I've been joining in with Project 365 for 5 years now. It's a blog hop. When you add your link it shows all the other blog posts who have joined in. There are around 12-15 link ups each week and there is a core group of us who have become firm friends, either online and/or in real life.
I'm disappointed some weeks when I comment on everyone else's post and half the people don't comment back, but then this is life and we really don't have many rules other than it being a weekly photo a day post that gets linked up.
Some of the other linkys I join in with just have far too many rules. The standard rules are as follows:
- Add the badge to your blog.
- Comment on the host.
- The post in front of yours.
- One other post of your choosing.
It's not difficult, quite simple to adhere to except:
- One linky I received NO comments for 4 weeks from the hosts.
- The people who comment on my posts are regular readers and don't need to find me through the linky.
- I comment on my share each week and often more or all the other posts linked up, if I have the time, but what comes back? Maybe 2-3 comments.
- I rarely have my post shared online by the hosts, yet they share their favourites, as in bloggers, not posts.
- Too many sponsored posts appearing in linkys. It's so hard to say something about a restaurant in a town I'll never visit or a new mattress I have no intention of buying or the latest opinion on raising children, when mine are now all adults. But I do, I read the post, I find something nice to say and what do I get back from others? 'Nice post, thanks for joining in.'
- Requests to add the badge to the bottom of the blog post. Where has this come from? This is all about creating backlinks, but it doesn't give me a back link and if you read the above, it's not been drawing new readers to my posts at all.
A lot of my favourite linkys have faded away, it is hard work as a host to keep up when 20+ bloggers link every week, to find the time to read, comment, promote etc. Plus write your own post each week, I get that. It's a good way to promote your blog also and get the back links, however it is a two way process. Those who link up use your hashtag, @reply you with their link and comment on your posts every week. I keep seeing more and more requests from the hosts for people to follow the rules or their posts will be deleted. I can't be doing with 'office' politics anymore, so I'm out. It's supposed to be fun.
My blog is in its 10th year. I set it up as a way to Tweet longer, I have a DA score of 31, that wasn't affected by the latest adjustments. My blog just plods along. Sometimes I do a sponsored post or a review but only if it fits with my blog and I rarely approach companies, they come to me.
I've removed all badges from my side bar now, apart from
#mysundayphoto a monthly link up run by Darren Coleshill. #pocolo a weekly link up for a post written that week hosted by
Stephanie and
Morgan and of course #project365 under the title of
#OneDailyPositive on my blog.
No offence intended to all the other hosts and I may join in again from time to time, but my baby, child, teen, empty nest days are long gone. If I do join in I'll add the badge to the bottom of each post, but if I don't feel the love being returned from those who link up, I'll be off again.
Do you join in with other linkys?
Do you have similar problems/issues?
Do you run a linky? What problems have you encountered? Do you think my comments are fair?
