YOUR SOURCE FOR WORLD OF WARCRAFT GOLD-MAKING NEWS AND INFORMATION

3.05.2011

Getting Started as a Gold-Making Blogger

Alto's Gold"ish" Advice
"Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size."  -John of Salisbury

Today I was contacted by a fellow gold-making blog about having Power Word: Gold featured on their site. I was very honored. It made me realize that PW:G may just turn out to be positive addition gold-making community after all.

We are one of the newer blogs in the community and we wouldn't be here without the community members and bloggers who showed us the way. Those of us who come after owe them a debt of gratitude.

Bangkok Bill's World of Goldcraft!!!
It can be intimidating starting a new blog. It can be even more intimidating becoming part a new community. The gold making community is one of the best I've been privileged to be part of.

For those just getting started I'm hoping the following will give you the motivation to keep foraging ahead. For those who were here long before me, thank you. I hope the following shows a bit of my appreciation for what you build (and continue to build).

My Story
The following are excerpts from my response to the gold-making blog working on a feature about PW:G. This post will be a bit long but I think it will be worth it.

"I really appreciate you featuring PW:G on [Insert Awesome Blog Here]. I'm honored. As to what features I would like to draw attention to. I haven't really been going long enough to have anything concrete. The main tenants of the site have been putting out consistent quality posts about the gold making community on a regular basis.

Cold's Gold Factory
"I knew going into blogging that my biggest hurdle was going to be maintaining the motivation to keep writing day after day. I have started a few blogs in the past and it always seemed that I would lose interest after a while.

"With PW:G I decided to choose I topic I have been interested in over a long time. Playing the AH has been something I've enjoyed doing nearly everyday for years. It seemed like the perfect topic. With so many great bloggers in the gold making community that really blazed the trail.

"I decided to follow there lead and start the blog. My main priority at first (besides coming up with a catchy name) was to make sure I was producing posts nearly everyday. After I had been doing this for a few weeks I started following other blogs as well as letting them know about mine.

"My posts come mainly from what is going on not only in my day-to-day gold making endeavors but also by keeping a close eye on the gold making community at large. At times it can seem tough to 'break' a particular technique or get the feeling that everything has been written about already.

The Gold Queen
"There is always fresh content and ideas to write about. I don't actively copy/paste other bloggers stories but I also am not afraid to cover the same topic another gold blog is covering because I always try to put my own personal take on it.

"For the future I hope to continue to be an active member of the gold blogging community. The gold bloggers and readers are the reason I love it so much. I hope to make PW:G a little better with each post."

Advice
For those starting out as a gold-making blogger the best advice I could give is to get to know those in the community around you. Read their blogs. More importantly comment on their blogs. Let them know you're there.

Add them to your blog roll. Ask them to put you on theirs. My blog roll is the number one place I look for the latest gold making ideas, tips and news.

Most importantly is write. Write in your own voice. Write in your own style. But write! Getting in the habit of writing is one of the most difficult things you will do but it is worth it.

In blogging content is king and your voice is your content. Once you have your content running then you can start to think about things like visual layout, style and monetization.

Power Word: Gold is always being tweaked here and there whether it is visual or layout etc. Even so, no matter how flashy PW:G's visuals and layouts may be (or not depending on your tastes) they mean nothing if I don't provide good content.

Trading with Zoxy
(As a side note, I am a professionally trained graphic designer. I am  more than willing to give your blog a look and offer suggestions on ways so spruce it up. Also, I've figured out a bit about setting up a blogger.com blog. Hit me up with an email and we can talk.)

Running a blog can be one of the most rewarding forms of self expression. Every new voice adds to the great tapestry that is the gold-making community. If you have a gold-making blog and haven't seen yourself featured on our "Recent Gold Community Posts" section let us know in the comments and we'll be sure to add you.

Talking Points
  • For new bloggers: 
    • What is the biggest challenge you're currently facing as a blogger? 
    • What is your favorite gold-making blog/blogger?
  • For long time bloggers: 
    • What do you wish you'd known starting out that you know now?
    • What is your favorite new gold-making blog/blogger?
  • For both: 
    • What was the blog that inspired you to start writing your own gold-making blog? 

Let us know in the comments below!
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4 comments :

  1. HI there flux,for a new blog let me just say you are doing a wonderful job,your topic are well written,interesting and provide solid information.

    For new bloggers:
    What is the biggest challenge you're currently facing as a blogger? --

    A: Few time to write article,i have very few free time be twin work and Wow and girlfriend,some of the time i write is at lunch break ate work.

    A2:My very 1 blog.

    A3:I am no writer never been,just a long time forum lurker, more reading then writing.
    i always like to give my opinion, but some times is hard to talk about something i am still learning in this case gold making in industrial dose.

    What is your favorite gold-making blog/blogger?

    A:In order now the blogs i like more are
    1-Altos - http://altosgoldishadvise.blogspot.com/
    2-JMTC - http://www.justmytwocopper.org/
    3- Kamm - http://kammlerskorner.blogspot.com/
    4- Yours - http://powerwordgold.blogspot.com
    5 - Colds - http://coldsgoldfactory.blogspot.com/

    Just my 5 five favorites ,but i read many more ,but this 5 five i like the most .

    Now the bloger in person i only have talked whit a few in email and the rest in just comments in there blogs but the ones i like the most are:
    -Alto,Smudger,Kammler,Your agin,Marcko,mageshadow,Miss Mediocre,elementalshaman,and again there are many more.

    For both:
    What was the blog that inspired you to start writing your own gold-making blog?


    A:The 1 blog i read was JMTC 2 years ago,and for more then 1 years was the only one i read,but only recently (January 2011), i found the blog-sphere of gold blogs out there.
    But the one that get me to start a blog was,
    Altos blog.

    ReplyDelete

  2. Flux, you always grab my attention with your posts. I am not sure which category I fall into, as I have only been around five months, but here it goes:

    One of the biggest challenges I face is providing quality content on a daily basis. Period.

    My favorite? Tough to answer. In the last three months, I have added 20+ blogs to my blogroll, there are so many that provide great content, it's really hard to single one out. They all have their strong points. Generic answer, I know, but the best answer I can give (some cat named flux has got a pretty good one, you ever heard of him? =)

    Another tough question, as I continue to learn new things everyday. I think the main one is interact with your readers. Good or bad, it is still something I try to get better at, and wish I would have focused more at the beginning...

    I did a post on this one, but to sum it up, I started my blog because no one [that I knew in the wow blogosphere] was covering what I wanted to see and read about, so I took the bull by the horns and started my own.

    I was looking for more of a "daily" scope at what was being done by the author, not a do this, do that style that seemed to be the norm. It is still tough to get a daily post out (especially when I go a day or two between logging in), but I have been playing since Vanilla, so I have alot to bullshit about.

    The blog that inspired me to get started? I started reading greedygoblin first (i think? it's not what it was back then, it used to be gold only, so I could be wrong on the name), then JMTC, so it's a mix of the two of them.

    *Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I saw my logo in your post. Thanks for the love mang!

    ReplyDelete

  3. I read the Gold Queen's blog featuring your site. I thought it was very nice. Been reading your site for a while and I like it.

    Biggest challenge in blogging has to be finding time to write. I have about 20 partial posts that I need to finish. Time I spend playing means I don't blog, and time I spend blogging means I'm not doing something else--playing or working. Which do you think gets my priority? lol

    Hard to assess my favorite blog. I like Consortium quite a bit, enjoy Alto's site but really, there is usually something interesting on all of them. Nerf Faids is high quality all the time. If I keep naming blogs I would have to name them all. Let's just say that I read every blog on my blogroll every day.

    What got me started was Markco at JTMC. I did a guest post or two and he kept telling me to start my own blog. Cold was very supportive too. I decided I would try it. I liked it but didn't have time all the time so went about 3 months with nothing posted. Then I decided to just do stuff when I feel very moved to write. If I see something that others don't write about or that is really unique, I put it out there. I usually get bashed too, lol.

    Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete

  4. Like the others who have commented, as a new blogger I find that providing worthwhile, daily content is probably my biggest challenge, coupled with finding the time to write. I have several ideas for posts, and I try and write those ideas down so that I have them when I actually have the time to write. Being new to the gold-making blogosphere, I'm also struggling with balancing gold-making tips and personal experiences. I like journaling my gold-making achievements and failures, but I don't think Story Time at Stylish Black Shirt is what readers want.

    As for favorites:
    - Alto's Goldish Advice
    - Cold's Gold Factory
    - Yours
    - JMTC

    ReplyDelete

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