Mistakes You do When You Blog

Assuming you want to increase your blog traffic, there are certain mistakes you must avoid to be successful. If you commit these mistakes, your traffic will never gain momentum. Worse, it may begin to decrease.

How do I know? I have made most of the mistakes you can make—numerous times. As a result, I have begun to see certain patterns emerge. These are my top ten traffic-killers.

• Mistake #1: You don’t post enough. Hobby bloggers may go weeks between posts. But frequency is what separates the men from the boys. You cannot build solid traffic without frequent posts. I have seen time and time again (via Google Analytics) that there is a direct correlation between frequency and traffic. The more I post—within reason—the greater my traffic.
• Mistake #2: You post too much. Yes, this is possible, too. I don’t need to hear from anyone more than once a day—unless it is a group blog or a news site. You would do better to focus on writing one really great post a day rather than several mediocre ones. The trick is to find your frequency sweet spot. For me, it is four to five posts a week.
• Mistake #3: Your post is too long. You can get away with this if your posts are “scannable”—that is, you make use of subheads, lists, and other devices that keep people moving through your content. If a post starts getting too long, consider breaking it up into several posts.
• Mistake #4: You don’t invite engagement. When I talk about “engagement,” I am referring to a combination of page views, reader comments, and social media mentions. Postrank.com is a great tool for measuring this kind of engagement. The posts that generate the most engagement for me are those that are controversial, transparent (especially about failure), and open-ended. This is why I try to end every post with a question.
• Mistake #5: You don’t participate in the conversation. When bloggers don’t participate in conversation by commenting on their own posts and responding to their readers, it is like hosting a party at your home, making a brief appearance, and then disappearing. In any other context, this behavior would be perceived as rude or odd. The same is true in blogging. People want to have a conversation—with YOU.
• Mistake #6: You don’t make your content accessible. Since I am in the publishing business, I often get asked if I think people are reading less. The simple answer is “No.” In fact, I think they are reading more than ever. But they are reading differently. Readers have shorter attention spans. They are scanning content, looking for items that interest them. When you use subheads, lists of bullets or numbers, it draws readers in by making your content accessible. Shorter paragraphs also help.
• Mistake #7: You don’t create catchy headlines.  This means your headlines are the most important thing you write. Fortunately for scanning content and deciding whether to read an entire series of posts.
• Mistake #8: Your first paragraph is weak. This is critical. Assuming that you have written a great headline, people will next read your first paragraph. You must use this paragraph to pull them into the rest of your blog post. Start with a story, a promise, or a startling fact. The idea is to grab their attention and hang onto it. Many bloggers spend too much time trying to setup the post or provide context. Just get to the point.
• Mistake #9: Your post is off-brand. I have often been guilty of this one. If you are a hobby blogger, you can get away with the occasional post that strays from your primary message or brand. But if you are trying to build traffic, you need to find an editorial focus and stick to it. A tighter focus leads to higher traffic. This is why I have tried to narrow my own focus to three areas: leadership, social media, and publishing. If I want to write on something else (e.g., fitness), I do so through one of these three lenses.
• Mistake #10: Your post is about YOU. Unless you are a mega-celebrity, readers don’t care about you. Not really. They care about themselves. They want to know what’s in it for THEM. Your personal stories can be a doorway to that, but in the end, the best posts are about your readers’ needs, fears, problems, or concerns. Always ask, “What’s the take-away for my reader?”

There are other mistakes, too; I doubt this list is exhaustive. But I think I have covered the major ones. If you can avoid these, you will be well on your way to increasing your traffic and growing your audience.

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2012 Maya Mystery and Truth - Dooms Day

Recently the end of the Mayan Long Calendar has received a lot of attention because of the belief that the date is closely linked in with the end of the world as we know it today. These 2012 predictions range from those on a celestial level to those on a much more earthly realm. One of the reasons why researchers of Mayan culture and mythology are so certain that this calendar means something is because of the exacting relevance and research that was put into studying the solar system and the corresponding important dates.
For example, the end of the calendar takes place at the end of the thirteenth baktun. The number thirteen was considered by the Mayan to be a very important and spiritual number. Not to mention the fact that December 21st, 2012, is not only the winter solstice, but is actually the date that a rare alignment will take place of the entire Milky Way. This is something that only occurs once every twenty five thousand years. The fact that the Mayans knew this date was going to be an important one for the alignment of the planets is not a coincidence. In fact, the Mayan culture has several components that are closely linked in with the study of astronomy.
When researchers began to look into the dates on the Mayan calendar they realized that they actually corresponded to certain astronomical phenomenon it was that amazed most of them. After all, this culture did not have access to the high tech scientific equipment that we have today, yet they were able to pinpoint many events in our solar system with complete accuracy. It was this ability of the Mayans that caused many who looked into the 2012 predictions to take them a little more seriously than they might have otherwise.
There are arguments that the end of the baktun cycle that the Mayans put into their calendar does not necessarily mean that it is the end of humanity, but rather they would have seen it as an important transition that would affect everyone on a different level. However, there are others who view it as a literal end of the world scenario. Besides the rare planetary alignment that is set to occur, there are also interesting astronomical occurrences that help to lend credence to this idea.
One of these is the belief that there is a planet named Nibiru (sometimes referred to as Planet X) that orbits through our solar system once every three thousand six hundred years. While there is no definite scientific proof of this, there are those researchers who agree that there appears to be a missing planet from the orbital rotation. Some even believe that the next time this planet’s orbit is set to intersect with ours will be in the year 2012. If this orbit interferes with our solar system it could cause a lot of problems, and these issues are what some people are anticipating.
While you may find the idea of this strange planet something out of a science fiction novel, you should know that the ancient Sumerians actually wrote about this planet, and they are the ones who named it Nibiru. They also believed that an advanced race of beings known as the Anunnaki lived on the planet, and that these beings created humanity through a form of genetic manipulation. While the Sumerians did not know about genetic mutation, it appears that the hieroglyphs that have been uncovered by archeologists show a detailed description of the Anunnaki taking a part of themselves and combining it with other creatures to create humanity.
Even though the 2012 predictions are completely shrouded in mystery, it is certain that they have intrigued people around the world. If you are interested in finding out more, you can go to the website below as a way to find out more about the countdown to this date. In fact, it is full of updates, general knowledge, and even helpful information to make sure that no matter what happens you and your family will be fully prepared.

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