I’d Appreciate Your Thoughts on This, and, If Willing, Your Prayers

Me personally, I would not give too much credence to what this person had to say about your site. You may only post about 16-17 times per week, but I see blogs around the internet that get hit A LOT and they post far less. With my new website that I have started just last month, I am posting new blogs at a rate of approximately 30 per. But what people have to understand is that I have the TIME to do this because although I do work, I do not have a family that would direct my attention elsewhere. The family always needs to come first, and even though it may be a “hobby” for right now, it could turn into something bigger later.

I update the news on my site about 3 to 4 times a day, and if I get breaking news or a story from someone I know out there who is a journalist then maybe a few more times. We are not Matt Drudge! We do not have MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars to sit at home and work on our websites or pay someone to do it for us. Drudge report was not always a HUGE success. It took time and energy for Matt Drudge to push his name to the top.

What it comes down to is quality, not quantity in most cases. This is the first time for me at your site but I see nothing to complain about here. The problem is some just have to complain because they have nothing better to do, even when they put a nice spin on it at the end of e-mails. I visit many sites on the internet, run by everyday people, that may never become HUGE successes, but they do not care! They are getting the word out to a few hundred new people a day and that is all they ask for. You may want more out of your website, and it will come when people get familiar with clicking your site before drudge or yahoo news or whatever it may be.

People have told me through e-mail my site looks like a third grader built it, that it lacks good news, and they scream that I am not as good at posting news as other sites. You go to my news and I have the top stories that people are talking about, so how in the world could you ever make a comment to that effect. My site may not look like drudge, and that is what people want, but then others will say you are copying what drudge is doing. It is a catch 22 and we will never win. All we can hope for is that people come to the blogs posted on our sites and like what we have to say, because that brings you closer to an actual person that just reading some news on the computer a few times a day. I do not know about the rest of the people here, but I like to know when I comment on a blog the person who wrote it can and probably will respond to what I have to say. I am probably not the only person out there that feels that way, and little sites like ours take off because there is a real person there to fix the problems and make sure there is some sort of discussion going on.

Sir, I appreciate what you do, and the little tweaks that the person that e-mailed you talked about is a long term fix that comes with running a website and having the time to post new and interesting pieces. It does not happen over night, but the work that we do is appreciated by many who come and never say I word. All we have to do is look at that number of unique visitors to see how many new people are coming in a given month. if there are more and more and more each month, then you are doing something right! And even if it is not, and you enjoy doing what you do, then keep on doing it. It is not often we find something we love to do.

I have taken too much of your time, I am sure. But thank you for the good work you do here! Have a great week!

Me personally, I would not give too much credence to what this person had to say about your site. You may only post about 16-17 times per week, but I see blogs around the internet that get hit A LOT and they post far less. With my new website that I have started just last month, I am posting new blogs at a rate of approximately 30 per. But what people have to understand is that I have the TIME to do this because although I do work, I do not have a family that would direct my attention elsewhere. The family always needs to come first, and even though it may be a “hobby” for right now, it could turn into something bigger later.

I update the news on my site about 3 to 4 times a day, and if I get breaking news or a story from someone I know out there who is a journalist then maybe a few more times. We are not Matt Drudge! We do not have MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars to sit at home and work on our websites or pay someone to do it for us. Drudge report was not always a HUGE success. It took time and energy for Matt Drudge to push his name to the top.

What it comes down to is quality, not quantity in most cases. This is the first time for me at your site but I see nothing to complain about here. The problem is some just have to complain because they have nothing better to do, even when they put a nice spin on it at the end of e-mails. I visit many sites on the internet, run by everyday people, that may never become HUGE successes, but they do not care! They are getting the word out to a few hundred new people a day and that is all they ask for. You may want more out of your website, and it will come when people get familiar with clicking your site before drudge or yahoo news or whatever it may be.

People have told me through e-mail my site looks like a third grader built it, that it lacks good news, and they scream that I am not as good at posting news as other sites. You go to my news and I have the top stories that people are talking about, so how in the world could you ever make a comment to that effect. My site may not look like drudge, and that is what people want, but then others will say you are copying what drudge is doing. It is a catch 22 and we will never win. All we can hope for is that people come to the blogs posted on our sites and like what we have to say, because that brings you closer to an actual person that just reading some news on the computer a few times a day. I do not know about the rest of the people here, but I like to know when I comment on a blog the person who wrote it can and probably will respond to what I have to say. I am probably not the only person out there that feels that way, and little sites like ours take off because there is a real person there to fix the problems and make sure there is some sort of discussion going on.

Sir, I appreciate what you do, and the little tweaks that the person that e-mailed you talked about is a long term fix that comes with running a website and having the time to post new and interesting pieces. It does not happen over night, but the work that we do is appreciated by many who come and never say I word. All we have to do is look at that number of unique visitors to see how many new people are coming in a given month. if there are more and more and more each month, then you are doing something right! And even if it is not, and you enjoy doing what you do, then keep on doing it. It is not often we find something we love to do.

I have taken too much of your time, I am sure. But thank you for the good work you do here! Have a great week!

I agree. I would not look into the email too much. Yes it is nice to have update every half an hour or more, but most of the sites he talks about have more that just 1person posting, unless you are Warner Todd Huston.

Pretty much as I see it, there is no one template for making a blog great. There are many different ways to go about it and with most of us, it is a hobby. I get a lot of time to be online at work, but I try and post the more political stuff whe4n I get home, So I have many cartoons throughout the day unless there is something bug. But we are not all going to have a Red State, Hot Air, or Drudge Site. Unless we get money, which is a hard thing to actually do,I would not change that much.

And again this is a personal blog, not a news site such as Drudge. Making more posts yes will probably get more visitors, but you do not want to change yourself, be who you are and people will come.

I agree. I would not look into the email too much. Yes it is nice to have update every half an hour or more, but most of the sites he talks about have more that just 1person posting, unless you are Warner Todd Huston.

Pretty much as I see it, there is no one template for making a blog great. There are many different ways to go about it and with most of us, it is a hobby. I get a lot of time to be online at work, but I try and post the more political stuff whe4n I get home, So I have many cartoons throughout the day unless there is something bug. But we are not all going to have a Red State, Hot Air, or Drudge Site. Unless we get money, which is a hard thing to actually do,I would not change that much.

And again this is a personal blog, not a news site such as Drudge. Making more posts yes will probably get more visitors, but you do not want to change yourself, be who you are and people will come.

Thanks for writing all that.

I agree that quality is more important than quantity. It’s important to keep that in mind. It’s a rut I was falling into by posting shorter, link posts just to get content on the site.

I think everyone so far has made some good points, including the author or the letter.

You have given me something to think about. Thanks again.
Duane Lester´s last blog ..Nearing 50%, After You Give to Scott Brown, Throw Some Change My Way

Thanks for writing all that.

I agree that quality is more important than quantity. It’s important to keep that in mind. It’s a rut I was falling into by posting shorter, link posts just to get content on the site.

I think everyone so far has made some good points, including the author or the letter.

You have given me something to think about. Thanks again.
Duane Lester´s last blog ..Nearing 50%, After You Give to Scott Brown, Throw Some Change My Way

Duane,
Heed these other comments. You have a job, and a family. If you were a multi-millionaire and able to do this full time, it would be a different story. I enjoy your perspective, and what I read here. It occasionally points me to other more in depth stuff, but for a person that does not have all day to browse every other blog out there, this suits me well. Quality is my game, so I will always pick quality over quantity, and I think this site provides that. You even go me to tweet :)

Hope you get all your funding for CPAC, I kicked in a little.

Matt in Littleton

Duane,
Heed these other comments. You have a job, and a family. If you were a multi-millionaire and able to do this full time, it would be a different story. I enjoy your perspective, and what I read here. It occasionally points me to other more in depth stuff, but for a person that does not have all day to browse every other blog out there, this suits me well. Quality is my game, so I will always pick quality over quantity, and I think this site provides that. You even go me to tweet :)

Hope you get all your funding for CPAC, I kicked in a little.

Matt in Littleton

Thanks, Matt, for everything.

I appreciate the time you spent to write that comment and the money you donated to help me out.

It’s motivating.
Duane Lester´s last blog ..Kerry Says Brown Camp Are Bullies, Pickup Drivers

Thanks, Matt, for everything.

I appreciate the time you spent to write that comment and the money you donated to help me out.

It’s motivating.
Duane Lester´s last blog ..Kerry Says Brown Camp Are Bullies, Pickup Drivers

Duane,

We all need to take our sites and efforts more seriously. That being said, I really liked your post here. This is the process that I undertake about 7 times a year if not more. I think you do as well because I always see improvements in your site and your writing. Duane your a great blogger and you must borrow what has become my lovely wife and my family motto: “Never, Never, ever let the Bastards drag you down!” Winston Churchill. It is great to always be striving for the best product you possibly can deliver and also finding a balance for your family, job and media responsibilities. You have to do what is right for you. But from your reflection above and your wife’s wisdom of turning to prayer, I would say your feet are following the correct path.

Now you probably know I am a big proponent of our Conservative grassroots taking their activist efforts seriously and thinking of them as a business. All to often we get treated like how we think and present ourselves to the industries we serve. My latest kick is kicking Conservative candidates in the arse to assist and advertise with conservative grassroots so that next election cycle there will be more of us to carry their message to the voters. But the old Political machine moves slowly and they don’t want us moving in on their cash cow.

What I am trying to say is Duane, just keep doing what your doing! Asking questions, growing, polling your readership and getting the good news out there.

Your doing fine my friend!

Chad Everson
http://www.WGGRN.com
Theodore Media LLC
Chad T. Everson´s last blog ..Ways to Join us as a Host on WGGRN!

Duane,

We all need to take our sites and efforts more seriously. That being said, I really liked your post here. This is the process that I undertake about 7 times a year if not more. I think you do as well because I always see improvements in your site and your writing. Duane your a great blogger and you must borrow what has become my lovely wife and my family motto: “Never, Never, ever let the Bastards drag you down!” Winston Churchill. It is great to always be striving for the best product you possibly can deliver and also finding a balance for your family, job and media responsibilities. You have to do what is right for you. But from your reflection above and your wife’s wisdom of turning to prayer, I would say your feet are following the correct path.

Now you probably know I am a big proponent of our Conservative grassroots taking their activist efforts seriously and thinking of them as a business. All to often we get treated like how we think and present ourselves to the industries we serve. My latest kick is kicking Conservative candidates in the arse to assist and advertise with conservative grassroots so that next election cycle there will be more of us to carry their message to the voters. But the old Political machine moves slowly and they don’t want us moving in on their cash cow.

What I am trying to say is Duane, just keep doing what your doing! Asking questions, growing, polling your readership and getting the good news out there.

Your doing fine my friend!

Chad Everson
http://www.WGGRN.com
Theodore Media LLC
Chad T. Everson´s last blog ..Ways to Join us as a Host on WGGRN!

Duane,

I couldn’t agree more with the other comments here. Sure, Ed and Allah churn out content like it’s their jobs–because it is. They are paid a full-time salary to do what they do. They don’t have another job. They aren’t raising 5 kids. Jim of Gateway Pundit cranks out a lot of content, too, but he’s recently joined the team at First Things and is likely earning some income, if not a full salary, from such a gig. I have so much respect for all of these writers — but you are different and your blog is different. I strongly disagree that you need to crank out a lot more content. I think you’re doing a fantastic job.

That being said, I read through your 2010 goals and must admit I’m really impressed. They seem very ambitious, and yet manageable. Continue to pray about it, but I think you’ll find that focusing more on your own assessment of 2010 and less on the email from this reader will be very beneficial. I regret that the AIP opportunity is no longer available for you, as I think you did a fantastic job with that medium and with that audience. Your work there was always among the most-read articles on the site. If you haven’t reached out to Pajamas Media, Human Events, or Townhall to show them some of your work from AIP, I strongly suggest that you do. Don’t forget that Townhall Magazine is another option.

If you want to talk through this more offline, let me know. I’m happy to listen if you want to bounce ideas around.

You’re doing a phenomenal job. Please, keep it up!

Duane,

I couldn’t agree more with the other comments here. Sure, Ed and Allah churn out content like it’s their jobs–because it is. They are paid a full-time salary to do what they do. They don’t have another job. They aren’t raising 5 kids. Jim of Gateway Pundit cranks out a lot of content, too, but he’s recently joined the team at First Things and is likely earning some income, if not a full salary, from such a gig. I have so much respect for all of these writers — but you are different and your blog is different. I strongly disagree that you need to crank out a lot more content. I think you’re doing a fantastic job.

That being said, I read through your 2010 goals and must admit I’m really impressed. They seem very ambitious, and yet manageable. Continue to pray about it, but I think you’ll find that focusing more on your own assessment of 2010 and less on the email from this reader will be very beneficial. I regret that the AIP opportunity is no longer available for you, as I think you did a fantastic job with that medium and with that audience. Your work there was always among the most-read articles on the site. If you haven’t reached out to Pajamas Media, Human Events, or Townhall to show them some of your work from AIP, I strongly suggest that you do. Don’t forget that Townhall Magazine is another option.

If you want to talk through this more offline, let me know. I’m happy to listen if you want to bounce ideas around.

You’re doing a phenomenal job. Please, keep it up!

Duane – right there with ya brother. I think you are doing a fine job with this blog. As a fellow blogger with a real world family to support and a real world job – I can feel your pain. I was trying to post up to 20 a week – and found that just to be way to time consuming given my other commitments. The fact you get 16.8 according to google is great. I guess what you really should pray about is whether you really want to be a full-time blogger or hobby blogger or not and to give it some thought as to why exactly you do blog. Blogging is a hobby for me – one that I quite enjoy because it gives me the ability to connect to others. I also blog so that I don’t have to complain about this stuff at work or at home. It gives me an outlet. IMHO – you are doing a great job here. Keep up the great work.
The BoBo´s last blog ..The BoBo Carnival of Politics – January 17, 2009 Edition

Duane – right there with ya brother. I think you are doing a fine job with this blog. As a fellow blogger with a real world family to support and a real world job – I can feel your pain. I was trying to post up to 20 a week – and found that just to be way to time consuming given my other commitments. The fact you get 16.8 according to google is great. I guess what you really should pray about is whether you really want to be a full-time blogger or hobby blogger or not and to give it some thought as to why exactly you do blog. Blogging is a hobby for me – one that I quite enjoy because it gives me the ability to connect to others. I also blog so that I don’t have to complain about this stuff at work or at home. It gives me an outlet. IMHO – you are doing a great job here. Keep up the great work.
The BoBo´s last blog ..The BoBo Carnival of Politics – January 17, 2009 Edition

Duane…

You have too much crap in your sidebar. But to say this site looks half-assed is insulting. Of course, as the guy who designed the site it’s personally insulting to me, but it’s a criticism that was made without giving any sort of explanation and there is no merit to the statement. There are lots of blogs that use unoriginal template designs, and there are a lot of really shitty looking blogs out there. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into making this an original and nice looking website and plenty of people like it. Most importantly you like it, and it’s your website.

I know what you’re up against with time and family commitments. The fact that you put out such quality content on such a regular basis is a testament to your dedication and I admire you for what you have accomplished in the past three years. You have every reason to take pride in what you’re doing here.

We both know that there is always room for improvement, and that it’s important to continually seek out ways to make this a better blog, to improve your writing, and so on. But you do that and always have. Don’t spend too much time worrying about one letter. You’re on the right track.
Andrew´s last blog ..Polls are in His Favor, But Will Brown Pull It Out in the End? It’s Up To You MAGOP

Duane…

You have too much crap in your sidebar. But to say this site looks half-assed is insulting. Of course, as the guy who designed the site it’s personally insulting to me, but it’s a criticism that was made without giving any sort of explanation and there is no merit to the statement. There are lots of blogs that use unoriginal template designs, and there are a lot of really shitty looking blogs out there. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into making this an original and nice looking website and plenty of people like it. Most importantly you like it, and it’s your website.

I know what you’re up against with time and family commitments. The fact that you put out such quality content on such a regular basis is a testament to your dedication and I admire you for what you have accomplished in the past three years. You have every reason to take pride in what you’re doing here.

We both know that there is always room for improvement, and that it’s important to continually seek out ways to make this a better blog, to improve your writing, and so on. But you do that and always have. Don’t spend too much time worrying about one letter. You’re on the right track.
Andrew´s last blog ..Polls are in His Favor, But Will Brown Pull It Out in the End? It’s Up To You MAGOP

Duane,

I totally disagree with your critic. If you feel that you can do better without jeopardizing your relationship with your family and the people that matter most then I say go for it. However if your house is falling apart and your wife is ready to kick you out on your butt if you spend one more minute in front of the computer then I say that giving me new reading material should be on the back burner. I love getting your posts in my inbox every day and I forward them often. I like the perspective that I get and I frequently find out information from your site that I haven’t heard before. Then again, I don’t have time during the day to surf through all the conservative news outlets.

I think that if you are willing to do what you CAN to improve your site and make it as good as you can personally make it without making any major sacrifices, you will find that for every critic, however well intentioned the criticism may be, you will find 10 people that like what you have done and are grateful for your input.
Maggie´s last blog ..How did we get here? And how do we get out?

Duane,

I totally disagree with your critic. If you feel that you can do better without jeopardizing your relationship with your family and the people that matter most then I say go for it. However if your house is falling apart and your wife is ready to kick you out on your butt if you spend one more minute in front of the computer then I say that giving me new reading material should be on the back burner. I love getting your posts in my inbox every day and I forward them often. I like the perspective that I get and I frequently find out information from your site that I haven’t heard before. Then again, I don’t have time during the day to surf through all the conservative news outlets.

I think that if you are willing to do what you CAN to improve your site and make it as good as you can personally make it without making any major sacrifices, you will find that for every critic, however well intentioned the criticism may be, you will find 10 people that like what you have done and are grateful for your input.
Maggie´s last blog ..How did we get here? And how do we get out?

[...] attainable goals for his online effort. But it was his follow blog post in which I saw the hope and depth of Duane’s character. You see Duane took a good hard look at his 2009 effort and once again laid out goals to attain in [...]

I read your post last night and came back just now because I was thinking about your plight.

I’d love to be able to spend all day just reading and posting new info on my blog, it’s great fun. But we all need to prioritize what we do. With a full time job and raising a family, I don’t see how anyone can do what folks like John Hawkins do. My guess is he’s not married and doesn’t make as much money as he could. Now I have great respect for what he does (or Allah or Morrisey, etc etc.) but that’s his choice.

Seems to me that you should just do what you can, without shorting your family who depends on you. And, most important, be happy with what you choose to do without feeling “guilty.” No matter how good you are at anything, there will always be someone who does it better. So what!

I read your post last night and came back just now because I was thinking about your plight.

I’d love to be able to spend all day just reading and posting new info on my blog, it’s great fun. But we all need to prioritize what we do. With a full time job and raising a family, I don’t see how anyone can do what folks like John Hawkins do. My guess is he’s not married and doesn’t make as much money as he could. Now I have great respect for what he does (or Allah or Morrisey, etc etc.) but that’s his choice.

Seems to me that you should just do what you can, without shorting your family who depends on you. And, most important, be happy with what you choose to do without feeling “guilty.” No matter how good you are at anything, there will always be someone who does it better. So what!

Thanks to everyone who commented. I am blessed to have so many people willing to help me improve on what I am doing. Your time and effort is appreciated.

I am considering everything you have written here and trying to use it to take the next step forward.

Thanks for taking it with me.
Duane Lester´s last blog ..At $260, We Are Past the 50% Mark – Help Us Get Past 75% and Reach Our Goal

Thanks to everyone who commented. I am blessed to have so many people willing to help me improve on what I am doing. Your time and effort is appreciated.

I am considering everything you have written here and trying to use it to take the next step forward.

Thanks for taking it with me.
Duane Lester´s last blog ..At $260, We Are Past the 50% Mark – Help Us Get Past 75% and Reach Our Goal