Just started blogging? Be a rock 'n' roller

Unless you're famous or incredibly well connected, it's lonely work starting a blog. Especially before the search engines know you're there. The traffic comes in single digits, no one comments and there are only a couple of posts to show for all your efforts.

The temptation is to slide and wait for the action. It could be a long wait.

I think in the early stages it's important that new bloggers write as if they had a large enthusiastic audience.

We've all seen blog entries with something like, "What does it matter, no one reads this blog anyway." Ugh.

Story time: I remember seeing the rock band Dash Rip Rock long ago in a downtown L.A. club. They had to play after the headliner. Everyone in the audience left but five or six of us. Felt sorry for the boys. But that band played as if they were rocking Madison Square Garden.

Be like Dash Rip Rock.

Second opinion. Here is some advice from another angle, written by Maki of the blog Dosh Dosh: "The most important thing to do is to blog as if no one else was reading you." I highly recommend this blog for bloggers, which was incredibly useful to me in the early days and remains a favorite read.