Baby Your Blog

Would you ignore a crying baby or one that was sick?

No, I didn’t think so.

How about a baby that was hungry?  Would you immediately provide some nourishment?

Of course you would.

Would you go on a vacation and leave your baby alone for a month?

Heavens, NO!

You blog is your baby and there are certain needs that have to be met and safety and security issues that must be addressed as the responsible caregiver of your blog.

Here’s what my blogging buddy and joint venture partner, Gwen Tanner, has to say about babying your blog:

Your blog is an expression of you and what you teach!  And if you discovered your blog was sick with viruses or plagues or other types of security issues, I’m sure you’d react just as a scared parent would – Panic, hyperventilation, then frantic researching on how to make your baby better!

Head on over to Gwen’s blog and read “Protect Your Product – Your Blog Is Your Baby”. What happened to Caroline Middlebrook (more than once!) will really make you stop and think.

And wait till you see why Gwen is so thrilled that her blog theme doesn’t display a blog roll!

  • I just recently added – baby my blog- to my weekly tasks. I had gotten this idea from another blogger and got several tasks done. But as usual you say it sooooo much better!

    I appreciate the link to Gwen – this will have to be this weeks assignment for all of my blogs. It is easy for me to blog on a regular basis. But easy to forget to get behind the scene and take care of the logistics.

    • I need to do a little more babying myself, Sheila. I finally jumped on the bandwagon of backing up my blog every week and it really gives me peace of mind. But I’m definitely remiss in the area of analytics, demographics, etc. I’ve got to baby my blog more and start to focus on exactly where my readers are coming from and what keywords they’re using to land on my blog.

      I LOVE title of your recent post – “Marketing Yogi Bear Style”! Gotta go and check that out. 🙂

  • Love the post Melanie! It’s true, we need to pay attention to our blog and give it the attention it deserves. It is the lifeline of your business.

    • No question about it, Kristen – our blog is the hub and lifeline of our biz!

      You’ve been taking really good care of your blog lately by participating in a blog challenge – Kudos to you! I hope you’ll join me and lots of wonderful bloggers on October 1st for the Ultimate Blog Challenge hosted by Michelle Shaeffer and Michele Scism.

      Write On!
      Melanie

  • Melanie, Your analogy was so real I could hear the sounds of a sick baby and feel the panic in the mother that Gwen referred to.

    It is said that it takes 21 days to create a habit and the blog challenges have helped me to create the habit of posting, thus giving nourishment to my baby – except that now I split the love between three babies as the other two had been seriously neglected. I still have one more that’s crying and think it’s forgotten.

    I’m going over to Gwen’s blog to read her words of wisdom on the need to baby my blog. Thanks for the reminders 🙂

    • Oh, my goodness, Yvonne – you’re taking care of TRIPLETS! 🙂

      Jane Lee was mentioning this week that she’s been neglecting her blog lately. She’s just like so many of us that are simply over committed. It’s really tough sometimes to stay on top of all the day-to-day priorities as a small business owner and tend to your blog at the same time. But Gwen made some really good points in her post and, like it or not, we’ve got to take care of these babies!

      I’m getting on board with the Ultimate Blog Challenge this time around. I just couldn’t manage it in August. I find that blogging challenges are the BEST way for me to care of my blog. They give you the right kind of “nudge” to get into those good, consistent writing habits we’re all trying to develop.

      Happy Blogging,
      Melanie

  • Melanie:

    I have been neglecting my blog. Sometimes we get so inundated with other activities that we forget to baby our blog. We need to feed our blog and provide quality care on consistent basis.

    Mums the word. Do not report me to the blogging police.

    Regards,
    Jane 🙂

    • LOL!! No need to worry, Jane – I can’t find an email address or toll-free number for the blogging police. 🙂

      And you’re definitely not alone in your thinking. I’ve had some pretty long “lulls” when my blog has been starved for attention. We can only do what time will allow for, right? And small biz owners are usually way over-committed the majority of the time.

      This is one BIG reason I have started to get involved in blogging challenges. Time for true confessions. The challenges FORCE me to pay attention to my blog, try really hard not to fall behind, and keep the momentum going! If I don’t have some kind of external stimulus going on, I’m sure I wouldn’t blog as often as I do.

  • Thank you Melanie!! I just heard from a friend of mine’s who has been up all night with her baby. Her little girl has a tummy ache and has been crying all night. She said “I am so sad. It just hurts me to see her cry.” Well, when I go to my blog and see all those spam comments, I just want to cry too! LOL But seriously, all of the points you mention above are important for any blog owner who wants their blog to grow big and healthy and popular.

    Thank you again for linking to my blog post!

    Gwen

    • You’re welcome, Gwen, and I could really relate to the analogy you wrote about in your blog post since I’m a mother of four! We have to nurture our blogs and be responsible and accountable for what happens to them. We have to keep spammers at bay and feed our blogs with fresh content to keep them healthy.

      Happy blogging!
      Melanie