Are You Playing Blog Favorites?
Most probloggers I know have plenty of blogs at any given time. In fact, most bloggers I know have five or more blogs. Right now I have about 8 blogs that are currently being updated, plus I also need to network them.
What happens when I don’t pay attention, is I start playing favorites. By playing favorites, what I mean is that at the blogs I like best I may…
- Post more often.
- Post higher quality posts.
- Use my best material for said favorite blog, even though it might fit at another blog.
- Network that blog like a manic.
- Make sure that the blog is nice and tidy (i.e links work, blogroll updated).
Why I play favorites:
My reasons differ, but it usually comes down to one or more of the following…
- I LOVE the topic.
- It’s more trouble free than other blogs. For example, if I barely work at it, I’ll still get new readers. It’s easy, thus a favorite.
- I like my readers at one blog better.
- The blog pays better.
- My boss is cool.
- Everyone else likes the blog – such as people link to it, it gets traffic, the blog gets nominated for awards, etc. Who doesn’t like love?
Problem: If you spend all your time at one or two blogs, your other blogs suffer. As a blogger you really do need to find a suitable amount of time to give to each project. If you play favorites, it becomes tough to accomplish this.
Right now, I actually do have two favorite blogs (I’ll never tell which). I also have some solutions for how to deal when you clearly like one blog better than another. But I’ll do that post next. First, I’m curious, because I can’t be the only one; do you play blog favorites, and if so why?
Being A Team Player at A Blog Network
As a blogger at a blog network, what’s typical is to be split into sections (or niches or channels). It could be by blog topic (such as all the pregnancy and parenting blogs are grouped together), it could be that your blog is simply one of many assigned to a particular managing editor, or it might be that the network is small enough that everyone falls under one main managing editor, or whatever the boss likes to be called.
What’s true of all networks is that within your section, the bloggers and editors can work as a team or not as a team. Having blogged on teams that actually are a team, and teams where you don’t even know each other’s names, I can tell you that the, “Let’s work as a team situation” is absolutely better.
When the editors and bloggers in a channel or niche are on board with teamwork, it’s great. If not, well, it can be frustrating.
It’s frustrating because perks of working as a team can be really nice. Perks of teamwork can include higher page views for your blog, the channel, and the network as a whole, better communication when something goes wrong, or even better when something goes right, overall happiness with your job, more friends, and a more flowing feeling.
Honestly, what’s the point of being part of a specific channel, if you’re really not part of that channel? Many bloggers come to a network after having blogged on their own, so maybe the switch to team player is tough. But that’s a network. If you sign on, you’re signing onto a team, not simply your own blog.
Team components:
