blogging challenge

OK, folks, time to talk about blogging.

In this crazy thing we call blogging, you basically have only two or three “types” of blogs. You have personal blogs, niche blogs or making money blogs. Sometimes, the three can merge. Sometimes not so much.

I’ve been blogging, in some form or another, since like 2005. My blog is a personal one — a place where I might be serious, funny, or just have quick posts, such as a photo or a quite. I’ll dip into some niche things, but it’s all on a personal level.

This is my domain, so to speak.

In the years I’ve run this blog, I have 1,298 (including today’s) posts. In that time frame, my blog posts have also garnered 3,578 comments. That’s nearly three comments per post, if you do the basic math.

But there are many more posts on this site that don’t have comments than those that do. Sometimes, though, comments aren’t that big of a deal. I like it because it gives me reminders to visit others, or discover other new blogs. Or, it sometimes can be a fun conversation.

As you all know by now, I’m in this crazy blog challenge. It’s the second time I’ve done this month-long challenge, run by Nicky and Mike at We Work For Cheese.

I truly am glad I stumbled across it the first time. Because in that time, I’ve found some great blogs and people. See, for many bloggers, blogging is a community thing. It’s a way to read about others, know people in an online world and go from there.

When you run a niche blog or one that makes money, sometimes I think the thought process is different. I run a disc golf blog and there are times where it’s overwhelming. Trying to find things to post and all can get extremely hard, even with the group of great writers we have there. And I just don’t have the ability to answer every comment there because the stories are sometimes there to elicit opinions etc.

But a personal blog…

I love when people visit this blog. I love comments. I love all that. I try and respond to each and every comment  though sometimes it takes longer. (And, to be fair, I usually don’t comment on my Snapshot Saturday posts because it’s usually all family having fun with one another etc.) But, truthfully, this blog isn’t ever going to have a month with 20,000 page views. I’m just not that interesting.

That’s why challenges, such as the one I’m currently involved in, are important.

See, when you have a blog such as this, you hope to get people to come visit once or twice, like what you have to say and then keep coming back. In turn, I look to try and find interesting people and want to keep returning to their blog. Especially if they comment. I always try and make it a point to go visit a blog of somebody who has commented on my site.

I’ll admit I can get lax about things, but I try.

After the last challenge, I kept up with visiting blogs for a while. But then time gets in the way. I still try and check several, though. And I try and comment as much as possible.

When I’m in a blog challenge, I go out of my way to visit every blog and comment. If I haven’t commented, it means the blog was either linked late or I couldn’t leave a comment one way or another.

Or, it means it’s later (time wise) in the challenge.

See, here’s the thing about challenges like this — if you are part of it, you better put out, too. By that, I mean if you expect people to come by your blog, you need to return the favor.

These challenges are nice because you get to see different styles of writing, different ways of interpreting a theme and some really good posts. The comments can be just as fun. But there are some (not all) people who don’t seem to visit (or, if they do, they don’t comment) too many other blogs. And that’s their loss as they aren’t getting the full experience of the challenge.

For the first 10 days or so, I’ll visit everybody. I’ll comment on most, though I’ll start backing away from ones who don’t seem to visit back. Why? Because if they don’t want to be part of the challenge, why am I worrying about being active on their part of the challenge? I want a sense of camaraderie  not just me visiting a blog and commenting. I do realize that there are days people just can’t get to all the blogs. And that’s understandable. It happens. I don’t penalize people for missing a few days. This is more about people who do the challenge as a way to have things to write about, which is fine, but I think they miss the overall experience of the challenge.

This is a community. Be a part of it.

It really is a shame, too. Because I’ve been lucky enough to find some great bloggers over these two challenges. I wonder if I’ve missed a couple because I’ve gotten to the point where I just have to do it the way I feel is right.

So you better put out. Or you might not get anything back in return.

And the best part of this post? Those who don’t put out won’t even know it was posted!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!