1. It’s all about you…it’s all one-sided… you forget that a relationship takes both parties. Your readers will know if you care, or if you are just looking for more traffic.
2. Your content is boring, yes BORING… I mean how many people really want to read all about your ingrown toenail and what you ate for dinner last night, day after day after day… come on!
4. Your content is too serious, you don’t keep it light and fun. Or, you take yourself too seriously. Even worse! (I need to work on this one!)
5. You don’t use photographs or any kind of visual images to break up the text. Borrow pics from friends, or use a photo app like Zemanta”. It really helps break up the words!
6. You talk too much… it’s got to be quick facts, not essays. I still struggle with this. Edit, edit, edit! My midweek random rambles are good examples. Many of my other posts are not.
7. You never answer questions or respond to reader comments. (see #1)
8. You are irrelevant. (see#9)
9. You don’t get out much. (see #8)
10. You only have a virtual network, not a real life group of friends, and they are only about networking, not relating.
OK, THAT’S 10, SO YOU CAN STOP READING NOW IF YOU WANT TO!!! (or keep going…)
11. Your motives are questionable. (see #1)
12. You are too busy blogging (networking, facebooking etc) and forget your real friends, which brings you back to #10.
13. You engage in many meaningless conversations rather than a few meaningful ones.
14. You pretend to be someone you are not, use old photos of yourself (or someone else entirely). I mean, someone’s going to want to meet you in real life someday… so be prepared!
15. You steal content from other blogs, and your readers find out (or not, but you still do it!).
16. You try too hard to be cool, trendy, edgy, sophisticated, ___________ (you fill it in) rather than just being yourself. Be yourself!
17. You are stale… don’t read anything, don’t stay on top of what’s going on the world, don’t respond to current events (see #9). Does this mean I have to start watching the news?
18. You appear to be better than others, preachy in your content, hypocritical, judgmental, like you have it all together. This is never attractive!
19. You put expectations on people you don’t really know… make demands.
20. You mistake online relationships for friends (see #19)
21. You take a stand on something, but don’t back it up with facts. You have the audacity to hold out things like faith as an answer to real life problems. (I guess I fail here… but I’m not going to stop doing this!)
22. You state moral absolutes (I guess I fail again!)
23. You talk about people in your real life without asking their permission… you embarrass them, frustrate them, confuse them. You have to ask their forgiveness.
Thanks for reading… all the way to the bottom!!!
Lesley-Anne
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LOL I enjoyed reading that :)
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I’m so glad you did… drop by any time!
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My blog fails from the start being all about me, but that is my intent – it’s really just for my friends and family. Still you gave me somethings to think about and I took some of your advice when I posted the link on my facebook page today. Thanks!
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There are many reasons for personal blogs… I agree Suzan…but if your blog has a ‘following’ outside of you (even your own family and friends), well then I think you need to acknowledge your audience in some way. Congrat’s on your new blog… and thanks for dropping by again!
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I do acknowledge them. My apologies if you didn’t receive yours – I may have emailed you, or if it didn’t post somehow.
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All very good points to consider and put into practice. Just wondering what happened to Number 3?
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Anne… you caught me… perhaps this is another point… too hurried to count :) Thanks for letting me know! I’m not going to ‘fix’ it… being real and all, lol!
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[…] I write about the Top (10) reasons why blogs fail… and wonder if mine is failing, or if I […]
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My thoughts re acknowledging your audience was in regard to the content of your blog (ie: of interest to others), not the comments you leave or respond to. You are VERY GOOD at comments and responses, Suzan! :) Sorry for the confusion.
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