Published by deborah.woehr on 04 Mar 2006 at 10:25 am
Blog Explosion Up for Grabs
I remember how it was after I set up my first blog on Blogger. I’d post and wait for comments, but they would never come. It felt like I was shouting into cyberspace and hearing my voice echo. “Hello . . . hello-o-o.”
Out of frustration, I visited Blogger’s directory and became overwhelmed by the sheer number of sites listed. Mine was nowhere to be found, but I knew it was buried somewhere among the tens of thousands of listings. Because I was dissatisfied with Blogger (which takes forever and a day to publish), I started another blog as a subdomain and began experimenting with other blogging applications.
At the same time, I researched ways in which I could market it. That’s when I found Blog Explosion. As my readership began to grow, I became obsessed with marketing my blog. I’d spend as much as a full day, surfing for credits until I got tired of it and just bought them to keep the visitors coming.
Eventually, I got tired of that because it wasn’t gaining me any new readers. I signed up with other blog exchange services, such as Blog Soldiers. But they were too small, and my time was getting consumed as it was.
I began to appreciate the readers who came by on a regular basis to comment on what I’d written. Now, I have a list of blogs that I visit each day. Recently, I restricted myself to a set time when I’m online, blogging or reading other blogs. Otherwise, I’d be online all day and get no writing done.
I rarely visit Blog Explosion anymore because they’ve gotten too big, and I hated the way they lumped the writer’s section. That was one of the reasons why I built the original WBA the way I did. At any rate, my curiosity got the better of me today and I found this: Blog Explosion for Sale
I know that many of you found me through BE. Do you still use that or other similar services?
Benjamin Solah on 04 Mar 2006 at 4:44 pm #
I’ve been using BE for a while, though I don’t use it as frequently as I used to. They send you traffic, which doesn’t actually convert to readers most of the time.
Jack Slyde on 04 Mar 2006 at 5:38 pm #
I too try to limit how much time a day I spend blogging and reading other blogs.
I’ve never used blog explosion or any of those other services. It seems to me that you are mostly going to get traffic that is mostly interested in earning credits/visits for their own blogs, and not so interested in the blogs they have to visit. I’m sure everybodies stat counters go up as a result, but doubt there would be any real benefit.
Karen Lee Field on 04 Mar 2006 at 11:41 pm #
I used BE for a period of about four days, but like you I found it was chewing away at my free time. The results I saw from this was minimal so I stopped using it and haven’t been back since.
I had a real problem with time spent on the internet last year. I was addicted, but I’ve beaten that addiction now and don’t intend to go back to it. My main internet activity is during work hours. At home, I have more important things to do (this afternoon is the exception).
jane on 05 Mar 2006 at 1:06 am #
I’m an admitted Blogoholic & I am on B.E. a lot throughout the day. Of all the blog traffic sites, B.E. is my favorite. But as chance would have it, I found you via BlogHer.
Marti on 05 Mar 2006 at 5:12 am #
I still surf once in a while, (but sadly, as many surfers do I fear, in a second window, barely paying attention, just waiting for the clock to tick down)
I do still find interesting blogs, but they are few and far between. I DO think I found you there though (I have you “blogmarked” LOL)
And yes the time constraints are enormous. I used to be able to get through my blogroll in half a day. I’d stop by and almost always leave a comment at everyone on it.
Now, I have a few that I enjoy reading, but they never comment back, and I have to admit, (I am so shallow LOL) I visit those less often. And I have added as many as I can to “My Yahoo” so I can read through a BUNCH on a single page. If the topic doesn’t really grab me, I just don’t have the time to go by just to say hello.
I’m kind of surprised it is for sale, since they keep starting new programs, like “Blog Charm” which is some sort of payment for blogging. I didn’t have time to really investigate it - I got burned pretty bad with my brief stint at Fine Fools, so I avoid those schemes now - LOL
deborah.woehr on 05 Mar 2006 at 8:58 am #
Ben and Jack: No, you don’t get quality traffic from these sites. That was the biggest complaint I read on a lot of blogs at the time. My stats did rise, and I did get some comments. But I didn’t get any readers who returned.
Karen: I’m still glued to the Internet, athough for reasons other than BE. That’s starting to ease up a bit as I’m forcing balance into my life.
Jane: BE was my favorite of the blog traffic exchanges. Thanks for reminding me about BlogHer. I need to check back with that site and see if they have the schedule for the second day of their conference.
Marti: If you’re shallow, then so am I. One of the reasons I enjoy blogging so much is the communication. If that’s not there, then what’s the point of blogging?
I was surprised about the sale, too. I’m wondering if the Blog Herald started something.
I’ve heard of Fine Fools, but don’t know anything about them. Were they a network? Pardon my ignorance.
fredcq on 05 Mar 2006 at 12:57 pm #
I had the exact same experience with BE as you did. I Rarely go there now. I get most of my new readers by commenting on other peoples sites.
deborah.woehr on 05 Mar 2006 at 1:15 pm #
Networking with other bloggers the best way to build your readership, Fred. I agree.
pat kirby on 06 Mar 2006 at 8:05 am #
I used BE for a while, but honestly, the majority of blogs on it don’t interest me. Either they don’t have the necessary “hook factor” or they are the dreaded [dreadful] info blog. “How to buy a pair of glasses.” “How to make money gambling.” “How to make money blogging.” Zzzzzz!
Here’s a confession. A lot of my favorite bloggers are folks who linked to me (and I found out abou the link through Technorati) or who commented on my site. I then made a point to do the reciprocal thing and a kind of relationship grew. Sometimes, even “mommy” blogs that I might normally ignore, can grow on me over time. I sorta get to know the family and check in to see how everybody is doing.
deborah.woehr on 06 Mar 2006 at 8:23 am #
That’s mostly how my blogger list grew. I think I found yours through Melly. As for info blogs, they have to be engaging for me to stick around.
Marti on 06 Mar 2006 at 12:11 pm #
Hi again Deborah,
Fine Fools was run by Paul Scrivens, of 9rules. It was kind of an “experiment” and is now pretty much defunct (which is ironic as Paul’s last post more than a month ago was “Defunct My Ass” LOL)
It was supposed to be a “blog for pay” network. Paul was never very clear about the terms, in fact there was no contract. He claimed that writers would get 100% of all ad revenue they generated. He implied that writers would own their own content. Neither was the case.
I never saw a penny from it, and when I pinned him down regarding ownership, he said the network owned it. he danced around the payments by saying that it only applied to revenue generated from ads on pages with NOTHING but the writer’s content on it. All of the blogs had mutiple writers though (despite being told they would be the sole author), so there weren’t pages with nothing but the writer’s content on them. I felt scammed and left after a couple of weeks.
deborah.woehr on 06 Mar 2006 at 2:00 pm #
When I started hearing about these “blog for pay” networks, I wondered if they were viable. I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with this outfit. It’s always good to have a contract, even if it’s an email that outlines the terms of the agreement. That way, if the person proves dishonest, you’ll have have something to back you up in case you have to take him/her to court.
Gone Away on 06 Mar 2006 at 6:47 pm #
I used BE for a long time and found that it does bring a few readers in. The amount of time and effort required does not justify such small rewards however, even when using the loopholes that I discovered. Sure, I had good traffic but not many new comments. It’s quite clear that the consensus of opinion here is that commenting on other blogs is the best way of building community and I’d agree with that. Which reminds me: I visit few blogs these days but I’ll get around to you, Marti, honest!
Melly on 07 Mar 2006 at 6:21 am #
I’ve stopped using BE ages ago. It was good to start with, although knowing what I know today, I’d find other ways to market my blog and to find other blogs of interest.
I’m pretty sure I found Clive, Pat and Karen through BE as well as a few others that I still visit often. So for that I am grateful and happy.
deborah.woehr on 07 Mar 2006 at 8:13 am #
Technorati and Google Blog Search are two services I like to use to find new blogs.
Lee Pletzers on 08 Mar 2006 at 1:22 am #
I used BE for a short time (one day) I got bored. Was planning to return but that day never showed itself.
Whoever buys it will be moving into a set market.
One thing not listed on their site for the sales is the 50,000 email address the buyer will get and probably sell.
deborah.woehr on 08 Mar 2006 at 7:36 am #
Ooh, I didn’t think of the emails, Lee.
It’s a good thing my BE account has my old email. Ha on them!