Are you like me? Did you prepare well, miss a few posts and then quickly catch up, struggle to visit other blogs? Reflecting on 2012's A-Z April Blogging Challenge, these factors weigh heavy on my mind.
REFLECTIONS
Despite the fact I had chosen an ambitious topic AND prepared all the posts well in advance, I still found the challenge an uphill struggle after the first week. After visiting around 200 blogs immediately below mine on the linky list, which I had placed on my blog, I became rather tired, and the double figures of comments soon dried up. I also removed the linky list from my blog as just the sight of those 1,600 blogs was driving me crazy!
It quickly became apparent to me that a lot of fellow A-Zers were not visiting blogs on the linky list, probably struggling to find the time or motivation, like me.
It was fortunate I had prepared all the material for my posts in mid-March, because just typing each post up, adding a photo and a video, already felt like work enough! Never mind visiting tons of other blogs in this challenge. I did visit my friends' blogs on my blogroll, and came across some A-Zs I took a keen interest in.
I extend my congratulations and thanks to them, as well as the following friends who commented consistently during the month of April:
- Diane Croad
- Odie Langley
- My dear mum Joanna Horne
- My little mynx of a wife, Fidelia!
- J. C. Martin
- Anthony Stemke
- Leovi
- Ordinary malaysian
I know the effort it takes to visit and comment on other blogs regularly, and I appreciate my friends who have done just that on my blog :)
Many others paid me a visit or two, including many new readers from the challenge, and it's been great to hear from them and check out their blogs in return.
IMPROVEMENT REFLECTION
The one improvement I would suggest is associated with the linky list. Just the sight of over 1,600 blogs was intimidating at best.
Now, I love blogging and I've gained numerous benefits from it from time to time, but I've concluded that any normal person has a life to live away from the computer, and sometimes during April, my life came above the A-Z challenge.
To make things a lot easier, I would suggest that participating blogs have a specific A-Z group or category they can join, instead of everybody coming under one lengthy linky list. A-Z groups/categories could include: writers, poets, language, photoblogs, travel, entertainment, lifestyle etc.
That way participants can decide what sort of A-Z blogs they would like to visit, making a more enjoyable experience for everyone, connecting with more people of common interest, and helping the challenge become a lot less daunting.
BLOG STATS FOR APRIL
Pageviews = 8,544
Visits = 3,040
New Followers = 32
Comments = 375
