Blogging

A question of quality or quantity?

qualityvsquantity

I haven’t ever really committed to a “schedule” for publishing my blog. I am not sure I will. However, I am looking to do more with it this year than I have in the past. That being said, the ultimate question comes down to – quality or quantity?

When it comes to growing your blog, which is better? I am sure that quality matters, but does it really matter when it comes to growing your blog?

I have seen other bloggers who say just getting out there and publishing something is better than nothing. Yes, I understand that. I have also seen other bloggers say that putting out something that others want to read is important. Yes, I understand that. So where do the amount of what you publish and the quality of what you publish meet? Is there an intersection of balance or is that a fantasy (especially for someone with a family and a job)?

Perhaps I just think too much about this and go into too much detail by trying to support what I write with facts and details. Perhaps I care to much about what I write and want to make sure it is accurate. Perhaps I should care less, but not be careless.

Does having a schedule really work?

Does having a singular topic or focus area help?

Any insight or advice from the veteran bloggers out there? I know there are lots of places I can probably go to read about this, but I don’t want to comb through pages and pages of info because in the end it is all just opinions anyway, right? So, what do you think?

1st Blogiversary in the Blogosphere

Happy anniversary to me!! Not really one that is a big deal, but still kind of cool nonetheless.

Yesterday was my ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY!!

I started this blog last year because I felt like I had things to say and maybe someone would listen. Admittedly, some of what I have to say is more interesting than other, but thanks for reading anyway.

I don’t have a lot of visitors every day, but I do manage to show up on people’s search results so every day I get a few people looking at what I have to say. Some days are better than others. But it amazes me that people stop by and read what I write.

Over the next year I hope to write more because I have more things to say, interesting or not. I am generating ideas all the time and making notes. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to write since I am totally overwhelmed by the new class I am teaching this year. However, keep your eyes out for more and then let me know what you think.

So for now, I think I’ll enjoy a beer tonight and celebrate one year of writing about stuff I care about. CHEERS!

Milestone – 50

This post is a bit of a milestone for me. This is my 50th blog post! I know in the grand scheme of things it probably doesn’t matter that much and I am not the prolific blogger like some. I tend to write about stuff I probably care too much about and I probably care too much about how I write. I want it to be worth reading.

That being said, it has been less than a year of blogging and for some reason people are reading me. Not a lot, mind you, but that is OK. I am writing because I enjoy it and because I think (I may be wrong most of the time) I have something to say about stuff that matters to me (and hopefully you too).

So, I looked back over my last 49 posts and checked to see what people were reading and not reading. Admittedly, there are some posts that have not been great but there are also some that I think people should have been reading and didn’t. The following lists are the posts that lots of people looked at and those that people haven’t yet.

Least Read, but Most Readable

Most Read, but OK to Read Again

Thanks for stopping in, taking a look around, and then for deciding to click on the “Follow” button. I appreciate it! Click around some more, leave a comment, like it, share it, or don’t. Either way, THANK YOU. There will be more to check out in the future as I continue to explore this mode of communication (and as time allows).

Let’s Review…

It is the end of the school year and things around here are pretty busy.

Graduation is only three days away and I am busy wrapping up the year (and high school careers) with seniors that I have seen nearly every day (save summer, of course) for two years. This time of year is hard, but I’ll endure. Then there are all the end of year things to be done and paperwork to fill out and classroom to clean and plans to be made for lesson planning over the summer. The list never ends.

So, in review, I don’t have much time to put something new out. BUT, there are some posts in the archive that might be worth your reading since you may not have been around when they were written. Take a look at these earlier post in my blogging life:

Eject “God Bless America” from Baseball

Pet Perturbed

Enjoy!

Writer’s Block

By Alejandro Escamilla

Every day that goes by, I watch more and more posts being published by the blogs that I follow or that come across the feed on “Freshly Pressed.” Every day I wish I was putting something new out there too. It isn’t that I don’t have any ideas, that’s not the kind of writer’s block I am talking about. I am talking about the writer’s block that keeps me from actually being able to sit down and WRITE. You know, things like a job (in my case two), kids and family, house and yard, sleep, commute time, time to unwind from all those other things…the list seems endless.

One of the difficulties I have found about blogging is that the things I like to write about and the way I like to write take time. I like to talk about “real things” and not just put stuff out there because it will generate a few clicks here and there. I want stuff of substance! But, what I am finding is that in order to do that I like to have blocks of time to be able to focus on it. I like to include research or references to support what I am saying (is that the teacher in me or just good practice?). I like to write with the flow at the moment, not just in bits and pieces since the cohesiveness in thought tends to be lost somewhere along the way. I keep ideas in my “queue”, if you will, but then when I go back to them I am not sure what my thoughts were at the time or feel like I have lost the intention of the idea.

Am I taking this blogging thing too seriously? Do I care too much about what I write and how I write it?

How do other’s handle this sort of writer’s block and still feel like they are producing something worth reading? How have YOU addressed this issue?

Not Global Domination, Yet!

A diagonal cross-section of the globe!

This week I didn’t post a new blog. I have been really busy and sitting down to put my thoughts or opinions down for others to read just didn’t seem like an effective use of time. I enjoy writing and to some degree it is freeing to put yourself out there for others to know what is going on in your head. However, it can also become a distraction and one I can’t afford to spend much time in over that last few weeks.

However, one thing that has fascinated me is that there are still people looking at my blog despite the fact that I haven’t put anything new out there for those who “follow” me. So far this week I didn’t get many “visits,” only ten, and there were only fourteen “views.” Yet I am still being found. How can this be? Who is it and where are they?

That is where the STATS button has caught my attention. When I click on it I am given a running view of the stats my blog is collecting. A picture of traffic, if you will. Ultimately (at least at this point) I am not overly concerned whether or not I am generating traffic at my blog because I am not being paid to write. Maybe some day that will be an option! For now, I just find looking at this stuff to be interesting.

There are some boxes on that screen that keep me clicking to see where and what people are looking at on my blog. The cool thing is that you can tell how people are finding your blog, whether it be through WordPress, linked social media accounts like Facebook, or through web searches. The web searches seem to be where the looks have come from lately. WordPress says that Goggle has blocked the specific terms used by the searcher so all you get is info stating a search was done via their service. However, I have seen search terms from Bing and from Yahoo and I have to say that people are finding my blog through the search terms they use. I wish there was a way to see how long they actually spent on my blog rather than just what they clicked on. Who knows if they actually took time to read or just clicked to find out that it wasn’t something they were looking for. Either way, image searches and search terms to generate looks.

What was recently looked at via search engines?

My home page

Don’t Be So Bossy

An Unfortunate Metaphor

The really cool thing is the photo that I showed you at the top. I can see where in the world the people who are looking at my blog come from! This really makes me curious. Why would someone in Iraq or Malaysia be looking at my blog? What did they find and what did they think when they read it? India? WOW! United Arab Emirates? How cool is that? This particular window into the blog stats will always fascinate me. A very literal diagonal cross-section of the globe has stopped to take a look a what I write. Little ol’ me!

Isn’t that exciting? OK, maybe not for you and, really, not for me. But, it is interesting to say the least. Did I already say that multiple times? See, I DO find it interesting!

So, thanks for stopping in and taking a look. I hope you found something that was worth reading and, at the very least, thinking about. Now, let’s see if I can get the rest of the world to fill in their country’s identifier on the map above. Only 179 more to go!!

Understanding, Optional

It May Never Make Sense