My real life friend Mark a.k.a. Southern Blogger from The South Will Blog Again is guest posting today!
Let me tell you, this guy is fun-ny, like shoot milk out your nose funny. He was not easy to be in the same grad school class with since he always sent me ridiculous e-mails that made crack up in a nice, quiet seminar full of 10 people.
Because he was always so entertaining, I told him all the time, “You need to start a blog.” It’s too bad you can’t hear him talk in person, because he does about 50 perfect impressions, although I always tease him that his impression of me needs a little work. 😉 I should note that most of what Southern Blogger writes is only a little bit true. Read: thick sarcasm & satire. It’s a good time, and you should tell him hello every now and then.
Today, he’s going to talk about the trials and tribulations of starting a blog and gaining a following. He’s going to tell the story in the best way he knows how, through cartoons. Take it away, Mark:
Budget Blonde and I first became friends during graduate school. She was busy listening to the professor and taking notes while I was drawing cartoons and cracking jokes. She had begun making a name for herself on this site and suggested that I consider the wonderful world of blogging to show my cartoons and stories on a forum where I wouldn’t get in (as much) trouble.
This was quite an undertaking for me since I was the same guy who once had trouble doing endnotes and sending attachments via email, so I had quite the technology learning curve. But, Budget Blonde is very good with tips (I can’t tell you how many times pink spray paint has saved my life), and with her as my teacher, I ended up in the blogosphere three months ago.
Of course when I first entered the world of blogging, I had visions of striking it rich. As you know, the internet is an easy way to make millions quickly, or so I once read on a pop-up ad.
Well, it turns out, it’s very hard to get rich quick off of a blog if no one know who you are. So Budget Blonde explained to me that it was wise to make comments on sites similar to mine to promote my blog.
So I looked for other Southern-themed humor blogs. It turns out that over 85% of Southern bloggers are crafty young ladies who live in large houses and tablescape like nobody’s business. Undaunted, I made comments on those sites nevertheless and got three whole hits on my site in return!!!
I continued to publish my cartoons and tell stories from a Southern perspective. When you are starting out it can be a bit humbling, but then you get your first comments! Let me tell you dear readers, that every week I get lots of nice compliments from some of the same loyal readers as you can see below.
In all seriousness thanks to Budget Blonde’s great advice and encouragement, I’ve had a blast in my short time in the world wide web, and have found my little niche in the Southern Blogosphere. So if you’re looking for a little irreverent humor with a bit of a drawl, come on over, I’d love to have you.
{click to view larger}
-Southern Blogger
Thanks for taking the time for write for me, Mark! I really appreciate it! {His cartoons take about an hour to draw each, folks, so let’s give him a hand shall we? :)}
Have a great weekend everyone!
wow! those cartoons are amazing! i laughed out loud at the “new money, old money, internet money.” Happy Friday!
The cartoons are AWESOME!
I’m off to go and check out his blog.
I like the spam picture… hahaha… oh and the Southern bloggers who tablescape like nobodies business. SO SO SO SO soooooooooooooo true!
Hahahah, great stuff. <3 that! And <3 sparkles too!