Perfidy Valence

European bull in thought (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Why Perfidy Valence?

      One afternoon last year I woke up from a power nap with an odd term on my mind--"Perfidy Valence".   I accepted the term with a fleeting moment of clarity as though it was something completely natural to me and made perfect sense.  Then, as I became more fully awake, the phrase continued to stay on my mind while losing any significance to my real world of thinking.   However I felt compelled to write a blog post regarding the phrase and to use "Perfidy Valence" as my blog post title.

      The advice most often given to bloggers in regard to increasing site traffic is to use titles that will draw readers.   Commonly the tactics include using a question that interests many people or presenting an idea that will appear useful to others.  Overly technical or obscure titles typically do not attract readers since there is nothing in the title for them to connect to.

What Attracts You to a Blog Post?

      Perfidy Valence strikes me as a blog title that would attract few visitors.   You who visit this particular blog post will most likely be regular readers who are visiting out of habit, reciprocity, or just to see what I had to say.  Those of you who have dropped in might have have done so without even noticing the title of the post while others may have read the title and thought little of it since--well, because I sometimes come up with weird stuff and this was just another one of those things.  

      Then there will possibly be those who drop by because they were intrigued by the title.  Perhaps the phrase had some sort of actual significance for some.  For others the pairing of these words evoked a sort of puzzlement that attracted them to the post out of curiosity.   If there were any of you who fell into these categories, I hope you don't feel scammed that you were lured here under any sort of false pretenses.  For that matter I hope regular visitors aren't thinking something like, "What an idiot!  There Arlee Bird goes again with some oddball notion."

It's a Legitimate Question

      From my view on this topic of blog titles, it's not so much the words "perfidy valence" that are the real focus here.  Some readers may have expected something about a villain from a movie western or a post about science.   There are many things the title could suggest since the word "valence" has a range of meanings and "perfidy" is a word that is somewhat charged with emotion and negativity.

      In the past I used another term derived from a dream on this blog--Dynamic Flow,  After googling the term I found that others had actually used it, though I had no recollection of ever having heard it before.  I ended up with the post Dynamic Flow: The Dream as well as Dynamic Flow:  A Guest Post By Halina Goldstein.   Later I recycled my dream post as Deja Vu Blogfest: Dynamic Flow.   I can't say that any of this took on viral post proportions, but I did get some interesting reactions on all of these posts.

       However I do think legitimate questions are raised in regard to using obscure blog post titles.  Can a title of this nature increase readership?  Might using this sort of title cause a new visitor to feel ripped off after reading the post?   In this present post I think my topic is a fair one, but could my title be construed to be a deception?    

        Does using certain key words (such as sex, football, best-seller) or other names or phrases which have topical significance (for example Obama, ISIS, Kim Kardashian) in a blog post title constitute a rip-off if the blogger does not actually discuss to any great extent the word or name used?  

         Do you usually make an effort to formulate titles for your blog posts that you think will draw new readers?    Are there any particular titles that you have used that have had a particularly good response or even caused your blog post to go viral to some extent?   Are there any blog post titles that have backfired for you?

         What made you visit today's blog post at Tossing It Out?

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Experimental Fun with Blogging

English: American students pledging to the flag in a former form of the salute, specifically the Bellamy salute . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

         In the interest of blog science I am sometimes willing to put up a sacrificial post just to see what happens.  Some may consider me wacky at times--to which I will concede to accepting that assignation.  At times I am like a mad scientist of blogging.  I'm still trying to get to the bottom of blogging mysteries to see if there is any rhyme or reason to it all.

        That's basically what I did with my post from last Monday What Is the Iron Man Connection?.   My experiment was poor in that it lacked any clear hypothesis and my unscientific approach probably does not reveal any clear conclusions about what happened.  However, I can make some observations and maybe some you can suggest what conclusions might be drawn from this bit of randomness that appeared on Tossing It Out.

         If you'd prefer not to get into my research or hear anything about my "Iron Man Connection" post, please scroll down to the last section titled  "Now Some Final Words".  I hope you help with the request that is made in those paragraphs.  But if you're ready to hear more about the blogging experiment then continue on to the next section.

The Set Up

         The list of names that I presented came about as a result of free association as I was doing a Google search.  Initially my list started as a result of a discussion that I had engaged in at a group Bible study on the evening of Monday October 28th.   During the course of our discussion I had brought up the subject of  The Pledge of Allegiance.  As we talked about The Pledge I became curious about its origins.

        When I got home that evening I checked on Google to find the history of The Pledge of Allegiance and was surprised at my findings.  I thought that what I discovered might make for an interesting controversy blog post.  I opened up a post composition page and begin entering names as I came to them in my research and other names that I free associated with the others along the way.

          A proposed post about The Pledge of Allegiance began to turn into a bigger conspiracy in the line of thinking I was heading down and at that point I realized the subject matter was far too big to cover in a single blog post nor did I want to directly tackle the subject on my blog.  But I now had a list of names.  In my mischievous way of thinking, I decided to add an intro and a closing around those names and see if any readers would make any connections as I had.

           I realized that most visitors would stop, look, and then exit without a comment.  In fact the numbers who did comment surprised me.  Furthermore, the depth of some of the comments and the direction they took surprised me to an even greater extent.

The Outcome

        I posted a list with little to set it up and no real explanation for the most part of what the names on the list represented.  The list of names was presented in a relatively objective manner.

         The comments started coming in very slowly in a fairly unopinionated way with no one taking a shot of what anything meant.  Then Pat Tillet came along with his recognition of the names and a challenge concerning what the post represented.   My post for that day actually begins to take form with Pat's comment.

         After that point the comments begin to fill up with lengthy comments from others with Larry from  Back in the USSR turning the direction of the conversation to ObamaCare.  He had some excellent points to make as did Wendy Tyler Ryan.  Their exchange became the crux of the post-within-the-comment-section with some fine additions by several others.

        My post originally had nothing mentioned about ObamaCare other then a few names of some people connected with it.   In my mind I was thinking of something bigger of which President Obama was only a small part.   Left to those who visited and left comments, the blog post became focused on a side topic rather than the bigger topic which would have required deeper research or a clear knowledge of the topic and a willingness to even delve into that topic in my comment section.  Who's got the time for that?

My Conclusion

         That particular post was my most viewed over the past week even though there were two blog events in which Tossing It Out was entered.  Still, views were lower on the Monday post than for blog posts prior to my excursion into wondering about viral blogging, respect, and other mind-wandering sorts of things.  Maybe I've derailed some of my readership as a result of my recent content or perhaps the decline goes back to my social media cutbacks.   There's no real "scientific" conclusion that I've come to from my off-the-wall blogging experiment, but I can offer my observations:

• Though my title was a question, there apparently was not enough interest in the answer to draw more viewers.
• The Iron Man reference didn't have much impact, perhaps because of the Battle of the Bands hints and diminished interest in the Battle of the Bands event (no plan for me to stop yet--be here this coming Friday for the next one)
• When inadequate information is provided or the post is poorly written readers will sometimes read into a post to come to conclusions that may be much different that the blogger intended.
• Comments can be much more interesting than the post when the previous point comes into play.
• Tweeting and promoting links on Facebook can make a difference--not all that much for me in this case--but this type of promotion can work.
• Blog visitors rarely have time or interest in doing research or reading a blog post that is too detailed or deep in subject matter (I guess I already knew that). 
• The ones who do have time to read are more likely to not only leave a substantial comment, but also follow the comment thread and engage in discussion with others.
• An enigmatic post such as the "Iron Man Connection" post can more readily draw comments from new visitors or those who usually don't leave comments and not as many comments from regular visitors.

Now Some Final Words

         An unscientific research experiment renders little in conclusiveness, but allows for speculation.  I've offered my observations, perhaps some of you have some of your own.

          One thing is probably a good bet in today's post: I wouldn't expect too much engagement from readers.   Some of you may be scratching your heads if you've gotten this far down the page.  If you have then I thank you for sticking with this and congratulate you on your reading persistence.   I can't promise that I won't do a post like this or last Monday's again, but I'll try to avoid it for a couple months.  I'll try.

        Let's face it--a post of this nature is self-indulgent even if it is intended for gathering information that could be potentially useful to me as well as other bloggers.  I am exploring the possibilities that blogging has to offer.

        My blog experimentation and questioning may also be a step toward something I have brewing on the back burners of my brain.  This something may be of interest to many of you, but I'm going to let it simmer a bit before I present the idea publicly.   My idea starts with the most recent post on my dream blog A Faraway View in which my guest Yolanda Renée discusses precognitive dreams or dreams or visions that predict the future.  I encourage you to go over to pay Yolanda a visit at this post.
     
        After Yolanda's post appeared, she and I had an ongoing email exchange about her post.  Our discussion gave me an idea that I hope to share soon.  In the meantime visit Yolanda's precog dream post.  If you visit the precognitive dream post be sure to leave a comment.   And then if you would be so kind, share the link wherever you think others might see it best.  Be a part of our experiment!

        And now I'll close my self-indulgent mind circus and fly away until my next post appears on Wednesday.  Then on Friday there will be another Battle of the Bands post in which I'll pit two versions of the same song for you to decide which is your favorite.   What song have I chosen for this round?  Clues are in this post.
 
         Are you annoyed by self-indulgent blog posts?   Aren't most blog posts self-indulgent to some degree or another?   Does the average blog post have much impact for marketing purposes?     One choice only:   Do you prefer blog posts that disseminate information or are strictly entertaining?   Any idea what song I've chosen for my Battle of the Bands post on Friday?

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Blog Boggled

           From the beginning of my blogging career I have considered myself a student of what I have termed "Blog Science".  In my quest to become a better blogger by learning from more experienced bloggers and by sharing the knowledge I have gain from my own blogging experience, I began a series that I called Blog Boggled.  Since that first Blog Boggled post appeared I have continued the series on Mondays in tandem with a series called Persnickety Penman, which deals with writing topics.

           By no means am I an expert on blogging--far from it.  But I remain a student of the subject as do many of you.  If you are blogging seriously you are undoubtedly curious about things like how to bring more followers to your site, get more comments on your posts, and increase your search engine presence.  These are some of the topics I explore on my Blog Boggled series. 

           During April my Monday posts won't be so concerned with topics about blogging since in a sense the entire April Challenge is a sort of blogging experiment.  After the month of April be sure to come back for my articles on blogging if you'd like to explore this topic a little further.

           By now most of you have undoubtedly increased your followers and have seen more visits to your blogs.    If you haven't done so in the past, I hope that this month will instill an increased awareness of what is happening on your own blog and the blogs of others.  It's my hope that this April will be a time when you learn how to blog better and smarter.

           Have you seen an increase in followers since you've signed up for the challenge?  Are you following most or all of the other blogs signed up for the Challenge?   Do you have any special approach to visiting other bloggers during this Challenge?



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Stats Status

 Trip Stats:

       On Thursday January 6, 2011, I returned from my Christmas vacation from Los Angeles to New Jersey and points south.  Here are some trip stats:

Days gone:  20

Time spent driving:  94 hours (or about the equivalent of 4 solid 24 hour days).   Since we were actually only driving an average of 8-12 hours per day, the driving was spread over about 9 days.

Miles traveled:  6059 --This was the total actual miles traveled from home departure to our return.  We drove less than 200 additional miles of driving in the places where we were since most of our time at our various destinations was spent just hanging out with family. There was another 200 or less miles of riding with others who were driving us around to other places.  For the most part we were pretty content on being housebound when we weren't driving.

States Visited: We passed through 20 states, but only actually stayed in 9.

Motels Stayed In:  10 nights in 7 different motels at a total cost of $454.60.  All motels were Marriott, Radisson, or Best Western properties with 3 nights "free" due to redemption of points.

Highway Tolls:  At least $40--I didn't get receipts for all of them and lost track of the precise amount.

Gas:   $708.55

Restaurant Meals:  ????   -- We ate in many restaurants during the trip.  I won't venture to even add them up, but I'll estimate that we splurged about $600 on food during the trip.  There was a lot of fast food, but several quite nice restaurants as well. 

CDs Listened To While Driving:   67-- I like to have a soundtrack going to accompany my driving.  I brought an array of listening ranging from Vivaldi to Eels to K.T. Oslin to Manhattan Transfer and on and on.  I would start the day with something classical and then a mix after that.  We drove all Christmas Day and listened to Christmas music the entire time.  We actually had 86 CDs with us, but since we also listened to the radio some and had some quiet drive time we didn't make it through all of the CDs we brought with us.  I love listening to music while driving.

Amount of Fun:   A whole bunch!

         This gives you a rough idea of what it might cost two people to make a lengthy cross country trip.  Certainly it can be done much less expensively, but I think we were in line with a certain element of frugality without being absolutely Spartan about it.   I highly recommend a road trip of this nature if you don't mind the hours in the car and the time away from home.  If you get the opportunity, go for it!

Blog Stats:

            I noticed that some of the WordPress blogs that I follow had received an assessment of "Blog Health" with an assortment of statistics and the blog owners posted their reports.

           In the past I have tried to make some sense of my Google Analytics reports, but have never really gotten overly serious about it.  When I changed my blog page template my Google Analytics stopped working and I just ignored it.  I notice now that on the Dashboard page there is a tab labeled "Blog Stats" that seems to provide the same information as Analytics did.  Someday I really need to study this and make some sense of it all.

           Have any of you studied your blog stats and made sense of them?   What conclusions have you come to from the information that is provided?     Where is the best place to go to find out more about how to interpret blog stats and put them to work?

Blog Boggled: More Comments About Comments

            I have often indicated that I am a student of Blog Science--the study of how blogs work.  It's an analytical approach I like to take when I start doing something that interests me.  I like to know how things work and how I can make them work more efficiently.  And as any scientist has a tendency to do I like to experiment in order to test the theories I hear about or come up with myself.  In this first year of blogging, Tossing It Out has been my blog laboratory.

            The first thing that captured my curiosity when I started my blog was how would I get people to read.  I also recognized that having followers sign up would mean the greater likelihood of potential return visits by readers.  Also the attractiveness of numbers of followers on a site often makes others want to linger a bit to see why that site is so popular.   Let's think psychology here:  If you see a business with an empty parking lot you might be inclined not to go in, whereas a crowded parking lot might make you want to find out why the place is so popular.  It's not always the case, but overall, popularity attracts more attention.

         So how to get the visitors?  My first step was to contact friends and relatives.  Perhaps a cheap shot, but why not?  Wouldn't they be interested in what you have to say?  I called people I knew and sent out emails.   I asked them to tell all of their friends and relatives to read and follow as well.  I posted an announcement about my blog on Facebook and LinkedIn. These methods got the word out, but it was also the toughest sell.  Most of these folks weren't bloggers and didn't understand the process.   I got most of  my first twenty or so followers this way, but I still wasn't getting many comments for the first month.

        The first step I took to get commenters was to go to my Blogger Profile and find others with similar interests.  I visited their blogs, left comments, followed, and invited them to visit my blog as well.  As most of you know these visits will reap a pretty good return rate for acquiring followers to your own blog. 

         Before long I was getting daily comments for my posts.  This is where an important part of the process enters the picture.   First I would try to leave quality comments as much as I could and leave an opening for continued dialogue.  I subscribed to the comment sections so that if I saw that anyone responded to my comments I could comment back if it were appropriate.  I would also follow the comment thread in order to  find and check out other bloggers with interests similar to mine--poaching as Elana Johnson referred to it.  Time consuming?  Yes.  Productive?  Sometimes.  If nothing else I was establishing blog presence--check "ARLEE BIRD TOSSING IT OUT" on Google.

           A few of the bloggers who I have seen notably use the subscribing to the blog technique are Stephen T McCarthy, Larry of DiscConnected,  Judy Harper, Gregg Metcalf,  Dezmond the Hollywood Spy, Sig of BeadedBear, and Trish and Rob MacGregor .  Sometimes they argue, sometimes answer questions, and sometimes it's just pleasant banter, discussion, and conversation.  Whatever it amounts to it's meaningful relationship establishment and building. 

          The other thing that I did was respond to any comments I received and attempt to give a quality response as much as I could.  When I look back over some of my earliest comment threads I see actual discussion going on between me and commenters.  To me this represents a healthy exchange of ideas and a good potential for learning. I try not to leave any question unanswered and any comment unaddressed.

           Still another approach I took was announcing special posts to certain people that might be interested.  For example, when I did a series of interviews, I would go to my Blogger Profile and add to my interests and favorites a number of things that might relate to my topic.  I would then find other bloggers who were interested in those things, visit their blogs, and leave a comment which would include an announcement of the blog post that I thought might interest them.  As a result I would get some good comments for that post and often new followers for my blog.  

             The Blog Events-- such as the lists of favorites that bloggers like Alex J Cavanaugh have hosted; the BBQ hosted by KarenG, or the recent Great Blogging Experiment hosted by Elana Johnson, Jennifer Daiker, and Alex Cavanaugh--can all reap many new followers for those who follow the etiquette and visit, follow, and leave comments.  Any of these bloggers will probably agree that hosting a successful blog event probably gains the most followers in the shortest time, but it involves a lot of work.  When I hosted the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, I gained over 100 followers, but at a great investment of time and effort. 

          What it boils down to is how badly do you want followers and readers?   They are probably not just going to come to you unless you have something very special going on with your blog.  You've got to work at gaining and retaining your followers and you've got to give them something that they will want to come back to read.  It can be a lot of work.  What you need to do is figure out why you are blogging and what you want to get out of your efforts.

If you have hosted blog events, what was your return and was the effort worth it?   Do you use the Blogger Profile to find others of similar interests?   Do you encourage conversation in your comment thread and if so how do you go about it?     Do many of your family members or friends follow your blog?   How do you get non-bloggers to be interested in following and reading blogs?  If you are one of the commenters who regularly subscribe to a comment thread and I did not include your name in the above list, please add to the comments here--I know there are more.

             

             

A Blog Blossoms

......continued from yesterday.

       I was now writing every day.  Blogging had begun to feel like a part time job that I wasn't getting paid for.  I was taking this job seriously.  When I wasn't writing my blog post, applying for jobs, or tending my Craigslist offerings, I was researching the art of blogging to learn what I needed to do to make my blog work best.  I did not have any schedule or particular plan.  I would just write something related to Halloween and post it sometime during each day.

         By my fourth post I signed up as a follower on Stephen T. McCarthy's blog and left him a comment so that he would know that I now had a blog.  He in turn became my first follower and left my first blog comments on my post of September 23rd.  Comments and a follower!  I was thrilled.

         On Sepember 28th I received my first unsolicited out-of-the-blue comment from Jennifer Hudson Taylor.  It was one of the most helpful comments I have received.  She suggested that I develop a blog schedule themed according to each day of the week.  I decided I would take her advice after my Halloween posting was finished.

          I soon began racking up followers and getting more comments on my blog posts.  My blogging enterprise was taking off.   However, I checked my AdSense request each day and still no approval.  I could not figure out what the problem was and my inquiries to Google went unanswered.  I did not understand, but I was starting not to care either.  It was becoming more about the writing and the potential that writing held for me.  Perhaps ads were not something I wanted on my site.

          My research was starting to indicate to me that AdSense did not really yield much income at all, if any.  Would I really want advertising on this blog that had become more about the writing than anything else?  I was faithfully composing articles that often involved a great deal of research at times and at other times were personal observations and memoirs.  The latter were the posts that seemed to elicit comments whereas the more informational posts were typically ignored.  I was starting to get a feel for the type of subject matter that was most likely to gain and retain readers.

          I was also becoming a part of a blog community that mostly consisted of writers, which was helpful to my writerly pursuits.  Having learned about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) that would be occurring in November I decided to sign up and attempt to fulfill a long time dream of writing a novel.  The discipline of daily writing and corresponding with other bloggers was taking hold.   I was exerting a writing discipline that I had never had before in my life.  
        On Halloween, October 31, of 2009 I announced my new blog schedule which I would be working on concurrently with writing my novel, A Desert Place.  I became regimented with blogging and writing.  By the end of November, I had completed the 50,000 words required to "win" the NaNo competition and had successfully posted and commented on a daily basis.  In a two month span, I had passed the fifty follower milestone and was getting comments on a regular basis.  I set a goal of 100 followers by the New Year.

        What happen to AdSense?   Who knows.  It didn't matter to me now.  I was more concerned with blog integrity.  Now I had a writer's blog and I felt that ads might convey the wrong impression.  I was more concerned about getting readers and having a presence on the internet.  The all important platform was now my quest.  I needed to establish my name and my reputation.

 .......more of the story later, but first.......

        Tomorrow I'll be joining Elana Johnson's Writing Compelling Characters Blogfest.  If you haven't signed up yet, you still have an opportunity.  Most of you probably are well aware of the great potential in increasing the follower count on your blog by joining one of these blogfests.   This one should be a doozey since as I write this the sign up count is already at 151 participants. 

          My contribution to this blogfest will be in line with my One Year Blog Anniversary as I discuss how I have used "compelling characters" in some of my blog posts.

           Next Monday I will complete the history of Tossing It Out in a Blog Boggled installment which will describe the techniques I used to gain followers and encourage readership.  It's more Blog Science--some strategies you may have already heard and some ideas that may be new to you.  I hope we get some information interchange going where we can all learn something about blogging that will help us to blog better.

Blog Boggled: First Impressions

        Do you remember when you first met your blog?  Was it love at first sight?  Or did it take some time for you to get know and understand and fully appreciate your blog?   Are you still in the courting stages?  Or do you now just take your blog for granted?  Even worse, is your blog beginning to annoy you, become a burden to you, or just isn't the same blog you fell in love with in the beginning?

        I'm still happily married to my blog (note to my wife-- please don't be jealous, my blog could never take the place in my life that you occupy) and I'm trying to keep my writer-blog relationship healthy.  But maintaining that relationship is ongoing work and takes a great deal of time and patience.   A blog is an investment of talents, emotions, and time.

       As I continue reading other blogs, I continue to find others posing the same questions and pondering the same thoughts that I have been looking at over my past several Blog Boggled Mondays (if you have not been following, you can search back through my archived articles for other articles about blogging).  There are several good posts that others have done, one of my favorites being a series of excellent posts by JODY HEDLUND, who has several really fine posts on the subject.  Today KATIE GANSHERT is supposed to be posting her take on some blogging issues -- you may wish to check out what she has to say.  There are many others who have discussed this same issue and if you are one of those please give the link to yours in the comments to this post or direct us to other sites on the same topic.

        Blog Science is how I've been thinking of it.  That is a study of how blogging works and how it relates to the human mind.  In addition to science it is also art.  There is the literary aspect of the written blog and the visual artistic aspect of the photo blogs and the other visual art blogs.  There are culinary blogs and craft blogs, mommy and daddy blogs and grandparent blogs,  cat blogs and dog blogs, and now here I'm talking about blog blogs.  There is no end -- you name it and somebody will blog it.  The real question that many of us want answered is who will read these blogs and what will keep them coming back.

         Like when meeting someone for the first time, blog first impressions have a big impact.  Something either catches your eye to attract you, repels you to make you look elsewhere, or makes you feel so indifferent that it makes little impact.  And it's different for different people.  Initially most of us are drawn in by some sort of visual stimulation -- pictures, colors, fancy borders and wallpaper, movement, sparkle, and so on-- but once you get past that does the blog really have anything to offer.

          Personally, yes I'm captivated at first by glitz and gimmickry, but once the novelty has worn off I want there to be something there to keep me interested.  If I'm looking for information, that's what I want.  If I want something to read, then give me something to read.  When I pick up a book to read, I don't expect fancy borders on the pages or pictures everywhere unless that's part of the purpose of the book.  I'm not condemning anyone's blog because I am amazed by some of the things I see on some of these sites.  Granted I'm easily impressed when it comes to technology and I don't know how to do a lot of this stuff I see, but I haven't found anything I'll sit and look at for hours because I am looking for content to feed my intellectual curiosity.  If you grab me, then you need to hold on to me.

           I will continue to explore this in future posts perhaps, but I really want some opinions.  What grabs you when go to a new blog and what keeps you coming back?   How does a blog win you over?  Do you still like your blog?  How has your blog changed from when you first started it until now?  What kinds of changes would you like to make to your blog in the future?  What kinds of changes do you think I should make to TOSSING IT OUT?   Say whatever you like.  I want some real honest information, so get tough!


Update:   Robyn Campbell also asks why we blog on her post for today.