I've just noticed that my blog has been nominated as one of the candidates for "Blog of the Month" on the Spanking Bloggers Network; looking back I see that the nomination was made by my good friend Secret Spanko.
I appreciate his enthusiasm, but I'm afraid it's not shared by his fellow bloggers, as, at the time of writing, there have been 26 votes cast, and I have 7.69% of them. That's 2 votes, for those who lack an arithmetic mind. And one of them was mine!
I'm not running down the other two candidates; The Pink Report is one of the classic spanking blogs, and seems to have been around for ever, whilst Bright Bottom is a smart entertaining blog that I enjoy a lot.
It's just that I don't think my blog is particularly likeable somehow; oh, don't get me wrong, I know that I have a number of loyal fans, and I really do appreciate their continuing readership, but I, in common with a lot of bloggers, put a lot of effort, and quite a bit of themselves, into producing a blog, which seems to have no tangible impact on anyone!
Perhaps that's as it should be; blogs are personal, to express the writer's feelings and views, but if we didn't want others to see and be affected by them, we'd just write a fucking diary.
I think that maybe I try to hard; I've produced interviews, reviews, semi-reviews, model appreciations, short stories and (I hope) humorous pieces. Maybe that's too wide a canvas to paint on; I suspect that, to most readers, my blog has no identity.
If I wasn't fed up none of this would get to me.
So, crying in my beer, and it's really a bit too early to be drinking (I'm not by the way; that's just a metaphor which I could replace with crying in my coffee, I suppose, and at least that's alliterative) I've decided to take a few days off; actually as this is only my second post this week I don't suppose that anyone will notice the difference!
I have several interviews at different stages, mostly though at the "what the heck shall I ask?" point, and I'll spend some down time prepping those and emailing them to the very kind interviewees who have consented to be quizzed.
Otherwise I think I'm going to give this business a miss for a bit; I honestly have had one of the crappiest weeks that I can remember, and a bit of quiet mourning may do me good.
Sorry (again - whoever said "never explain and never apologise" was a dick), this has been depressing and not about spanking, and without even any pretty pictures to distract you, but it's all I can muster up today.
All the best
Tim
Your Blog is new to us. I looked at again the other day before I voted. Since you review pro sites and we have no interest in pro sites, you did not get our vote.
ReplyDeleteEspecially like the amateur picture on the masthead. We like our spankings to be fun.
PS, we don't even like half of what we post a few minutes after posting. The serious posts get little notice, while pictures do. Go figure.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteDon't be disheartened. I think your blog ROCKS! When BotM first started on the SBN, there was no voting, and blogs that weren't even part of the network were given the honour. I am a member but never joined the Forum, so I can't vote and didn't even know about it. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others who don't visit the forum. There just aren't enough hours in the day to visit every spanking blog, forum or list.
I drop by here regularly, and I'm looking forward to reading your interviews. If you like, I'll volunteer to be an interviewee.
Hugs,
Hermione
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteTwo years ago, my blog was nominated for Blog of the Year at the Spanking Spot. Pretty cool, huh? Well, I finished next to last in the voting, and that was only because I encouraged my readers to participate (a tacky move, I acknowledge, but I really didn't want to be dead last in a field of ten). Last year, I wasn't even nominated.
So, yes, there is a popularity aspect to what we do and few of us are totally immune. However, I write for my readers. I cannot please everyone and it's futile to try. I'm delighted when people like what I post and I try to select content that will be appealing to my regulars. But I choose not obsess about numbers or rankings. An audience is attracted one person at a time and that's the way I think about them.
So, in short, I wouldn't expend too much energy on this question. I think you're on the right course.
With warm regards,
Bonnie
Thank you al for your comments; I don't often get three on one post, and it has to be this pretty crappy one. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteOBB - no need to explain but thanks anyway (although I think that less than 10% of my posts are pay site reviews)
Hermione - thanks for the kind words, and I'd love to interview you. I'll be in touch in a bit about that, if it's okay.
Bonnie - I agree entirely with your sentiments, or at least I do for about 25 days a month, but the other bit I sometimes get disheartened, especially when I'm low otherwise. Realistically I've had a good month, page view wise. Each time I've been Chrossed I've hung onto a few more readers; I have some more good stuff coming.
All the best
Tim
Tim
DeleteDon't be discouraged. My blog is only a little older than yours, and for a time I had similar feelings. But now I realise that the quest for ever-improving stats is actually quite a hollow, unsatisfying one. Far better to make your blog individual and publish only what you want to, not what will improve your "hits". I've made a point of not publishing my stats. Only one good friend has any idea how popular my blog is in terms of stats, and I intend to keep the stats secret.
"Tim The Tum" is a great blog and the fact that it's not top of the lists is one of its charms, in a way. But for what it's worth your "hits" will go up eventually anyway.
Rod
Ha! Don't worry Tim! Grow thicker skin, I have never been nominated in over 5 years or Chrossed & don't expect to even though there are others who promote pay sites that do... just one of those things, I guess *sigh*
ReplyDeleteStill, I have a sizeable & loyal readership and they are going to be treated to Ceiling Cat again - I just hope my blog conveys my love of the subject, I think it does... and to be honest? That's all that matters to me :)