Asymmetrical Information

From the desk of Jane Galt:

Steven Den Beste, William Quick,

Steven Den Beste, William Quick, and now Andrew Olmsted (to name just a few) are blogging about the perils of blogdom's bacteria-like growth rates over the last several months, and the difficulty of getting noticed. I average somewhere around a thousand hits a day now, though my traffic is what I'd call a highly volatile commodity. That's oh, about a thousand more than I thought I'd get if I started this, so I'm content.

To new bloggers I'd say first read Andrew Olmsted's solid advice; find something that you know well, and talk about it. You don't have to be Den Beste and know everything (how does he do it?); you don't even have to be the most knowlegable person on any one thing -- Mindles Dreck knows more about finance, and Arnold Kling about economics, than I do -- they're professionals who've been at it longer. My core competency (I think) is that I can explain things to people who don't share my interest in, or knowlege about, the subject. So don't think that if you're not a hyperexpert on something you can't have great material. Tal G.'s been picked up because he's got the geography -- a front-row seat to the middle eastern conflict. Fritz Schrank knows how government works from an insider's perspective. UK Transport Guy just knows everything there is to know about -- transportation in the UK. So whatever it is you like to talk about, probably there's someone out there who wants to listen if you have something interesting to say.

Second, don't despair. I blogged for three weeks and got just about no traffic; quit for a while, and started up again. I still had no traffic. Then I got the one-two punch almost two months in: Our Fearless Leader linked me because I wrote a letter about Cornel West; and Samizdata liked my corporate tax piece and spread it around. My traffic has grown slowly ever since, all though there were some discontinuous jumps along the way. I don't publicize even to the extent of emailing authors of other blogs; I figure I'll get out there if it's meant to be. Just keep writing. You will not get anywhere unless you write regularly, especially when you're trying to build traffic. If you don't enjoy doing it just to see what clever things you've said to yourself, then blogging may not be for you.

Third, on emailing and asking for links: I don't mind it, but I don't link anyone just to link them. I do link things that strike my fancy, offer something I haven't heard before, or on which I have something to say. Unfortunately, there's no way to predict when the magic will happen. Anyone who emails me, and whose blog isn't raving nuts (there have been a few) gets added to a folder that I cruise periodically to look for newbies. I do try to link people who don't get read as much, or are new. But my email is reaching the overwhelming level -- not the Instapundit levels, but 30-50 a day makes it hard to respond to everyone. I have a 60-hour a week job, an active job search, and a furry creature that wants to be taken care of each evening. If I got an email from you and didn't mail back, it's not because I'm evil -- it's because I'm maxed out. The only way I can keep blogging is that I read six pages a minute and type 80+ WPM. So unfortunately, I can't link everyone who writes me, or even write a reasoned reply. But I do read it, and feel free to keep sending it. If you've written something you think I'd have something to say about, send the link along; I'll take a look. But like everyone else, I'm being crushed by the sheer weight of blogs out there; what used to take me a combined hour at wakeup, breakfast, lunch, and after dinner, would now take me all day if I tried to track all the good blogs. So the best advice I can give you is just to keep plugging.

Posted by Jane Galt at April 4, 2002 11:15 AM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links