I’ve been writing for Performancing since the beginning of June 2008. Since then, I’ve created a sizable chunk of content for the site. Some of the articles I have written have been wildly successful while most have not. For the most part, I’ve stayed away from discussing monetization tips, strategy, what works and what doesn’t. Back in July, I let you know that change was on the horizon for Performancing.com but since then, not much has changed at least in terms of the site itself. There have been quite a few changes behind the scenes, specifically dealing with personnel. If all goes well, Performancing will sport a new look soon, and many structural changes will be taking place. The forums will be revamped and the massive archive will be much easier to browse through.
In that post regarding change, I had asked what it was you ‘the readers’ wanted most out of the site. No surprise that many of you wanted tips, tricks, techniques, methods, etc dealing with monetization. Hard shoes to fill when the writer has no interest in those subjects. My hope is that at some point in the future, Performancing can bring on an individual who specializes in the area of monetization.
In terms of keeping with the tagline ‘Helping Bloggers To Succeed‘ I can share tips, tricks, techniques, all about blogging. I can review sites, services, plugins, themes, publishing platforms if that is what you want. I come from a background of working for others to make money, not working for myself. So, I can provide strategies for freelancing, suggestions, techniques, how to get a blogging job etc. I can discuss a lot of different things but monetization isn’t one of them.
So to bring this full circle, I’d like to know your honest opinion with regards to the content I’ve produced. Do you hate the job board posts I publish each week? Which posts do you enjoy the most? Which do you hate? Is Perfcast a waste of your time? Is reading my content a waste of your time?
These are all important questions for me in terms of how I shape the content I write for Performancing in the future. So, instead of guessing, I figured the best thing I can do is ask you.
9 thoughts on “1-800 Hows My Blogging”
There is definitely a very large audience for that. I cater towards it myself in several fashions, but there is a great deal of room for growth and more coverage. Bottom line as I see it, there still are not enough places out there writing to help the C & D bloggers get ahead. The more the C & D bloggers remain at C & D levels and the more their ranks grow and grow and grow, the more watered down the blogosphere becomes. It ultimately hurts everyone’s value, so if we can help them get better it will strengthen the power of all bloggers.
Well, That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!
Thank you Brett for your honesty and for your feedback. I’ve read through the Performancing past and you are correct in that, 2 years ago, this site was really kicking and people looked to it as an authority. Now adays, not so much. Of course, going through a whole series of different bloggers didn’t help much as there were different perspectives and different views and each carried a different tone to the table. These were probably all strong points of the site but this meant there was no consistency.
In the past six months, my focus for Performancing was to publish and write about things that were interesting in the blogosphere. Whether it be news, reviews, or pointing people in a direction that contained a tip or two, that is what I’ve been doing. I have not been asking myself before I hit the publish button if “This article helped bloggers to succeed”
I’m no A-List blogger but your idea of catering to the c-d list bloggers and trying to help them become B list bloggers is a good one. I think that is a great idea for me to build my content around. In the future, expect more articles that try to help bloggers succeed instead of random stuff.
Hey Jeff, your writing is fine and you do a good job of rounding up some interesting topics.
In general thought all the articles on Performancing these days seem to have gotten away from the core concept of ‘helping bloggers succeed’
This was Performancing’s staple niche for a long long time. Sometimes that flipped through setting up a site, or a theme. Sometimes it delved into social networking and sometimes monetization.
In the past the articles were almost always unique, and when Performancing was at its best those articles if applied really would help a blogger move forward. Performancing even dabbled in building out useful tools for bloggers including what is now Scribefire and PMetrics, plus the job board (which I utilized 2 years ago to pick up a long standing contract that I still have today).
Now in general, I’m not seeing the articles that are helping bloggers much recently. This is not a knock on your own efforts, but seems to echo your own thoughts that Performancing is still looking for a direction.
One of the rifts that has brought Performancing down over the years seems to hinge upon what audience the articles should cater to. Back in the day it was a bit of a question over bloggers that monetize vs. those that do not. Then there was a bit of an off shoot with A-B list bloggers vs all others.
I think the site in general still commands some brand name respect, but I somewhat doubt that Performancing has held the attention of the A-B list bloggers. I do not say that as a negative but as an acknowledgment of who remains.
Ergo C – D list bloggers aspiring to move up and ‘succeed’. I think it might help Performancing a bit if they consider targeting the C – D list bloggers and walking them through the steps of becoming successful and evolving into B list bloggers and maybe even setting a few on a course to the A list.
As things stand these days, it seems as if the articles bounce around in audience focus and basically do not fulfill the needs of anyone at any level. I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for Performancing as it definitely helped me succeed back in the day, but I don’t see it helping people as much these days…
Awesome! Looking forward to your answer.
Like what the others has said, I think you should write what you know best and like. Keep it up, you are much better than other blogs in my opinion!
@Pholpher – Thank you for the topic suggestions. Everything you suggested is right down my alley. Thanks for the thanks on the interview. I think you’ll be surprised by my answer with regards to how I get key players onto the show for interviews.
@Melissa – It is comments like yours that really keep me going. They pump me up! I’m along the same mindset. There are thousands of make money blogs, I’m not interested in turning Performancing into another one. I can certainly touch on opportunities I see and I point people in those directions but I am certainly not going to tell the audience if they work or not because I don’t plan on using any of them.
I really do my best writing when it comes from the heart so I’ll rethink things before I hit the publish button. Instead of just publishing something to publish something, perhaps I should only write and publish when its the right time.
There are plenty of blogs where people can learn about making money from blogging and I’m not sure we need another one. Maybe you can touch on it or link to articles or blogs about monetization strategies if that’s what your readers are asking for. Of course, you really only need to read Problogger’s archives to get the scoop on all that, so I say keep writing about what moves you – better blogging from an output perspective. You’re doing a great job.
Just thought of another thing. If you could write tips on networking and building relationships with popular bloggers, that would be great. You seem to have a knack for doing this, since you’ve gotten interviews with popular bloggers.
Jeff, I would like topics based on your personal experience. Maybe stuff like how you got your blogging jobs and advice for bloggers looking to get hired. Also, your personal blog has a pretty good Alexa Rank. I think articles on how you increased your traffic would be useful.
By the way, great job on getting an interview with Darren Rowse!
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