I've been blogging for 3 years and 4 months and have logged in 720 posts. Some of the bloggers who have been at it since 2001, like Fussy and Dooce?
GOOD GOD, y'all.
Did that sound like James Brown? It was supposed to. And if you don't know who James Brown is stop reading my blog and go to itunes via Wikipedia.
Every now and again I think what I could have done differently if I had insight into what 3 years of blogging would look like. What would I change?
1. Not blog as much the first year. That's when you're all excited and think every thought in your head will be written gold. You will regret this when year 3 looms and you realize you're not as fascinating as you think you are.
2. Upload pictures to every post. I think if James Joyce had put them in Ulysses, we all might not only have read it but understood it. And if you don't know who James Joyce is stop reading my blog and go to the library via Wikipedia.
3. Write shorter posts. No one likes to read paragraph after paragraph after paragraph. Of course this post is turning out to be just that. And with no pictures. But I claim to have won an Emmy on my sidebar so buyer beware.
4. Not make my blog name so lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng. The line is from my novel, His Dead Wife. I have no idea what I would have called it instead. Something short. Like, *.
5. Run ads sooner. I have no issues with monetizing my blog. I like money, even in small amounts. Very small amounts.
6. Get a custom header. I didn't do this until maybe a year and a half into blogging. A custom header makes readers believe that you care about your blog and its content. Of course nothing could be further from the truth.
7. Always remember who you are, right from the jump. Find your voice and stick with it. People come to expect Chocolate. Don't give them Strawberry and then Dulce de Leche and then back to Chocolate. (What the fuck am I talking about?) Film star James Dean was great at branding himself. He always played the dark and brooding outsider. And if you don't know who James Dean is go rent a movie via Wikipedia.
Sidebar: Christopher Reeve didn't want to be known as Superman. Didn't want to be branded. And look what happened there.
And now I want ice cream.
