I am trying to think of a appropriate title for this post ”Why You Should Stop Reading Blogs”. However, i know you won’t be stopping even if you read this post, instead i am advising you to avoid spending too much time on reading blogs. It’s impossible to totally eliminate reading because reading is a way to learn and gain knowledge.
I subscribe to a lot of blogs as you know from this post. Do i read every one of them? In the past, yes, i tried to read every one of them and even comment in it. But now i only read post that has a sticky title which draws me in to explore the content or topic that interest me.
Why do you have to read so many blogs?
Try to ask yourself this question. Why do you have to subscribe and read so many blogs? Is it because:
- You wouldn’t want to miss any latest news happening in your niche
- You simply want to get yourself out there, commenting in every post and gain as much exposure as possible
- You want to support your fellow bloggers
- You are eager to learn
Whatever it is, stop indulging in your reading. Why? Simply because there is no way for you to learn everything. Each and every blog is talking about different topic everyday even if they are in the same niche and there are so many blogs vying for your attention. How can you finish reading all!
Reading too much is not going to help your blog grows
Reading too much is just going to get you confused and overwhelmed. Which tactic is the best? What strategy works for me? You won’t be able to know unless you starting testing on it. Solely depend on reading is not going to improve you as a blogger or help you to become a better blogger.
You have the knowledge after reading but it means nothing unless you implement and see some results. You read a post, you think its fantastic. You nodded and agree while reading, i am sure this happens to you. But that’s it. You did nothing, the blog owner is not going to be too happy because he teaches nothing and you gain nothing.
Reading other blogs should not be your priority
You are supporting your fellow blogger by reading and commenting in every post, that’s very kind of you. But you wouldn’t want to do it at your expense. Sometimes you need to be a little selfish. I am not asking you to stop connecting with others. You need to put the interest of your blog on the starting line.
Concentrate on building your blog. I wonder how many of you has the mentality of reading and commenting will help me to create a successful blog. To be frank, i can see the competition is getting higher compared to one year ago when i started Findmyblogway. I don’t see commenting as a effective way to build traffic any more.
It is a good way to get started by attracting a few eyeballs but in long term wise, it’s not a clever strategy to build a high traffic blog. You can see for yourself, you go comment in a A-lister’s blog, how many visitors can you attract a day?
When is the best time to read blogs
Unless you have the time of the world, then by all means you can spend 24 hours reading whatever blogs you subscribe. Then when is the best time to read a blog? When you have a need for it. It’s the time when you are looking for a solution to solve a problem or looking for tutorial to help you implement your ideas. This is the time when you search and start reading.
Conclusion
The idea here is not to stop you from subscribing to blogs that you like. I am still keeping more than seventy blogs in my Google reader. If reading blog is your hobby or you don’t have a blog, by all means continue to do what you are doing. If building a successful blog is your serious business, cut down your reading time and start implement every tactic and strategy that you know. I am sure your productivity will increase.
How many blogs do you read a day? Do you read every post in the blogs you subscribe? Do you think it helps or it is hindering your productivity? Join in the discussion and share your thoughts. I definitely like to know what you have to say about this.
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Wonderful post. I must agree that it is very good to read as you gather information but when you read to many blogs then at times one is even confused. One blogger is saying this and another that. You should only read when it is necessary and also read content that you know will be of assistance to you.
Caesar Parisi recently posted..Christina Wilson-Freudenthal Joins "The Champagne & Parisi Team" of Lang Realty
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Hi Caesar,
There is no point in reading and reading yet we couldn’t see any results because we wasted all our time reading.
Thanks for the support and comments.
Lye
Unexpected headline! I have about150 blogs in my Google reader, and I try to read all their new posts. But that’s right that some of the I shouldn’t read because some topics are almost the same. And I stopped doing this. If I see that the topic is quite familiar to me, then I don’t read it. Actually it usually happens with posts dedicated to some new devices. I understand that I won’t find something new in other post.
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Hi Jeanie,
If reading all those blogs is your hobby then you can continue. But if you are serious in building an online business, cutting down your reading time should be a logical choice.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
I don’t follow too many blogs in any reader. A few I do try to keep up on, but most are nearly impossible when they post daily or several times per day. I certainly don’t dwell on a new post just so I can comment and get a backlink, but I would be willing to be there are tons of people that do, and probably their sole purpose. They just want a backlink more than anything. They most likely barely read the post or care, but what do we do that is the way it is I guess. And the more traffic or pagerank the more interested they become. Not because they like the contend, but because they like the rank and traffic. They rarely have an interest in what we have to offer.
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Hi Ray,
Commenting because of back links is a no-go. You are only spamming the post and make yourself not looking good at all.
We still have our offline life and there is no way we can follow every blogs.
Thanks for commenting.
Lye
Lye, this is a very, very good point you’ve made, one that most folks may want to argue with, but bottom line it’s true. Here is the biggest problem I see:
Reading blogs is often times a cheap substitute to actually writing/creating something for ourselves, essentially, it’s an escapest tendency for many, many people.
I see people buying every eBook, reading every post, but not creating anything. So what have they actually done??
Not much.
I’ve fallen victim to this myself before so I’m not pointing fingers, as this is something we all must be aware of.
Good stuff Lye,
Marcus
Marcus Sheridan-The Sales Lion recently posted..How to Create an Incredible Personal Branding Video that Sells YOU
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Hi Marcus,
It’s perfectly normal that we fall victim to try and read every blog but that’s also part of the learning process.
Sometimes we need to make a decision. What is best for us and we have to decide.
Thanks for dropping by mate.
Lye
Well, I think generally reading more than the average folks is a good thing. I believe that in order to be a good writer, one must read, read, read and write, write, write. I think it becomes detrimental and counterproductive when you read too much JUNK and there’s junk abound on the web. So you have to discern between what is good for you and what is not.
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Hi Reese,
That’s a good point. We have to differentiate what teaches us the things we need and concentrate on reading those.
Thanks for joining the discussion.
Lye
Twitter: GearOutdoor
Great post Lye.
Nowadays we all spend too much time surfing the internet or reading blogs. Perhaps we need to redefine our priorities; we should consider how, where and why we spend so much of our valuable time on internet.
Thank you Lye!
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Hi Nick,
You are welcome. Glad you get the idea.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
I guess. And the more traffic or page rank the more interested they become. Not because they like the contend, but because they like the rank and traffic. They rarely have an interest in what we have to offer.
midtown143 recently posted..totally free dating website
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Probably, we should clearly understand what we are doing. To subscribe and comments, getting backlinks can’t get us far. We need to really test it out to see whether it is working for us.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Twitter: Mazzastick
I don’t spend nearly as much time commenting and reading blogs as I used to. I still take a couple days out of the week to read and comment but this is not my sole focus anymore.
There is just way too much info out there these days.
Justin | Mazzastick recently posted..Getting Beyond the Time Loop and the Matrix
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Hi Justin,
We have the same scenario. I used to read every post and comment but i feel i am doing better now because i am focusing on how to improve my blog.
Thanks for joining the discussion.
Lye
Hi Lye,
The message is very direct to many bloggers including me. What comes up for me is there is this assumption that people read and comment on blogs only because of link juice. I do not deny that. But that is actually some form of action towards the final objective of improving and succeeding with our blogs. Every comment counts.
But I am not advocating people leaving spam-like comments. Those are really very obvious. If we don’t like it, it is just a click away from the spam bin. What counts are quality comments to add value to the conversation. And quality conversation only comes with reading.
If people bother to spend the time reading and writing a handful of comments, it means that the article is interesting to them. There will be some form of gain at the end.
At the end of the day, I think if we are just selective with what we read, it will be ok. That’s still building up your brand and site. The problem starts when people are playing the numbers game. As many “Great Post” as possible.
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Hi Jimmy,
The most important point i want to get across is we should apply the things we are reading in order to make it worthy. If reading blogs is a hobby, then there is no harm because it’s just like reading books. It’s a way to kill our time.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Lye
I see people buying every eBook, reading every post, but not creating anything. So what have they actually done?? |
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Well, i don’t think we can answer for them. They should know what they are doing.
Lye
Well written Lye, I have subscribes about 45 blogs and read them all, some time they makes me confusing with different point of view on same topic but it make sense a little bit that why we spent time on other blog reading every post, I like your term you use as blogger “Sometimes you need to be a little selfish.” This is only way you can save your time and make something good for your life, I agree that reading other blogger give you some knowledge and you love to know everything happening around your niche but your post make me thinking on it how much time I should give to others including you.
Roger Jignesh Parekh recently posted..Jack Lalanne PJP Power Juicer Pro Stainless-Steel Electric Juicer Review
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Hi Roger,
I have more blogs than you in my Google reader and i am talking with my experience. If i miss a day’s post, the unread ones will pile up and it really takes a toll on me to clear.
Ultimately i understand i don’t have to read every post in there, just the ones that interest me.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Lye
Hey Lye,
Too keep up with all the top blogs in a particular niche is extremely time consuming.
Information overload in another factor that makes readers quite confused, not being able to make distinctions between facts and perspective.
I read the blog title and if it made me interested I read the whole post, once I’m engaged comments as well come easier.
thanks for the share
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Hi Akos,
You are absolutely right. We need to ask ourselves whether there is a need to read every post. If the answer is no, then we should make use our time smartly.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Hi Lye,
I agree with you here. It is important to a blogger to spend less time in reading other blogs because if one focuses on his own, there are lots of good things may happen.
Haley recently posted..Rachel Rocks
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Hi Haley,
At least the effort is channel to make our own blog rocks, so definitely worth the sacrifice.
Thanks for dropping by.
Lye
Hi Lye, your post was an eye-opener to me. I spend too much time just by reading other blogs, I’m learning something but there’s so many blogs I usually read that I almost forgot my own. I will now implement a routine to make my time more reproductive.
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Raymond,
If you can find the time to read and implement at the same time, i think you are doing just fine else you have to cut down a little.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Lye
This is very informative indeed Lye. Reading blogs can be fun if the content is worthy enough to be read especially if it contains accurate information.
Hi,
Nice post it’s true we should not give too much time to read a blog post because it will take too much time but beside that in starting it is compulsory from my point of view if we will read every blog post then i think we will know more tactics about how to make a perfect blog post.
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Hi Sam,
Agreed. Most newbies will read a lot of post. Slowly as you gain knowledge, you should cut down the reading time and start implementing on what you have learnt. This would be ideal.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Excellent post!But probably according to your thoughts we shouldn’t read it….))
Jeanie recently posted..Free TV Channel Video Facebook Template
That’s true Lye!
Reading blogs was once a great pleasure to me. Because when I was a total newbie to this whole online world, I was too eager to learn as much as possible. I keep reading long hours everyday.
But it came to a point that I felt overwhelmed (you know it, information overload). Then I decided to stop for some time. And I began to apply what I know. That’s when I see my very first results.
I agree that blogs can be a big source of useful information (like yours). But information alone can’t do us anything. We have to practice what we’ve learned. That’s the best way to learn
Thanks again for this post man. All the best!
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Duy,
That’s all part of the blogging journey right? Information overload is one that newbies need to take note. Every blogger is giving out different information and each has their own ways of doing things. We need to know what works for us. That’s very important.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Lye
My hobby is to read blogs as many as I can everyday.I’m averaging up to 100 blogs a day. I read the most recent posts of the blog. You may wonder how I do this and still having to manage my blogs. Well, it’s not impossible if you’ve made it a habit.
Hi Lye
We are spending too much time on reading the blog because sometime we are not understand the blog as soon.
thanks,
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