Rory Cullen, Kaizen Software Developer

I officially started this blog on April 1st.  As May ends, I am reflecting on what I have learned over these two months.

Stuff I’ve learned:

It is hard to break out from your core “audience” by magic.  Although I have increased readership from seven for my first post, to 50 for my more recent posts, it is hard to break on through to a larger audience.  My core “audience” of course consists of people I already know, who I contact via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

I really enjoy writing.  I always have, but it’s rewarding to get positive feedback.  It’s also a lot of work.

Don’t be afraid to scrap a post if it is junk.  I have about five of these so far, so about 25% of what I write gets dumped. Most are only a paragraph or two, as it’s easy to see when you have failed.  More importantly, I posted some that were just not good.

On that same topic…Don’t force it.  Pick good topics.

Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity.  I haven’t blogged in over a week, because I didn’t have a topic.  That said, the list of people who start a blog and abandon it shortly thereafter is a long one, so don’t be one of them!  According to Technorati, of 133 million blogs worldwide, only 7.4 million have been updated in the past 120 days (2008 data).  I have four blogs, and only one has been updated in the past 120 days. That said, one is a placeholder, one was for a short-term event, and one is linked to my Java project rollouts, and has been idle as I work on projects for others.  (Game time: Try to find my other three blogs. Credit in my next post for anyone who can find all three)

I comment on other peoples’ blogs more often now.  This leads to more readers, plus I recognize the value of feedback.  Every comment on my own blog is a coup, indicating that I engaged the reader with my topic.

People like pictures.

Two months, by the numbers:
Posts: 15
Page Views: Over 750
Average Views: 45 per post (excluding the “About” page)
Comments from people I don’t know: 1 (this is a huge achievement)

Most popular post so far:
I’m not a doctor, but I write like one beats out the Beard branding post by 1 view.

I have a few ideas rattling around my head right now, but haven’t pinned down the best topic.  The fact is, I started this blog as a self-promotional tool, and it has rather failed so far in that respect.  In reality, it’s more fun to write about other things.  Yes, I want to promote my skills and desire for full-time employment, but I can’t deny that those posts might be less interesting.  Maybe I’ll test that out later this week with something designed purely with my own self-interests in mind!

Thanks again for reading, feel free to send in topic ideas to keep my creative juices flowing!