A Sea of Blogs by Ginger Simpson

http://govietnamvisa.com/

Do you have any idea how many people blog these days?  If you aren't promoting your blog and garnering followers, you might as well be talking to an empty room.

I'm not a blog snob, but it's a waste of time to post on one that no one will see or share.  I like to know how many hits per day a person has, if they have regular followers, and if the blog is shared via a blog feed.  I'm surprised how many people don't do anything other than post on a whim.  

Most blogs have share buttons at the bottom, and if you have FB, Google and Twitter accounts, sharing on those three venues takes about twenty-five seconds, if that long.  If you're the blog owner, add them, use them, and encourage others to do the same.

I started Dishin' It Out in 2007 and most of the wonderful people who'd been receiving my monthly newsletter, confirmed their membership to receive my blog via email.  Thanks to adding Rita Karnopp as my blog partner, we get well over 200 hits per day.  She's a guru when it comes to writing and a very prolific one.  After all, how many people do you know who want to click a url and see the same thing day after day?

 We've been fortunate enough to attract the attention of over 200 followers, and our blog feed is shared via Triberr, on my Amazon "author's" page and other places that allow feeds to be posted At the present time, over 400 people have subscribed to our blog via feedburner.  Setting up the blog there was quick, easy, and well worth the time spent. 

When I started blogging, I never expected to have so many entertaining guests or a partner who posts some of the most interesting and teaching posts.  I'm very fortunate.  And guess what...it's easy to grow your audience if you only try.   When guests are here, they also share the url of their posts with friends, who might share with their friends.  Hopefully, they promote on their FB and Google pages and tweet about their posts.  Even if the effort garners the attention of one or two people, the key is that having guests to help you promote your blog is key. You have to get the word out and having people who help is awesome.

Although  I've devoted most of this post to Dishin' It Out, I'm also the proud owner of Cowboy Kisses, which I decided to share and was lucky to gain a myriad of talented Western authors who each took an assigned day per month to blog.  That site is growing in popularity because I've also got a feed set up, share buttons in place, and the site  is well promoted because of the number of gals who post there.  Each has her own following and is well versed in the importance of promoting.  Check it out, you might see something you like there.  I'll bet you will.  *smile*

Back to this blog...Rita and I compliment each other.  While most of her posts are writing related, I, on the other hand, add variety with humor and weekly features such as my Wednesday "A Page Straight From...." That idea has been an overwhelming success and booked months in advance.  I believe people like variety, and we provide that here. 

Oh,  we're still accepting guests, so if you're interested in appearing on "Dishin' It Out for a Wednesday slot or to promote a new release, simply email me at mizging @ gmail dot com, without the spaces and spelling, of course.  Rita and I follow a schedule, so we do have days open for guest bloggers.

Thanks for taking time to visit today, and I hope I've given some of you inspiration to be a better blogger...at least a more informed one.