No, I can’t think of a clever title this time. But I did get recognized again, which is always nice. This time the recognition comes from Yomu of Umai Yomu Anime Blog, which if you have any interest in anime you should be following without question. Yomu also posts some great insights about living and working in Japan as a teacher.
As before, here are…
The Rules:
Thank the blogger that nominated you and give a link to their site.
Do a post to show your award.
Give a summary of how your blog started.
Give two pieces of advice for any new bloggers.
Select at least 15 other bloggers for this award.
Let each nominee know you’ve nominated them and give a link to your post.
I’ve gotten through the first requirement and am currently working on the second, so now it’s time to take on the rest. I already gave a summary of my blog’s history in the first Blogger Recognition Award post I wrote a while back, so you can read that if you like. Here’s a summarized summary: I started this site seven years ago when I was looking for an escape from my routine after returning to get my last degree. Video games, anime, and music are my escape, so those are what I write about. For years I had almost no involvement with the community here just because I wasn’t really making the effort, but I’m happy that I am now. You’re all great people, and that’s not flattery so you’ll keep reading my site, I promise.
Twitter leaves me in despair, but the community here cures it. Thanks!
Since none of this information is new, here’s another fact about the site: for a few weeks it had a different name, which is why the URL is what it is. I use that name on Twitter as well, but other than that I should probably do something about the difference between the current name and address.
And now for two more pieces of advice for new bloggers.
1) Maintain a sustainable posting schedule
Another piece of advice that sounds obvious but that I’ve ignored at times. Burnout for writers is a real problem, especially if you’re taking on long hours at your job or at school on top of the work you’re putting into your site. There are people who make a daily posting schedule work, turning out great posts every morning or evening, but if you can’t manage that, it’s nothing to be down about. I can’t do it myself, which is why I usually post between once and twice a week. And I have to admit I can only keep up this schedule now because of the free time I have thanks to working from home and cutting out 10-15 hours of commuting time every week. I know this won’t last, not when I’m called back to the office.
I’m not actually Joker, I’m one of these depressed fuckers in suits in the foreground.
Do the best you can while keeping your limits in mind. When you’re starting out, you probably won’t know those limits yet, so don’t worry if you do end up feeling burnt out for a while: just take that time to readjust. And if you end up having to take a break, don’t worry about that either. It can be hard to do, but it’s just necessary sometimes.
2) Write about what you want, but try to target an audience
This advice only applies if you care about getting views and finding and keeping dedicated readers. If you don’t, then go nuts — write about the movie you saw last week, what you had for lunch yesterday, some relationship advice based on past experience, and maybe throw a few political rants in for good measure. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with writing a blog like that, but the fact is that you’re going to be attracting such different audiences with all those sorts of posts, none of which are probably going to have much overlap, that you won’t retain many long-term readers.
My site isn’t the most focused in the world, but I do try to maintain my focus on anime, manga, and games that are in that general sphere — visual novels, JRPGs, platformers about shrine maidens fighting demon girls, that kind of stuff. That doesn’t mean I won’t write about a totally western-made and -styled game; I do that sometimes too (not lately so much, but it does happen, I swear!) I’ve also reviewed other forms of media outside the usual areas I cover like artbooks. But I also feel that maintaining a strong site identity is important, because otherwise people won’t know quite what to expect from the site.
Again, it’s not bad in itself to write a blog with a broad focus or no focus at all. Especially if you’re getting what you want out of it — if so, then forget about what I or anyone else thinks of your work. With regard to your site, do what makes you happy: that’s a more important rule to follow. But don’t expect to do very well with your stats if you don’t strategize a bit. I’m not even talking about SEO or using Google Analytics or any of that stuff here, just the basics.
If serious revenue is what you’re looking for, I can’t help you at all.
And now for even more nominations. Fifteen is a whole lot for someone as lazy as me, but I’ll give it my best try. I hereby recognize:
All of the above are great blogs to follow as well, which is part of why I’m recognizing them. Be sure to check them out! I’ll be back soon with a game review/retrospective idea I’ve had sitting around for a while now, one that I’ve wanted to complete for some time. Until then!
25 thoughts on “Blogger Recognition Award pt. 2”
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Everything is bad for you 
I love that persona screenshot. I never realized how grim the crowds are!
Congratulations and thank you so much for the nom!
Yeah, they have hard lives. And thanks!
“Write about what you want, but try to target an audience”
I like how you phrased that!
And thanks for the nomination.
Certainly, you deserve it. And thanks — I feel like there’s a balance in posting that can be hard to maintain sometimes, but it comes down to what you want to get out of your blog.
Congrats on the award!
Thanks!
No problem!
Congratulation on your award nomination and remain safe
Thanks! And same to you.
Congrats on the award and thanks for the nomination. Those were some great bits of advice for new bloggers out there, by the way.
Thanks very much. If they follow those I hope they’ll have a head up on me when I started out.
Congrats and thanks for the nomination.
For all of the bad that has come from covid, not having to commute had definitely been a plus. Helps squeeze just a few more hours out of every week.
Of course. And yeah, that lack of commute makes a difference. I wonder how we’ll cope with going back to those old commutes, but the way it’s looking here at least, that won’t happen anytime soon.
Thanks for the tag! I myself tried a semi-daily output schedule, but I eventually couldn’t find the time to maintain it. My reviews tend to be pretty long, so even if I were doing this as my job, it posting one a day would be daunting. Now, I’m content with posting once a week if I can. A lot of bloggers end up burning themselves out horribly because they can’t maintain their schedule.
Knowing who your audience is important to keep in mind. I have definitely encountered quite a few games (including the one I’m about to review) that don’t seem to know who they’re for, and it’s always incredibly distracting.
Same; I think the only time I’ve posted daily was when I already had a bunch of short posts written already, and that was all planned.
All the more important if you’re trying to sell your game to an audience, yeah. I feel like my time is being wasted by a game with an identity crisis like that.
Good advice, thank you very much for the nod.
Thanks, and you’re welcome!
Congratulations on the award and thanks for the nomination. Wish I had this advice when I was starting out since time was one thing I didn’t have a lot for and what was bugging me. Now that I do, my motivation (or rather interest) to do anything is rock bottom, lol.
Thanks, and you’re welcome. It’s weird how motivation works — seems like you want to do more when you have less time to do it, and less when you actually do have the time. I’ve been that way before.
Congratulations on the tag and thank you for the nomination! I can definitely relate to working at home at the moment, it also saves me at the very least 12 hours of commute time a week. Though I usually use that commute time as best as I can by playing games on handheld systems, I’ve found out that I can use it even better when I’m just at home, wake up later and be far more concentrated for both work and writing afterwards. I tried to keep a schedule to post at least once a week, but now I’ve just decided to keep it to ”whenever I’ve finished the game”. It’s far more relaxing that way, and that’s what blogging should be like if you ask me.
Thanks! And yeah, that kind of easygoing schedule is the best. I’ve never been able to set deadlines for myself — all the deadlines I’ve ever had have been imposed by authority figures, so when I’m writing here I don’t feel like doing that to myself.
You’re right about the commute, too. I don’t know if I’ll start riding the train again in my city anytime soon, but it did give me about an hour every day to do other things aside from watching the road while listening to an audiobook or music.
I have a 15 minute commute to work, and even that seems too long to me. I can’t imagine spending double digit hours a week trapped in a vehicle, on the way too or from work. But hey! At least you’re free of that now!
And I second that advice about the posting schedule. I used to try to do 2-3 posts a week, and that helped the stats nicely, but I just couldn’t keep up with that and still make the type of content I enjoy. I post much less often now, but I have more fun writing, and honestly, that’s what this whole experience is all about.
Anyways, thanks for the nomination, and congrats on the award. Whenever wordpress gets around to actually sending these out, we’re all going to need very large trophy cases.
Those are the joys of living in a big city, yeah. We have to look on the bright side anyway, right? No more commute for now.
You’re right — it’s all about having fun writing. If I can’t get motivated to write one day, there’s no way it’s happening, but I know it will happen when I’m in the mood. That’s one of the differences between this and work.
No problem, and thanks! I should get to building my own case here, thanks for the reminder.