First off...ANNOUNCEMENT: I am a featured talent on Nextcat! check it out here.
Recently my dear friend and fellow GKN'er Morgan Barnhart give me some great tips to improve the quality of the GKN Weekly Update (which is basically a blog), to increase the number of loyal, wonderful readers (dats you guys), and to encourage more participation. Morgan, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Her kind gesture made me really examine what I'm doing here and how I'm doing it. I'm not talking about the content. Many, many of you great people out there have told me how much you enjoy reading my silly little stories so I'm not changing that. However, the way I get the message out definitely needs to be improved...
If you're reading this, the odds are it was delivered to your in-box either from the Facebook Group or Yahoo Group and you're reading it because it's convenient. Most likely you didn't go to my blog to read it, it came to you. I compose it on Blogger then I re-post it on Facebook, Yahoo, MySpace, Nextcat, Game Voices, and VO Universe. I honestly have no idea how many readers I have since it's spread out all over creation and there is no way to track it on most of the sites I post. I have six Blogger followers (which is obviously not indicative of the actual amount of readers), 380 Facebook Group followers, 120 Yahoo Group followers, and I can get anywhere from 0 to 100 hits on Nexcat per week. I use Blog Patrol to track my Blogger activity, but it's inaccurate and frequently crashes. See what a mess this is?
So, what should I do? What do you VO bloggers do to get your message out there? Do you post on multiple sites? Does it matter to you how many readers/followers you have? What keywords do you embed in your blog, if any? How do you encourage comments?
Among the many great suggestions Morgan gave me, one was to switch from Blogger to Wordpress for many reasons. I Googled "Blogger vs. Wordpress" and I found a TON of online articles comparing the two. Wordpress does seem to have the edge. However, I'm reluctant to switch. I'm comfortable with Blogger even though I'm aware that Wordpress can serve my cause better.
TIP OF THE WEEK: I know darn well that the way I've been getting the Good Karma Network message out there is messy & inefficient and I've known that for a while. However, I've gotten used to it, which makes me a knucklehead. No more, true believers! Let this be a lesson to all of you: just because you're used to doing things a certain way doesn't mean it's the best way. Always look to improve every facet of your life whenever you can, for the betterment of yourself and those around you.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: The only purpose your life has is the one you give it. from the book Conversations with God
STUFF!: So, fellow bloggers, what's your preference? Blogger or Wordpress?
From Tom Dheere's apartment, this is Tom Dheere, GKN News...
1 comment:
I read your blog because, yes, it shows up in my facebook feed. I like your blog because you are my friend and it as an easy and fun way to keep up with what is going on in your life (not just your VO work but your personal stories, photos and quotes).
I'm not part of the VO world and if your blog was strictly professional in terms of that I probably wouldn't read it -- just saying.
Morgan has a good point, though, in terms of what you want your blog to be. If you are aiming for VO professional, I definitely encourage word press over blogger. But what 'message' are you trying to get out? And who is your target audience?
Also, before you make any changes, I highly recommend adding a 'site meter' to your blog. I use on and I don't even blog anymore. That will show you how many readers you have, who your readers are, where they come from, how they got there, etc.
I also think blogs that encourage comments and discussions are the most interesting to read.
I understand your hesitation to switch. Wordpress blogs require a web designer (or someone with advanced computer skills -- which you have) to make it look professional.
Is there a community of VO bloggers? If so, I'd start there.
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