blog 2009

Early this year I made a challenge post about if your blog can survive 2009. The post was made specifically asking my readers and partly the blogosphere if they can sustain their blogs up to the end of the year and hopefully for life. Although most bloggers really can, there are several factors though that can still make it the other way around. Blogging is so cheap that any man making a minimum wage can pay for it without having a problem at all! The problem I think lies on other factors like lost of desire and passion, or simply being too busy and stuffs.

Well I was scanning pretty much of the blogs that used to be a loyal reader and some blogs that I used to visit and notice a lot of them have died (literally)… Here’s the long list (blogs in mmo niche) of them (most of you know them) and the reasons and stuffs:

SuiteJ.com (stopped blogging)
MoneyBites.com (stopped blogging, heck I even one several contests with this blog)
BlogSmartly.com (The owner was a promising teenager but for some reasons he just stopped posting)
SplendidKid.com (The owner was a fellow Filipino. It looks like he either had his blog hacked or database corrupted (no backup), hence has to start over.
BloggerVenue.com ( The blog was a promising one but he decided to sell it and the new owner just totally sucks.
TheGermz.com (Another student who has been super duper busy)
Blogsessive.com (Not died, but decreased his posting frequency to once a month, wtf?)
MakeMoneyDynamo.com (site had a thousand subscribers. Eventually, it looks like Jason just completely abandoned it… sad)
Flimjo.com (The guy was one of my first blogs to read because he blogs interestingly about how passive income and the usual misery of having a day job.. Stopped posting for a long time)
Courtneytuttle.com (Another established blog that seemed to just vanished off)
InternetBabel.com (I love this blog! Even when there’s a change of ownership I thought the posts were still great. Apparently Dave’s lack of posting and interaction (and theme change?) killed the community. from 60K alexa to 1M+ today, sad)
TheBlogEntrepreneur.com (Stopped Posting as well)
Green-Flamingo.com (The guy had struggles with maintaining this blog and have seemed to be tentative since then)
Blogriffic.com (The owner is experiencing health problems, get well soon Salwa)

I want to keep that longer but that’s it for now. Although it’s been stressed many times that blogging is just blogging and cannot be put ahead of more important things, it still feels sad to see a former blogger/reader stop blogging or struggle with it. The blogosphere is a tight and enjoyable community and that’s the main reason why it’s sad.

For the case of Blogsessive, CourtneyTuttle, DoshDosh, they really don’t need to post everyday, every week and stuffs. These blogs are authoritative blogs and they can go on w/o posting that much and still rank below the 50k mark of Alexa w/o any problems at all. My bet is that they’re getting a ton of organic traffic because they have their blog indexed really deep (both quality and quantity) on search engines.

But in most blogs, it’s really kinda sad. Of course we can’t say a blog is dead until it’s domain is already parked, but a blog w/a dead atmosphere and community is 3/4 dead anyway! The surprising thing is when you ask people time from time, they usually respond saying ‘yes they will be patient and can hold on with their blog for a long time’. At the end it just goes to show you how really unpredictable things are. Today, you’re blog is in top 100, the next month it’s for sale, the next few months its nearly dead, in a year all the content is completely wiped out and the domain is not even renewed. Things move very rapid. It’s profitable, all of a suddent its not. Of course, it’s still nicer if there’s such a thing as farewell post every time a blogger kills his/her blog. But that happens very rare…

What say you? Any other blogs to add in the list? Or if you’re one of the bloggers listed above, any reasons why you’re blog got killed?

I know the title is a little funny for you guys and most of you will not even take it seriously. This is the first time my blog will face the month January , February, March, April and to be serious Im dead excited about it. It feels like I am going on to a fresh start. Im also thrilled because I have a plan already laid out for the blog in its first 6 months and I can assure you its gonna be exciting. There’s something in me that screams I should focus more on maintaining this blog more than anything else. 😉

Anyway back to the question. Actually its a question to a more broader bloggers/audience and not just for the readers of the blog. I know and I’m 80% sure of my top commentators and those who were following me since I started can survive. But then its like most just won’t. Yesterday I was reading my old posts and those people who commented on it. Some do not have the blog anymore but the domain is parked, some just stopped posting and seemed to have lost interest with it or maybe busy and unfortunately some have completely abandoned it. I can’t blame them (and you can’t) but its just like these things happen and sometimes its inevitable. There were times were I want to tell people that no matter how busy and crappy their life is they should still hold on to their blog. I’ve realized then its not fair to tell them that.

As some of you know, this blog is hosted on a monthly basis (via subscription) and while I am thrilled to experience paying monthly bills because its more challenging and hassle-unfree, maybe their’s a day where all of a sudden my paypal balance goes $0. You’ll never know. Right now, Im more inclined of receiving checks as a form of payment and in my country its not possible to transfer money from the bank to paypal. After all I realize that maybe I am in the same situation with most bloggers who were unsure about the future of their beloved blogs. But of course, thinking today, its goddamn impossible.. 😉

I see a lot of guys setting a goal for your blog and Im thrilled reading those things. But you see, things happen very quick! Maybe tomorrow my flip is gone, then next month my camera, then my computer! How about you, do you think you have everything it takes to maintain a blog for another year? Can your blog survive the year of the ox?

Your Blog Can’t Survive This Year

Can Your Blog Survive 2009?