about building a community. The world is indeed appreciating the need to join hands to build a better world today. Like a proverb in my area goes, "When the right hand washes the left hand and the left washes the right, both becomes clean!" Cooperation is the game. I've recently realized this and I'm truly seeking ways of reaching out to others in the blogosphere. We can really make this a better place.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Chadrack. I like the proverb you mentioned and I believe it's very true. The problem is simply that too few people take the first step in helping other people. Like I said you can't expect other people to give you something if you wouldn't do it yourself. I hope we can make this a better place. By the way Hesham has recently started a Famous Blogger Club section where people from within the community can interact with each other. If you want to I can try to get you into there.
Julius Santos says:

Well eloquently put. I have been creating blogs for a couple of years now, but have only been blogging last year. I have 3 blogs and if my primary aim was to make money, I would've given up those 3 blogs in a heartbeat. No, that's not the reason behind the dedication I give to my blogs. I do it simply because I love doing so. I found a way to express myself and put into words what I feel through those blogs. Where could you find a stranger suddenly communicating with you out of nowhere, acting as if you've been friends since you were kids? Only through blogging, have I experienced that... and it's priceless.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Julius. I couldn't agree more with you. I think that if you start a blog simply to make money then you could also give up right away. I think that successful blogs are created through passion, like you have mentioned you blog because you simply love doing so. And yes blogs are about expressing yourself and also sharing your thoughts with others. I truly love the last point you mention here. I agree there is no other place where you can find strangers talking to you as if you had been friends for a long time. And that's exactly what makes blogging so interesting.
Charles says:

I blog not to make money (not right now anyways), I blog because I talk a lot. I've been told this quite often since i was young. I also like knowing what other people think about any particular subject and compare it to my opinions. I want to understand why people think the opposite of what i think on any topic, I want to learn and understand these topics more. There are times when my opinions may not be based on the complete truth or facts and blogging allows me to learn more when people share their opinions and findings to back up these opinions. To me blogging is a way to express yourself to the world and see what the world has to say. As oppose to watching a news channel where I get "their facts" but I don't get to discuss these "facts" with them and I don't usually get to find out what others think of these "facts". I want to learn and also to teach. I want to help and be helped. They say education is the key to success, what better way to educate and be educated than talking with the rest of the world and finding out what people truly believe rather than reading about some poll that bases the opinion of millions of people on the answers of 1000 people they called and asked a few questions. I can't deny the idea of having a second income is very tempting and to be honest I had not truly considered it till I began doing research on how to create and start my own blog. Finding my way to sites like Famous Bloggers, Comment Luv and ProBlogger have introduced me to the concept of making money while blogging. For now, I just want to get my site started and seen. I'll worry about the money making part a little later.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  I love your comment. I think it's a great example of how blogging can be very helpful for people. I mean I have been learning so much through blogging. And had I never started blogging I would have never known about these things. And yes blogs are a great way to discuss for example newspaper articles to see what other people are thinking. It's a great way to get to know the opinion of other people meanwhile educating yourself. Making money through a blog is very tempting yet I try to make money through other websites so that I can talk about my experiences on my blog. You know? Thanks for this great comment Charles.
  - Charles says:
    
    No problem. I enjoy blogging, I like the debates although sometimes it can get heated but this can be fun too sometimes. Just need to be careful what one says. No real need to be insulting but still be honest. Blogging is my new hobby and hopefully my new source of income someday.
    - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
      
      I agree with you. I think you should be honest and sometimes you should also criticize another person. But, as you've said, you shouldn't insult other people. If you are truly passionate about blogging, and you seem like you are, then this will definitely become a source of income someday. Thanks for the reply Charles ;)
element321 says:

Julius, I agree about blogging and not being able to do it alone. When I first started blogging, I did it mostly alone. That blog didn't last very long. But my current blogs are doing great. I had a lot of help from different bloggers. Hesham has been a big part of helping figure out the direction I want to go for my blogging and social media. He has done a great job with FB and just speaking with him about this contest, he spends a lot time on promating the site and the writer of FB.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Yeah that's the same experience I made. I mean it's only half a year ago that I truly started to engage with other people. And that has been the most rewarding experience. And yes Hesham has been a big help. Not only has he, and also Andy, organized a great contest but he is also trying to give every blogger the same chances. I mean, e.g. he wouldn't post contest articles on the weekend because usually traffic is lower. Had I organized a contest I wouldn't even have thought about this. Thanks for the great comment James.
Latief says:

Yes blogging is not about your self if you want to engage with your readers and build a community around your blog, but what you give for your readers or community. You mentioned about FamousBlogger, yes that is a good example. FYI, I'm here with Hesham from the beginning because we believe blogging is about giving something useful for the community and help people to better blog and work together to get success online whatever our goal is. Thanks Julius for this awesome article and brilliant idea ;)
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Latief. Blogging truly is about giving. Giving information, helping other people and that's what I feel that is very much true about this blog. It's not like the standard type of blog, it's different as it has a great community. And I believe we can build up on that.
AIDY says:

Inspiring. It is really hard and I think most of us experience the the very same at the beginning. Content is key, which is what I am learning. But connecting, caring and helping others...this is what we are here for.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Yes! Connecting and caring for others is all that matters in life. I mean what good is it to be rich? It never truly satisfies you. As I've mentioned earlier in a comment: The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships. - Anthony Robbins Thank you for the comment Aidy. Btw. I love your blog.
Kevin M. says:

"Care for other people and they will care for you. It truly takes courage to give without asking for something back in return, yet that’s all what it’s about." Great thought! I love that!
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Kevin. I am glad you enjoyed the article. What do you think about creating a blogging community around this blog? I mean there already is a community but to build upon it. By the way are you participating in the contest? It's a great way to get to know other bloggers and connect to them.
  - MaggieMae says:
    
    Well, I agree with your post. You need to care about your readers. But you also need to care about other bloggers. I started a blogging network community so people can easily show their creations or their thoughts. I think bloggers need to help eachothers out and meet more. I sometimes feel like I can't compete with the big boys (Read: pro bloggers), so I let the other kids (read: starting bloggers) play on my site. I just started out so maybe you guys can meet up there?
    - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
      
      Thanks Maggie. Yes you need to care about your readers as well as other bloggers. Both are very important. I visited your blog is that where you are creating your blogging network community? Or where are you starting such a community? I believe that FamousBloggers is a great blogging community that just could be taken to the next level. Don't you agree?
Colleen says:

Way to speak from your heart Julius. Your mentioning you made $100 the first year and a half, and the 10 visitors per day should be said more often. Too many times folks communicate that making money blogging is somewhat easy. It's not.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Colleen. I agree it should be mentioned more often that making money and creating a successful blog is extremely hard. Still I think that people simply want a "get rich quick" scheme. They fall for it every time because it means that without having to work hard you are going to be able to make lots of money. But that's not the case. I mean I also would like to make money through the Internet yet I know that it takes time - time to develop your skills and to establish yourself.
  - Colleen says:
    
    For what it is worth, we are into our second major business. The first we were in for 20 years. Our first business we simply paid the bills for the first 15 years, but the last 5 years we tripled what we made in the first 15 years. Sticking with something you love will pay off eventually.
    - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
      
      I couldn't agree more Colleen. That's all it boils down to. You simply need to stick with something that you love and it will eventually pay off. I'd like to believe that my efforts pay off too someday. Will see if they do but still if they aren't I will have still gained a whole lot of experience which makes blogging worth it anyway. You are into real estate Colleen, aren't you? Is that the business you love and have sticked with throughout the years?
Mars Dorian says:

Community building is awesome. You should create always content that is valuable to your community, and be that light that inspires them. But if you focus too much on the majority on your community, you may loose your edge. So I make sure that I write for one imagined true fan, and be the ultra-fireball I can be.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Yes Mars you are right. You truly need to be that "light that inspires them". I believe you become that way by being passionate about the topic you are talking about. You are one of the best examples and I truly mean it that way :) Whenever I read a post of you I can simply feel the passion you have for the topic. It's great and you should keep it up. I mean you already have such a big readership. Thanks for the comment Mars. Glad you stopped by ;)
Gera says:

Blogging alone without visiting other bloggers, commenting and voting, isn’t blogging. I still find bloggers that have zero idea about the social networking required to vibe with the blog community. Contests are good places to start. Hope entering in next ones. If you blog exclusively for money and no matter other bloggers, it'll be difficult to succeed. Btw good related video :) Cheers, Gera
- Hesham says:
  
  Hello my dear friend Gera! lol I have seen you organizing contests as well, pretty awesome to see it going on different niches! oh! and by the way.. the chance still valid for a rocking post for the contest.. think about it!
  - Gera says:
    
    No, I'm not organizing contests, just some giveaways only. I must think out of my "food box" to a more "social box" in my mind, to polish up more my English and I'll be ready. I'm shifting gradually my blog from exclusively foodie posts to a mix with blogging-social media-tech ones.
    - Hesham says:
      
      Ah ok, giveaways are great! maybe consider moving to self hosted platform?! Good luck Gera, I will be always glad to help if I can!
      - Gera says:
        
        I don't have a change of platform in my mind by the moment, but I know that WP is superior. Thanks and I'm opened to help too :)
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  I am glad you like the video Gera. I thought it just suited the topic I talked about. I believe that there are many bloggers who don't get that blogging is about networking, about connecting to people. I mean take me for example I have been blogging for over a year and a half without pretty much connecting to other bloggers. And I didn't get very far. By the way Gera if you still want to enter the contest you can still do so. In one of the last posts Hesham extended the submission date for another week. Be sure to participate, it has been a great experience for me.
Tia says:

I agree with Kristi that it's already happening and with Ashok that there isn't really a point in blogging unless it's to connect. The nice thing about what you were originally talking about is that you CAN make money with a blog, also, if you work hard at both connecting and delivering solid content. I love the contest and the whole idea of it. I think it has come together mostly because of the people running it, honestly (FamousBloggers, GrowMap & ComLuv). There are a lot of contests going on all the time but none as far reaching as this one and with quite so many good entries.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  I completely agree with you Tia. And as I've said to Kristi I just hope that the commenting and the interesting conversations don't stop when the contest is over. You know what I mean? And yes you can make money with a blog but not if making money is your priority. I think your priority should be delivering unique content and especially connecting to other people. I also love the contest and I think the contest has made FB and ComLuv that much more like a community. There are comments everywhere and people are genuinely trying to help other people out. And yes it couldn't have been done without the people running the blogs. Thanks Tia.
Kristi Hines says:

I think it is already happening - I have seen most of the contestants commenting and tweeting other entries as well as their own. And hopefully, after the contest, many of them will see how popular posts on FB are and maybe start to contribute to this site regularly!
- Hesham says:
  
  Hey Kristi, by the way... both things are already happening! and this is awesome.. FB is still getting articles from several bloggers as normal guest posts out of the contests, the thing is I am asking to give some room (priority) to contests posts, then we will be able to publish the other posts occasionally, this usually happen when I publish 2 posts a day trying to make it up for our guest bloggers! I really don't want their posts to be in the dark for too long!
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  I agree Kristi. I am not saying that it hasn't happened at all. But the more other people help each other out the more this will become a community. You know what I mean? As I've said in the post you have to give because you want to. Not because you think that you are going to get something out of it. I mean I feel great because so many people are contributing and commenting and making this blog that much more alive. I just hope that when the contest is over that it will stay at the same level. Thanks Kristi.
Thomas says:

I love the whole concept of blogs. I find if you are willing to look for it there is soooo much free valuable information out there. I have to admit I also love reading comments...there are so many opinions out there! In the "real world" or on the blogging the way to make the world a better place begins with you!
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  I love this sentence: "In the “real world” or on the blogging the way to make the world a better place begins with you!" I couldn't agree more. And yes there is lots of information out there and there are so many interesting conversations going on that you could simply get carried away every single day in the Internet. I think that a blog is also great for people to share their issues or problems in life. I mean you can basically blog about anything you want to blog about. I believe the most important aspect of a blog is the passion of the blogger. If you can feel the passion of the blogger everywhere then it's truly a great blog.
Lucifer says:

All together Blogging is about sharing and if you love to share then you will definitely make money in long run and if you don't then also you will be happy because your blog is the place where you can write whatever you feel :D best of luck for the contest ;)
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you Lucifer. I agree with you completely. Yes, blogging is not only for the people who love to share. There are people who are happy being able to express themselves and that's great too. Ultimately I believe that caring for other people is the most important thing in life: The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships. -Anthony Robbins
Jodi says:

Excellent thoughts! There are far too many bloggers out there who are so busy getting advertising for the site and new leads..that they forget that sharing information is what drives blogging. What's the point of blogging if sharing your experience isn't your first priority?
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Thank you for sharing your thoughts Jodi. I agree with you but I think you need to do more than just sharing information. You need to share information and try to genuinely conntect to other people at the same time. As I've mentioned in the post you also need to learn to give. You cannot ask for something from other people that you wouldn't do for other people yourself.
Aaron says:

Julius, it's all about sharing our personal experiences. If people find it fascinating, then great.. If not, it gives us a place to share our feelings and vent if nothing else :)
- ashok says:
  
  I'll definitely agree that "personality" is an enormous component of blogging. But I don't know that one has to accept 0 traffic... in fact, I'd say fighting for traffic is part and parcel of blogging.
  - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
    
    I am not sure whether you need to fight for traffic. I believe that once you establish yourself within a community then traffic will rise itself. I mean I am not blogging to get more traffic, at least that's not my primary goal. Don't you think it's much more fulfilling to connect to other people and to help them out?
    - ashok says:
      
      I agree, sort of. A lot of times connecting and helping does depend on giving people exposure. In 3 years of blogging, I haven't been able to give the many photographers and bands I've encountered enough exposure. Traffic is only one measure of exposure, but an important one.
      - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
        
        Hmm, interesting point. And yes traffic is one measure of exposure. Still I wouldn't measure a blog solely based on its traffic. There are certain things that are much more important than traffic, don't you agree? I just think that traffic is probably the one metric that is the easiest to measure.
- Hesham says:
  
  This is a great point Aaron! Our feelings!! mmm... I can not stand a blog that has no feelings, I aim to share my feelings in so many blog posts I write! I mean we are humans.. and we need to be ourselves! I really like this post from Julius because it's natural.. and has feeling!, I have enjoyed the sons more than once as well!
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Great point here Aaron. I think that you need passion when you are blogging. I mean you can always feel how a person such as Ghandi had passion for what he did. I believe that it's the same about blogging. If you aren't passionate about the topic you are blogging about then stop doing it.
ashok says:

Re: community in blogging. I always thought one could find a bigger audience by using one's posts to promote others. In fact, I don't see why a blog can't be just a giant list of links with a few blurbs (i.e. the right-wing blogger Instapundit pretty much does only that). I would definitely encourage bloggers - esp. if they're feeling like they're working too hard to produce content - to make every other post nothing but links to other bloggers or interesting material online. If you promote others, someone will definitely be grateful.
- Hesham says:
  
  mmm... but where is your original production in this case?!! Blogging is not a bout linking to other sources or promoting others, you must have something for real to give! experience.. feelings.. etc! and then from time to time you can give link luv and promote others! Right?!
  - ashok says:
    
    I don't know about that: a quick glance at Pajamas Media's "Instapundit" (I think his traffic is at 250,000 a day) might prove instructive on this score: http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/
    - Hesham says:
      
      But what's the point of this site?! where's the blog?! comments? community?! where is the people! What I see is punch of non making sense unrelated links! I prefer to create a social bookmarking site for the purpose of this, and we have done thing at the MMO Social Network! at least it show some activity/life!
      - ashok says:
        
        I just checked his traffic again. It isn't 250,000 a day. It's actually closer to 400,000 per day. I'm not saying every blogger should do as he does. But he's caught onto something about how the web works.
        
        Hesham says:
        
        I got your point, and I actually did this ones before and I was having a very strong blog where I link only to other content, but then I removed that blog completely from the history of blogging because it was a boring website lol! But I got your idea, and probably you are right, and maybe this is how the web works, but at the end I will not be proud of telling the work that this is my blog, thanks a lot Ashok, nice conversation!
  - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
    
    I agree with Hesham here. Content is extremely important especially if you want to create a community and engage other bloggers. I think you can always see the quality of a blog by the comments it gets.
    - ashok says:
      
      I disagree: "always see the quality of a blog by the comments it gets?" That not only disqualifies blogs that discuss more erudite matters, but also encourages a certain type of content. Linking to other bloggers is an art that's tricky to make use of, but worth learning. There was a time I guest posted regularly for a blog that didn't take off - it didn't take off because its owner would change his permalink structure regularly without caring (he changed layouts all the time, that's how this happened). But for a time, this blog, as bad as it was, got the attention of at least one rather prominent blog and a host of other smaller blogs because I built links and blurbs to other bloggers everyday. Why don't I do that on my blog now? Because I'm focusing on content to an unheard of degree: even when I link to other things, I'm packing the blurbs with as much as I can. But if I ran another blog that was more concerned with discussion, it would be links, links, links.
      - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
        
        With the quote I meant that a blog can indeed be measured by it's comments. Not solely by the number of comments but also by the length of them, how engaged its readers are. I am not saying that linking to other blogs is bad. You could certainly create a blog that simply links to lots of other blogs while creating interesting content. But as you've said I think it's rather hard to become successful doing that. If you have perfected this method then that's great but usually blogs with lots of links in posts look rather spammy don't you think?
        
        ashok says:
        
        I think more blogs are successful linking out than through content. I think the blogs in the "blogging about blogging" niche tend to look spammy when they're linkheavy, but they also look spammy when adheavy and when they're bringing up those awful forms telling me to give my e-mail when I arrive on a site. Thanks for the conversation. I think the best way for me to demonstrate the truth my argument is for me to start another blog that's pretty much just a linklist. That was a plan a while ago, and I still have another domain name I can use - I'll let you know when I get around to it. Right now, all efforts are focused on the current blog, which is linking out much more.
      - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
        
        I truly like your blog Ashok. And I do understand your point of view. As I've said if you do it right such linking blogs can be much more effective. I just believe that it's a lot harder to find the right balance on such blogs. I love the conversation here. And yes I agree blogs with all these sign up forms and full of ads are awful. Still there are also a lot of good ones where the blog owners have managed to balance it right. If you decide to start such a link blog then be sure to tell me about it. You can always find me here at FB ;) Thanks for the great conversation.
- Tia says:
  
  I would actually prefer not to see bloggers just linking for the heck of it. I have only ever created 3 list posts like that - one on chick bloggers, one on food blogs, on one on good blogs to follow. I try not to do it too often because I'm so careful about who I am promoting. If I do it too often, I'm thinking that I will probably end up doing it half-heartedly. I care about my readers to be very choosy about the blogs I put on their radar. Does that make sense? But it seems to be a huge, growing trend and I'm always thankful when bloggers do that. A few people do it really well - Gera from Sweetsfoods, Kristi from Kikolani and Kiesha from WeBlogBetter do a great job.
  - ashok says:
    
    You link out quite a bit, and very well. I'm pushing the "heck of it" line to a degree (obviously I'm very, very choosy what I link to - probably the choosiest person on many sites) because there are a lot of bloggers who aren't seeing anywhere near enough of the web. I don't know that it's a new trend. I actually think the older, more established blogs were more on a "link to everything" tangent and that blogging as writing emerged later. In some ways, Twitter is a throwback. I remember blogging back in 2003 and reading livejournals from the late 90's. People were not writing like they do now, the idea of blogging competing with more established media wasn't on the table yet.
    - Tia says:
      
      Thanks! And by the way, Julius, kudos to you for sparking such interesting conversation!
      - ashok says:
        
        Quick clarification, my memory is getting faulty: it couldn't have been late 90's, since both diaryland and LJ, which I was on in 2003 (Fall, I was blogging up a storm that semester), only started in 1999. The event that I think catapulted blogging into competing openly with all sorts of media was the Bush National Guard memo thing. That a blogger figured out the whole story was fake really brought into play a repurposing of blogs.
      - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
        
        Glad to Tia. I am suprised how engaged everyone is. I just came home now and had 37 new emails in my account :) Thank you for keeping that conversation going.
  - Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
    
    I think linking to other blogs is okay as long as you have mentioned don't do it too often. I am usually doing the Tuesday round up here at FB and most people mentioned it okay but not really personal or thoughtful. That's why I changed it a bit around and told about why I link to every site etc. That's what I think you have to do too when you create articles like these.
- Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
  
  Ashok thank you for the comment. I agree linking to other bloggers is a great way to get attention and also to connect with fellow bloggers. I always want to include links from other blogs (I have made an excel sheet with lots of great posts of other blogs) but once I publish a post I am under such pressure that I forget to link to other people. Another way to get to know other people is by being active in a community. I believe that FamousBloggers already is a community and Hesham is doing a great job to keep that up.
  - Colleen says:
    
    Yes Julius, real estate most of the years, building homes before that! :)

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