Getting a quick fix is all most drug addicts can think about. There is a physical and mental addiction which impairs your perspective and destroys your long-term goals. Over time drug addictions result in complete and utter failure unless a remedy and rehabilitation are implemented.
Bloggers, like drug addicts, can be focused and even addicted on the wrong things. Eventually these addictions lead to the impairment of your perspective and an utterly wasted blogging effort. To combat and rehabilitate I have put together a first aid kit for bloggers. Its short and sweet but will give you the necessary medicine to kick your bad habits and get blogging the right way.
You see from what I understand about addictions — I’ve been a counselor for overcoming tobacco and “other” substance abuse — they rob you of your ability to make wise judgements. Over time the quick fix is all that matters. Your life goals are soon consumed by getting your next hit, finding your next drink, or doing whatever it takes to satisfy your cravings. When this happens many addictions lead to stealing, violence, and abuse.
In blogging the addiction can be just as serious to your blogging life. Focusing on the wrong things and being addicted to the wrong “fixes” will only lead to crashing and burning. There is hope for every blogger though!
The Blogging Addiction to Stats
Its been 10 minutes since you last checked your traffic stats and subscriber count. Your palms are sweaty and your fingers are slowly moving towards the mouse. You quickly click your bookmark to Google Analytics and check your stats. Nothing has changed! Maybe your Google Adsense has?
We all have experienced these feelings at one point in our blogging life. The uncontrollable addiction to statistics. They mean the world to bloggers and when everyone else seems so focused on them its hard not to be.
Statistics are a good thing. I believe they lead to accountability and responsibility which quickly can improve your blog. The problem with statistics are that they are highly addictive. So much that the average blogger spends more time looking at stats in a week then actively promoting their site.
Imagine if instead of looking at your statistics you wrote guest posts? Or maybe you emailed bloggers in your niche and built relationships. Perhaps everytime you stopped to quickly look at your statistics instead you wrote part of a post. Over time and by the end of the week your blog’s statistics would be hundreds of times better then if you just watched them.
Today I am going to challenge you to do 3 things just this week. Think of it as an experiment. Here is the first one:
CHALLENGE #1: Look at your statistics only once a day. Every other time you want to look, leave a comment, write a post, send an email, or do anything to actively promote your blog.
The Blogging Addiction to Design
You’ve tweaked your design twice today. Something just doesn’t look right with your blog! So you add a new plug-in, toss another widget into your sidebar, and peruse through the latest wordpress themes. After 30 minutes (if your lucky) you still are not happy with the way your blog looks and either give up for the day or keep at it.
Blogging is mostly about the content. As a designer you would think that saying that would put Alex and I out of business but lets be honest it wont. Bloggers should set up their blog with something they like, either a very nice free theme, premium theme, or completely custom design. Then let it sit!
Many bloggers spend hours each week tweaking something here and changing something there but never really doing much and missing hours worth of great promotion and writing time. Think of how many posts you could write if you just let your design sit for a while.
Here are the things you should think about as a blogger with your design…. visually
If we as bloggers focused more on our content and less on tweaking our design and adding a new plugin or feature we would have more visitors and subscribers then if we continue to waste time on tiny details that have little effect on our traffic.
Am I saying abandon good design, NO. What I am saying is abandon constantly trying to get your blogger fix from from tweaking your design. As a blogger your role should be to first, setup a functioning design. Then let it work as you continue to provide stellar content.
We seem to think that if we are constantly tweaking things then we are being “successful” bloggers but success comes from producing content.
When selecting a design here is what you want to focus on…. just a little tip from me and thousands of other designers. Your blog should be focused on a top to bottom left to right design. In other words your most important elements should be either on the top left portion or the bottom right portion of your screen when it first loads. That is where readers eyes naturally look. Content brings them there to the page but your design can bring them to convert on other goals.
Here are two examples where you can see what the goals of the blogs are instantly from how their blog is set up.
So we Blogussion.com’s and now you’ll see Problogger.net
Once your blog is set up with a design that focuses your readers on what’s in Eyes #1 and most importantly Eyes #2 then stop messing with your design. Here is challenge #2 for you to get over your bad blogging addictions…
CHALLENGE #2: Don’t Touch Your Design this Entire Week. Instead of touching your design write an extra post for your blog. Trust me it wont be wasted!
The Blogging Addiction to Social Media
The last addiction for many bloggers that can be very unhealthy is the addiction to sites like Stumbleupon, Twitter, and Digg. As bloggers we all know that they are extremely useful for community building and traffic generation but there is a difference between using them for what they were prescribed for and taking the whole bottle!
Social media is fun and connecting with people is great but if we as bloggers don’t limit ourselves in our social media time suddenly we’ll find that we are not spending real time helping our blogs.
Just like with stat checking and design tweaking, what starts out as something really good can turn into something really ugly and time consuming. Social media does create new relationships but it rarely teaches us new techniques, important information, or deep critical solutions to our problems.
As fun as the buzz is from getting retweeted and seeing your posts getting stumbles, hours can be wasted checking our status and stumbling through hundreds of bookmarks.
The challenge for this addiction will probably be the hardest but lets give it a try.
CHALLENGE #3: Check your social media statuses and respond only twice a day for less than 10 minutes each. If you normally spend an hour every day checking twitter and other social media sites, then this week you will save 4 and 1/2 hours this week. Replace those 4 and 1/2 hours with something good for you offline like exercise, family time, or hanging out with friends.
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Good points. I’d say I’m a bit addicted to design. I’m always tweaking my design just a little bit, but I’ll never really be 100% happy with it. I’m always either making one little feature of my theme just a bit nicer, or trying to make something run just a bit faster.
Eric B.´s last blog ..HTML Best Practices for Beginners
I sometimes have the addiction of all 3! I tried this for a week and my productivity shot up significantly.. and to be honest my blog did so much better than if I was worrying about some of the little addictions like stats and design.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
These are great tips, Seth! Definitely going to give this a try over the next week. Thanks for the post.
I know what you are talking about. You can waste alot of time, and not accomplish what you originally planned when you sat down at your computer.
Promoting your blog takes a huge chunk of time out of your day even without distractions.
Brian Inman´s last blog ..When Twitter Negatively Influences your Gaming Blog Content
Promotion does take a lot of time. But if you can replace every stat check with a built link, over the next week you can have dozens of new links and more traffic generated.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Guilty! Of all three. I should start keeping track of all the time I waste trying to satisfy those addictions. I’ve been getting better lately but I can’t bring myself to quit cold-turkey
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I like the challenges, Seth! I’m very competitive and very stubborn. Challenging me to do something is a great way to motivate me. And I like the post image!
Nick Tart´s last blog ..Nationwide Competition to Award $30,000 in Prizes for Teen Girl Entrepreneurs
Well I am going to keep track of myself this week and you should too! Next Friday I’ll be asking how everyone did. Hope you can stick to it!!!
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
My name’s Heather, and I’m a stats-and-design-aholic.
I shouldn’t need to touch my design for at least a week now though, since I finally got something I like finished last night. Then tweaked this morning. I’ll try my best, lets put it that way
As for stats, I’m fine unless someone mentions them or I get very bored (you mentioned it, oh evil one). Must…resist..allure..
Great post Seth, looking forward to giving those challenges a shot. Definitely RT-material.
Heather´s last blog ..*Fixed* Wordpress – Help!
An RT would be appreciated, I think so many bloggers suffer from this addiction!
I plan on following the challenge along with everyone else. I have started this challenge a week ago though so I’ve had a bit more time to quit my “addictions”.
Its boosted productivity quite a bit and I’m enjoying blogging even more.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Hmm… definitely worth doing then. I’ll try my best, though I think that I’ll probably end up failing for a little while today (my RSS feed doesn’t stand out enough on my blog, so some of my readers are suggesting I fix it, etc).
I’ll let you know how the rest of the week goes
Heather´s last blog ..Review: 3D World Magazine
Yes be sure to let us know. I am very interested in seeing how much this helps your productivity.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Great post! I just started a challenge for myself last week, to cut down on the stats-checking.
Same with e-mail, which is a total killer for me, if I constantly have it open in the background.
And I am also guilty of spending too much time fretting over the design…
The problem is that these kinds of things are just such perfect time-wasters. Hard to resist.
Cheers,
Shane
Shane´s last blog ..Interview with List-Building Virtuoso Jonathan Gunson
They are sooo hard to resist but we really should. I love how Alex does it… when its time for business we cut communication and both go to work. Then when we are done we talk again and work on other things. Its so productive to cut the irregular checking and tweaking of blogging related stuff.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Good points to be remind. I always neglect design. I fell into traffic conversion. I would definitely try to over come out this problem.
Yeah never let just one thing become too much, balance is good and very healthy for your blog.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Have you ever thought that some bloggers have crackhead tendencies because they’re actually on crack? Not because of their addition stats, design, or social media but because they articles read like they’re written by someone who’s high — basically a lot of babbling, nonsense.
Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..I don’t target my Twitter followers and I like it that way
Haha.. you know Gabe there is a lot of truth there.
By the way, I really like your Gravatar. Its fun and happy and I’ve always thought it made you look professional but not uptight. You chose the right picture and I just wanted to mention it.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Thanks! I was going to use a picture from one of my speaking engagements but instead I chose one from my wedding day! I was actually singing to my wife in that pic (and BTW, I can’t really sing even after having a vocal coach)!
Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..I don’t target my Twitter followers and I like it that way
Great post Seth (as always). I am (still) a Design addict and tempted to tweak or completely change the design every week. Me being on Thesis Theme makes things worse
I am however tempting my urges with respect to the Design and Stats – to focus on the content! Nice post.
Ashwin / Thoughts Unlimited´s last blog ..Start a Blog Series : Starting on January 23 2010
Focus on a few goals this week like writing an extra post, submitting a guest post, or link building and whenever you want to check or tweak something just finish your goal. It’ll improve productivity a bunch!
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Interesting Post..What i must agree is im not fully addicted but getting slowly towards this. Im trying to get from it out.
Shall try out the ways u mentioned above & will let u know the results…
krish´s last blog ..Twitter Tools- Free Tools To Schedule Your Tweets
I would love to hear how its going. You can send me an email, comment here, or tweet about it to me. Just let me know how its going and if I can help.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Great use of a Title! I couldn’t help but come read it!
Addictions to all the things you mentioned are exactly why so many blogs suffer. Another one I would like to add as addiction to checking adsense or other affiliates for a click 10 times a day! Kind of related to stats I guess….
Keith´s last blog ..Social Media – An Addiction
I thought of checking adsense and affiliates but figured I would just lump it into stats checking.
I remember until I broke my habit of checking that I was constantly going to see if anything had happened. I am a much more satisfied blogger when I don’t check.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
I am not an addict… I am not an addict… I am not an addict…
My name is Brandon Cox, and how in the WORLD did you know?
Because I am sure that everyone is… until now. You can break the habits!
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
THAT was the best article about blogging I have read in a long time! And I love the look here. Incredible!
Dominique´s last blog ..The goal today isn’t to achieve…
We worked very hard on the design.. and have left it alone, haha. Thanks for the comment about the article and I hope it helps out.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
so true , lots of us still worry about stats and blog design.its okay to do so ones in a while.like you wrote ,it is better to focus on other important things like ,blog promotion,writing great content and building links to your blog.
thanks for reminding us all.
mk akan´s last blog ..6 Reasons Why You Need To Take Blog Commenting Seriously
It definitely is more important to focus on the things that will actually improve your blog!
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
This is great. I work with addicts as my primary job ( http://reformu.com ), and blog on the side, but I have often seen myself falling for some of these same blogging “addictions” that you listed here. Maybe I should put to practice what I teach and get PAST these things and on to the important parts of blogging – like generating good content.
A good book that addresses this issue is (will be soon) Nicholas Z. Cardot’s “Blogging to the Third Power” – I can’t wait until that’s released.
Don Gilbert´s last blog ..20 Indispensable Websites For Understanding Web Usability
Thanks for doing awesome work offline and I hope you keep on helping people. Also I am very excited to get Nick’s ebook. It will be awesome.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Guilty! I’m a stats addict. I am. I think what I’ll do is step away from the computer (gasp) and write out some posts by hand. With a pen. Can’t check the stats that way.
Oh, and turn off the “you’ve got email” sound too.
Jodi Kaplan´s last blog ..What a Giant Squid Can Teach the New York Times About Publishing
Good luck Jodi with your approach to writing by hand! It will help I am sure. Stay focused.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Nice one!
I also used to be a substance abuse counselor. I also must confess that I get addicted to stats and other meaningless blogging activities. I should spend more time on developing content, etc.
Kevin´s last blog ..Brock Lesnar’s Comeback
Its amazing how many of our readers have experience with counseling. I think that is pretty great! We’ve got a lot of very helpful people here.
I think as we know admitting our problem is the first step.. the challenge is changing. But if you try just one day at a time with one addiction I’m sure you’ll do marvelous.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Haha- that stats addiction gets serious, and it’s funny how those of us with the smallest sites often spend the most time getting our fix.
Steven Corbett´s last blog ..Free Flash Contact Mod for PHPmotion
Haha I know right. Its not when you have hundreds of thousands of new stats is when you are looking for your dose of 10 or 100… sometimes the one or two changes.
Its hardest to avoid this addiction when your site is new. But that is when it is most critical.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
My biggest issue is social news and media sites. I frequently find myself getting distracted and taking off to go hang out on Reddit… it’s a bad habit, but I still get my blogging done so it’s not too bad.
Blogger Den´s last blog ..Recent wordpress plugins that I installed =not your typical plugins
You also get caught up at Blogger Den, which by the way is very very awesome. Its a great idea and I think every blogger should get into it.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
I was addicted to blogging, and it comes being worst when my Adsense account is banned. Since that incident (yeah, I called it an Incident), I don’t addicted anymore, and now I only focus on content, just like you do.
Reza Winandar´s last blog ..This is blog is now Do Follow
I would say the toughest addiction for me in the beginning stages of my blog was the design. Being a design student I really wanted LifeNotion to be clean and simple and it took me awhile to achieve that. But, now that I’ve achieved what I wanted I can stray away from design and focus all on my content.
I did not want to have to keep fixing it all the time.
But, now my biggest addiction is social media because I am trying to connect and network with as many people as I can. But, the key is to not just waste time just seeing tweets and clicking on a bunch of links that just waste time from what you really could be doing.
Derek I think you are right. But social media does not have to be a waste of time. Its all about how we use it.
Like yesterday when you connected with me on Twitter it was a great way to connect and communicate with me. Now we have a real connection and if you need an RT, Stumble, or Digg you can just let me know and I’ll be there for you.
So social media is great if you are really building connections. Clicking around does you no good though.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
Yeah! You are absolutely right! Sometimes, i will really keep on looking on my blog statistic. Thanks for sharing!
Kok Siong Chen´s last blog ..Human Genome Project – Find out Human Database
It’s crazy how easy it is to get caught up with all three of those. The stats seems so innocent because it is quick and easy. Ironically, the more I check my stats, the worse I do. Sometimes, I wish I could put a parental lock on them
Design is one of those weird ones. Its easy to get caught up tweeking. It is not always easy to get the intial design down, but once it’s done, I think it should be left alone for extended periods of time. I like how Nick from SS101 recommends rotating design, promotion, SEO, etc instead of trying to do everything at once.
Social media… it’s easy to get lost. Setting a time limit and sticking to it is key. Set your goals and stick to them.
Blake @ Props Blog Reviews´s last blog ..Sometimes Not Enough Is Still Too Much
I am completely addicted to blog design and stats. I have no addiction toward social media.
I can leave my attachment to stats but I do not know if I can say the same about blog design. I always like to tweak something in my theme.
Agent Deepak´s last blog ..Make your Blog Mobile Ready
Great post, great title, very funny and oh so true!
JR´s last blog ..List of 132 Comment Luv Blogs by Niche
Haha! Ouch. Guilty of at least two, having an iPhone doesn’t help I guess.
Iphones definitely do not help.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
I used to check on my stats every 5 minutes on Statcounter. I like your analogies of crackhead to blogger. It is very true that they are related when you are addicted to blogging. The eyes #1 and #2 are very useful to me. I just learned something new!
-Kai Lo
Twitter @lomak1985
Miraculously, I’ve been able to abstain from looking at my Google Analytics thus far. The other crimes, well….that’s a long story.
A week off for me! I have none of those.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Blog Move Is Imminent ! I’m Looking For Launch Partners…
Well that’s great then man. No worries this week with lots of wasted time.
Seth´s last blog ..Wake Up! You’re a Blogger Not a Crackhead
I want to specially admire your Graphical charts showing where the visitors are inclined. You described them beautifully with reference to Problogger and Blogussion. Also, its absolutely correct when you say, that we must understand and work upon the stats rather than checking them each minute!
Rohit Sane´s last blog ..Tech-Freak Stuff has moved to a Premium Web-Host after a poor time at a Free Web-Host
I really enjoyed reading this post. Thanks for sharing!
Tony´s last blog ..The Secret to Finding Better People to Follow on Twitter
If you dont get a very good output of your result you are most probably expected to get a shock of boredom and the graph may be falling down. Happy blogging.
I think that I am addicted to stats since I am always looking at it everytime I turned on the computer.
Palabuzz´s last blog ..Pacquiao vs Clotey
Interesting… really more time is needed for updating your site and promoting it and really indirectly more time and wasted on the 3 points mentioned above especially social networking sites…
I really liked this post.
Eric C´s last blog ..Clint Van Winkle’s Soft Spots: A Review
I must say that at Blogussion we got two interesting thing always …
- Attractive Headlines
- Relevant Photos
I’m afraid that I spend far to much time watching stats instead of writing posts. I’m actually pretty disciplined when it comes to tweaking design and social media. Love your headline on this one definitely pulled me in because I work with the addicted.
Nice Reading. Thanks
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