Exploring My Digital Publishing Journey Across BlogSpot, SubStack, and BeeHiiv

Over the years, I've been deeply engaged with several content platforms to share my writings and connect with my audience. Currently, I use three platforms.


At BlogSpot.com, I have cultivated a vast repository with thousands of posts, leveraging its ease of use and excellent tagging system.

On SubStack.com, I focus on polished articles, engaging a dedicated community of subscribers and fellow writers.

BeeHiiv.com serves as my platform for distributing "le crème de la crème" of my work via email, aiming to reach readers who prefer curated content directly in their inboxes.

Which content websites do I currently use?

A keen observer will notice that I have been using BlogSpot.com for decades. 
There, I have thousands of posts in various forms of refinement.

Then, I have SubStack.com, where I post finished articles to be shared with the community of fellow writers and friends who subscribed.

Finally, I have BeeHiiv.com, where I want my readers to subscribe to receive emails with "le crème de la crème" of my writings.

BlogSpot vs. SubStack vs. BeeHiiv comparison (diagram)

Why is blogging and email architecture so complicated?

The architecture is complicated because no single app does everything well.

• I like to start articles on the go from the phone when I get an idea (not on BeeHiiv)
• I like to draft articles on the phone from a cafe (not on BeeHiiv)
• I have thousands of articles on BlogSpot and good traffic

What are the best platforms for digital writers?

• There is no clear answer; this is why I use all three.
• I would probably not advise you to start with BlogSpot at this time
• If I was starting for the LOVE OF WRITING, I would use SubStack
• If I were starting to build a massive mailing list for commerce, I would start with BeeHiiv

BlogSpot.com 

PROS:

• easy to cross-link by TAG
• easy to create a DRAFT on the phone
• easy to PUBLISH a quick note
• thousands of posts published
• tens of thousands of page views per month 

CONS:

• NO BULK EMAIL
• questionable appearance

SubStack.com

PROS: 

• possible to draft a post on the phone
• easy to send posts to subscribers via email
• the best appearance out of the box

CONS:

• NO label tag crosslinking
• restrictive for import of email list

SUBSCRIBE

BeeHiiv.com

PROS:

• the best support of emails and statistics

CONS:

• It is not a real blog, just an archive of emails sent
• the questionable appearance of the home page

SUBSCRIBE

Here are a couple books on blogging.
Please VIEW them on Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

"MONETIZE BLOG POSTS WITH E-BOOK: HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN SELF-PUBLISHING IN 21 DAYS"
by Victoria and Charlie Rock 

"How to Start a Blog Today: A Free Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide to Create a Blog in 20 Minutes"

by by Scott Chow

On Writing by Stephen King

 

View on Amazon https://amzn.to/3xTc7sx

Please SUBSCRIBE: https://ukidlucas.beehiiv.com/

Your own reading and bloging place of inspiration.

It is important to have your own creative place.

I needed a place to read and write blogs, but my computer desk wasn't inspiring. Like anyone elses's, my life is full of procrastination and excuses. 

In Europe, they used to make those wide parapets that just invited you to sit on. If I ever build my own house, I will design them in.

Sitting in front of two huge monitors is not creative, does not give you the "long perspective". The computer desk is good for editing, linking and posting. I write ideas on my phone, anyway.

I got this chair when my wife updated her home office. 

After trying a few positions I found one that puts me in the mood. 

The extra bonus is that the air vent is where my feet are, it is brilliant!

#book

Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling

Matthew Dicks

Please SUBSCRIBE: https://ukidlucas.beehiiv.com

Email is back as a primary medium to connect with your audiences

The readership and the relationship with the readers are everything to the writer.

Per Uki's request:  DALL·E 2024-04-23 06.21.52

Why the blog readership is dropping?

As I mentioned in the previous post,

AI provides most of the “How to do?” and “What is?” answers.

The search engine referral traffic to individual blogs has dropped dramatically.

Is email a good medium to stay connected with your audience?

Establishing a lasting relationship with the reader is hard,
especially in the fast-paced world of instant chat communication and ever-scrolling feeds.

However, over 87% of people still use email as a primary communication.

Although I am not a big user of emails, I know many of my corporate management peers are.

Therefore, in addition to social media,
I am returning to the ancient ritual of writing weekly email newsletters.

What is interesting is that I am doing the weekly at work and for this personal blog.

Subscibe now:

https://forms.gle/djZQRa6kh8YYYQNM9

Resources

Here are some tutorial materials I found useful. 

Please SUBSCRIBE: https://ukidlucas.beehiiv.com

How do I deal with competition?

See the photo below. When I was posting my previous article on X.co (Twitter) I was literally following a post of Elon Musk.

I thought it was funny when I grabbed this screenshot. 

So how do you compete with Elon Musk on Social Media?

- If you are young, you could try to outlive him.

- If you are resilient, you can tune him out.

- If you are a fan, you could join him.

- Today, I chose to re-post him.

Ok, personal delusions about Elon being one's competition aside, I will try to cover the topic of social media competition in the future, but tonight is too late for that.

~ ~ ~

So how do you complete?

I used to be a competitive runner, I think my name is still on my school’s leaderboard, at least it used to be there for decades.

I my career I was trying to  prove myself as imposter syndrom was my modus operandi and followed me always.

I noticed that once I was in the groove in a given job, I wanted to move on and do something bigger, something more in tune with the times.

Never compete with people who are already on your level or below. 

First, it shows how petty you are, second it is not “sportive”, third teaching, mentoring and cooperating leaves a clean wake behind you and sailing is smoother.

Always look for solutions do not see problems.

Ok, so when I was posting my articles, seeing Elon’s post competing did not discourage me, even that I knew that all of the people like me will gravitate to Elon and not my post. It is like walking to a party where the popular kid is already getting all the attention.

Instead I grabbed the screenshot as I thought it was a great setup for the next article on competition.

 

Please SUBSCRIBE: https://ukidlucas.beehiiv.com

Did search engine results cut the traffic to personal blogs?

I have noticed a very unsettling statistic on my blog.
This prompted a fascinating question about AI, blogs' future, and maybe even the Internet.

Some research has confirmed my observation. There is widespread fear and doom across the blogosphere.

In this blog post, I discuss how changes in Google's search algorithms have decreased traffic to personal blogs by favoring direct answers instead of linking to external content. 

I explore the repercussions for small businesses and bloggers and speculate on possible strategies for adapting, such as creating more unique content and focusing on niche topics.

Per Uki's request, DALL·E 2024-04-21 07.51.44

A conceptual digital art piece depicting the abstract idea of artificial intelligence impacting personal blogs.

How to do profitable blogging in 2024

 I have been blogging since 2001; yes, that is 23 years. 

Most of that time, I was just writing notes for myself, but I ended up with thousands of posts, generating serious traffic after consolidating my various blogs.

I advocate for everyone to keep learning, as continual education is the only way to stay relevant. Recently, I also started reviewing how the PRO Bloggers do it.

Please watch the following video. It is insightful and promises a recurring, if not passive, revenue stream for retirement. 

Seth Godin on advertisement, communication, new ideas, permission marketing and more

This video from Nordic Business Forum is 4 years old, but it is worth watching and re-watching.

There was particularly one statement the really touched me deeply as I was thinking about it for a long while:

Art, not repeatability of Six-Sigma, but the fact that someone touched it.

I will address it in a separate post.

A person gets value from such videos if she can identify what the video addresses in her life. If you have a business, it is simple. If you do not, if you work for someone and not in marketing departament, then you have to realize what Seth Godin is doing here, promoting his own brand as a product. And that is a good thing.

Everyone has to something to gain from self-promotion, whether you are an executive, a director, a work from home mom, or a date partner.

Today, there are more weird people than normal. It is the long tail. It is on the fringes where people will be willing to engage with our new ideas.

“Voit valita kenet me olemme kuka tahansa”

In Finnish, this means something like

“We can choose who, whatever and whoever”

One size fits all is gone forever.

No one person on Earth knows how to make a computer mouse.

Elements of this new economy:

• Value is created by coordinating the efforts
• Developing Trust
• Permission to deliver the message
• Sharing the ideas
• Generosity
• Art

Art, not repeatability of Six-Sigma, but the fact that someone touched it.

Legend of Icarus

Japanese Kami-Waza 

We like doing what other people are doing.

Spring Break blog readership

 I noticed that people do not read my blog during the spring break.

I would not otherwise notice this fact, but we decided to take vacation during the spring break after a very long and glumly rain season in Pacific North West (PNW). Supposedly, this is a thing to do here to get some sunshine and Hawaii is only a short “puddle hop” away.

In any case, I appears that during the spring break in early April, the readership is significantly down. I was expecting about 20,000 visits, but I only got half of that. 

I guess, that instead of sitting at their desks and daydreaming, people actually go out and do sailing, diving and mountain climbing!

Why write blogs? Why write publicly at all?

Recently, a friend, Zosia, told me I should focus on Instagram because nobody reads blogs anymore.

I explained I have other motivations to write than chasing an “instant” dopamine hit.

I write my thoughts:

• because I simply like to write

• to analyze what I was thinking in the past

• for my kids, for when they are grown and interested

• to leave some intellectual legacy, no matter how small

• because I want to write books, and remembering little facts from the past is crucial

• I train a personal AI bot, "AIKO", in my specific way of thinking

Could I use private Google Docs, Obsidian, a notebook, or a fountain pen?

Not really. I’ve tried them all.

Private records get forgotten. And then, forever lost. I have piles of notebooks that will no doubt join my funeral pyre, and I have countless digital documents that will never see the light of day.

Blogger.com has been my friend. It works well enough for me. Yes, I fear Google may discontinue it someday, but that’s true of any platform.

Books survive the longest. That’s the ultimate goal. But it might have to wait until I retire.

Zosia’s question got me thinking more deeply about the reasons for blogging.

Take leaving a historical record, for example.

I recently chatted with my cousin Anna about our ancestry. Hardly anyone in the family can recall more than a few generations. I had a similar conversation with my aunt, Maryna.

We need to know where we came from and learn about our ancestors’ customs and ideas. Nobody wants to be forgotten.

Just this morning, I was talking with Zina about her writing.

She spoke of her life in a Soviet kołchoz (колхоз), the collapse of the ruble, the 10 years she spent in Italy, her work with Alzheimer’s patients, and her Moldovan and Italian cooking. That would be a vital record to leave for my kids once they’re old enough to care.

Another motivation? Residual income.

A solid benchmark for monetizing a blog is around 10,000 monthly pageviews. That opens the door to sponsored posts—sometimes worth a few hundred dollars each. Blogs with 100,000 views or more can command over $1,000 per post.

I never cared about traffic, but lately, my blog has been receiving 10,000 pageviews per month. That’s worth exploring.

Blogging

 

How to Start a Blog That Makes Money

I watched the video titled "How to Start a Blog That Makes Money." 

The creator shares insights on building a profitable blog, highlighting that they earn over $120,000 a month from blogging. 

Key takeaways include:​

Choosing a Niche: Focus on a specific topic you're passionate about to attract a dedicated audience.​
Creating Quality Content: Consistently produce valuable and engaging posts to keep readers returning.
Monetization Strategies: Explore methods like:

• Affiliate marketing, 
• sponsored posts, and 
• selling digital products to generate income.​

Amazon

 

Blogging

 

Blogging

 

One year later

It has been almost a year since I wrote anything besides technology articles on my blog.

It may be related to the fact that I have not read any real books, which is unlike me, considering the thousands of books I own. 

I do read every day and study a lot. 

I make good use of YouTube, but somehow, I have lost my drive for writing.  

I have been trying to decide what platform to use for writing, such as Blogger, Medium.com, Google Docs, etc. I have several documents (books) started, but I fear they will never see the light of day. 

On the other hand, blogs feel eclectic and irrelevant. Nevertheless, here I am writing this.

I am writing tonight with the lights out, using my large Android tablet and a pen stylus, and I must say it is fast and flawless. 

Let's hope I can get back to writing as a habit. Maybe these blog notes will become material for a book someday.

Monetary value of Microblogging

Eventbrite.com estimated that posts on social network sites can bring in real monetary value, on average:

• Twitter post brings in $0.80
• Facebook LIKE brings in $1.34

The question is, how can we tap into this value? 

For Eventbrite, it is clear that social media brings attendance, and attendance brings value.

Book "ProBlogger" by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett

Even if this is not strictly a technology book, since most of us "geeks" are bloggers, I highly recommend it.

 
Although I've been blogging for most of the last seven years, this book provided many useful tips that helped me give my blog direction.




Buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JnkAqh