Taking The 30 Day Blogging Challenge
So you have your blog out here in cyberspace and you just can’t seem to get any traffic. We all know what a bummer that is. Well, you are in luck because I’ve found a way to dramatically increase the traffic to your blog and it only takes 30 days, but the benefits will last long past your initial month long time investment. I’ve seen this happen on my American Idol News blog.
What’s the secret to getting your blog off the ground and noticed in the blogosphere? I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll go into a little more depth this time around. If you want to kick start your blog and bring it from obscurity to the next level, you must, and I mean absolutely must, make at least one blog post a day for 30 days without exception. You also must leave comments on other blogs in your niche at least once a day for 30 days as well. (Spam comments don’t count!)
Here’s a screen shot of what’s happened at Affiliate Confession since blogging for 24 days straight. It’s gone from 5 visitors a day to 180 visitors a day with a high of over 600 from one of my posts getting a good Stumble. The drop to zero on Dec 14th is because I forgot to put Analytics on the updated theme I installed.
There are 2 reasons for the necessary and consistent 30 days. One will get you noticed by search engines for action on your blog and by readers as a real blogger so they will start commenting. The second will train you to be a diligent and focused blogger.
Let’s face it, everyone knows how hard it can be to come up with a topic day after day to blog about. What you need is a kick in the pants to get you started and keep you going. You should strive every day to write your best post, but all your posts won’t be the most exciting thing you’ve ever written. However, the valuable lesson is in the doing. Once you get 30 or more posts under your belt you should have the skill and more importantly the understanding of what it takes to make your blog work. At least at this point you can determine if blogging is your thing or just not for you because it’s too much work. I think you’ll find it’s worth doing.
One of the things that has helped me blog every day for this 30 day time is that I’m not thinking of posts as an essay or writing assignment, but rather I’m trying to have a conversation with you, the reader of Affiliate Confession.
So I’m challenging you right now to make a commitment to blog every day, no matter what it takes, for 30 days straight. If for some reason you will be out of town or simply must skip a few days because you won’t have access to a computer, you can always take a day or two and write several blog posts and then timestamp (Worpress users) them to go out on a daily basis.
Now, I’m not going to let you off so easy by ending the post here. I’m challenging you not to to be a sissy blogger here. Leave a comment below and let the world know that you are up for the 30 day challenge and you will absolutely commit to posting every day for 30 days straight. Sure, you can say you are going to do it and have the best of intentions, but by telling the world and letting other bloggers hold you accountable because of your commitment you are buying into the deal just a little deeper.
If you’ve already done this and have seen good results, please let us know by leaving your comments.
Are you going to take the challenge? Leave your comments below.
Alan
Tags: blogging, stumbleupon, wordpress, visitors
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You have made some excellent points and I couldn’t agree more. Getting out there and posting at least one post everyday not to mention comments and participation in group events is definitely a great way to kick start your blog. Or even restart it after an absence.
Thanks for the comment on the Entrecard Contest post. Nice blog I am grabbing the feed so I can’t wait to see what else you have planned.
Once my Final exams are over on Tuesday. Ill take your challenge and write for 30 days straight!
I am up for the challenge. I am the classic once a week blogger… or I was.
I’ve read a gazillion posts on how to drive traffic to your blog. And you are exactly correct. The first recommendation in every single post is More, Consistent Posts.
I’ll also add a related tip that I heard was useful for readers. Post regularly at a given time. You train your readers and subscribers to check your posts and you fulfill their expectations with new posts. If you are all over the map, you may have posted on a given date. In the readers eyes you have missed a day. The best way to address this is schedule your posts and keep the pipeline full.
For about the last two weeks I’ve been posting on my site more consistently than I ever have before and now my Analytics graph looks nearly identical to yours. One thing I’ve been neglecting is making comments on other sites though.
I went from 20-30 visits a day almost entirely from Google searches to yesterday’s all-time high of 308. A lot of that has to do with a few nice Stumbles and front page stories on Design Float though. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the coming days and weeks when those spurts of traffic fade out.
Hey Alan, don’t know if you saw my project but I definitely validated your ideas that you must post a lot, and post daily.
Wow, it’s great to see people taking the challenge. I think you will be surprised how much of a difference it will make.
Okay, you talked me into it. Consider it done. Maybe my first post will be about you. It will be hard since I do other things besides blog - and I have a few blogs here, but I’ll do it on my main blog. Does today count? I think it does. So, from now through January 16, I’ll make one post per day.
The interesting thing is my personal blog is hardly a targeted website (like you would probably recommend).
I do have a new blog called InsuranceAgencySuccess. So I’ll also do it on there as well. Since my personal blog already gets a good amount of traffic, I don’t expect to see a big jump there, but I do need your professional help in deciding where and how to start putting some of those great 125 ads you talked about onto it. I’ll also be wanting to see how the Insurance one jumps in traffic, since it is kind of unique project to begin with (it is basically an e-book that I’m writing one chapter at a time online in the form of a blog).
Thanks for the inspiration.
[…] friend Alan has issued a challenge for bloggers to post at least once per day for the next 30 days. He’s hardly the first blogger I’ve […]
This is an interesting challenge Lawrence. I like challenges. I just started blogging one month ago, myself, and haven’t promoted my blog that well. It should be interesting to see if I get any traction to my website if I post consistently.
Here’s hoping I make it through the 30 day challenge! I feel like I’m going on a diet!
Ok, count me in. One concern about posting every single day is my subscription list. I have concerns that they might feel “nagged” or irritated by having a post in their email every single day. How does everyone else feel about this? I have worked hard to build a loyal following and am careful to only post valuable information - not just junk for the sake of posting. Thoughts?
I’ve posted the last 30 days and fully intend to do the next 30 days as well. I’m a bit shy about commenting but I’ll take your challenge and get more active in the community.
This has got to me more fun than a diet!
Taymar,
No need to be shy, thanks for commenting.
Very cool post Alan.
I’m actually finding it difficult to be able to say I’m going to accept this challenge, as it seems like a pretty tough feat for some reason. I’ve been a bit lax with my blog lately, but I think that this challenge may be the kick in the pants I need to make something happen
Coming up with great topics and information is the hardest part imo, but maybe by surfing and commenting on other blogs such as this one, perhaps I will be able to come up with stuff easier, and like you say develop sort of a flow.
Of course, I’ll have to juggle this around with my other projects
Ok, I’m on board! Starting today, the 30 day blogging challenge begins! And I’ll start with a post all about 30 day challenges
Thanks for the inspiration!
- Tim
Congratulations Tim on taking the challenge.
[…] was exploring the blogosphere today when I stumbled upon an interesting post by Alan over at Affiliate Confession. The concept is to supercharge your blogging by posting on […]
[…] highly recommend subscribing to his RSS feed) has issued a challenge to his fellow bloggers to make at least one interesting post every day for 30 days. Now that my final exams are over (as of 10:00am this morning!!!) I will have a ton more free time […]
I will be starting this 30-day challenge on 01 January 2008.
Congrats Emmanuel for taking the challenge!
I am up to the challenge!
[…] Blogging Results of Alan’s 30 day blogging challenge (I’ll bring you mine when I finish ^^) Taking The 30 Day Blogging Challenge This is the post that inspired me to start blogging […]
[…] December 19th, 2007, I was inspired by Alan over at Affiliate Confession to take on the 30 Day Blogging Challenge. The concept was simple. Supercharge your blog by posting everyday and commenting frequently on […]
Hi Alan,
thanks for your great post, I am taking up your challenge starting today, actually already made the first post about your challenge. I´ll be back tomorrow to read the rest of your blog,
take care!
Mirjam
Mirjam, Congrats for taking the challenge, I think you will see a difference in the traffic to your blog.
[…] a little late on checking back on this one, but I issued the 30 Day Blogging Challenge back on December 17th and just wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing? Several people […]
ok, this is a challenge I am going to take starting today Jan 25.
nice article you have there.. I’ll do the 30 days challenge.. it is really a big challenge for me ‘coz i don’t have PC at home and I only updated my sites every time I am here at my work sitting in front of my station.. and to think that I don’t have work every weekends..
ahh.. a challenge.. hope I can do it…
Definitely up for it!
[…] Joining “The 30 Day Blogging Challenge“ […]
Great article, Alan. As a fairly new blogger, I’m taking your advice and jumping in to the challenge!
Congrats to Jess and Rob on taking the challenge. Keep at it and you will see the difference.
[…] have been friends for ever!), but like I said, his blog caught my attention, especially a post of December 17 last […]
Hi… Today i am taking this challenge. Just now i registered the domain name. Anyway we will see what will happen next, after 30 days… i will be back to this page after 30 days with my result.
Hi there. I’ve been blogging consistently (daily at that) for the past month or so. You’re right, it became abit easier after awhile. Hopefully I can keep at it. Cheers!
I’m entering the 30 Day Blogging Challenge - great post by the way.
So far I’ve maintained at least 3 posts per day since launching (I’m a little addicted..) My main worry is that I won’t be able to keep this up, and consistency is important in blogging.
My blog if you’re interested is: www.pushstandards.com
Hi Tom,
Thanks for stopping by and congrats on taking the challenge. By the way, very nice work in your portfolio.
Alan
Am taking this challenge starting today. For February, I’ve done 9 posts already and missed 2 days only. I already wrote down all the future topics in my notepad and noticed that I have come up with a good list enough to last till March.
Oh God! Am I really doing this?
Good luck to me.
Hello from the TUNA CAPITAL of the Phils.
Joel is up for the challenge!
Hope I have as much success as some of the people who have done this.
GRRRRRRRRR
http://www.ipodideas.blogspot.com
Ok, Ok. I am in. I need to get a hold on my blog. Starting the 15th, I am in for 30 days solid!! Thanks for the motivation.
I am taking the challenge. I have just started a blog, and find it hard to get traffic to my blog. I have submitted my site to every promoting site I can find, and still dont recieve a great deal of traffic. I am going to, from this day on, make one or more posts a day, for a month, and see what happens. I will comment again after a month with my results!
bariles, Joel, sukosaki, hambo12,
Congratulations on taking the challenge and I hope you stick it out, it will work wonders for your blog and writing skills.
Alan
[…] tomorrow I will be entered in the 30 day blog challenge put forth by AffiliateConfession.com. All I have to do is post ONE post per day and comment on ONE other blog per day for 30 days. […]
Thanks for the boost. I will take the challenge.
That’s it, posting 30 days straight? Should be easy as pie….. for 1 blog only. Now, the commenting on other blogs, that’s the hard part.
… does this count as my 1-per-day comment?
Practical and useful. I am going to take up this challlenge as soon as I release my new layout. This seems like a great idea and could definitely dramatically increase traffic across the board.
I am also up for the challenge. I am also thinking of starting a new blog. Hmmm
Good Luck to all of us!
[…] The other thing I am going to do is take the Alan Lest’s 30 Day Blogging Challange. […]
It may be two months later but I am starting the challenge today! How did it work for the rest of you?
I am going to take you up on the blogging thing. I am uneasy about trying to come up with a topic every day.
It will be interesting.
I would like to know how it has been going for those of you who have completed or nearly completed this 30 day challenge?
Never considered that commenting on others site is good for my blog so thank you for that.
Me and my friends at http://trickinghaze.wordpress.com/ think were up to the challenge!
We’ve started as of yesterday and were not going to lose! ^_^
Hi Alan! I’m a very new blogger, and am continuously learning how to do this… I try to post often, but I don’t every day… My blog is http://megavegalicious.com , about Las Vegas or the spirit of Las Vegas, and so far I haven’t really participated in any related blogs. I’ve just recently launched a contest and began socializing. But I’ll try to take your challenge, and post more often (even if not every single day!), and leave more comments… Thanks for the very good advice!
This has been an active commentary…and I wanted to participate but did not get my blog going till the 29th. So I am in! Although I am doing it as a 40 day challenge…which I am explaining on post 4
(I’ll mention your challenge.)
Thanks for the challenge. I did this on a couple of my other blogs but had not done it on my affiliate blog.
i am defently up for this challange. And im starting with this comment!!
will let you know how i get on in 30 days
[…] who writes the blog Affiliate Confessions, recently invited bloggers to take a 30 day challenge. He wrote, “So I’m challenging you […]
This is a great article Alan. I won’t be taking the challenge as you describe it here. I mostly blog for fun and just don’t have the time to post every day, at least not high quality content. I will be trying to blog once every 3 days though (10 post per month). Thanks.
Thanks Justin.
[…] being personally inspired by The 30 Day Blogging Challenge I feel like sharing a similar idea of my own. Firstly let me just say that everyone should be […]
[…] Alan from affiliateconfession.com has posted an article about the 30 day blogging challenge. “I’ve found a way to […]
[…] I’ve found some interesting ideas on the blogs I visit, and I thought I’d share them here.
Alan from affiliateconfession.com has posted an article about the 30 day blogging challenge […]
wow…i wanna do this!
I started 4 days ago
It’s kind of working you can see my blog here: www.tfgblog.com
i agreed this is one of the methods to increase traffics. i keep your challenge and now i’m starting post at least one entry per day
Hey Alan great post fella…
I started yesterday And will be posting my commitment on my blog today… Here’s to 30 days straight.
JeanMatt
Hey Alan thanks again for the inspiration mate, I’m on day three now, yeah I know still a long way to go… haha
Well just wanted to say the challenge cant be done without applying good time management to increase your productivity and efficiency… So be sure to check out my latest post on “Time Is Money - Productivity 101″
All the best
JeanMatt
Does it count if I write multiple posts on one day but save some to publish later? Of course, you can’t really save comments on other related sites for later, I guess.
Really useful, I will begin my 30-day experient from tomorrow!
Great! I just started the daily thing last week — it’s great fun. And coincidentally, I was going to make it a 30-day minimum anyway. But now I can join y’all. Here’s to another 30 days!
Okay…I’m in but I’m going to step it up one notch. I have two blogs going and I’ll make it a point to write in each one everyday for 30 days. So, that’s 2 unique posts each day. I’m pretty good with one blog but the other doesn’t get as much attention as it should! Great post.
I see you have the ability to work for yourself. Often people loose focus and just pass things off with whatever excuse they can make. Comfort is a dangerous and expensive thing!
Great Idea. I will try it with my favourite hobby. Digging Lugworm
Hey! I just started my blog and i loved reading this challenge. I am deffinitely up for it!
Pennyblogger,
Best to you on the challenge. It will make a world of difference.
I’m set with the posting for 30 days straight. The problem is going to be the commenting. I guess I can try this, though.
So simple yet so difficult, that’s the beauty of this challenge, and I accept it.
Ok ok, I’ll have a go at the challenge. Though I do have very limited use of the Internet, a full study load and a part time job! Still, no use moaning, let’s get writing!
great article, defently got me motivated. IM UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!!
I am up for the challenge. See my new blog by clicking my name. Comments welcome of course.
I am up for the challenge as well.
I think you site is informative, fun, and it speaks volumes that you have a post going back 5 months that still gets comments.
Welcome to the challenge Patrick!
Just what I need. A kick in the right place to get me going.
Thanks Allan!
alan, i’ve been writing consistently every day since my blog was launched, except for weekends, so i now have 9 posts. hopefully i will the spike in traffic that u did by day 30! also, i will have to start stockpiling some posts so that can schedule them to publish for weekend editions and to also have a safety net for when i can’t find the time to write.
as for commenting, i’ve been pretty good with that aspect as u can see, i’m commenting u right now! my only problem is sometimes i don’t get any link love b/c authors have their comments set to nofollow. also, i’ve linked to a few blog articles but i never see pingbacks on the originating post, so looks like some authors disable trackback/pingbacks as well: ( they should reward people for their efforts and show some link love!
I’ll take the challange!
By the way very good blogging style and conversation with the readers. Nice work.
Ooh, you’re good. And you’re on!
Hi Alan
I will take the challenge, so starting tomorrow I will post every day for 30 days and see what that does to my traffic figures.
Thanks for a wonderful blog, it helps newbees like me
Hi Alan
Well it is day 2 now and I am keeping your challenge so far, hope I don’t run out of ideas
Oh its on , like Donkey kong. Seems the 30 day challange is a popular keyword too
I’m gonna give it a whirl. I made a new site a week ago ( www.epicurean-chef.com/blog ) and I’ve been posting about once every 3 days…
I’m going to try the 30 day challenge and see what happens.
Nice article, didn’t even know about a “timestamp” function in Wordpress. Count me in!
Great Post as always Alan… Super Longevity mate, busy with the challenge and only A-Grade Post Allowed hehe yeah…
I have enjoyed the challenge so far, I must say it is quite difficult finding a subject a day to write a post on, but I have achieved it I just hope my regular readers have enjoyed it.
I have seen an increase in traffic but not as much as I expected, maybe a few of your visitors can go to my site and see it they can recommend changes that will make my blog more interesting.
Thanks
Dude i dont have something to write about each day lol.
hello,
i have already started doing this with my blog
I have seen an increase in my traffic since I started the challenge a lot of new readers have arrived and this really makes one think about writing interesting stuff.
I’m agrred wiht you that you needcommit yourself to post at least one post a day and comment in other blog related to your niche at least one a day.
Traffic is the “lifeblood” for your online business. Without targeted traffic you won’t success in the online business even you have the best products in the world. Who are going to buy from you?
Blogging is easy and we can get the ideas from thousand of free sources such as forum, blogs, google, ebay and etc…
To your success
Bryan Hee
i have niche blogs attached to my websites for their support and daily updates of its news ….
i try to update them daily with fresh news and updates for sure … only the days which sometimes left are on weekends .. as m lazy to update on weekends but as m a wordpress user .. i use timestamp to post automatically.
I am taking this challenge, starting tomorrow (today’s post had already been made and doesn’t count).
Let’s see where this goes
Kinda hard finding other blogs in the same niche, but I’ll try.
I’m going to try to make this work. I’m a really bad commentor but I will take the next thirty days to rectify that.