Comments on THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE BLOGGING MEMBERS REVEALED

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I guess I'm an optimist..I thought the active member number would be higher
Very interesting information. I think promoting Blogit as a supportive site for any writer, no matter experience, publishing credits or goals instead of a marketplace (misleading, imo) would increase membership.

posted by Katray2 on January 14, 2007 at 3:01 PM | link to this | reply

I don't know how I haven't been here before.
This is a great blog!

As to the numbers -- I can't think of truly successful, moneymaking blogging site that's subscription only. On the other hand, maybe they started with a great idea and never got any farther.

I actually like the smaller community version in many ways, but it can be limiting, too.

posted by strat on January 12, 2007 at 12:59 PM | link to this | reply

that strange word you see there was supposed to be 'drop', lol

posted by Nautikos on January 12, 2007 at 6:49 AM | link to this | reply

Joe Love,

sorry, I got to this only now, but I'm impressed with your research and analysis! As a result, what I have referred to as 'Blogitland' turns out to be much smaller than I had thought, and henceforth I shall probably refer to it as 'Blogitville' or 'our village', lol.

There already are a lot of good suggestions out there, and I can't think of anything else at the moment. If and when I do, I'll frp them off here.

posted by Nautikos on January 12, 2007 at 6:46 AM | link to this | reply

Wow how interesting.
I wish I had more to say...but I am still on the Wow factor.....LOL

posted by _Symphony_ on January 12, 2007 at 5:55 AM | link to this | reply

Joe_Love
I think the powers-that-be are making a mistake in their advertising plan. Instead of appealing to potential member's greed by claiming this is an online writing marketplace and implying there's real money to be made here, they should appeal to vanity by hyping the community/social aspects. There are thousands of people in other places blogging for free who never get comments or any type of feedback. They would love the way this site operates, but the whole "writer" angle scares them off.    

posted by Talion on January 11, 2007 at 7:09 PM | link to this | reply

Presley
BINGO!  Though I don't particularly agree with all of your points, I DO like how you're thinking!  And you, my dear, grasped exactly the point I was trying to make with this post.

posted by Joe_Love on January 11, 2007 at 6:46 PM | link to this | reply

Ariala
I'm not in favor for adding Google ads to Blogit pages.  I'm more for a community-wide attempt to grow membership. 

posted by Joe_Love on January 11, 2007 at 6:44 PM | link to this | reply

I say we add Google ads and ad a section for public blogs...this would
increase revenues for ourselves and for Blogit as they make money with the ads, and we get a percentage too...good post, Joe!

posted by Ariala on January 11, 2007 at 6:35 PM | link to this | reply

Joe Love

The number I guessed was 400 so I guess I'm somewhat in the ball park.  How do we increase membership?  What do I think?

  • Re-design and update the website, for starters.  I'm quite bored with the colors and the layout.  Instead of our current home page replace it with a Welcome page that better defines what Blogit is all about.  Change the category list to a drop down box.  Reduce the number of categories!  I hate the "labels" thingee.  It would free up space for more advertising.  Change fonts.  Jazz things up a bit
  • Update html advice and template designs
  • Increasing the writer's earnings even a wee bit would tickle my fancy so long as the membership fees remain the same.
  • Have you seen the PRESS category lately?  The last article was from 2005!  That's a no-brainer

Those are just a few of my ideas.  

posted by Presley on January 11, 2007 at 6:34 PM | link to this | reply

Wow! That's an impressive analysis!
I would say, comparing Blogit to  the leading social forums, the financial drawback is that the members are supporting the services instead of corporate sponsors.  So Blogit is somewhat of a socialist forum.  Having corporate sponsorship, like Myspace, which was bought for 500 million dollars by a media giant, has drawbacks.  First of all, it is more or less a spy program for marketing purposes.  Sure, it's free, which draws people in, but you pay with your identity.  And, people are making tons of money off you and not cutting you in.  By this logic, you think a person would be thrilled to pay the membership fee for Blogit.  I like the privacy.  I can be blunt and open here, and not have to worry about people I know spying on me(so far).  Maybe if it was marketed this way?  In coffee shops?  Leaving flyers in coffee shops.  I have met many writers at coffee shops.  Just thinking outloud. Take care     

posted by Flumpystalls3000 on January 11, 2007 at 6:33 PM | link to this | reply

Joe--
Actually I would consider the number to be even less, because in my mind, "active" would be someone who posted in the last week. That said, I have a feeling Shaycom doesn't really want to improve the site, add members or increase their (and our) revenue. We lobbied for a long time for them to include some form of nonintrusive ads which would greatly increase everyone's revenue. Many other suggestions have also been made, to which they always reply, We'll consider it. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Until they find a way to stop the large outflux of new members who join and leave within the month (or two) because it wasn't what they thought, then the numbers will probably remain about the same. They also promote the site to "writers" as a money-making endeavor, and hahahahah! It just isn't!!!

posted by Julia. on January 11, 2007 at 10:23 AM | link to this | reply

Joe

Wow – you sure did your “homework” last night. I found the active number surprisingly high actually which means I’m probably missing out on some good posts and creative writers. Perhaps the answer is as obvious as the nose on my face but how can there be only 400 subscribers and rankings which can be as high as 1,000+?

I have no words of wisdom as to how we can play a roll in Blogit’s success but I do think more of us should check out the new writers as they appear. To her credit SYMPHONY does a weekly post announcing new members and we should visit those blogs and encourage them.

I want to thank you for taking a tour through my poetry. Seems like you enjoyed them and naturally if one has an appreciative audience the work seems to take on more value. I’m flattered that you took the time to have a look around. To answer your questions…..

  1. Yes Justi and I both battle Fibromyalgia
  2. I sleuth out my illustrations or photos after I write a poem

posted by Troosha on January 11, 2007 at 8:35 AM | link to this | reply

Given your proximates as an accurate guesstimate...
From there I deduce that 25 % are reading and responding, but only about 12-15% on a consistent (daily) basis. Which means that between 50 and 75 of us are in the swim of this, reading each other's stuff, commenting on it.  Funny, I thought there was so much more. :)

posted by Pat_B on January 11, 2007 at 7:58 AM | link to this | reply

Ooh, you did the painful thing...
I tried it a while back myself. Good post, Joe!

posted by FactorFiction on January 11, 2007 at 7:43 AM | link to this | reply

Joe Love
This blog has been long over due.....no sugar coating...just straight (no pun intended) shooting information......

I would have though the numbers would have been less.....and we wonder why there is such a free wheeling atmosphere around here?  Shaycom is not going to expend the funds to police this site.....

As I said once before....one or two e-mails about a problem is probably ignored.....a few more gets some attention....but it takes a small flood to get actual action on a problem.....

And you're right how can we expect any significant "bells" or "whistles" here?  It would not be cost effective for Shaycom.....but I feel they are missing the boat by not offering optional items.....




posted by Corbin_Dallas on January 11, 2007 at 6:24 AM | link to this | reply

Freeman , I was in a generous mood (trying to be positive LOL)

posted by Joe_Love on January 11, 2007 at 6:13 AM | link to this | reply

And additionally, I think your avg subscription rate of $17 is too high. I
have been here three years and see lots of familiar old faces (username's actually) and I know many of us pay less than even the basic plan now.

posted by FreeManWalking on January 11, 2007 at 6:11 AM | link to this | reply

Freeman LOL @ Free Peanuts

posted by Joe_Love on January 11, 2007 at 6:11 AM | link to this | reply

Joe Love - I think the best answer is two make readership free so we can
send link to friends or associates.  Its frustrating to have to maintain two sites just so people not nterested in maintaining a blog can read what you've written.  And perhaps Shaycom could mail out free peanuts occasionally.

posted by FreeManWalking on January 11, 2007 at 6:07 AM | link to this | reply

LOL How did you figure out the number?

As more sites are offering a premium membership such as livejournal and wordpress at a much lower but offering no payout Blogit seems to have a corner on the market of paying blogs.  I think part of the problem are the people that are here and I am as guilty as anyone. 

Like anything in life we form friendships, groups, cliques, whatever and sometimes forget to wander outside of those blogs.  When new people come in I suspect it feels like there isn't room for anyone else.  Before we worry about getting the numbers up I think we need to work on keeping the new people that do arrive.

posted by bel_1965 on January 11, 2007 at 5:59 AM | link to this | reply

I agree with you .

posted by afzal50 on January 11, 2007 at 4:23 AM | link to this | reply

Fascinating post

Mid 300s is quite low. It would be interesting to test out numbers at different times in the year to see if there are 'seasonal' peaks and troughs.

The best way  I can think of to support and grow the Bloggit group is within the site to:

:engage the new writers and help them to feel supported as part of the community.

:comment and engage with posts that mean something to you

and outside of the site if any of us achieve any creative successes, then to give some credit to Bloggit for the inspiration, nurturing and social outlet it provides and to encourage other like minded souls (if they can afford it) to join.   

posted by MsVision on January 11, 2007 at 3:56 AM | link to this | reply

Joe_Love
Very interesting.   You go to so much trouble to find out these things.  I have often wondered about how many people were writing here.  It seems like an awful lot when I'm trying to read and comment but like you say, for being spread out all over the world, that's a pretty small amount.

posted by TAPS. on January 10, 2007 at 10:02 PM | link to this | reply