Now that’s a question that’s come up in a few comments of late and also in a couple-three emails I’ve received from folks who are putting some serious effort into their everyday personal-type blogs. No niche, no specific subject really, just their thoughts about life as they see it. I suppose that this, in itself, can be fairly specific since everyone has their own unique perception of what life for them may be. That and most personal blogs do run in a sort of vague meandering path that comes more into focus as time passes and the author becomes more comfortable with things in general. And the initial shyness that every new blogger experiences begins to fade away. At that point the personality of the author begins to show and if readers find that personality attractive, then the author’s blog will gain it’s own unique audience and the rest comes along with it. Sometimes it’s a bit slow to catch up but it will come. Be patient.

Note: Just so you know, there are times when Page Rank doesn’t mean squat. Having a low Page Rank doesn’t mean you’re not going to have 100 or more readers a day down the road. Sometimes it just doesn’t matter. Page Rank is more indicative of your blog’s position in a search result. IE: Having your blog come up on the first, second or third page of a search that might pertain to one of your posts.

So for all the new bloggers out there that are wondering whether they will ever get any regular readers or if they will ever start getting regular comments or will they ever get a good PR (Google Page Rank) like some other blogs they know…well…

The answer to the above questions is YES! But like everything else, you have to work for it. But unlike everything else (mostly), working for it is probably the easiest part—Just keep posting on a regular basis. Your regular basis. That’s the part I love.

Lookee here now…You ain’t got no business to push, you ain’t got no competition…not really and you certainly ain’t tryin’ to sell nothin’. Nothin’ but yourself anyway. So no problem!

Post once a day or once a week on a regular basis, it doesn’t matter. Just as long as your future readers can sense a rhythm to your writing. It’s a winning solution for one simple reason. If you have a personal blog, it stands to reason you enjoy writing. I know I’ve never heard of a blog whose owner absolutely despised writing. Unless they’re into some sort of self punishment thing and then I probably wouldn’t care to read it anyway.

So just to prove that it’s possible here’s a couple of examples:

The Boomer Chronicles: (Online since April of 2006 according to the Archives)

Rhea (the owner) has a wonderful time posting rather short articles, each post usually loaded with links and references to information and interesting stuff for those of us who are of the generation known as “Baby Boomers”. Rhea doesn’t mince words or spend a whole lot of time pontificating about this, that and the other thing nor can she be called “wordy” in any way (unlike a certain fellow I know ). However, when she wishes to, Rhea can pack more meaning into a short paragraph than most folks can put into a whole page.

Now some may point out that Rhea is, in fact, a journalist. Well, yes she is. Does that automatically make her a good writer? No..it most certainly does not. There are tons of people who write. However, there are only a very few who have the ability to write well and Rhea is one of them.

Cat’s Blog: (Online since September of 2006 according to the Archives)
Her Tagline says it all. “All about me complaining about everything” and that’s what she does…some of the time anyway. From Gaming to her absolute hatred of “text speak”, that horrendous disease that’s invading our children caused by the dreaded “Text Messaging” ability of their cell phones, she attacks her subjects whole heartedly. And does this without letting it turn into anything that could be perceived as whining. And she does this very well.

Of course that’s not all she does. A good portion of her blog is made up of reflections of her personal life, her fears and sorrows, joys and loves, just like any other personal blog would have. I chose Cat and her blog as a contrast to Rhea’s Boomer Chronicles because to me, these two blogs run at two different ends of the extremely wide spectrum of personal blogging. Two very different personalities from two entirely different countries (and ways of life) with two very different style blogs but both with Page Rank of 5.

Just goes to show that there is no “typing” the kind of type that one puts out to the public at large.

Now, how about one right in the middle. The perfect example of a personal blog that wanders freely from one subject to another, never finding a place to rest, where the author is most definitely a wordy type with a sense of humor that can be so dry and vague that most folks become confused and meander off wondering why they feel uneasy, that guy who can never seem to end a damn sentence…

…me. (It always pays to know who you are—Saves making explanations later)

Just Thinkin: (Online since Febuary of 2006 in one form or another–same content though)

Like Cat’s Blog above, the Tagline says it all. “Random Thoughts and Ramblings of All Things Wise and Worldly”. I’ve even been warned about that tagline from the more “Problogging” type acquaintance’s of mine. That, although the overall layout and content is fine, the “random and rambling” part has got to go. But I like my “Random and Rambling” so it stays put. My choice, right? The rest has already been said above. My subjects wander all over hell and breakfast. Like the old band I used to do sound and background vocals for way back when I could actually hear something, I can never stick to a certain vein like they could never stick to a certain type of music thereby never reaching the point where they had a guaranteed base audience. I do have a very few, loyal readers though and I just passed the point where I actually have more comments than posts on this thing which is a milestone unto itself I guess. And I have more links coming into the blog from external sites rather than my own references to myself so that’s a plus.

The whole point of including myself in this is that I also have recently achieved a PR5 and it seems to be sticking. And Rhea’s and Cat’s blogs and mine as well, have been around less than two years with Cat’s at less than a year. And all three represent the very personal endeavors of three very unique, very different (and strange, in my case) individuals. The point is…it works! And there are many more out there besides the three of us and if you work at it, you’ll be one as well. Do what you love…the rest will follow.

So for the ones who keep striving and wondering if they will ever achieve that somewhat difficult PR step from 4 to 5 or a page ranking at all, just keep on posting your thoughts to the world, commenting on other folks blogs and always make sure you reply to those who take the time to comment on your small endeavor in the wacky world of blogging.

If you post…it will come.

Have a great day.

Technorati tags: personal blogs, Page Rank, google PR, quality content