15 Things I Learned in 2007 Countdown - #7 Take Advice From Others Seriously

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Advice

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#7 - Take advice from others seriously.

There have been a lot of people that have really helped me to grow as a blogger this year. Some advice was obtained from other reading other blogs, some was offered in comments on my own blogs and a few through emails I received.
Sometimes the advice or opinions were not easy to hear but most were helpful. One specific bit of advice I received was in a comment on a blog post I wrote titled , Is iwebis Following The Changing Web?

Hi Mona - Think it’s my first time here (blog didn’t look familiar), so I took a look around at your recent posts in order to gauge what you’ve been writing about. Are you “following the changing web” — you seem to be doing the following lately:

- writing about social networks. These might be the current fad but do you actually use them yourself? If you don’t then you really can’t offer any valuable input on them to me as a reader (or potential reader, I guess). I’m interested in bloggers sharing their direct experiences with sites, products and services rather than rehash of the news.

- blogging about blogging. I’d try to stay away from this topic as much as possible. It’s ground that has been, well, overblogged. We all are guilty of blogging about blogging, but if you must do it, then try to be sparing with readers about it. Keep in mind that not every reader is a blogger.

One of your more interesting blogging about blogging posts was the one where you decided whether or not to put your picture on the blog. I think you should put it prominently on your blog. It adds personality and enforces that there is a unique voice behind the blog. Splogs never have pictures, so by having a picture you immediately tell new visitors: hey, this is a real blog from a real person. Something else to think about.

In summary, I didn’t see a whole lot of material that made me feel like you were following the changing web so much as echoing it. How can you change this?

1. Follow your own passions. What are you following on the changing web? What is making your life change?
2. make a goal to create something new every day — whether it’s drawing a picture, telling a story from your life, trying out a new product, service or website (new to you, doesn’t have to be new to the web), something there is no way anybody else is going to find anywhere else.

These two things will make your blog stand out in a sea of me too offerings. You might be curious how I got here? It’s because you believe in sharing and are part of the Dofollow group at Bumpzee.

Hopefully my comments are taken as being constructive. I didn’t subscribe on this visit, but who knows on the next one. I’ll bump your post for others to see and maybe they’ll take time to leave some feedback.
Comment from TDavid from Things That Make You Go Hmm

After reading that post I decided to reevaluate what I was doing with iwebis and my goals for the blog. At first it was difficult for me hear someone’s true feelings about the content of my blog. But after I got over myself I realized he was right about a number of things, particularly the part about “rehashing”.
What I thought was helping the “buzz” of information circulating through the blogosphere was a bit of a cop out on my part. This is not to say I don’t still offer information that has already been “hashed” but I what mostly write about now are things based on my own experiences.

There are many comments I received this year that have helped me to find focus with this blog as well as my other blogs. There are people that took time to encourage and offer constructive advice and I am very thankful for them. It’s because of these people that I am able to grow and always strive to offer constructive and useful information to others who seek growth.

15 Things I Learned In 2007 That Improved My Blogging and Increased My Income

#15 - Not all monetizing options are best for your blog.
#14 - Don’t be afraid to set goals and don’t be afraid to fail.
#13- Strive to become an authority.
#12 - Contribute quality content to other blogs and networks.
#11- Write down your ideas.
#10 - Content may be King but it’s not everything.
#9 - You don’t have to invest a lot of money but you must invest time.
#8 - Evaluate and reevaluate on a regular basis
Until tomorrow