First of all... this is post #322! I am not sure how I passed the 300 mark without noticing but I did! I started blogging for Moose the very first day he came to live with me which was June 9th 2007.
At first I visited other bloggers some but not a whole lot and never commented on their blogs. I figured that these bloggers did not even know me, why on earth would they want to hear her comments?! Crazy huh? Since I started blogging with the idea that people I already knew would be reading it I had no idea that other people would read it :-)
So I just looked back into the archives and it was about my 50th post (3mos after I started blogging) when I got my first comments and they were from Opy and Turbo with DWB since I had just signed up there, but guess who else commented on that post? Randi!!! She is still one of favorites. She, Wally and Mango were the bloggers I most remember visiting when I first started which is why I think I was soooo especially sad when Wally left us last week :-(.
The goofy thing is that even though I started getting an occasional comment in September 2007, I did not even realize it for 6 months because I was clueless about blogger and did not have it set to tell me I had comments!
Still I only got them every now and then and also only posted every now and then until Moose's knee surgery. I was stuck at home with a Moose in a pen and so I got to know lots of bloggers and started commenting and getting comments more often. I started doing things like True Colors Thursday then too.
At first I used to write all of the posts but in the past few months Moose has been doing most of the posting himself (not sure where he learned to type!). I have always enjoyed reading blogs from the dog's perspective but am creatively challenged so I was not sure I could do it but now it seems natural to let him do the talking! If you have not tried letting your doggies dictate, give it a try!
Ok, so this post is really pretty boring but Twinkie's post made me think so I thought I would take a moment to look back!
So my tips for new bloggers: 1. Check out Dogs With Blogs, 2. visit other bloggers and introduce yourself, 3. try letting your dogs do the talking some of the time, 4. Be patient! Don't get discouraged if it takes awhile to get a good following. 5. Have fun! It should not feel like a chore and if it gets to that point try doing shorter posts. Some of my favorite blogs have short frequent posts.
We have met lots of great bloggers out there and have learned lots of important lessons from all of them!
Also Today would have been Wally's 7th Anniversary with his Ma ape so stop by and enjoy the adorable videos she posted of him! Also check out Randi's beautiful tribute to Wally!
Hey there Moose
ReplyDelete(Or rather...Moose's momma!)
This is a great, great post and wonderful to do something for the new bloggers! It is something we all go through when we first start and I agree with you - it's important to encourage new bloggers.
Thank you for being my blogging friend too. It's been so nice to meet folk who have so much in common.
By the way, there is a follower you haven't mentioned in this post....
Your PEACOCK! :)
Take care, lots of love and lotsalicks
MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA
Excellent perspective and advice for new bloggers.
ReplyDeleteMost wise words, my friend. I know that you were just letting mom pretend to write that post. Yuh, leaving comments is important. Don't leave 'em, don't get 'em. I like to died when I heard back from my hero, Bogart.
ReplyDeleteI think I became a total fan during TeddyNO's reign of terror. What a doofus that guy was. Blog on!
Slobbers,
Mango
Woooos Moose! (and Mom)amazing, isn't it this wonderful world of blogging. Mum says she gets to travel to distant places. and see things she never thought she would see, and meet the most special humans and their dogs....
ReplyDelete-~puppy kisses~
-Kira The BeaWootiful
Grrrreat advice for the Newbies out there Moose. I went slow at furst, too. I think it is best to be safe than sorry. There are sooooo many CAT CASES out there. Don't want to get mixed up with one of those. I'm just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteNo disrespect to your Mom, dear Moose, but your posts got so much more fun once you learned to paw them yourself!!! (LOL).
ReplyDeleteYour tips to new bloggers were spot on. It takes a while to connect -- but once you do, there's no end to the love, laughter, and insanity...
Lots of wirey love and congratulations from your South Florida pals!
Jake and Just Harry
Wow - 322 posts!?! Remarkable! How far you've come! I don't know what I expected when I started blogging, but it's gotten to be quite the hobby! We will soon be at #200, and this gives me some good ideas on what to do with it (hope you don't mind a bit of a copycat!).
ReplyDeleteMichelle (Brute's mom)
Great post, Moose! Glad to see you recovered from knee surgery and that your mom followed all of the aftercare/exercise restrictions so well! We love to see posts like this!
ReplyDeletehello moose its dennis the vizsla dog hay happy 322nd post!!! i am not so gud at the kownting so i am not shoor how menny posts i hav dun maybe i shud mayk up a spredsheet to figger it owt ha ha ok bye
ReplyDeleteAw Moosie!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for plugging my bloggy! Its a very special connection all of us DWB-ers have...& so very sad when someone you love so much (SOB! WALLY!) leaves our gang...
My mom started my bloggy 6 months after my brother Dublin went to the bridge...to help her cope & to get me some internetty friends...& its amazing how much she's laughed & cried at all the posts...me? well, I just look pretty for the camera & let her do the rest...
& I remember when I first found your blog..a 110lb black lab? WOW!!!!! A big big boy!!!!!
As Mango says, BLOG ON!
love & licks,
Randi
Hi Moose and Moose Momma
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great advice. We are new to blogging and have enjoyed reading your bloggie. You are one of the few dog bloggers who live, in what our momma calls, the South.
Sniff ya later,
Droopy and Callie
Great tips and advice, Moose!
ReplyDeleteWoofs and Kisses!
So wise Moose!
ReplyDeleteSo furry wise!
Mom and I khan't imagine our lives without blogging - yet to think when we first started, I khould only get her lazy butt to help post once evFURRY week or so - even longer!
Well, I had THAT talk with her - and from time to time I even did 'things' that helped inspire her fur a post ;-)
Thanks fur sharing your blogging past present and future!
I'm furry glad our paws have khrossed paths!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
yes darling dear moose
ReplyDeleteour mommish is sooooooo not techie at all and was just blogging to read about other happy doggies but never thought anyone would care about our antics
i mean helllllloooooo are'nt we so cuteness?? anywho im sure the newbies will appreciate your idears
pibble sugars and wiggle wags
the houston pittie pack
Moose, I loved your post and I thank you for the "honorable" mention. I thought Dogs With Blogs was down, but I checked and now I'm thinking it just doesn't get updated--not for a few months at leas. I laughed when you mentioned a lack of knowledge that led to the missed comment because I remembered in your last comment to me you had mentioned issues with Google Reader and missed posts. BOL What did you think Moose? We're all having similar issues. If I could change something, I'd like to master how Google Reader works. I lost some furiends along the way that I didn't want to lose. Luckily, many went on commenting and ... I started adding them again.
ReplyDeleteMango did a great post on blogging too. As for me, I want to do one more blog related post. I want to ask all my furiends how they deal with the fact that there's not enough time in the day to read all the posts and do your own.
My dogness, I got chatty oops
Twink!
A fun look back. Isn't it amazing how quickly 100 posts can pass?
ReplyDeleteWally was one of our first finds as well. As were many of the old timers who have left us this year.
DWB is where it's at. Superb community...
Our mom used to write our posts...but I don't think she enjoyed it thats why she handed the reigns over to us.
ReplyDeleteHappy post #322!!!
Wags and Licks,
Mollie Jo & Bobo
I wish I'd had a post like this to read when I got started. I didn't know for several months about how to set your blog to send comments to your email, and kept going back and reloading my blog several times a day to see if I'd gotten any. Mango's Mom just recently explained Google Reader to me and I'm working on learning more about that. I have no idea about the Picassa Albums, though I've heard that they can be helpful too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Twink, and wonder (especially with a SLOW, dial-up connection) how you are supposed to do your posts and read and comment, but blogging is so much MORE FUN when you do and you start getting comments back! You just end up with a hubby whining about being a computer widower... Linda (OC's Mom)