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photo: marklarson

As a blogger, sometimes you might wonder which way you’re heading as you spend hours blogging and  losing sleep while increasing your intake of caffeine.

If someone who doesn’t understand this “blogging madness” sees you at it, you’ll probably be told to get a life!

When you started out with a new blog, you’re usually filled with great enthusiasm and expectation…but then, as you plod along, you realize that maybe it isn’t all that enjoyable anymore because you are confronted by unforeseen ‘roadblocks’ along the way.

For example, when you don’t see your blog being ‘ordained’ at least a Google PR3 or PR4, are you gonna sing the PageRank blues?

How many of us do experience this kind of angst somewhere down the line?

It’s the same feeling we get when we’re dealing with other projects like your job, hobby or business venture.

For each person, there are always reasons, either to push on or call it a day. Where do you stand in the Ups and Downs of your career?

Are you a winner?

According to bestselling author Seth Godin in his book, “The Dip,” winners are the ones with the ability to escape dead ends quickly. They are focused and motivated. They usually bounce back.

To them, a Dip is just a temporary setback. They’ll push on until they break the barrier and go on to better things.

Are you a loser?

The Dip need not be permanent, but to a loser it’s a Cul-de-Sac which will never get better no matter how hard he or she tries. There’s no escape. It’s the moment of truth for the loser. Quitting is the final solution.

Godin had written two other interesting, thought-provoking business books - “Purple Cow” and “Small Is The New Big.”

“The Dip” should make you sit down for a while to ponder whether you’re in for the long haul no matter what comes in between or you’re gonna throw in the towel in the face of adversity.

*Markk*

Tags: book, losers, Seth Godin, The Dip, winners

photo: karebear60657

Everything has got to have balance, just like Ying and Yang. Writing posts, I guess, is no exception.

Being prolific as a blogger is fine. But what you write can say a lot about you. Yes, your content input has got to measure up to the theme or philosophy of your blog. Mashing up is not a very good idea if you get my drift.

The writing part is important, too. Avoid convoluted sentences, keep it snappy, concise and straight to the point. Inject a bit of wittism, make them grin a bit. Maintain a conversational style.

Your topics can be diverse but still follow a set pattern of the theme or philosophy. That’s how to maintain focus without going off tangent.

Some may not agree but if you want a captured audience you have to sort of “toe the line” and deliver the bacon.

For example, take RSS feed subscriptions. Do bloggers continue to subscribe faithfully or do they unsubscribe from blog RSS feeds after a while?

And why? Well, it has been written elsewhere, based on the bloggers’ experiences with RSS feeds, that for various reasons some people stay on or drop out of their subscriptions.

The top reason why most subscribers quit is because of too many posts coming from RSS feeds. And surprisingly, as opposed to the main reason, people also turn off the RSS because there are too few posts.

So, what do you do? There’s no easy answer. The safest bet is for a blogger to…well, strike a balance. Give it a thought and dream about it!

Tags: balance, RSS feeds, Writing, Writing Content, ying and yang