For many, despite how badly they want it to be, blogging is not the only “work” related commitment they have to make. Most have jobs ranging from different hours of the day to night, and some people (like me) have to deal with school. These other commitments, not always ones we’d like to keep, are often more important than the our actual blogs. So, how do you cope with the fact of putting what you love second to something you don’t enjoy as much?

Basically, this weekend I want to discuss with you guys and talk about how you all do it. It’s not easy trying to create a blog that may someday earn you a full-time living, or just build a blog period when you have other commitments that need your most focus.

When it comes to sitting in front of my computer and debating whether to do school work or blogging, it becomes tough to choose. The right answer, many would say, would to do school work and I’d have to agree on some level. But sometimes it’s just too tempting to write a blog post than write a paper for school.

How do you find the Mindset to do it?

Maybe you just aren’t too connected to your blog like you are with your job, or don’t blog for anything but the sole purpose of entertainment.

But for those of you who want to maybe make money or create a great reputation for yourself, how do you find the right mindset to actually do it all? To resist the urge to make your focus 100% about blogging and not much else?

It can be tough, believe me. I’ll admit that I have missed out on a few homework assignments here and there largely because I was doing something related to blogging or freelance. But we all slip up and fail to balance everything from time to time.

How do you do it all?
Fighting the urge to choose the less important commitment over the more important one can be extremely difficult, but not impossible. Sometimes it takes more than just having a mental argument with yourself, but to actually make sacrifices for the best. When it come to juggling your blog and your work/school, how do you do it all?

Related posts:

1. What are the best methods for marketing blog articles? – Wired Weekend

2. Wired Weekend #6: A Special Week

3. The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Community – Wired Weekend

Generally, when we write articles for our blog, we like them to get read. Writing content is no longer the hardest thing to do for a blog. It’s actually getting that content read that’s so challenging. Unfortunately, simply writing a blog post doesn’t just cut it. There’s still more to do.

There’s this thing called marketing, and when you actually do it, your articles tend to get read by more people. Now, “more people” can mean one or two people, or it can mean thousands of people. It’s all about how you market your blog post that gets it read.

There’s just one problem: most of us suck at marketing.

It’s easy to get so worried about actually writing a blog post, that we forget about the second, possibly more important part: the people who read it. Unless you really love to write, publishing articles for months straight without reactions might get on your nerves.

The Secret About Blog Marketing

Maybe it’s more than a misconception than a secret, but the most important thing about marketing your blog is not the actual promotion of the blog as a whole, but the individual articles you publish.

Tell me, which headline would get more clicks:

• Blogging Discussion, Tips & Tricks at Blogussion
• The best blogging tips from around the web

I can almost guarantee that the second headline would get more attention. The general tagline of this site describes what Blogussion is all about, but there’s nothing exciting about it.

It’s not to say that with a more exciting tagline (how many of you would be mad if I changed the tagline of this blog to “Blogussion – The most insane blogging tips blog you will ever f****** read”) it wouldn’t market better than an article, but it only works for so long.

Now, I can make a headline for an article whatever I want. If I promote a new article everyday, it would create more buzz than if I were to promote Blogussion as “blogging discussion, tips and tricks.”

So that’s just a useful marketing tip, if you haven’t figured that much out yet about the subject.

What can we do to draw traffic to blog posts?
Because the main idea of marketing your blog is marketing individual articles, what are some things you can do to get word out about your article? It takes a lot of different strategies and techniques, but there are plenty of things you can do.

So this weekend, I want to debate with you the tactics you use to draw attention and traffic to your blog articles. Recommend to me, and the rest of the community anything you do. From commenting on other blogs to running gnarly blogging contests, I (and many others) want to hear how you do it.

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you in the discussion!

Related posts:

1. Wired Weekend: The Best Blogging Tips Around the Community

2. Wired Weekend #5: The Best Blogging Tips from Around the Web

3. Wired Weekend #2: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

This week has been insanely hectic and very good all at the same time.

Alex and I have been able to celebrate the birthday of Blogussion a bit while trying to prepare for some awesome new products [we will be unveiling very soon] and freelance work. We are officially celebrating during this month and have some very fun things planned

Beyond blogging and freelancing both Alex and I have been gearing up for school finals.  Blogging is great because life throws wonderful opportunities and challenges at each of us daily and we can apply what we learn to our blogs.

My finals this week and next account for 100% of my grades for the entire semester of law school… no stress!  Likewise each post can be worth 100% of the grade for our blog.  If someone stops by and reads a post on our blog for the first time, that one post may be the only chance we have to convince them to stick around.  So write your posts like they are 100% of your blog, because each one is!

Blogussion Weekly Recap

Here’s a quick recap of the articles we wrote this week on Blogussion. If you didn’t get a chance to read them, or want to catch up on the comments that are new, please do.

• Marketing Personalization: It’s Not Just About the Numbers

  We concluded in the comments of this post a few important things about marketing with personalization.

  1. Personalization is a powerful process of referring others and influencing their feelings
  2. Numbers play an important role in marketing as social proof, but are most beneficial when complimented with a personalized promotion
  3. Personalization is most powerful when a relationship is already formed rather than in trying to imitate a relationship

• Let’s Hangout

An excellent guest post by King Sidharth this week, Let’s Hangout focused on turning your blog into a place readers want to actually come and enjoy reading. The concept is.. if you wouldn’t want to hang out there then chances are you wont read there either.

• How to Start a Killer Blog Contest

Starting a contest is pretty hard. There are sponsors to worry about (unless you do it yourself), rules to devise, contestants to encourage, and promotion. This post easily outlines how to have a successful blog contest. For extra ideas check out some of our robust conversations in the comments section. They don’t all agree but you can learn some very valuable things about contests from what our readers are saying!

Blogging Tips From the Community

• Get an Evergreen for Your Blog this Christmas
• 6 Things to Know Before Launching Your Startup
• Some Days Your Kids Make You Proud
• 6 Alternatives to #FollowFriday
• 3 Tips for Better Adsense CTR
• Thank Your Commentators with a Plug-in
• The Art of Juggling a Blog and Job
• The Most Common Computer Threats Explained
• Few Tips to Speed Up Your Blog’s Load Time

We hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and find these articles useful in helping you to become a better person and a better blogger.  We really love and admire all of our readers and want to thank you all again for being apart of this blog. Without you we would be writing to ourselves!

Try to find some time this weekend to relax.  Its a stressful season of the year and its important to take a little time for yourself.  Be sure to take some time for family and friends too! They are so important to everything you do.  Find a way to support them too.

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Related posts:

1. Wired Weekend #5: The Best Blogging Tips from Around the Web

2. Wired Weekend #3: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

3. Wired Weekend #1: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

It’s the weekend, and time for another round of Wired Weekend. We are already on #5 which surprises me because it feels like we just started this awesome blogging tips roundup.

We’ve seen some great articles this week from our readers on blogging tips and are excited to share them with you. We have also included a few must read articles from outside of our blog reading community. We hope you see the power in being apart of community of such talented bloggers.

Even though many of our readers are not writing blogging tips, so we can’t spotlight your articles here, we want everyone to know how great our readers are at blogging. If you are feeling unsure about yourself, we are talking about you. Good job!

Blogussion Weekly Recap

Here’s a quick recap of the articles we wrote this weekend. Its important to note we had a lot of very excellent comments this week which led to great discussions about our post topics. Thanks everyone for contributing.

• What Has Our Perception of Quality Content Been Turned Into?
• Reaching New Customers By Expanding Your Vision
• How Making Money Blogging Has Been Looked at Wrongly
• Does the User Really Matter?

Blogging Tips From the Community

• 7 Reasons You Should Start Guest Posting
• Blogs Accepting Guest Posts (Be sure to add yours*)
• Theme Itch – No Blogger is Immune
• Positioning Yourself as an Expert
• Phobia of Writing New Blog Posts
• Getting an A+ on Your SEO Report Card
• Death of the Boring Blog Post

Blogging Tips From Twitter

Twitter is not only a great way to connect and have fun but an excellent way to learn about blogging tips.  Here are some of the great tweets we have seen this week or the articles they lead us too.

• 10 Most Inspiring People to Follow on Twitter (via @meditationrocks)
• 10+ Christmas Icon Sets (via @phaoloo)
• 26 Free and Fresh Fonts (via @abduzeedo)
• Better Blogging Through Self-Flagellation (via @BloggingTipsCom)
• 42 Most Popular Blog Posts on Blogging 2009 (via @Zemalf)

Notable Mentions This Week

This week Alex was interviewed and mentioned twice.  The first time was on his own interview at Famous Bloggers and the second was in an interview of another blogger who mentioned Alex as his designer.  The second interview was with Simon of Teenius.com who is also having a huge contest on his blog.  Its easy to sign up and well worth the effort to tweet.  Prizes include up to $800 worth of advertising for your blog! So go over and check out Teenius: Contest Prizes.

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Related posts:

1. Wired Weekend #4: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

2. Wired Weekend #3: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

3. Wired Weekend #2: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

Your wild weekend is upon us and nothing but good times and a little relaxation await you as you sit back and enjoy this round-up of awesome posts.

With posts from around the web and more importantly our community, you are in for a relaxing weekend with some great articles you might have missed.  This week was a blast for us and one of our biggest traffic weeks ever so far so we want to spread the love with links to some very great posts!

Notable Mention of Blogussion

This week we wanted to “spotlight” a blog we love who talked about Blogussion this week!

• Income Diary: 20 Websites That Will Make You a Better Blogger
  

Michael from Income Diary listed us a one of the 20 sites you have to read to become a better blogger. We agree Michael’s site is both interesting and very useful for any blogger looking to learn about earning money online and being a web entrepreneur.   One of my favorite recent articles is “18 Alternative Ways to Use WordPress“

Blogging Tips From the Community

Articles hand picked from our very own community

• Ow, Ow, It’s So Boring Its Hurting My Head

Entertaining and right on target, Nick from Site Sketch offers a wonderful example of writing for your users.  Its definitely a must read for bloggers who are interested in actually keeping their visitors.

• Importance of CommunityParticipation

With a great story and a unique perspective, Brandon Cox teaches a valuable lesson to bloggers who know they want a successful blog and need to build a community.

• I’ll Do Anything For You (except visit your blog)

Not only is this a very funny article, but Gabe Young makes a very good point about networking, inviting offline friends, and being a blogger.

• Blogging Blocks is Giving Away $1K!

Now through the end of November one of our readers, Adam Baird, is giving away $1,000 for tweeting about his contest and new theme club.  Worth checking out and entering to win.

• Creative Thinking: 10 Ways to Boost Your Creativity

David shares what his readers came up with for dramatically increasing your creativity through 10 very simple tips.  See if you can become more creative with David’s suggestions.

• 15 Impressive Design Case Studies

Some beautiful designs, nice analysis and a wonderful site.  Jad does a great job at informing us about the world of design.

Blogging Tips From Twitter

A collection of great blogging tips that we found on Twitter this week.

• How to Run a Successful Series of Articles

@TimothybSmith from Fuel Your Blogging tweeted an awesome post by @Brandonacox about running a successful series of articles.

• A Blog Everyone Should Read

@DoshDosh is not only a twitterer you should follow but a blogger you must read.

Blogussion Weekly Recap

Just in case you missed them, here are the four other posts that we published on Blogussion this week.

• Twitter Apps to Make Blogging Easier

From managing your tweets to your tweeters, there are a number of great apps which do everything you might want to ever do on Twitter.

• Little Known Ways Darren Rowse Makes Money Blogging

Darren Rowse, Problogger, makes money in a variety of ways.  This weeks article highlights the ways you probably don’t know.

• Does Your Posting Frequency Bring the Best Results?

Posting is difficult especially if you are blogging alone, but knowing if it is enough, too much, or just right can be important for your traffic.

• How to Keep an Organized Inbox and Keep Everyone Happy

Organization is a huge key to success.  Making sure you respond properly and speedily to your clients and friends also helps build strong relationships.

Enjoy Your Weekend!

It’s getting close to the end of the week so make sure you end your week right by having a great weekend.  Do something fun and enjoy time with your friends and family.  Take time out of your blogging schedule and step away from your computer.  Trust me it goes a long way at making your blogging even better.

Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t by going to the sidebar and clicking on the beautiful red button titled “Newsletter”. You are going to get some very cool tips and tricks that are exclusive to our group of readers in the newsletter.  Hope you enjoy your weekend and have a very successful time at relaxing!

Related posts:

1. Wired Weekend #2: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

2. Wired Weekend #1: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

3. 8 Blogging Tips for Teaching and Learning Online

Another Friday calls for our second installment of our awesome Wired Weekend series where we bring you our favorite blogging tips from around the web.

The thing that makes this series so great (besides how useful these links are) is that we select articles from our community and feature them in the post. We collect our favorite articles from your web/blogging blog and post them here.

All you need to do is participate in our community throughout the week for us to notice your blog, and if we like your stuff – consider it added to our Wired Weekend series.

Notable Mentions of Blogussion

Check out what blogs are talking about Blogussion this week!

• Creative Bookmarks: Best of the Web October 2009

Tutorial9 featured our article How to prepare a guest post in 5 simple steps in their monthly link roundup post.

• 80+ High Quality And useful Resources – Best of the Web October

Smashing Apps also featured How to prepare a guest post in 5 simple steps in their monthly link roundup post.

• Add a Custom Feedburner Count to your WordPress Blog

Shane Jeffers expands on our tutorial How to display your Twitter and RSS count on your blog with some cool CSS tricks.

• InternetHow’s favorite blog posts of the week

A great roundup post where two of our posts (169 marketing tips and how to connect with your community) were featured.

• Talented Thesis Theme Designer For Hire: Live Portfolio Here Now

A post that showcases the design of Blogussion and other works by myself. Also, this blog is going to put up a list of 100 Reasons Why Blogussion is an Amazingly Successful Site soon. We cannot wait for this list to come out!

Blogging Tips From the Community

Amazing articles hand picked from our community of commentators.

• Personal Branding with Photos and your name

An article that stresses the importance of getting personal with your community and the impacts of not sharing basic info such as your name and photo!

• My blog’s 2 month journey so far

A fun type of post to read, check up on what the Teen Blogger Kid is up to and how his blog is doing after two months. When I read this, it really made me remember starting this blog and how much fun that was!

• 5 Kill WordPress plugins

A list of really great plugins for WordPress. My favorite from the list is called After the Deadline which is the best spell check around right now.

• Top 5 myths about making money blogging

Making money blogging is no easy task for most of us, and with so much advice out there about how to succeed in earning – what’s right and wrong? Well, I’m pretty sure this post is dead on with the myths it exposes.

• Do Unto Others’ Blogs As You Would Have Them Do Unto Yours

A great post that explains how important it is to get active on other peoples blogs. Another idea this post makes me think of is the concept of giving more, and hope to get something in return.

• Want to Become a Problogger? Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

A post that shows how unlikely it will be for your blog to find any success if you do not get out there and try new things.

Blogging Tips From Twitter

A collection of great blogging tips that we found on Twitter this week.

• Let Google Tell You What Topics to Write About

A great article by @Dennisyu where he talks about learning what Google already gives you authority for and maximizing it.

• Market It Write

@Laynefisher tells us 4 valuable lessons she’s learned about writing and marketing from trying to write a novel in a month.

• Five Ways to Immediately Enhance Your Online Productivity

@MattChevy is not only a good friend but also an excellent blogger.  These tips are invaluable for blogging well.

• 8% of the Internet Account for 80% of the Clicks

Tweeted by @JeffWend This article changes the way I look at the internet for sure.

• Falling Off the Shoulders of a Giant

@Simplicitysqd Talks about the changing landscape of the internet and its effect on bloggers.

Blogussion Weekly Recap

Just in case you missed them, here are the four posts that were published into Blogussion this week.

• Five Points to a Successful Blogging Event

A guest post by Arie Rich where she talked about how to plan a working blogging event.

• How Bloggers can prepare for the Future of Journalism

Blogging is changing rapidly every day, and Everett Bogue talks about how you can prepare your blog for these changes.

• The Best users are the Biggest Winners

A post that talks about how important it is to get involved with your readers and how you always get back what you give out!

• How to setup a “Favorite” posts section and bring life back to old posts

A highly detailed tutorial about how to create a “favorite posts” section just like ours and bring traffic back to older posts.

That’ll do it!

I hope you guys enjoyed this roundup! We found a lot of great articles from around our community this week and are really glad we have such intelligent bloggers participating in our community.

Stick around because Monday we will start publishing new, great content! Then, as soon as you know it – another Friday comes by and it’s another Wired Weekend all over again!

Related posts:

1. Wired Weekend #1: The Best Blogging Tips From Around the Web

2. 8 Blogging Tips for Teaching and Learning Online

3. Tips for making a mark in the community with guest posts