Want to answer these questions on your blog?
This is something I have been wanting to write up for a while without it sounding too cliché. This is not a post full of questions to ask yourself before starting a new blog, but a post to reflect on your current blogging habits.
What I want you to do is just go through this post and read all the questions either out loud or in your head. Then, simply answer them. Now, I am not asking you to share these answers with anyone else if you don’t want to. I’m not even asking you to share your answers, period. What I am asking you to do is be as honest as possible in all of your answers. Don’t answer questions like #13 with a lie, because then you will be missing the whole point of this post.
I want you to really reflect on the kind of blogger you are, and lying won’t help you do that. The reason for this is because some of the questions I came up with will really cause you to think about your actions and motivations as a blogger. With those thoughts in your mind, it can really help you make the changes needed to become a better blogger.
If you have any questions, or need clarification, just comment. I respond to all comments, so I will be more than happy to explain anything left unclear. 
50 Questions To Make you Think
- Is it okay to be hypocritical in your articles?
- Do you think you owe someone for commenting on your blog?
- Do you define your blog as a success if you [intlink id=“2270” type=“post”]make a lot of money[/intlink] from it and get a lot of comments per post?
- Are you a conformist, or an independent?
- Is anything you write truly a great piece of writing without some lies or a little over exaggeration?
- Is it better to get facts from someone else, or conduct your own experiments for results?
- Is everything a “guru” says always the right solution for you?
- Do you truly think PageRank is worthless?
- How would you honestly feel with a PR0 blog?
- Is it worth replying to comments on your blog knowing that most of your replies will never be responded to or even read again?
- Do you think your blog will still exist next month? 2 months? 3?
- Have you discovered that writing your post first will help you write a better post title?
- Are the links you include in your blog posts really meant to help other people, or are you just trying to sell an affiliate product or drive traffic to another website?
- Are you really blogging to help others, or just to make profit?
- Have you ever thought of not approving a comment because it is negative knowing nobody will find out?
- Is it wrong to comment on your blog under a different name?
- Do you plan for the future, or for the present in regards to your blog design?
- Is it worth emailing larger bloggers knowing they probably won’t get back to you or even read your message because it doesn’t “meet their standards of being replied to”?
- Are you ever willing to edit an image you use in your blog post to make it look more appealing and eye catching?
- Are the images you use in your blog posts have a literal or metaphorical meaning that relates to your article?
- Do you think people who comment on your blog with keywords in their name are worth being replied to, or even acknowledged in your blog?
- Are you a “thinker” and “planner” instead of a “doer”?
- Have you realized from experience, or by seeing that list posts are not as hard to make as they seem to be?
- Do you think it is beneficial to make a change to your blog that your readers will like, but you may not be fond of?
- Is there something you have been wanting to change/add/remove from your blog, but haven’t gotten around to it?
- Do you value every comment you get on your blog the same, regardless of the content of the comment?
- Do you ever leave out information in your posts and try to let your readers fill it in in the comments section?
- How many times do you think about your blog when you’re away from the computer?
- Do you avoid posting controversy on your blog because you have none to post, or you’re afraid someone might disagree with you?
- Are you easily discouraged?
- Do you think that hard work now will pay off later, even after months of hard work and no results?
- Do you avoid trying to create relationships with other bloggers because they have a larger blog, or are more well known than you are?
- Are you making the best of your social network/media profiles?
- Do you ever add personality into your posts (ex: smiley faces, jokes, etc.)?
- Do you add “friends” on social network/media sites because you want them to read you blog, or because you actually want to become friends with them?
- Would you feel more accomplished if you got 20 comments from “regular” bloggers, or just 1 comment from a highly respected “famous” blogger?
- Are you being as personal as you can with your readers (picture of yourself, small bio, etc.)?
- Do you believe comments on your blog with more writing should be valued and rewarded higher than comments with less writing?
- Are you more embarrassed when someone points out a spelling/grammar mistake, corrects wrong information, or when someone strikes down your article?
- Do you think your posts should be concise, or filled with extra information?
- Do you make the title of my posts clear so the reader understands what the article is about before jumping to the content?
- What do you think when a post you put less effort into gets a bigger response than a post you put more effort into?
- Does it bother you to see someone younger than you have a more successful blog?
- Are you afraid to make an investment in something that could help your blog substantially because you’re afraid it won’t work?
- Do you add a fresh perspective to a subject, or just regurgitate it?
- Do you tend to cut out some information that could be useful to some people because you don’t want your post to be “too long”?
- Look at your blog articles. What is the ratio of pillar articles to regular articles?
- Have you kept up with posting consistently over the last month? If not, why?
- Are your blog posts full of information that will remain relevant over a long period or time, or for a shorter period of time?
- Are you afraid to ask questions to your readers that you don’t know the answer to?
No More Questions!
I know there were a lot of questions, and I hope you didn’t feel overwhelmed. Hopefully this post has helped you figure out and come to terms with the kind of blogger you are. Let me know what you thought of this post. These questions weren’t the easiest things to come up with as I wanted to go a little deeper than most bloggers would.
37 Discussions
Oh man, what a meme this would make! If you don’t mind i plan to start one (when I have time) with the first link back to you.
Awesome questions!
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Best “Blog Improvement Review” Contest – 1 Winner – $100 via Paypal
Sounds super, but what exactly is a “meme”? lol
There’s a few terms for it, basically the viral effect. I copy your questions and answer them on my blog, then ask my readers to do the same. Ideally each blogger in order links to the one that got them to do it.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Best “Blog Improvement Review” Contest – 1 Winner – $100 via Paypal
That would be really cool to do. Let me know if you go through with it!
hi,
off topic
who designed this blog ? I think its awesome ! any plans to offer this as a free theme 
dinu’s last blog post..Google’s Secret : GDrive
Hey, this theme was custom made by me. I don’t think I will release this theme, but if I do then it would be premium only. Sorry!
If anyone is actually interested: http://www.stuartconover.com/2009/03/04/re-50-self-reflecting-questions-to-ask-yourself-as-a-blogger/
Stuart Conover’s last blog post..RE: 50 Self-Reflecting Questions To Ask Yourself As A Blogger
Oh, that’s awesome. Really happy to see you answered them! Going to read through them now.
Alex, great questions! Dennis I also like your idea of the “meme”. I have never heard that term used before, haha.
Yeah, that was really cool. Never heard of a meme either. Hope a trend catches on.
Definitely a lot of food for thought for bloggers out there. Sometimes, it is good to stop and think about the questions above. Thanks for posting this blog post.
Wayne Liew’s last blog post..7 Proven Ideas to Recession-Proof Your Restaurant
You’re right Wayne, because you never know what you might find out about yourself by answering these questions. I made the list, and I even found some questions to be really “deep”. It’s definitely helped me out some!
Wow Alex, great post!
Definitely a great list of questions to think about here.
Thanks for this, opened my eyes a bit!
WPThemeKid – Daniel’s last blog post..Create Cool 3D Text!
Glad I could hope Daniel. I’m replying to your email as best I can. Expect it either today or tomorrow (for real).
Alright mate, no worries.
No rush, as long as you send it eventually I am happy
WPThemeKid – Daniel’s last blog post..Earthquake In Melbourne 2009!
And, you’re how old? Wow! Great post..who says we can’t learn from the upcoming generation?
That’s exactly how we feel. The other blogger here is 16, and we try to write stuff that people would expect to come from 20 year olds.
Honestly, who cares how old you are? If you know your stuff, you know your stuff
I did private coaching about a year – 6 months ago, I was 13-14 then.
Anyway, I spoke to these people and they always asked how old I was. I came right out and told them, most thought I was at least 25
WPThemeKid – Daniel’s last blog post..Earthquake In Melbourne 2009!
Hey, I am 21 and I do not think that I (or my mind) have changed since when I was around 14-15. Well, my knowledge is bigger, but that is not the point and it has nothing to do with my age, but with the time I spend doing something.
Nice blog by the way
The Master of Web´s last blog ..Спам в phpbb phpbb3 – как да го спрем
Alex, I particularly like Question 43…haha…my answer is yes!
Zulu’s last blog post..A few Email Marketing pointers
Haha, I kind of added that one just to see if someone would find it funny that this blog is run by a 15 and 16 year old.
Thanks for sharing your input!
Honestly.
13. NO
14. YES
and 43. NO
I would like to see more and more people, especially the young ones, on web, realising the true way, the life is to be lived.
Aravind Jose T.’s last blog post..On Holidays ? NO ! Any soon ? Not really.
Woah, that’s an awesome list of questions Alex! I’m going to take some time to answer these questions, and perhaps we should both post our answers here @ Blogussion?
So, our readers can get to know us that much better
It’s all about honesty and integrity, if you possess these two attributes as a blogger; you are never that far from being successful.
Glad you posted some of your answers. Those questions in particular can be hard to answer honestly, and I’m glad you shared your answers!
39 – I know I am not the greatest writer and I laugh when people point out mistakes – I try my best and give lots of free content away. I write my blog to become a better writer.
Online Marketing Blog’s last blog post..List of 100 Free Directories PR 1-5
At least you can laugh it off and not take it personally! Mistakes like that are supposed to help you anyhow as you’ve said.
I know ‘great list’ is not a particularly insightful comment. But it is a great list Alex!
A couple caught my eye in particular
3) If I measured success of my blog by money then I’d have to say it is a grand and glorious failure. So it’s good that I don’t! A bit more income would always be nice though!
10) Well I always reply to comments. I don’t think I’m very unusual in that I always check back when I’ve commented to see the author’s reply and I read the comments and replies of others (well, not very single one, but a lot). I guess if I do these things then some other people do too. And I like the way the comments add to the post, and my thinking develops along with it.
31) Oh yes!
34) A lot of me goes into my blog. I keep some things back, but what I write about is very much from the heart.
43) Not at all. I wish everyone who puts their time, energy and soul into their blogs great success. For example, I’m definitely old enough to be your father but that has no bearing at all on how I see your blog and your work. Maturity is not really about age!
Ian
Ian Peatey’s last blog post..The point of self development
Thanks for sharing some of your answers Ian.
Regarding question 43, I think you are 100% correct. I see plenty of young kids like myself do just fine in blogging, and other things online that most people in their 20′s and 30′s have no idea about! The only downer are the ignorant people who don’t take you seriously for being young. So I feel like I need to work extra harder to show them that just because I’m 15 doesn’t mean I can’t know more than you. So far it’s been working out for me though.
this is fantastic, I just subscribed your RSS on feedburner.. well done and great stuff.
Linn’s last blog post..Earn Money Online – Easy and Effective Bidvertiser Referral
These are great questions to ask . Now it’s the whole thirty minutes to sit down and ask those questions. While I am a firm believer in taking time out to reflect, even I find it hard to break away from my to-do list to ask these questions. Some require thinking about very important things. They are valid questions, but I’m having a hard time committing this to routine. What I have done is written a select few of these questions and posted it where I can see it daily, so it’s constantly on my mind. Whatever works, right?
Actually a wonderful article here. Every blogger has to read this. Here am giving you a link from me. And there is so much knowledge involved here in the topic. The importance of setting a link back is understood. Ultimately when this is repeated, huge back links with no big issues can be set.
Great post! really i needed to ask myself the questions and respond to it truthfully, am new to blogging world and quite getting along with it.
Thanks
[rq=1609,0,blog][/rq]Hello world!
# Do you truly think PageRank is worthless?
# How would you honestly feel with a PR0 blog?
The two points i think are really important because many advertisers take a look on the pagerank. The indicates a healthy blog and a PR0 is worth.
regards,
Volksphone
Volksphone´s last blog ..Usability-Schnelltest für die eigene Firmenwebsite
Thank you for all of the tips. You are truly very generous and take good care of your readers. Thanks.
Hahah ! Excellent post dear…It would help a lot thanks
Hey Alex, just launched my personal blog last night, and it just feels right to read this before plunging into this world
and I do believe that I came to the right place. It’s kind of hard to absorb all of this with one reading, so I think you can count on me returning this page.
Anyway, I’ve been very busy lately and I seriously missed reading your stuff here. I can really say that it’s good to be back.
Regards,
Jason Acidre
kaiserthesage´s last blog ..Top Page for a Very High Competition Keyword in 3 Months Part II
PageRank is worthless, if you do not make money with a blog that relies on PageRank such as selling links or paid reviews.
Mitzi´s last blog ..Free FLV to MP3 Converter
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