Hello from (mostly) sunny Central Texas, where we appear to have broken the back of summer while still maintaining perfectly reasonable temperatures.
I got an email from a Blogburst member recently that took me a bit by surprise. The blogger indicated that he felt like his blog had been ignored by Blogburst and that we had forgotten all about him. When I pulled the blog up I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, in fact, it was a very well regarded blog with a commendable amount of publisher interest. It generated one of those “huh? Are you serious?” kinds of moments until I realized something.
You really have no idea how things are going in Blogburst if you don’t log in every once in a while to check your reporting.
Not to be hideously self-referential, but our Blogger Resource Center does have information on checking out your reports. This alone will let you know what kind of publisher love you’re getting. Be sure to change the timescales on the right-hand side of the report to get the bigger picture - the “last 7 days” is the default setting but it isn’t the whole enchilada.
The other side of this coin is, well, “what if I’m not getting the publisher attention I used to get?” Yes, this does happen, but mainly it has to do with the news cycle, and your particular blogging topic area. It should be fairly predictable that the finance bloggers are having a field day right about now, as are the political bloggers. If you have a blog about (and I’m making this up, I don’t have anyone in mind) the wonderfulness of high-end SUVs, it is entirely possible that there is a decreased level of interest right now.
Keep in mind that the mainstream media in particular has a track record of focusing on one thing at a time, and you’ll see that they tend to switch to (and cycle through) topics based on the topical strength (or staleness) of a topic area. Chances are, you’ll get your turn in spades - and go through periods of decreased interest as well. Don’t let that change your commitment to topic areas that you find interesting though.
Finally, the best advice I can give regarding keeping publisher interest is this: blog regularly. The editors here really do know who they can count on when the publishers get hungry for a topic, and if you are a reliable source of information, you’ll be at the top of the heap when the news cycle casts its gaze into your area of expertise.
Good to know! Thanks.
I’m glad to read this too. I check in every morning as a routine, but am not sure how good ‘good publisher love’ is?
Ahhh…nobody like me right now, but it is still a thrill to check my report and see that every once in a while, I get picked up. Even if it’s small potaters. Thanks, Dock!
I check my workbench every morning. I’ve had five posts republished since I joined in September. I try to make sure every post is well-written, no matter if it’s a funny or serious article.
This was nice to read. I check my workbench daily and over the past month, although I never assume that anything I write will be gobbled up by a publisher, there were a couple of pieces I was sure would get published . . . and didn’t.
Nevertheless, the blogs will keep coming and sooner or later, so will the publishers. Thanks Dock!