This week’s Ask the Readers discussion should be an opportunity to collect a number of profound lessons in one place. The question I’d like you to answer is: what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned about blogging or being a webmaster?

When I sat down to write this, I thought I’d answer the question from my own perspective here. I was worried that it would take some time to nut out a reasonable answer. I’ve learned a lot of things in my various engagements with the web and anticipated that it would be hard to pick out the most important one. Strangely enough, it wasn’t hard at all.

Realizing the importance of giving if you want to receive as a blogger has been life-changing for me. It’s transformed blogging into a passionate hobby and led to some incredible opportunities and experiences (and continues to do so). Read More…

One of the most potentially stress-inducing aspects of web publishing is that few of us have a safety net of content developed.

The trite-but-true central principle of personal finance is to “spend less than you earn.” When it comes to writing content, though, most of us spend exactly as much as we earn: we live hand-to-mouth, so to speak. We write an article and hit ‘publish’ on the same day.

This is a bad habit. There will always be times when real life gets in the way, or when you want to take a break but don’t want your site to suffer, or when you get sick (as I discovered recently). When those times come, not having a ’savings account’ of content hits you hard. Read More…

This is the first ‘Ask the Readers’ post at Skelliewag. Each weekend I’ll pose a question or discussion topic to extract some thoughts, wisdom and tips from readers.

This week, I want to discuss the art of making time to do the actions that grow your blog or website. Read More…

Photo by wili_hybrid

Pitching guest-posts at other bloggers is something I’ve recommended time and time again. Having said that, I believe anyone giving advice should be able to prove that they’re “walking the talk” and speaking from personal experience.

To demonstrate how much faith I place in the rewards of guest-posting, here’s a list of guest posts I’ve written since the 26th of July. Read More…

One idea I’ve been kicking around these last few days is to introduce a once a week (if I have enough material) ‘Ask the readers’ post.

My inspiration in this is the ‘Ask the readers‘ section at Get Rich Slowly, where a reader’s problem is outlined, or a thought-provoking question is asked, and other readers provide advice and discussion in the comments section of the post.

I often get requests for advice and feedback on the blogs and websites of readers, in addition to meaningful, general questions that are difficult to answer quickly.

While I’ve always responded to the best of my abilities I’m finding that, as this blog grows, I’m receiving more requests and have less time to complete them.

Rather than letting these requests go unanswered — which to me, is unacceptable, as I’ve made a promise with myself to help everyone who asks — I’m starting to think that a collaborative approach would be effective in a number of ways. Read More…

Photography by Zesmerelda

Maya Norton, who maintains a blog about Jewish philanthropy, asked for my suggestions on a situation every blogger and webmaster has struggled with at some point.

Have you ever been approached by someone who has, to borrow Maya’s words, “a little too much chutzpah or asks things of you which do not honor the integrity of your blog content?”

In a series of four posts, with a staggered release over the next few weeks, I’ll be providing suggestions for dealing with a number of sticky situations:

• You’re asked to link to content you don’t want to link to.
• You’re asked to add a site to your blogroll/links you don’t want to.
• You need to refuse a request for advice, or a favor, or a review.
• You receive a guest-post submission that doesn’t fit with your blog.

In this post, I want to deal with the first scenario: how to refuse an unsolicited link or a reciprocal link offer without putting a reader offside.
Read More…

If there’s a post you’ve been waiting for me to write, or a question you’ve been dying for me to answer on the blog, now’s the time to be audacious and ask for it!

The comments section of this post will be a forum for you to tell me what you’d like to see here and the problems you want some help with.

If I feel I have something to contribute, and that the suggestion bears relevance to a broad selection of readers, the idea will be turned into a post.

You’ll be quoted in that post, and if you have a site of your own, linked to.

Every suggestion will be read and considered. I’m quite excited to see what you guys come up with!

» Leave a suggestion for Skellie.

Another exciting month for Skelliewag.org has drawn to a close. It’s been great to see a number of new faces around the place and it’s a pleasure to welcome almost three-hundred new RSS subscribers into the community.

On a personal note, this month has taught me something I wish I had learned seven years ago: beginning your blog or website on something you ‘think’ will be popular (but is not necessarily your passion), or a topic you feel you can grow into, is one way to ensure you burn-out when the going gets tough.

As a blogger or webmaster you will experience periods of adversity and without a driving passion, not just for your topic, but for the site you are building, it will be difficult to pull through them. Read More…

Photography: Filing cabinet by alexstaubo

This week’s Swipe file contains 8 links.

Learn how to achieve blogging Zen, write/publish/sell an eBook, protect your online identity, dream up big ideas and then give them away, write a memorable (and different) list-post, boost productivity with an organized desk, read Kottke on tumblelogs and finish your first book. Bonus: are you prepared for a blogging emergency? Read More…