Is you blog currently treading water and you can’t seem to work out why you are not getting anywhere with it? I mean you are trying out all the latest networking tools, you are dabbling in social media and even bought a few ad spots on other blogs - but still haven’t really made any progress in ages!

This is where I find myself at the moment. Sure I just came from a competition where I gained over 80 new rss readers, but my traffic hasn’t jumped that much, my alexa rating has gone from 105,000 to 130,000 and visitor feedback (comments) have not really improved either.

I tried:

• Contests
• Entrecard
• Social Media

And none made a huge increase in my daily traffic or feedback. Now I am not saying that any of these things are wrong ways to promote your blog, I just believe that we need to simplify things. I am a massive fan of making processes as simple as possible.

So here is what I believe that bloggers (including myself) have to do, if they want their blog to take off, to become talked about in their niche (and outside), the rss count to grow dramatically, and visitor contribution to increase - plus the result of all this will be more people wanting to advertise, paying you more money, people wanting to guest post on your blog - leaving you with more time, you having more influence in your niche. It is this simple:

Go Back To Basics!

What were you told when you first started blogging? This is the tips I was given:

1. Write Quality Unique Content
2. Network by Commenting on Other Blogs, and Forums

I told you I like simple, but think about it. How many of you are even doing this well? I know I’m not.

Why are we constantly looking for new ways to promote and grow our blog, when all we have to do is start with the basics! When we master those then look at other ways to improve our blogs reach and authority, but they should be like the desert - and your quality content and basic networking is your main meal.

How many of you were told as children, “You can’t have any desert until you finish your vege’s.” Why do we try and do it in our lives as adults?

So here is what I’m talking about:

Write Quality Unique Content!

How much time do you spend on your blog posts? I know for me it is probably 10 minutes max! Which I believe is terrible. How do I expect people to want to read something I just whipped together just so people had something to read? It is like your favourite author writing a new book each day - writing what first comes to his (or her) head and not even going back over it to make sure it makes sense.

I was reading a post yesterday (can’t remember where), where they blogger said that they wrote blog posts from 6am -8am each morning! That is two hours of writing a day - you can bet that they have quality content.

I had a think about what my favourite blogs where to read, and I came up with this list:

• Blogtrepreneur
• Entrepreneurs Journey
• Caroline Middlebrook
• Winning With The Web

And one thing I realised was that each one of these had a focus on long and indepth posts, with a preference to quality over quantity. Now I am not going to get into the should we post everyday (these bloggers don’t!) but I will let their feed count and authority speak for itself!

Network by Commenting on Other Blogs, and Forums

Sure there are a heap of ways to get traffic and readers to your blog, but you have to be consistent in your prospecting.Now I’m not saying you should only comment other blogs, and post of forums. The point I’m trying to make is find a proven way of gaining traffic and put some effort into! Don’t change from one method to another - find one that you think works and stick with it. Then when you have mastered that, start looking at other methods - however keep the proven method going.

Personally I like comment on other blogs best. Why? Because I like to know what is happening in my niche, so I read a lot of blogs - why not double task and leave a helpful comment while I’m there?

Forums can be fantastic - Digital Point especially if you are in the make money online niche! I have been pretty slack with this one and really should pick up the ball. I was getting quite a fair bit of traffic from forums but for the last couple of months I haven’t really been active in any.

But I guess the main point of this post is to encourage you all to keep things simples and concentrate of the basics of successful blogging!

5 bloggers have joined forces to create a one month rss feed competition that is set to attract a lot of attention as they all provide a heap of different contests and incentives to attract the most rss subscribers in the race to be titled the winner!

Everyone remembers the John Chow vs Shoemoney rss feed contest back last October! Well this one is set to be much bigger after fellow blogger Ian Fernando and I we able to convince The University Kid, Internet Babel and SlyVisions to join us in creating what is set to become one of the biggest contests between bloggers this year!

Starting today, this competition is set to be a big learning experience on many different ways to rapidly build your rss feed count. So for the next month make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss a single thing!

So How Does It Work?

Start Date: Today!

End Date: 5th of March

Rules: The winner is the blogger that has had the biggest increase in rss feed subscribers by the end of the competition. Simple as that!

What Will I Be Giving You So That I Win?

I am a big believer in rewarding people for doing things, and I will be implimenting that A LOT during this contest. I have already got a few incentives and contests lined up that I will launch over the coming month. There will prizes as well as money up for grabs as I make my best attempt at this competition.

Win One of 4 125X125 Ad Spots (Two Days Left!!!)

have already been running a competition for the last 5 days where you can win one of 4 of my side ad spots for just subscribing to this blog via email. Valued at $10 each, this is a great way to gain exposure for your blog or website! So subscribe today… and grab yourself my next bonus gift to all email subscribers!

Free Write Up In Blog Posts For Every New Email Subscriber!

As I get new subscribers each day I want to be able to reward you all! So what I have decided to do is each day as I get new subscribers I want to be able to write a small review of each of them on the next days blog post. All you have to do is subscribe via email:

Click Here To Subscribe Via Email!

And then comment either this post of the latest posts using the same email address that you subscribed with, and I will make sure to do a small review of your blog or website on the next days post!

Other Things I will Be Doing To Enhance My Chances!

BIG RSS Button and Banner!

I am sure you have already noticed the new banner I have added underneath my header. I will do my best to keep this updated with all the latest rss feed counts.

I’ll Save The Rest For Later…

Don’t think I won’t be posting usful content this month! As well as posting an indepth analysis of what I have been doing to increase my rss feed count (more than my competitors!), I will also be doing a good amount of my usual blogging and motivational posts. So make sure you are subscribed today… get in early and see some a heap of ways (some good and some bad) to increase your RSS count!

Got Any Ideas???

Sure I have some ideas of my own, but I’d love to know what you would do if you were in my situation! What would you do to gain a heap of new subscribers in a short period of time? Feel free to add you thoughts in a comment!