jemmille.com has been up and running for a while now and the ride – luckily – has been pleasant and without too many roadblocks. I have decided to start an weekly (bi-weekly?) series of posts that will outline the lessons I have learned along the perilous path of the blogging.

Here we go (in no particular order):

Find a niche – When I started my site my topics were not constrained by any subject rules. As the site started to mature a natural evolution began to take place. Comments started to come in and this made it much easier to see what my readers were actually paying attention to. Based on this information I was able to whittle down my subject matter and focus more on posting things people actually wanted to read.

Make connections – There are millions of bloggers in the world and you can, and should, listen to the ones you like. Leave comments, send a friendly e-mail, even ask for advice. The blogging community is full of nice people that are willing to help if you just ask.

Stats, at least in the beginning, don’t mean squat – In the first few weeks of blogging I believe you shoud focus more on making lasting connections and posting quality material than how many people are visiting your site. Readership will grow organically if you: read other blogs; leave quality comments on other blogs; join blogging communities; have quality content.

Advertisments can turn people off - If you are just starting a new site, I recommend not putting up ads right away. Let your readers focus on your content, not the flashing ads plastered all over the page. Once your readership has grown to a relatively stable level, slowly introduce ads into your site. Be patient, most of the good advertising companies won’t let you in until your somewhat established anyway.

Trust your new connections – I get a few e-mails a week from other, usually more established bloggers, about some portion of my site both negative and positive. I have found that by taking their advice as constructive criticism instead of a hit to your ego or ability, your site can become a better place for all. A few bloggers in particular have helped me along the way. Special thanks to Ilker from thethinkingblog.com

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the lessons I have learned. If I put them all up now I wouldn’t have anything to write about next week on the subject as well as the fact that I have not even scratched the surface when in comes to learning all there is to know about blogging. I have made many mistakes along the way and I hope these tips help you avoid some of the things that have realized the hard way.

Filed under: Blogging, Lessons Learned