Blogger Help and Confessions of a Hypocrite
Today’s guest post is by Joshua Wilner.
Confession: I am a hypocrite.
I teach my children to take time to read directions, and to not feel stupid about needing to ask for help. They have heard me share a million clichés like “measure twice, cut once” and know why it is better to “do it right the first time.”
What they don’t know is I don’t want to read directions or ask for help because I am way too busy. I wake up and hit the ground running at full speed with a list of things that have to be done and the last thing you want to do is get in the way of 240 pounds of Josh.
I didn’t want to move from Feedburner to Feedblitz. I didn’t want to have to learn a new system or spend time with tech support trying to figure out why any part of my mighty social media empire was having issues.
Yet I preferred to be proactive and decided it made more sense to make the move and then roll with any hiccups that came along with it.
That was last September and I am glad I did it.
It is not because I think Feedblitz is the greatest tool I have ever used or because they are paying me a million dollars a year to endorse them.
It is because it was a relatively easy transition and they have a ton of tools I haven’t even taken advantage of yet.
Of Tools and Bloggers
My kids will also tell you that I am a firm believer that the utility of a tool lies in the hands of the user. You can have a professional grade tool but it won’t perform the same way in the hands of an amateur.
I see Feedblitz as being professional grade and as having a ton of value I haven’t unlocked yet because I haven’t taken the time to figure it all out.
It is not because it is overly complicated either, it isn’t. When I have had questions they have been very good about answering them.
More than anything my not using it to full capacity is because what I am using now is working well for me. My blog is growing and I feel very good about what is happening. So some of it is “don’t tinker with something that is working” and some of it is because I haven’t had time to really mess with it.
But that is coming soon.
Change Happens
The blogosphere is a very dynamic environment and bloggers who are unwilling or unable to adapt find themselves having to fight an uphill battle. I am working on carving out some time to figure out what else I can do with Feedblitz that I am not using now.
It has enough features that I think I can cut out a plugin or two and use Feedblitz to take care of what they had been doing for me.
If it works the way I want it to the net result will be a faster loading blog and a more productive Josh.
A faster loading blog is good for SEO, and a more productive Josh is good for the family. And for me too.
What hidden tips or FeedBlitz abilities are you using, that you can share?
Joshua Wilner (The Jack B.) is a writer, and the author of 39 unpublished books and three screenplays. A former athlete and would be superhero he still fights for truth, justice and the American Way. Though he may look like a grown man, don’t fool yourself he is still a boy at heart. When he is not engaged in Walter Mitty like fantasies he is a husband, father and friend and blogs at TheJackB.