Spring is almost here, and along with it, a new start for Kikolani!
Photo Credit: Jason Hines
It all started with a webinar from Derek Halpern promoting his new course, Blog That Converts.
During the webinar, he talked about content and how people were being driven mad by the misconception that to be successful, you had to pump out tons of content. Most content creators spend 80% of their time creating content and 20% promoting it.
What he has found to be successful with his blog Social Triggers is this. You need to focus only 20% of your time creating amazing content and 80% promoting it.
Considering the results I’ve seen from promoting a single post to the fullest extent using strategies I wrote about in my Blog Post Promotion guide, I completely understand how the 20% content, 80% promotion works.
With that in mind, I’m changing the way things work here at Kikolani.
Last Year’s Strategy
Last year, I became obsessed with having more content on the blog. As luck would have it, that obsession coincided with a flood of incoming guest posts. So many that I managed to book my editorial calendar months in advance. This was perfect since I was spending most of my energy producing content for my freelance writing clients.
One would think getting a ton of content from guest bloggers would save me a lot of time. But it really didn’t. Why? Here are just a few things that I’m sure a lot of other blog owners and editors have run into when it comes to accepting guest posts.
- Lots of guest post submissions that were off-topic or low quality content. For every one great guest post I received, I received five awful ones.
- Guest post that had been published elsewhere. I would start prepping the post to be published, then get a weird feeling and Google a sentence to find it was published on their own blog and/or article directories. One had been placed on about 100 different sites. Then I started checking everything that was incoming and find that 1 out of every 15 posts submitted were not original content.
- Guest posts that required a lot of editing and re-formatting to the point where I had to turn them down. I could have probably written my own post in the time it took to edit some of them.
- Guest bloggers that didn’t give me their social contact info (gravatar email address, Twitter handle, and Google+ link) as noted in the guest post guidelines. I would have to email them and wait or search for the info myself.
- Since I published in order of when posts were received, the topics bounced back and forth from one subject to the next. There was no consistency or theme.
Please note that I’ve had some amazing guest bloggers who created amazing content that resulted in lots of social engagement and recognition. Everyonewho has been published here at Kikolani should know that I appreciate their contribution, and my decision to close guest posting has nothing to do with them.
But as mentioned earlier, for every good guest post, there were a lot of bad ones. Even now, over a month after I have closed guest post submissions which is clearly noted on the guest post guidelines page and my contact page, people are still submitting non-personalized template guest post request emails and really, really bad content. I’m pretty sure some are using auto submission software as I keep seeing their new submissions (under 300 words, not anywhere near on-topic) in my spam folder.
Going Forward
Along with the new look, I plan to being the sole author at Kikolani again. This is for a few reasons.
- It will force me to start writing for my own blog again.
- It will allow me to make the posts flow from one to the next.
- It will be good for my portfolio as a blog content writer as potential clients will actually find my writing when they visit my blog.
I will cover a variety of topics here including affiliate marketing, blogging, content strategy, email marketing, search marketing, and social media marketing. Plus some other stuff in between.
For those who enjoy my writing, I hope this is a welcomed change. You can also see more of it on my latest posts from around the web page.
For those who enjoyed reading posts from a variety of authors, I hope you will understand the shift here and continue to discover posts by other authors in my weekly Fetching Friday mashup.
For those who wanted to submit a guest post, I hope you aren’t too disappointed. I might start accepting guest posts again one day in future, but until then, I’m planning to keep my calendar open.
What do you think of the new look and strategy? Please share in the comments!
About Kristi Hines
Kikolani covers blog marketing and blogging tips for personal, professional, and business bloggers to succeed in search and social media marketing. Kristi Hines is a 
Hi Kristi,
I LOVE your plan and can’t wait to see you prosper from it!
Lisa
Lisa Kalner Williams recently posted Facebook Contest Rules: Why They Boost Your Online Marketing
Thanks Lisa!
I’m looking forward to seeing the results too!
Good luck to your fresh new start! I accept about one guest post a month or so and I tell em up front it needs to be original and meaty. They know what to expect given the content on my site is generally long.
Financial Samurai recently posted How Employers Take Advantage Of Employees To Save Money
I assumed people would know what to expect on my site too, but I can tell some applicants never bothered to look.
Sounds like a good (and wise) plan Kristi. I see the “fresh” also applies on your theme. Looks sooo clean
DiTesco recently posted Link Building: How to Get Them without Risking Google’s Wrath
Thanks Francisco! Glad you like the design.
Sounds like a great plan Kristi & I look forward to reading some more of your awesomely helpful posts! =]
Chris Savage recently posted Digging Into WordPress – Book Review
Thanks Chris! I hope I do a good job keeping up with them.
I’m looking forward to hearing what YOU have to say. Not that your guest bloggers weren’t great. But I subscribed to your blog for you. Very glad you’re back!
Tea Silvestre, aka the Word Chef recently posted Over-Exposed: When Too Much Marketing is Bad for Business
Glad to hear that Tea! I am curious how that will play out with the people who subscribed for my posts vs. to see the variety.
Woo hoo! Looking forward to this, Kristi.
2013 will be a great year for Kikolani!
Bob Clarke recently posted What I Dislike About Empower Network… and Why I Joined Anyway
I certainly hope so Bob!
Hi Kristi,
I’m a frequent reader of Kikolani. Finally it nice to have you again alive. Don’t know but accepting too many guest posts & not having your own somewhere was killing the soul of your blog. Happy to see you posting again
Sourav Saha @ Blogaholic recently posted How To Use Pinterest To Drive Traffic To Your Website
I felt that way too Sourav. I felt very detached from it which is why I’m taking it back by the horns. With no guest posts, there is no excuse to skip writing here now.
Very good plan, Kristi. Great new look. Very clean and “fresh.”
I also appreciated your email as well. I’ve been using HTML emails as well, but I’ve been thinking of changing to back to text. Your email may have helped me to make my decision to change back. Thanks.
Jon J. Cardwell recently posted Secret Lives Judged Through Jesus Christ
Glad to hear that Jon! I went with HTML because I didn’t want my emails looking like every other marketers. But then I realized I couldn’t even read my own emails on my mobile, whereas I could read everyone else’s who had the text based ones. Definitely makes more sense to go that way.
Hi Kristy—first of all, the mobile version of the blog looks great. Secondly, I LOVE the idea of spending 20% of the time promoting content rather than writing, writing, writing—hope you don’t mind if I play “follow the leader”!
Denise Gabbard recently posted Life Happens!
I think you meant 80% of the time promoting content but yeah, I’m also really looking forward to following along in future posts from Kristi all about promotion. Definitely an area that can always use some work.
Cody Hind recently posted Emini Day Trading Series: What Are Emini S&P 500 Futures?
Glad to hear that Denise! The 80% promotion is already making a huge difference in the number of visits I’ve had today alone. And I love sharing what I do because I hope that it will be something that works well for others, so I don’t mind at all.
Kristi, LOVE the new look and your post was great as it laid out a bit of history as well as where you are going. Keep it coming…you provide a great service!
Nancy Wurtzel recently posted Yoga Class With the Seniors – Is This What I’ll be Like in Twenty Years?
Thanks Nancy!
Seems like a wise plan, good luck and hope you will share lot of those experiences with your readers so we’ll learn from your experience
Sreejesh recently posted How To Watch 3D Videos on YouTube -Tips and Tricks
I definitely will revisit things and share the results later on!
This is probably the first time I’m writing you a blog comment from my phone. It works well, Kristi.
I also left thesis recently. Good decision. And…I hear you on the guest blogger bullets. I’ve encountered the same.
Glad to hear that worked! I’ve been reading a lot of blogs that moved to Genesis and I noticed their comment forms were much easier to work with than the mobile theme plugin.
In reality, I just should have said no to more people. Some seemed very genuine and needed good exposure, so I took them against my better judgement. And some I took because I thought the topics would be interesting, but they ended up not resonating well with readers. I’m taking a page from your book and just trying something new.
Even though I enjoyed being a guest post on Kikolani, I don’t blame you one bit Kristi. Accepting guest posts, if you’re discerning with what you accept, is extremely time-consuming. I don’t publicly mention on any blog that I accept guest posts, but receive requests weekly. Only if a submission is absolutely amazing and covers something I can’t cover in-depth will I accept it.
I much prefer my blogs to be my voice and my information. Frankly, I’ve been surprised how so many A-list blogs went the guest-posting route because I believe it compromises the blog. The occasional guest post is fine if it’s great, but to publish mostly guest posts basically renders the blog no longer yours (other than you’re the owner).
I applaud your decision and I’ll be a more loyal reader as a result.
Good decision going to Genesis. I’ve been using Genesis since it was developed and with few exceptions for specific projects, always use Genesis on my websites.
I really look forward to reading what you have to write. No offence, but I think it’s far more lucrative writing for yourself than for other people. Just my 2 cents.
Jon recently posted How I Make $2,000 Each Month With Affiliate Microsites
Glad to hear that Jon! I noticed the trend last year was more guest posts and kind of went with it. I assumed it meant that multi-author blogs were winning the battle. Since then, I’ve watched people like Derek Halpern (Social Triggers), Glen (ViperChill), and many others who were really succeeding as sole authors who weren’t really writing too often. So I’m looking forward to seeing if that works here as well.
Great strategy. I was waiting for you to anounce it.
But one thing that I want to tell you about is that you should do guest posts, but not as before. Just accept some of the posts as think traffic, they publish weekly.
I hope you all the best Kristi. I am waiting for your awesome content.
Thanks Ahmed! I’ll probably accept some guest posts again in the future, but for now I’d like to keep the site to myself. I have lots of good post ideas coming up. I think changing the strategy lit my creative fire again!
I think it’s a wise decision from you and your ever growing blog. About the theme and new design, well, it’s clean, fresh and most important of all, fast loading. Overall, I love your new blog theme Kristi! Thumbs up!
RonLeyba recently posted The Top 4 “Working From Home As A Freelancer” Problems I Am Facing Today
Thanks Ron! Glad to hear it’s fast loading on your end. My WP dashboard is a little clogged up, but so long as the visitor experience is good, I’m happy!
The site looks wonderful, and that’s great news about your taking the authorship completely back. I subscribe in Google Reader, and although there have been a number of good guest posts, when I see that a post was really written by you, I stop and read it no matter what else is going on!
Christie recently posted Petting-induced aggression – when your normally cuddly kitty lashes out!
I’m glad to hear that Christie! There should be more written by me from here on out.
Hi Kristi –
I take 2-4 guest posts a month, and I’ve experienced many of the issues you state above, Kristi, except I haven’t caught any duplicate content — you’re making me want to check for that! But I only accept articles I’ve assigned on a pretty specific topic and never read pre-written posts, so I think that’s probably helped me avoid the problem.
Often, editing a guest post, fixing links, getting their tagline links (amazing how many forget to send them!) and so on often takes as much time as if I wrote the post myself!
I have felt bad having to turn down posts I’ve assigned because they came in such a mess…but sometimes it’s just going to be too much work. (Biggest issue I get — 1000-word posts or more, when I’ve asked guesters to keep it to 500. I’m not taking the time to cut that in half!)
I’m planning a change in my own guest-posting policy that I’ll announce later this month…but guest posts will not be going away from my blog. Sad to see you totally closing the doors on that…but totally get why.
I’m closed for guests right now, just because I’m booked up with them, but I will be reopening. You might want to check out what I’m going to do…possibly another approach to keep a diversity of fresh new voices appearing without all the usual guest-post editing headaches.
Honestly, if one more link-seeker from collegeessays.com or whatever contacts me, I think I’ll scream…but I’m learning to just hit delete on those and not respond at all.
Carol Tice | Make a Living Writing recently posted How to Find a Freelance Writing Gig: Here are the Options
It’s funny Carol (or not actually), but I’ve worked with writers on coming up with good topics and would find some would post it to their site first and then submit it as a guest post. Some would wait a bit to publish it on their site. Since I didn’t publish for a few weeks / months out, I would catch the duplicate before scheduling it and have to cancel then.
I’ll probably accept guest posts on occasion from those I know and trust. But I’m going to enjoy having my own space again for a while.
Hi Kristi!
I have been following you for a long time and have seen the shift. I am so glad you will be authoring more. I really look forward to your content.
As someone who also builds WordPress sites for clients, I also love your new theme and hope you enjoy Studiopress. Let me know your thoughts as you progress!
Good luck!
Glad to hear that Danelle! I have been using StudioPress for awhile on other sites, and I’m loving it here!
Like the strategy and I get it.
Dig the design and look forward to your fresh posts. Wish you much success throughout 2013 and moving forward.
Thanks Ric! I hope you have a successful year as well!
Kristi,
Wow! Fantastic design. Very clean, smooth, crisp & with bigger fonts. I really liked your new design. Keep up the good work!
I agree with all your points regarding the guest posting thing. I’m with you for closing guest post for some time. Really, I find you very less writing on your blog & also on other sites.
Thanks.
Thanks Hyderali! I’ll be writing more in the future indeed.
Nice revamp Kristi
Seems like there’s a lot of new beginnings for you as of late 
Myself included 
You’ve set an amazing example on how to properly position content for maximum traction on Search as well as building a solid community and I’m going to take some of the things I’ve learned from you and implement them into my content strategy with the folks I work with…I look forward to what you’ll be doing in 2013 and watching it work for us…Great job again 
Thanks Rob! Yes, maybe becoming a mom has had an overall affect on everything, including my writing.
Kristi,
Congratulations on the new focus. I thinks it’s always great to change things up every once in a while so your blog doesn’t feel stale. I personally have been focused on posting on my own site and submitting less guest posts (we’ll see whether that’s a good strategy or not). I still accept guest posts but have the same challenges you do – although every once in a while a guest post can really rock the house! Some recent posts have done really well (just when I was getting skeptical), so maybe you can include occasional, targeted guest posts from people you know to add a new viewpoint. Keep up the great work and I love fetching friday!
Tom Treanor recently posted Is Your Website Optimized for Mobile Visitors? (Infographic)
Thanks Tom! I have to keep writing for others – part of the course for freelance writers – but I look forward to seeing how this site does with less posts but more stability.
Kristi, love the new look and colors. Very inviting and relaxing. That 80/20 rule is one of my favorites. And you are right, we need to spend more time promoting. I’ve reduced my posts from 7 to 2 per week at most and I need the time to promote, comment, network, etc. It’s a real balancing act. I also find that the 2 posts I do are more lengthy and meaty with content.
So I think it will be a win-win for you. I have people emailing me to do guests posts that never even visited the site. How would they know the feel of it?
Good luck with your new strategy and look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Lisa recently posted Sponsored Tweets, Your Value, Money Making Blogging
I’m pretty sure all of the bad posts came from those who had never seen the site before – usually they mentioned they discovered it in search. The good posts seemed to come from people who said they were readers, although some spam submissions have taken that approach as well. The new strategy feels like a win-win though!
Great plan! I like the look, feel and focus. Happy writing! Cheers! Kaarina
Kaarina Dillabough recently posted Snowbound and Seeing with Fresh Eyes
Thanks again Kaarina!
Big changes ahead but I’m definitely looking forward to them. I think you have the right idea on quality over quantity, especially as the search algorithms improve.
Of course, even more important is the user experience and how they respond. Having followed this blog for a long time I think it will be a move in the right direction and I really look forward to your new posts!
Cody Hind recently posted Emini Day Trading Series: What Are Emini S&P 500 Futures?
Thanks Cody! I hope the user experience will be better with the new layout for desktop and mobile users alike.
Kristi, I so understand what you mean about guest posting. I eventually had to shut mine down too. I was spending more time editing low-quality posts or reading posts that weren’t really detailed/interesting enough to post that it became counterproductive.
I only blog once a week and sometimes every other week and it hasn’t hurt my blog traffic/comments at all.
Looking forward to hearing from you regularly again.
Lisa Irby recently posted The 2CreateAWebSite.com Blog
Glad to know I wasn’t the only one. Us, ProBlogger, and Copyblogger.
Hi Kristi, well done! I closed my site to guest posts about a year ago for many of the same reasons and I completely agree with your quality over quantity choice. The new design looks great. You are Kikolani and it is your style and skill that we truly appreciate. More of that can only be a good thing. Side note: After years with Thesis, their 2.0 version finally moved me to start considering other options as well.
Jonathan Wells recently posted Can You Live a Balanced Life with a Cluttered Mind?
Thanks Jonathan!
I saw that 2.0 came out and I decided that I didn’t have time to figure it all out. I’ve gotten used to StudioPress, so minus a small caching issue, the changeover really only took about half an hour.
I tried to figure out 2.0 but they changed everything which essentially meant starting over. It doesn’t use regular wp plugins anymore either. So, like you, I just couldn’t take the time for another learning curve.. Might have to make the switch, especially since I know that you wouldn’t have changed without an in depth comparison and that’s good enough for me.
Jonathan Wells recently posted The Relationship Between Success and Failure
I did an in-depth comparison post of the old Thesis vs. StudioPress and even then I knew I liked StudioPress more. I was just terrified of updating this site because it had so much content. But in the end, it really took about half an hour (minus some caching issues not related to the theme).
Kristi, I love it when messages arrive such synchronicity!
This morning my Thesis based blog started playing up big time and I was facing the choice of migrating to Studiopress’s Genesis or getting a coder to play around with the Thesis files.
And then on my Iphone your newsletter came through and this sentence just grabbed me:-
“…there’s a new design as I’ve officially switched from Thesis to StudioPress.”
So Genesis, here I come!
I love the clean look of your site and look forward to reading much more of YOUR work going forwards:-)
Thanks!
Arvind Devalia recently posted Follow Your Intuition and Change your Life
I hope you enjoy StudioPress Arvind! I find it much easier to get a great design with minimal work. Most of the customizations happen with widgets and it’s much easier to find good examples of custom functions.
Hi Kristi,
First I want to say I love the look of your blog. I am considering changing my theme and will now definitely be looking at StudioPress.
I am also trying to do things differently this year (cannot believe it is March already…eek!) by promoting my content more and paying much more attention to SEO. Basically I am trying to improve my writing overall as well. Seeing some positive changes already – so I am encouraged to keep plugging away.
Good luck with your new changes!
Irene recently posted Work At Home GoodStarters With Pleio
Thanks Irene! Let me know how it goes if you do StudioPress.
Kristi, I understand I have strict guest post guidelines for my website. One of which is do not email me everyday asking when your post will be published. Yet, I get 2-3 emails from some people bugging me. Like you said, it is a lot of work to deal with guest posts.
Darren Rowse at ProBlogger recently announced that he would no longer accept guest post for similar reasons.
PS–I love the new look of your website!
I had pretty strict guidelines too Clara – I felt like I was always adding to them. Regardless, people still didn’t read them which was sad. I didn’t mind communicating with people I had agreed to post, but the ones that I rejected were the worst.
We have heard the guest post promise too and dang, are there some horrible writers (and copiers) out there. I have to say, much like the intern siren, that guest posting prospects are a lot of work for very little payback….LOVE your stuff from around the web and I am pro more of your work on your blog!!!
Tara Jacobsen recently posted Apr 2 2013 – Free Marketing Training Course – Never Lose A Lead Again and Words That Sell!
Thanks Tara!
I love the idea!
I’m glad Karlene!
I like the new design. The blue has a very calming feeling.
It’s funny how a baby can change how you look on life. I guess if it didn’t that would actually even more strange.
Since I’m in the conversion business. I offer up a small tip. I would change the color of your email sign-up button at the top right to something that stand out a bit more – yellow, brighter green or red. It will in crease your conversion rate.
Karl Staib recently posted How to Uncover Your Optimal Sales Page Offer
Great tip! I’ll find that image and swap it out to see how it does. Thanks Karl!
I think that strategy is a great shift, and I’m excited to see more of you on this blog this year.
Kyle Judkins recently posted How to Block Spam Messages on Smartphones
Thanks Kyle!
Delighted to see this shift, Kristi. I’ve been following you all over the web, and will continue to do so, but was sad to see it gut your own site of your voice. To be honest, I had stopped reading it. Will be super happy to pick up the habit again. And welcome back home!!!!
MaAnna recently posted Why You Need AuthorRank for SEO
Thanks MaAnna. That was one of my realizations – other blogs that had taken to posting guest posts all the time were ones I had stopped reading. I figured my audience was doing the same as I didn’t see my favorite readers stopping by to comment anymore. Glad to see they’re still out there now though.
Girl, I was wondering what was going on and I am glad you talked about it. When I came to your blog, some of the posts looked less-than stellar and I knew that was you. I had something like that happen last year for my own site and I halted that crap quick. For myself, if I don’t know or trust you, it won’t end up on my blog. I don’t think people get that you have to protect the integrity of your blog, because at the end of the day: it’s your blog. Period.
Do your “thang” girl, so happy for you, and I love the simplistic-tasteful design you created. People respect what you do for the community and the inspiration you have given to me and so many others out there.
Sonia recently posted Blogger Spotlight: Carol Lynn Rivera, Web Search Social
” I knew that wasn’t you”. Sorry for the typo Kristi!
Sonia recently posted Blogger Spotlight: Carol Lynn Rivera, Web Search Social
Hi Krisiti,
First of all, I love your new design is really fresh – the best 2013 for you!
About guest posting, I know 100% what you said: I stopped accepting new guest posts one month ago, until I clear the pending posts and I’ll see the situation later.
You mentioned all what happened to me; also add spammers with links inside completely out of topics.
I had the same feeling, more than 1 hour re-formatting a guest post, ….why I didn’t write myself and I’d have saved time
I still don’t have time to write a lot so, I’ll be accepting probably guest posts, but I’ll be stricter and I’ll be increasing the guest guideline-exigencies, even more.
I wonder when Google will start to penalize junk guest posts with a “zoo” update, because low quality guest posters are flooding in my inbox – the essence of guest writing is lost due to SEO purposes only.
All the best,
Gera
Gera @ Sweets Foods recently posted Resources
I hope you have a great 2013 too!
They (Google) has already talked about doing that actually – http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qpbCKWu0I0A. I think they were more talking about websites that were using crappy guest posts as a link building strategy, but I’m sure that it could have repercussions on the blogs that publish them too at some point.
Kristi thanks for the link to the video! It’s clear, only allow quality articles with quality links or directly, write yourself the posts
Hope you’re having a good weekend,
Gera
Gera @ Resources Food Bloggers recently posted Headway Theme Review 3: In Premium WordPress Themes, Pure Power
You’re welcome Gera! Hope you have a good weekend too!
I look forward to reading your posts Kristi. I am new to affiliate marketing, and i look forward to learning from your expertise.
The new theme renders real nice on my phone, and the text based email works real well for me to.
Larry James recently posted 7 Commonly Overlooked Keyword Research Tools
I do have some posts in my lineup about affiliate marketing… I hope they will be helpful!
I love the clean look Kristi. I set up a new site two weeks ago and went with Eleven40 by StudioPress, and I am thrilled.
Question – Do you have any opinions about a future backlash by Google against guest posts that link to crappy sites? It seems that guest posting is being over-promoted as a link building strategy.
Cheers,
..Tim
Tim Huntley recently posted An Entrepreneurial Life –10 Attributes for Success
Google’s Matt Cutts talked about their feelings towards crappy content being used as part of a guest blogging link strategy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qpbCKWu0I0A). I have promoted it as a great way to build authority and links, but only by using valuable content. People hear “great link building strategy” and then farm the content out to $5 an article writers. That’s where it goes wrong.
I think this is a great plan Kristi! I look forward to reading your upcoming posts and …learning. You have come a long way since we all started blogging. Good for you!
Debbie recently posted Spring is in the Air
Thanks Debbie, and great to hear from you. I hope all has been well!
Nice change on the blog. It just seems so clear and fresh. I’ve heard the same about placing more emphasis on articles and putting a lot of time into it to make it much better. Good move.
Tom recently posted Personal Goal Setting
Good to have you back here, Kristi. Honestly, I’d come by to look at a post and lose interest when I saw that it wasn’t you who had written it. I love the new look of your blog – friendly and personal. Looking forward to reading some great content that only you know how to produce!
Thanks Corinne! I noticed I was doing that with other blogs, and felt like others were doing that here. I couldn’t do much about it by the end of the year since I was getting prepped for first time motherhood, but now that I’m settled, I’m ready to deliver to my audience again!
I used to allow guest post on my blog, but so far I didn’t find any good quality one. I think you are making the right decision.
I feel the same way at ProBlogger.net … there are too many guest posts and what I want to read is from Darren
Welcome to Genesis Framework, I am sure you will love it.
Santel recently posted Cambodia Top Blogs to Read in 2013
Thanks Santel! I already do love Genesis.
Hi Kristi,
Sorry, for me Thesis looked much better than StudioPress. The site still looks great though and I can’t wait to see it on mobile.
You are my favorite writer online but I agree that once you started accepting too many guest posts, I realized that I never read from you from Kikolani. I got and commented to most of your posts on KISSmetrics and other sites (your posts there are always on point
).
I even saw your photo on Ana’s TGC and ended up being an ardent follower of her blog (I realize she also went slow on guest posts).
Anyway, I agree with what you are saying and not accepting guest posts will surely find me landing here much more than ever before.
Once again, thanks for this great post.
Walter
PS. There are a few grammatical errors in this blog post. Kindly check and correct.
Walter recently posted 4 Crucial Tools That You Can Use To Increase Productivity Online
Thanks for the feedback Walter! I’m terrible at editing my own writing. I actually re-read this post a dozen times before scheduling it yesterday. I’m sure as I made edits in some places, I created more problems elsewhere.
I personally don’t like the new look. I thought for one moment there was something wrong, or a theme jumped into the mix, or someone hacked your blog. I liked the sunny flowery theme – but I’m sure there is a reason and method behind what you’ve done with the theme.
I am a little disappointed, as I wanted to submit a guest post to you somewhere in the next week or two, and know it would have been accepted as you know I try to submit only great quality guest posts. However, I understand your decision and your explanation makes a lot of sense. I have started writing full time (solo) on my publishing blog again, and I can see the difference in traffic and sales.
Re: The pareto principle of blog posts vs. promotion, I am also using the BPPG along with some other techniques, posting once a week and spending the rest on promotion and results are absolutely amazing. I think a person only needs to write more if the demand really warrants it.
B.t.w Your BPPG has a section on Postrank (which has been canned). Have you updated your book yet? Have you replaced it with another method. I was just wondering.
Ivin recently posted The Ultimate Guide on Starting a Blog Business
I miss my sunny theme too Ivin, but I was ready for a change to something with a more professional over personal feel.
I do have an update for BPPG in the works. I’ve been checking out some things that were supposed to replace PostRank functionality, but so far the only one I’ve found only works on your own website, not for measuring others. There’s another method I’m going to include that is about as close as it gets, but it’s not always reliable. I was highly disappointed that PostRank sold out to Google and Google canned them.
I love the new look of the blog Kristi. Looks fresh, clean and pleasant to the eye. Your new plans look great and I am infact looking forward to read your new posts in the future. I had read some of the guest posts in your blog and they did really look well filtered with brilliant contents. Kudos to you for making it happen. I did really wanted to read more of your own post more often and now it looks like it’s gonna happen. Cheers for that
Thanks Nischhal! I look forward to writing them.
This saying has been around for a long time and it applies here… “quality over quantity”! Good luck with the blog Kristi!
Thanks James! Great job with your photography, btw.
Hi Kristi,
The new look is good. Nice change. I haven’t visited your blog for a long while but I remember the way it used to look. Not bad but this is less busy and very clear.
I think I prefer reading content created by you. Guest posts can be good too but I completely understand why you moved away from them. From my own experience I know that it can be time consuming to sort through guest posts.
Recently I got asked if I would accept guest posts from an educational institution. They said they had a number of writers that could make posts for my blog. I found it flattering but I was also puzzled why they would want to be posting on my blog considering the subjects didn’t match it.
I wrote them that the subjects would have to kind of fit and didn’t hear from them again.
I wonder what the people that wanted to sneak in used content on your blog were thinking. Good thing that you caught that.
Good luck with your changes and good wishes for this year.
I’m making a note to visit your blog more often than I have lately.
Cheers,
Vance.
Vance Sova recently posted Cash Cannons Review-Learn How To Make Videos That Make You Money
Thanks Vance! I was regularly was approached by people who list a ton of subjects in their email. It was an obvious template with no personalization, so I guess their goal was to hope that out of the mass number of sites they sent it to, some would bite. And with some posts that I Google checked, it was obvious a lot of bloggers bit.
I always thought it was better to spend more time promoting something new. The way I look at a new post is it’s kind of like when a store has a grand opening or big sale. The more you get the message out there the more people are going to stop by and check it out. I only wish that I had a little more time to do so then what I do.
Nice looking site update too by the way.
Ray recently posted How to Reset Your WordPress Admin Password
Exactly Ray. So far this has been my most popular post in a year which says something.
Sounds good Kristi!
If you feel like you need to take content creation on your own on the blog, go for it
I enjoyed guest posting once for your blog.
Thanks
Hope only the best for you and your blog!
Samuel recently posted 3 Twitter Tools For You To Succeed On Twitter!
You submitted a great post Samuel! I appreciated it!
I am a follower of your blog but to be honest Kirti, all I read on your blog is guest posts except the Friday ones. You need to stop putting too many of these guest posts and write some good tips yourself. I have read really great stuff from you such as the one about promoting twitter account on 15 sites. I did that and it helped me a lot. Similarly, get into it and put your personality back into the Kikolani blog.
You are doing the right thing, thumbs up to you.
Shalu Sharma recently posted Holi – Festival of Colors
Thanks Shalu! I’m looking forward to taking over.
Hey Kristi,
Guest posting has become really popular since “Matt Cutts” mentioned about it in the webmaster video. That’s why higher quality blogs are flooded with spam and low quality guest post request. I think you made a good decision here, as it will help you maintain the top quality of your blog.
Shailender @ Health Luv recently posted How to get white and healthy teeth naturally
I’m hoping that the Matt Cutts video doesn’t kill the guest blogging industry. Hopefully it just reforms it.
You have a good strategy here. I have been also receiving a lot of poor quality guest post submissions.
I look forward to your next post.
Nick Stewart recently posted How to Bring Traffic to Your Local Blog
Thanks Nick!
Kristi I’ve just recently been considering a switch to Genesis (from Thesis). But I’ve heard that a framework switch can have a big impact on SEO so I’ve hesitated. I will be curious to see how this works out for you! I think I am going to try Genesis on a couple newer websites first. I like the look of your new theme! Eric
I’ll keep an eye on it. I think the biggest SEO issue I noticed is the SEO settings from Thesis didn’t transfer to Genesis. Fortunately my post titles are the same as my SEO titles, so I shouldn’t lose my keyword values there and Genesis is supposed to be a good framework for SEO too. We’ll see.
I respect your strategy Kristi, I’ve always enjoyed your post EVERYWHERE.
Thank you for allowing me to contribute an article here too! Looking forward to your blog posts this year.
Cheers
Aaron
Aaron Lee recently posted The Reason I Just Deleted My Pinterest Account
Thanks Aaron! And thanks for submitting a great guest post here.
I’m 100% behind you Kristi. The sheer number of guest posts have always been my only disappointment with your blog. You’ve established yourself IMO, and have nothing to prove to the blogosphere. Do it on your terms now. Kudos!
Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment recently posted How Does The Truth Speak To You?
Sorry about that Trey. If you mean from February, it was because I wanted to clear everything out so I could start fresh this month. I actually had enough posts to go through April, but I didn’t want to wait that long and possibly lose the motivation.
It’s such a challenge to figure out the “right” way to move forward when what’s “right” seems to always be evolving with how we change and adapt over time. I think this change is going in a great direction. Looking forward to your posts!
Melissa Ng recently posted Sometimes getting a little lost is the best way to find your true self.
Thanks Melissa! I think for the most part, we need to do what feels right. Last year, guest posts felt right. This year, mine do.
I am new here and it is good to know how my fellow blogger take this amazing platform do seriously. Hats off to rethink everything to give your blog a fresh perspective.
Hope to read your own post Kristi on Kikolani.
Rashmi Sinha @ GreetBlog recently posted Nokia 105 ~ Cheapest Feature Phone with Good Battery Life
You shall Rashmi!
Wish you all the success, your blog have helped me a lot.
BTW, it’s a long time since i visited kikolani.com, but i can remember that you was using thesis not genesis right?? i can even remember a small conversation between you and Ana hoffman about the advantages of thesis over genesis, so if i am right, then why did you leave thesis for genesis. I would like to know if you do not mind.
Ali recently posted Love at First Sight 101
I was using Thesis Ali. I have also been using StudioPress on several of my other sites for the last year. So when Thesis changed their system to 2.0, I decided to renovate with a theme I was familiar with instead of having to learn the new stuff. Plus I like StudioPress designs – responsive and clean.
Don’t you just love those “a-ha” moments where everything seems to click?
The first step to success is being able to visualize what it looks like. It sounds like that’s just what happened when deciding to change up your focus on the blog. Kudos, and good luck.
Bryan Clark recently posted Why Repurposed Content is Sexy
I love them! I had this one a long time ago, but at least now I’m getting around to acting on it.
Hi Kristi,
Your article has hit me at the rite time because I was thinking of adding a guest blogging menu to my website and from this I understood that it is better not to do that.
And I guess, the best possible way to receive guest posts would be to build good relations with quality bloggers and ask them personally whether they would want to write a guest post as myself and Hiten Vyas did it..It really works and you may try this..However I am just a baby in the blogging arena and you are a master in this..
Inspiring Citizen Rafi recently posted Amazing Life Insights For You Through A SMART Interview With Hendrik Edberg Of Positivity Blog
Guest bloggers aren’t all bad – I’m sure I will have some sparingly in the future. But it really depends on your goals. Last year, mine was traffic and just keeping the site alive. This year, it’s about stabilizing my own platform, gaining leads for my business, and building this up as my own authority hub.
Happy to hear you will be doing your own blog again, Kristi. Most of your guest bloggers did not give us the quality we had with you.
Thanks Kay! I’ll do my best to up the game here.
Hey Kristi,
Thanks and all the best for new start, I am visiting your blog almost 2 years, awesome experience but still looking for guest post…
Great to have you here so long!
Design looks great Kristi.
Also glad to see you will be writing more of your own content and taking in less GP’s.
Good luck in 2013 with the new direction
John Paul recently posted 11 Steps To Building Your Brand On Twitter
Thanks John. I’m going to need it.
Kristi,
Good move – Kikolani is your brand and your strategy is smart. An occasional guest post is fine but too many and your brand gets watered down. I’m glad to see you heading in the direction you are because when I shared content it was usually from you and rarely from your guest authors.
Debra Murphy recently posted Inbound Marketing – 5 Steps to a Winning Strategy
I was doing the same thing on other blogs too Debra – only sharing posts from the main blogger and skipping over guest posts unless I recognized the author. That’s why I thought it might be good to see if the same was happening to mine, and apparently it was.
I like the change in layout, it looks clean and nice. Even something as cosmetic as a design change can really help to renew focus and re-energize you. It’s nice to see people getting back into the swing on content creation on a site that finds success. A lot of people will find success with a site and try to find a way to continue that success with as little effort on their part as possible. Refreshing to see a break in the trend.
Glad you like it Paul!
Seems definitely like a good plan! I’ve been going through a similar process recently. Good luck!
Marko Saric recently posted Beppe Grillo: 9 Steps From A Blogger To A Political Leader
I think it is almost a little refreshing to take the break from your own blog for awhile and then come back to it ready to take on new ideas. Good luck with yours too!
I know I’ll be glad to read more of your original writing. I have a blog that I don’t really contribute to any more – it is all guest posts. I recently strengthened the quality expectations and have run into a lot of the same issues. I just don’t have time to post to it any more as I run an agency that puts out regular content and most of my time goes there. Anyways – look forward to reading more from you!
Justin McGill recently posted How to Create Brand Consistency Between All Forms of Marketing
Thanks Justin! Good luck maintaining yours and a business.
Sounds good Kristi!
Wish you all the success, your blog have helped me a lot. I’ve known your blog since 2011 and I want to say that you made great work. I am 100% behind you.
Best regards, Atyq Brunner
Thanks
Brunner Atyq recently posted How to Draw Maximum Attention through Your Blog?
Thanks Brunner!
Smart move Kristi, especially since you are such a great writer.
Gregory Ciotti recently posted Why Steve Jobs Never Listened to His Customers
Thanks Gregory! Very much appreciated from someone who is also a great writer. Love your posts everywhere I see them!
I am following you blog from a long time. And now you are moving in very good direction that will very help full for SEO community as well. Than you very much Kristi
Faisal Kaleem recently posted SEO India | A better keyword in Indian SEO Industries
Thanks Faisal!
Hey Kristi ! I like the positive perspective in your post! I am sorry to hear you had a complicated experience with the guest posting- the situations you described are , unfortunately, so common- so it is great that you decided to write more on your blog- the personal touch is valuable and you will see the difference in no time! I like the idea of promoting more- I will try that also with my sites!
Dragos recently posted Best Medical WordPress Themes 2013
Thanks Dragos! I already see a huge difference just in this one post.
Kristi,
Have you thought about switching to an invite-only method of guest blogging instead of cutting it off completely?
There’s something to be said about sharing other perspectives and building strategic partnerships. If you invite someone to guest blog for you and they give you a ready-to-publish and original post, that deepens the relationships because there is trust involved and you get an idea if the guest blogger’s content resonates with your audience. This mutual trust makes large-scale product launches and joint ventures possible but that trust has to start somewhere.
I don’t know – what do you think? Does this resonate with you at all?
Jeff Machado recently posted Expert Advice on the Importance of Business Relationships
I’m actually thinking about doing an invite-only guest post basis, probably starting in a few months. I think that will be better for the guest bloggers too since they won’t be lost in a sea of guest posts.
No problem Kristi. I still plan on visiting often. I look forward to reading more of your content. All the best to you moving forward
Sam Martinez
Silver Lake Realtors recently posted Short Sale Specialist can mean many things with Short Sale Process.
Thanks Sam!
I’ve been a fan of yours for so long and I’m happy to see you taking back the blog. I enjoyed some of the guest posts, but lets face it, I signed up to your feeds because I wanted to hear from you!
Frankly, I’m hoping that some of the other big bloggers out there will take your lead and get back to doing their own writing for their blog. IMOH, guest bloggers should be on a limited basis and because they can offer something that maybe you can’t… such as an opposing view of a topic, or deeper coverage on a topic that might not be your forte.
Thank you Kristi and welcome back.
Susan recently posted Who’s Your Ideal Client?
Thanks Susan – I’m glad to hear that! The bigger blogs are going with that trend already I think. Smaller ones too.
Sorry to say I’ve had similar experiences with guest posts – and came to the same conclusion about no longer accepting them for my own blog. Ironically, I am a featured writer on another blog – guess he did a better job of attracting responsible writers than I did.
marquita herald recently posted Shift Your Perspective to Increase Productivity
Or he doesn’t have a problem filtering them. Sites with multiple managers / editors probably flush out a lot of the mess before the owners even see it.
Kristi, I think it’s a great strategy and one that I’ve pretty much stuck with over all my years as well. There are two questions you didn’t answer from what you wrote above.
One, what your writing schedule will look like. You mentioned that you wanted to spend 80% promoting and, based on a 7 day time frame, it means one post every 5 days or maybe one post a week not including your Fetching Friday post.
Two, if you’re promoting, to what end? So more people might hire you to write for them? So you can sell a product of some type? Or is there something else you have that you’d rather not discuss (ain’t I just so nosey lol)?
Mitch Mitchell recently posted Is Social Media Giving You Everything You Need
Thanks Mitch! I’m going to aim for one post a week + Fetching Fridays. As far as the the reasons why, it’s to increase my freelance writing leads, eventually promote some more ebooks, and have my own hub again. I’m also toying with the idea of doing some speaking gigs later this year, so this is part of my overall strategy to build more authority.
I have seen your posts on a number of blogs around the web, and they are always helpful and give me some good ideas. If you’re writing more content yourself here I personally think it’s a good thing
Thanks Brent!
I’ll be honest Kristi, I stayed subscribed after it changed to mostly guest posts, but only for the Friday round ups. Very glad to hear you are taking back over, and the nice to see the changes in design here as well!
Hope the family is doing well and I look forward to the future writings from you!
Keith recently posted What Happened To The Human Factor?
Thanks Keith! Yes, we’re all doing well. Lucy’s 12 weeks old now and sleeping through the night which is a plus.
Hi Kristi, I kept visiting your blog last year for the Fridays but all the guest articles turned me off. One thing I learned that, I like a blog for it’s author not for it’s name or concept. So I am glad that you are back and going for the 20/80 approach from Social Triggers.
Tamal Anwar recently posted How to Start Your Own Online Business in 2013 (Infographic)
Ditto to what everybody else said. Out with the so-so guest posts, especially as they’re clearly a huge hassle for you. So glad to have you back!
Alexis recently posted 5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
Hey Kristi… so many points to this post that I kept nodding my head and saying Yep! lol
I’m considering doing this as well. It’s just coming to a point that it’s almost more trouble than it’s worth to accept guest posts.
And ideally when I accept a guest post, I’d love to have that author back a few more times, rather than constantly featuring a new random person, and that just doesn’t seem to happen very often.
Anyhoo, food for thought, I may be doing this myself in the near future or something similar at any rate.
Cori Padgett recently posted Sharing and Caring: Customer Love Pays Dividends
Guest posts aren’t all bad… but it just gets frustrating handling the flock of bad ones while waiting for a good one.
Nice plan you got here Kristi. So the change in the theme marks the change in your plan also? ^_^
By the way, since you mentioned that we need to focus 80% on promoting our articles, where do we start?
Jeff recently posted What are the Best SSD For Your PC, Laptop or Gaming this 2013: Q1 Report
Once you have great content, I always start with the main social media networks, then email, and so on. I’m working on an update to my Blog Post Promotion Guide to reflect my current strategy in detail!
I’m about to stop accepting guest posts too. Last week when screening a guest post, i found out it was published in two different blogs, so i turned it down. Imagine, the author made fun of me on google+.
The strategy you took for this blog now is okay. Besides, the time you’ll spend screening and editing a guest post is enough for you to write a good one. All the best