Why do I lose readers? This is a question that I get asked a lot, especially by new bloggers who are obsessed with their stats.  This focus on blog stats and the feeling that somehow a blogger has driven away a reader or group of readers is of course a classic blogger mistake.

It assumes that you can control your readers and of course you can’t, accepting that some posts will get a lot of readers and some will not. The most important influence that any blogger can exert over their readers is the quality of their posts.

Providing consistently high quality blog posts will, in the end attract more readers than it puts off.  That said you will find that readers lose interest, obtain what they need from your writing and move on to other sources.

My advice is don’t worry about daily numbers, or even monthly ones, watch the overall trend, as long as that is going in the right direction, keep doing what you are doing.

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For many of you who have been a blogger for a while this post may seem redundant. I know all the basics you may say. For those of you looking to get into blogging or who have just started these tips may prove extremely useful.

Even for those bloggers that fall into the first category, reminding yourself of the basics is always a good thing, if you do it regularly and you then go back to your blog with a newly critical eye and ask if you are in fact employing the basic lessons learned.

So the three things you should know before you start:

1. Define your objectives. If someone were to set out on a walk with no place in mind, you might consider them to be wandering aimlessly. The same is true of blogging. If you have no idea why you are doing it, then it is going to be very hard to figure out how to know if you are successful or not.

2. Know your audience. Decide in advance who it is you are hoping to attract as readers. You are probably not the only one writing about the topic you choose so go and visit other sites, read the comments, see which posts get more comments than others. Make sure you know what people like.

3. Be consistent. Lots of blogging guides will tell you that you have to write everyday. While I agree with that, where I differ is that you dont have to publish everyday. You do however, have to publish on a schedule. That could be every Tuesday if that works best for you, it could be twice a day (like I do here). You will find your own rhythm, once you do, stick to it.

What basic lessons do you still apply to your blogging efforts?

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If you are just starting out as a blogger you have no doubt searched the internet for blogging tips and advice on how to get started and seen a fair few blogs that lay down the “rules” of blogging.

Well here is one more article on that topic, however, here is where I depart from a lot of my fellow bloggers with regards to the rules:

1. There are no Rules - forget what other bloggers tell you are the must do, must have, or you are doomed to failure techniques - it isn’t their blog, its yours. Try stuff out, if it works for you great, if it doesn’t try something else - its the best way to learn.

2. Write everyday - Rubbish!! I have seen this “rule” so many times and I think it is rubbish. Forcing yourself to trot out a post or two everyday if you dont have that in you is just asking to turn your blog into a chore instead of a passion. Write when you have something to write about. What people really mean when they quote this rule is “publish regularly”. That I can agree with. Content management systems make this easy, just queue up your posts for your regular schedule (whatever that is) and then let the tool publish for you.

3. The theme is the most important thing. This rule is based on the fact that its the first thing visitors will see. Me, I could careless about the theme, look and feel etc. If I found your blog its because you were referred by someone or came up in search results on a topic I am interested in. If your content meets my needs I will come back, if it doesnt I wont - that simple.

So go ahead, break a few rules, after all thats what they are for.

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When many bloggers launch their first blog they miss out on some of the essentials. Some will cover the basics, but miss the more intermediate steps that will make their blog successful.

Doing this is pretty standard. Everyone learns as they go, even if you read extensively before you create your first blog you are bound to miss somethings, things that can be difficult or even impossible to correct later down the road.

So what is the solution if you find yourself at a stage in your blogging where you now know some of the things you would do different if you started over? Well the solution is exactly that. Start over. Start with a clean slate and then transfer your content or even go so far as to start completely from scratch and keep your original blog as an archive.

Applying the lessons you have learned from your first venture will make your second and subsequent ventures into the blogosphere that much better and the learning curve that much shallower.

What would you do differently second time around?

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