Some come, some go, some stay

Since starting this blog a couple of years ago, several others have joined the construction marketing blogging culture. This is great. Several potentially great blogs have started, then seemingly stalled after just a couple of postings.

Why?

Probably because blogging is rarely an instant revenue/gratification source. While a few a-level bloggers make a fortune in the business, most achieve longer term objectives, slowly, gradually, and by building up their communities.

You'll know some of my favorites by looking at the special blogs references to the side of the main blog. I'd add Mel Lester, Seth Holdren, and Craig Galati to the collection of blogs I monitor frequently (along with Chase and Bob Kruhm's blogs, from our own organization).
Some people of course see blogging as a route to Search Engine Optimization prominence -- and because this blog has a strong place within the search engines, they angle for backlinks here. Nothing wrong with that -- and one of the easiest routes to backlinks is through comments (though I screen the comments for relevance and if you think you can just plunk in a spammy backlink, you will get nowhere, fast.)

But I think people playing the SEO game are missing an important point. Trying to gain backlinks, trying to gain 'prominence' should be at most a result not a driving force -- if you think about the readers and deliver meaningful content they can use, and do it consistently, you'll ultimately achieve your SEO objectives in a more satisfying way.

Why is this stuff important? More and more people are finding their initial and ongoing relationships on the Web, and the blog is probably the easiest and most effective way to start. But you need patience, and you your blog needs to be valid in its own right, to be successful.

P.S. I wrote this posting, like yesterday's, before heading to the annual planning meeting. You can ensure consistency by designing posts and pre-setting them for when you are otherwise unavailable.