When I was working a regular day job, some years ago now, I read a book by Steven Covey called “First Things First”. I really enjoyed the book and totally agree with the principle that in order to be successful, you have to continue to make the most important things a priority. Angela Stevens recently wrote on her site about “Blog Snobs“. There were several definitions of “blog snob” offered, but the one that hit home with me was the tendency of some bloggers to stop interacting on other blogs in the way they did when they were working hard to build up their sites in the beginning. Once they reach a certain plateau, such as page rank or traffic levels, they have little motivation to participate in the discussions going on elsewhere.
This got me thinking about the last several months, and how little I’ve been commenting on other sites recently. Is it because I think I don’t need to anymore? Is it because I’ve become a blog snob? Hardly… there are so many people who do a much better job at this blogging business than I do. I have no illusions about my place in the blogosphere. I’m happy to get a decent post up once a week these days, and grateful that you take the time to read and comment.
What’s the reason for my slacking off in such an important area then? It’s because blogging has been such an effective tool for networking and building my business that I’m simply overwhelmed. Things I enjoyed and had time for a year ago, or even 6 months ago, have fallen by the wayside as I’ve become busier and busier. It’s a circular problem: the more work I do to build my blog, the more design work it creates, the less time I have to continue to work to my blog. I suspect this is the case with at least some who are perceived to be blog snobs.
The thing is, some things are just too important to let slide. The excuse of “I’m too busy” isn’t really good enough, and I resolve to do a better job of putting aside time to enjoy participating on other sites like I did when I had more time.
What about you? Are there things you used to do when you started out blogging that have slipped as time has gone by and the busyness of life has sucked away your time? Do you think it’s okay to let some things slip as we take advantage of opportunities that come our way? How do you keep the right balance?
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Well it’s true that at the beginning you are so excited and you comment on as many blogs you can, but than come first offers for making design and there is less time for blog.
I’m still trying to blog although I have a lot of work to do.
But as you said first things first and blog isn’t always a priority.
Recently I’ve been prioritizing my online time better. Maybe less posting and browsing but more quality research and projects. I’m glad business is booming for you. Maybe this recession stuff isn’t going to hit online folks.
“Are there things you used to do when you started out blogging that have slipped as time has gone by and the busyness of life has sucked away your time?”
Haven’t been blogging (actually writing) long at all. But I’m pretty sure my blog prowling habits will never slow down no matter how busy I get.
There’s just too much comedy gold and great content out there to not go looking for a laugh or inspiration. Best part of the hunt is that I usually don’t know what it is I’m looking for until I’ve found it. Is that cliche?
Well it’s true, regardless. Hehe.
OT: Just wanted to thank you for your follow buttons. The other posts I’ve read on it have comments closed, and wanted to show my appreciation somewhere, at some point. (I’m hosting the images on my site, not leeching.). And they link back to your post from my site for more information on the movement, right above the comment box under each post. So, thank you.
Thats right, I agree with you. We must give priority to the most important things first to be successful in life. And ofcourse blogging is also a great buisness and even one can make more money out of it. It is also an interesting job one can do. All that is needed is concentration and quality.
You really hit a home run with this post for me. I am at a similar state where I haven’t commented in my usual hangouts in over a month but never considered that I could be perceived as a blog snob. I don’t generate leads with my blog but just my day job has been sucking away a lot of my after work time lately. But, I have been concentrating on posting quality posts and replying to comments.
Great to hear your business is boomin!
At this point, I’m still focusing on building up everything…so for me the thing that is slipping the most is the prioritization of my tasks. I’m trying to keep everything I’m doing, all the plates that I’m spinning and all of my various obligations going strong and successful. Commenting on other people’s blogs is certainly one of those, and I’m working towards improving that!
man, i hear ya! well, not that i think we’re blog snobs, but omg, “the busy”!!! i literally could not handle it, i am on hiatus for a few months, although i am still trying really hard to finish the jobs that i do have! take care
I am just now building up my blog. I intend on making it a business (selling my patterns) and therefore I am trying to learn as much as I can how to get traffic. I have been visiting a lot of blogs lately. Some for inspiration, some for fun, and some to learn from (like yours
). I always try and comment if I think I have something relevant to say (I don’t want to clutter up a post with noise). I sure hope I can still find time to reciprocate if someone visits my blog (even if it gets super popular), at least once a week or a few times a month. I have a busy lifestyle anyway since I am a stay at home mother of six, therefore, I do completely understand devided interests. BTW, I wanted to thank you for the information on the “U Comment I Follow” and the cool graphics. I copied a graphic and hosted it elsewhere on the web and linked to your post. Thank you so much for the wonderful info! I am now a “U Comment I Follow” blogger!
There are lots of ways to go about increasing your traffic from the get go. Personally, I’m not against just dumping useful information, even if its repeated, onto your blog from the get go… writing articles and the like. I think its also a good way to get off the ground.
Nice post though, I will have to try that method out.
I visit every blogger that leaves a comment at my blog. At this point there isn’t that many every day. But I intend to keep it up for as long as I can.
I have also realized that after I got into blogging, my exercising habits went down the drain
It’s part of success. The better you do, the busier you get. When you’re starting and struggling, you have to comment and visit all the blogs. When you’re on top, that becomes much less of a priority. Been there, done that.
Nice of you to realize it though.
Good luck!!
:O)
I know the feeling, Randa.
Rest assured, I don’t think you’re a blog snob.
I think it’s important to balance all important things and organize oneself properly. Leo Babauta has useful input on the subject.
“The thing is, some things are just too important to let slide. The excuse of “I’m too busy” isn’t really good enough, and I resolve to do a better job of putting aside time to enjoy participating on other sites like I did when I had more time.”
I fully agree with the above comment. I am also guilty! I love to read the blogs and learn so much from them, but I don’t comment as often as I should. I certainly enjoy yours.
You might want to take a look at my Launch Your Goals blog…
Back when I used to blog, yeah it started to take up a lot more time than I wanted it to. I think you get to a point where you’re happy with the amount of business you have and it starts to get a bit tiresome to keep going after more. I guess it depends on your priorities.
This is definitely true. That happened to me one time. I used to be so enthused in leaving comments on other blogs when I was just starting. When my blog started to earn for itself, I just kept letting comments come in and not returning them. And then one time, the comments decreased and I had to shut down my blog cause it was being too dull.
I just hope bloggers right now would realize this.
It’s incredibly important to always do the little things that are easy to forget but mean a lot. I think I spend my life trying to remember to always do the most important things and end up doing the exact opposite. Blogging is definitely one of the most important things to continuously do.
Well, when I first started blogging, I was so busy with networking that I forgot, or rather just didn’t know about, the monetization aspects of site building. Now that I’m aware of it, I spend less time commenting, I have a somewhat set line of blogs I visit regularly, and I spend the majority of my time working on SEO and MMO. I haven’t quite forget the important things, I believe I have just readjusted my priorities.
So why would that make any difference?
i’m not so good at keeping that balance. i need to die every now and then, that seems to do the trick!
I fully agree with you. Besides, balance the work and life, always choosing out the most important things, it is easier to say that to do. It needs self control.
Especially as we get into the warmer weather here in the States it gets tougher to dedicate the time. The problem with s-e-o is it never ends.
Yes — the nature of the web seems to come down to community, in essence — niche communities, larger more public spaces, etc. And reaching out and communicating is beyond important — regardless of one’s schedule. There’s nothing worse than posting something great and then receiving no comments even when you can see that there has been a good deal of traffic.
Thanks for the Post,
Matty
Hey would anyone mind adding your expertise on this subject with an article?
Actually, I’ve found that I’m now MORE interested in the business of blogging then when I first started. Starting out, I think everything is bright, everybody’s bright eyed, and wants to impart valuable information to the world via blog. After a while, that kinda gets tiring, and they hear of people making money off it and all of a sudden, that’s their new goal….so it with me.
Steven covey http://www.stephencovey.com/ is quite a soothsayer, and has come up with a lot of interesting ideas over the years. The one that comes to the forefront of my mind is Covey’s quadrants, which extends the ideas posted here. He belives that all problems can be separated into four separate domains.
1.Important and urgent
2.Important and not urgent
3.not important and Urgent
4.not important and not urgent
The idea is to attack type 2 problems so that they don’t become type 1. Perhaps being busy in business could mean that everything has become a type 1, or it could mean that blogging has become a type 4. Remains to be seen how important the distinction is!
There are only so many hours in the day. I try to look at my full schedule on a weekly or even a monthly basis. Participating on top-notch blogs is something important to me and I try to spend 2 hours/week on it. I steal 15 mins here, half-hour there, and by the weekend, if I’m short of the 2 hours, I’ll finish it up. The weekends are always the time I catch up with everything that I’m behind on, as I like to start Monday’s all caught up.
I guess there is such a thing as evolving – and from time to time, one’s priorities do change…so maybe what got you to another level is no longer what would get you to the next level.
I fully agree with you. I think the main problem with eg staring company’s is the fact they do not set there prioritys straight. Great post
Keep posting I enjoy reading your blog. I think some people just run out of things to blog about, life is more important.
blogging is sometimes tough especially if you do not have enough interesting things to write about , i tried bogging about faro airport transfers
Other things do come up-I used to comment a lot more than I do now. I used to always try and put a couple of links in each post to blogs that I liked as well. But it seems to take more and more time and I just end up doing the best I can. I don’t think your snob, I just think your busy.
Agree with Descartes. It’s not really a case of snobbery, just the fact as your site grows you can become so occupied with reading the comments posted on your own site, managing advertising, answering emails etc, that you just no longer have the time to look around as much.
I think this is a common problem for bloggers. I have to confess that I suffer from it too. I also have a certain financial goal that I need to meet each month for the family and work that goes towards that is my first priority. That’s not to say that I’m not reading other blogs, I’m just not taking the time to leave comments as often as I used to.
I also confess that I’ve gotten into a lazy habit of stumbling posts that I like without leaving a comment. I realize that it doesn’t really give the blogger feedback, but it’s so much easier to click a thumbs up when I like something than it is to type a thoughtful response. (And I get tired of typing “good post” over and over.)
Thanks for making the time to comment on my blog the other day!
this reminds me of quote i read recently….when the first time you eat an apple and it turn out to be good then you will want more of it as long as you keep getting a good apple…bloggin is fun but at the end of it what matters is what you get out of it.
Hi Randa
Yes, I think I have accidentally become a blog snob. Mostly as you’ve said because of time commitments. I also find that when I get around to the blogs I want to read, there are already lots of comments there and I don’t want to be the one jumping up and down at the back saying “me too” just for the sake of it.
Hi Randa!
Thanks for stopping by and showing your interest in my post.
You know, I think it’s perfectly understandable that you may not have the time that you once used to in order to comment and participate in the discussions taking place around the sphere.
If you really think about it, your blog is a design blog so naturally your interest remains first and foremost in design and to your clients, as it should be.
Hello Randa,
I think that what you are explaining is inevitable. Time is scarce and when you have a lot of work, it is difficult to find the time to visit other blogs. When you start is different because you need to get your blog well known and blog commenting is a good way to achieve this objective. When you achieve such objective if you do not have the time, it is difficult to continue doing so.
I’m actually in the middle of reading that book right now! Great book by Stephen Covey. I put it like this:
“The important thing is to keep the important thing the important thing”
I think Jim Rohn may have said that but who knows where he got it. Anyway, great post.
-Jeff
Wow, what a great post. I’m exactly in the same place Randa! It bothers me too – that I haven’t been as active a commenter on others’ blogs as I once was. It’s definitely not because I think I don’t have to. Between motherhood, blogging and theming, frankly I just feel swamped half the time.
I think many times I set lofty goals for myself, and probably poor time management is a culprit too… but there are also times when I really feel “too busy”. It’s not that I don’t care about those blogs I once frequented, it’s just that I can’t fit everything into each day that I’d like to. It’s a conundrum, for sure.
Haha blog snob. Relax, i don’t think you’re a blog snob.
To keep a balance I take a vacation. Lots of vacations. But that costs me a bunch of money so we recently started home exchanging. It’s been great and saves us money, keeps my work life balanced and we even met a few new friends when we traded homes.
Have Fun
Ahh, very good post. I’m guilty of not visiting and commenting like I used to, even though my blog really isn’t all that popular. Running a business has taken up so much of my free time. But I should never be too busy to interact with the people who “made” me!
Thanks for the reminder.
I found a link to your blog and followed it. I’m glad I did…it’s a great read. I’ll be back often. I’m a new blogger and need advice. This is definitely going to be on ‘need to read’ list. Thanks.
Gina
In the beginning of each work I put to myself the priority purposes which need to be carried out the first. I write down on a leaflet both I paste to the monitor and I try to address more often to it. If to not put before itself overall objectives, all rest will be in vain spent time.
Hello Randa
I’m relatively new to blogging and selling on line and I find it a tremendous amount of work to keep up with making my jewelry, listing items, posting interesting features on my blot, promoting my blog and trying to update my website…presently I’m visiting a great many blogs in a day and I leave comments when I feel as though I have something to contribute to a post, or if I like/enjoy the product featured!!
There are only so many hours in a day…we do the best we can and then start all over the next day!
Cheers
azureislandsdesigns.blogspot.com
Thanks for this post. I also like Dr. Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” You’re right, of course, about identifying your priorities at the outset and sticking to them as you move along in your career. I’ve just started a blog for our company and trying to building up readership, so it will be a bit of time before I can even consider relaxing or becoming a “blog snob.”
I agree with you on that front you must prioritize things according to their significance and your blogging business working extremely well you must surely concentrate on it first but at the same time one must see that atleast 1 hr a day is given to oneself also because that will make you more active and happy making your blogging business thus completed before an hr than normal time.
Thanks for this post. Well, one reason why we tend to neglect some tasks even though they may be boring, is because the tasks may be repetitive, boring and not much creative – for example commenting on other blogs. I feel it is better to outsource such boring tasks to other people who can handle them efficiently. That way we can concentrate on other important tasks which give us the feeling of satisfaction.
What you are writing about is one of the more interesting by-products of success.
Bloggers are often critical of large companies for not participating in blog and social conversations, but soon find that, as they themselves grow, they are unable to do that which they criticize others for. Ironic, no?
Honestly, I feel the same. I run several websites and it is really hard to let some just unattended and see the visitors go down. But in the end it is really important to pick the right priorities and a day has only 24 hours so if you stick too much to old projects it will harm the progress with new ones.