How Are Blogs Like A-Rod? (Plus, Submitting Links to Social Link Sites)

Hi folks -- as he is wont to do, comic-stripper Stephan Pastis of Pearls Before Swine has another strip featuring blogger Goat:

Click to see the whole strip. It's kind of painful.

It's a not-uncommon theme in Pearls -- non-blogger Rat gives blogger Goat significant grief because no one reads his blog. Here's another one from last week:

Now, between this entry and my entry yesterday about how to dissuade yourself from blogging, an incautious person might think I'm trying to discourage folks from blogging. Far from it -- I'm just trying to get people into blogging for themselves (and the people who they know).

Adulation from strangers is always a bonus, but don't get into blogging for this purpose alone (because that way lies disillusionment). If you blog for yourself, you should never be disappointed.

This is not to say, of course, that you can't tell people about your blog; put a link to your blog in your mail and message board signatures. Participate in other people's blogs, and they will naturally check yours out.

Also, if you're able to handle rejection and have a thick skin, you can always try submitting a notable blog entry to a social-link sharing site (such as Digg, Fark, Netscape, Del.icio.us, Reddit, etc.) -- just make sure you understand each community, what kind of links it features, and know their particular rules of the road and submission etiquette before you start submitting stuff willy-nilly.

As blogger John found out when someone submitted his Bacon Cat entry to social link sharing site Fark.com, it's a way to drive tons and tons of traffic to a site in a short amount of time. If that's what you're going for.

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: bacon cat, social link sharing, pearls before swine, blogging, why we bog, stephan pastis