Loss of a Blog, Gain of Insite

Posted on May 29, 2008
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My hosting plan of joshuafinnie.com’s with GoDaddy has come to an end.  I have decided to not renew and move the domain over with my others at BlueHost.  With closing this chapter of my web life, I am closing the book on my first two blogs.  Sure, one is an out-of-date rambling of my life as an Economics student when I was trying to get into a PhD program.  And the other one is going to be re-released under its own domain name (http://joshuafinniecooks.com).  Even though, it is a sad day.

On the brighter side, I am moving forward, with this closure, I am getting away from being a hobby blogger and making strides to becoming a truly professional blogger.  Goodbye old life, hello new.

I learned a lot about blogging through my first two blogs:

  1. I learned that keeping up with a blog is hard work. 
  2. I learned that no matter how much you think your blog is awesome, there is always room to improve. 
  3. I learned that building up the popularity of a blog is also hard work. Really hard work

These three lessons above are going to stay with me, and as simple as they sound, it was necessary to experience first hand.  I am not saying that the first blog you produce is going to be a failure, but I am saying that becoming a professional blogger takes time, a lot of time.  Even after years of blogging off and on, I cannot say that I am proficient in all the specifics, but I am still growing.  If you are thinking of becoming a professional blogger with your own blogging network, I urge you to take some time and blog immediately.  Start small and start with one of your hobbies.  Blog often, grow your talent and fan base.  This will make it much easier when it comes time to start your blogging network.

All About Posts…

Posted on May 27, 2008
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I have to admit that it is funny that I am writing about this topic; I have three blogs up on my network, and I have just about 15 posts between the three of them. However, I am writing today to speak of the importance of publishing posts consistently. It is very, very important to keep a consistent publishing schedule, especially in the early days of a blogging network.

In the beginning of starting a blogging network, you are trying to establish yourself as a player on the blogging scene. I feel that it is important to publish on a regular basis to stake your claim as a serious blogger. This has been a hard lesson for me to follow for some reason or another, but it is something I am trying to improve. Below you will read about my steps in getting better at posting regularly. Even if you post once a week, I feel that it is more important to post on a regular basis than randomly like I have been doing in the beginning of my blogging network. The most important things, though, is do not set unreasonable goals.

Unreasonable Goals

Having unreasonable goals is where I have failed on my new blogs. I thought it would be easy to keep up two blogs with consistent posts, but my ambitions were too great. Out of the two blogs that I started, I thought Drink Some More would have been the easier of the two to keep up the post count, but I have let both of my blogs fall to the wayside in post count. In regards to The Bread Bible and I, I knew I was going to have fewer posts than Drink Some More, but I did not take into consideration how much prep work there was to keep a baking blog up to date.

How to fix it?

I need to set a schedule and take blogging more serious, and I need to keep to that schedule. have decided that The Bread Bible and I is going to have bi-weekly posts, meaning twice a week; and I am going to try to post daily on Drink Some More. Material for Drink Some More is easier to get for me at this point, so I think having a higher post count will be easier to attain for a goal.

My plan is to keep a better schedule of posts of my two blogs and to write more posts in advance; I hope this will bring more readers into these two blogs and boost their popularity. I feel it is important to keep a standard post schedule, especially when you are starting off with a new blog! I think I am going to keep a hand-written journal with me so I can jot down post ideas and I am going to dedicate four hours a night on Wednesdays and Thursdays (since I still have a full-time job to keep my occupied during the day hours). Hopefully I can keep this up and see my blogs grow! I will keep you informed on how this little experiment goes. Wish me luck!

Eye Opener: The Bread Bible and I’s Rank

Posted on May 15, 2008
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Well, I know I haven’t been at this for that long.  The Bread Bible and I still only has 5 posts, but did I get a shock when I googled “the bread bible;”  The Bread Bible and I was 76th on the list!  I almost gave up and thought my blog might not have been indexed yet, but it was.

My goal is to get The Bread Bible and I up to the first page of google’s search for “The Bread Bible” without quotations.  This is going to be a very hard task, but I think it is important.  If I want to make any sort of money from my blogs they have to be able to be found by people who are searching the major terms.  “The Bread Bible” is a MAJOR term for The Bread Bible and I, obviously.

First and foremost, I feel that I have to post more on The Bread Bible and I.  I have been slacking lately because of finals and work.  However, come next week, I will have a lot more time to dedicate to my blogging network.  With only five posts on The Bread Bible and I, I am not surprised it is 76th, though I would like it to be better.

My steps to improve my ranking is going to be multi-fold. (I am not sure if that is a word, and if it isn’t I am coining it!)

Wish me luck as i try to better my ranking on Google search from 76th to better than 11th!

First Problem with BlueHost

Posted on May 14, 2008
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Well the honeymoon is over, sort of. I tried to log into my blogs and the blogs did not come right up! I was nervous of course, since I am just starting out with this blogging network. I do not want all three up and running blogs to be down at all let alone for an extended period of time. I quickly went to http://bluehost.com and tried to log in to see if it was something I did. The website brought me directly to a System Alerts screen and told me what was going on. See below to see what I saw: (click on it to see the full sized image)

This was nice, I have to say, to be able to keep track of their progress. Although it wasn’t optimal, I could at least see what was going on. And luckily for me, and for BlueHost, my blogs were quickly restored to working order. I just wonder how long my blogs have been down for. I know they are not super popular right now, but the whole idea of building a blogging network is that it needs to be built. I cannot afford downtime.

This brings up an interesting point. Did I shot myself in the foot putting all three of my blogs on one server? Should I diversify when I expand my blogging network? Also, anyone else host on BlueHost and had the same problem?

The Starting…

Posted on May 11, 2008
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Introduction

Well, I guess I should tell you the steps that I took to get me here.  I have always have had an interest in blogging; call itvoyeurism or just the urge to write, I have always wanted to keep people in the know.

I have had blogs on and off probably since the beginning of blogs.  However, I never took blogging seriously.  There was Econ A.D.D. which was my blog about economics and my journey through the University of Connecticut’s Economics Program.  There was Joshua Finnie Cooks, which, although being redone as we speak, was where I blogged about my culinary adventures.  And as I said in my first post, there is Drink Some More and The Bread Bible and I, which are my current up-and-running blogs.

How does one go about starting a Blogging Network (The very basics)?

First and foremost, start small.  You would be surprised on how much time this is going to take up.  Starting small also allows you to build up your network slowly, which I recommend!

Next, look for a good hosting company.  I started my blogging career with GoDaddy, but have found their system a little lacking.  I have recently moved my hosting to BlueHost; I have a lot more control over my settings, which I cannot live without.  Also, BlueHost is a nice hosting company that will allow me to expand only as much as I need to.  I really feel a hosting company like BlueHost is the best bet for a up-and-coming blogging network.  Similar hosting companies: HostGator, SliceHost, Dreamhost.

After I situated my hosting, I went to look at what blogging software I was going to use.  There are a few options that I looked into; there was typepad, blogger, wordpress, etc.  I have used wordpress since I started Econ A.D.D. so I am use to it.  I think both wordpress and typepad have come along enough to not really worry which one you choose.

After you have your hosting company and your blogging platform, you need to create your blogs.  Find your niche and start writing.  Good luck!

In the next couple of posts I will be expanding on my journey of starting a blogging network.  Stay tuned!

Welcome to Broken Infinity Blogs

Posted on May 8, 2008
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Hello!  I am Joshua Finnie and this is my blog about my Blogging Network.  I am trying to start a blogging network.  Here you will find me talking about how it is going.  Come back here often and see what I am up to!

Blogs already set up: