Damien at the Speed of Life

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The reviewer learns from the reviewee

Reviewing peer blogs can be an excellent way to see blogging from “outside the box.”

I’ve been reviewing blogs let me tell ya!

I started a thread about a year ago at Blog Catalog offering anyone a blog review as long as it came to me prior to January 9th, 2009. I had a little time off work and I thought it would be fun to meet some new bloggers and maybe help some people out if possible. The response was positive but …

Ever bite off more than you can chew?

Just kidding.  Kinda.  I managed to do 12 reviews one day in 3 hours and my neck hurt. I tried to be positive and comment on the PROS more than the cons. Some people asked me to really criticize though so in some cases that is what I did. I thought I would summarize a few things here on my blog that seemed common issues to me anyway:

Here’s the common roadblocks I see …

• Too many ads on new blogs is annoying – My advice? Wait until your traffic warrants payment. Generally 15,000 visitors or more per month. Seeing a new blog writing about water filters for a company paying it is one thing. Seeing Adsense and other banners all over the place with no content is another thing entirely.

• Intentional Branding is crucial – The name is the thing. Really think before you put up a name or a tagline. It is your currency and it is all you ever have in blogging. Many seem haphazard.

• Many blogs have way too broad of a scope – How many malls does a town need? Be a STORE not a mall. I am reading so many blogs that have taglines like “a little of this a little of that and everything else.” It is YOUR job to tell us who you are and why YOU are worth reading.

I hope my words are helpful. I aim to do right by my contribution. If you’d like a review of your blog, I still have plenty of spare time before the 9th. Go ahead and submit it over at Blog Catalog and I’ll do my worst for ya!

Thanks to the Blog Catalog folks I’ve reviewed for giving me the privilege of reviewing your work.