This is a real tough one and I would love to see people cast a vote on my dilemna. If you are a blog owner I would especially love to hear your opinions.
Now as everyone who reads this website knows, because basically I have beat the subject to death, I went ahead and created the SPANKING UNIVERSE as a community based project. The goal of the universe was a very simple one, to create a hub where spankos could go so that they could quickly see which blogs had posted a new topic. The feedback has been totally amazing, and most blogs who have responded have said that the spanking universe is anywhere between their 1st and 3rd in top referrers for links coming in, after just three short weeks of the spanking universe being active. Of course that doesn’t apply to every blog listed, but for those blog owners who have responded so far, it has applied to them. I guess they are pretty pleased with the increased traffic :-). Now not all of the feedback has been positive, which I found somewhat surprising being that whenever a blog posted something new, readers would go there in droves to check it out. Like anything though, I will roll with the punches on that one and assume that my intentions weren’t very clear when I wrote to blog owners in the first place.
So this is where my dilemna comes into play. My series of blogs will, on average, send over 400 readers a day to the SPANKING UNIVERSE. That is a third of the number of visitors that the universe is getting, so I am basically sending my readers over there to go and check out the work of other blogs. Now then, whilst a vast percentage of blogs have been courteous enough to reciprocate a link, and others have linked it if they are unable to have a full time link placed, there are about 25% of blogs that have not responded to my messages, nor linked back into the universe.
So this is the problem I have. The whole goal of this project was for the benefit of the community as a whole in the first place, with no personal gain for me at all. That is the thought that keeps coming to my mind when I find it irking me that some blogs are not linking back in, yet are still getting the increased traffic that the spanking universe is giving them, because the whole purpose was to provide a free service to the community in the first place. So if you were in my shoes, which of the following choices would you make in regards to blogs that are not linking back into the spanking universe?
1) Delete their blog from the Universe, clearly they aren’t interested in sharing their traffic like everyone else is doing to contribute to the community.
2) Keep their blog listed, the purpose of the universe is to benefit the community and we shouldn’t lose sight of that fact, regardless whether a blog links back or not.
3) Practice a little patience. As time goes on, once these blogs realize the volume of traffic the spanking universe is sending them, they will link back eventually once they get around to it.
4) Send a final email stating that if they don’t link back, I should consider that a clear sign that they are not interested in their blog being listed anyway.
5) Quit your bitching, Windsor, and post something worthwhile 🙂
Please use the poll below to cast your vote.
Why didn’t you put the quit your bitching option in the poll?? *giggles…Missed you this weekend big guy!!
sarah
I owe you an email, Sarah, going there right now 🙂
I think it is a really nice community project and like any other similar poject there will be givers and takers … but the good far outweighs the bad so please stick with it man … great job … RH
hehe sounds great pup! I fully plan to request my link, as soon as I feel grown up enough to really keep up my blog for more than a week of good intentions!! LOL…
sarah
Well I voted! I do think it’s high time the Spanking Bloggers had a forum where we could meet, exchange views, swap ideas & keep relevant news & happenings up to !.. since some of you out there are so much more ‘on the money’ than the rest of us! The forum should be strictly monitored. You know confirmation emails before membership is granted & stuff
Wellllllll… I feel bad, ’cause I can’t link back to you (I would if I could, though!). I went for the middle ground — give people a little more time. I don’t know what linking entails, but it doesn’t seem like it would take more than a couple of minutes? But you know how busy and distracted everyone is these days.
You can always look at it this way, Rich — if you keep the non-linkers on Spanking Universe anyway, it’s good karma. 😀
How about a separate feed with the blogs that don’t link to you, and put it at the bottom of the page below the other one with the blogs that do link back? They’d get less visibility that way, but you’d still provide a service by linking them.
Hi Rich,
I wear a pair of shoes that are a lot like yours (if perhaps a smaller size). I link more than 300 spanking related blogs. Maintaining the blogroll consumes a lot of time, but readers tell me that they find it valuable.
Were I to eliminate every blog that doesn’t link back, I would have at least 100 fewer links. Among these are many blogs created by newbies. They may not even know how to create a link. But that doesn’t invalidate what they have to say.
I believe you answered your own question when you said, “The whole goal of this project was for the benefit of the community…” That’s the primary purpose of my blogroll as well. The side benefit of attracting repeat visitors is an added bonus.
Thank you for your many contributions to our community.
Hugs,
Bonnie
I say keep them on the blogroll. Like Todd said, what if the faithful were to go to the Spanking Universe and find their favorite blog was not on there? The benefit applies to those who use the Spanking Universe – and I would say moreso than for the blogs that link back to it. It’s a community thing, and it enhances the community as a whole.
I’ll tell you this…..personally, I don’t link to many places in my own blog. It has nothing to do with snobbery (well, ok, maybe a little.,…..lol) or not appreciating that someone has linked to me without my having asked them to do so. If I link to a page, it’s because I have a sense of what is on that page, whether or not it is something I follow myself. And since I can not follow every blog or page in spanko-land, that leaves a lot of people out, including probably many good blogs. However, I won’t link just for the sake of linking, and if I do not have a sense from regular reading how a page is, then I won’t link to it.
That’s not to be mean, but I don’t view it as my given responsibility to link around the spanko world, despite not knowing the regular content.
As for the Spanking Universe, I linked to it cuz you are my very good friend and I link to my good friends too. 🙂 But also, I think it is a great idea, this central page. If your intent was to benefit the community in an altruistic way, then I vote “Quityerbitchin'” 😉 Your name is attached to it, what more do ya want??
sarah
ps
I DO link to some on my blog that do not link back to me. I’ve never asked them to link back to me either. Why? Because I link to them because I find their blog worthwhile. Whether they link back to me is their own choice, for whatever reasons they may link back to blogs. 🙂
They need to support you and your efforts.\
Ron
The list is great. I like to use it to look around. I usually put what’s here on my blog list.
I have Spanking Universe on my blog list and I also put a button on my blog that links here. Anyone that benefits from this, should help with it. Give them one more chance. Make sure they know how to link back.
Thanks for doing this
Greg aka bumtickler
I must say–you have increased my site by oodles. OODLES! God Bless You, Good Sir!
However, I hear your stuggle–trying to keep to the spirit of the project; that is to say, keep all the blogs on there JUST to enrich the spanko community, OR make it FAIR, where you give them traffic and they have to TRY to give you traffic.
I say, it’s not their fault if none of their folks go back to the spanking universe. BUT, I think if they want to keep this good thing going, then they NEED to link back (at least try!). Or else the whole system breaks down–this isn’t just for us; YOU should get some of OUR bloggers’ traffic as well. We need to cycle them.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the descision if you decide to cut the folks that haven’t linked back after you give them ample chance. They’ll link to you when they’re ready. If they don’t, it’s no skin off anyone’s nose. If they wont share their traffic, they wont share their traffic. They’ll link in when they want it, and certainly can’t blame you for removing them after you’ve been so damn nice about the whole thing. You still have the other 75% of blogs comming in, so the spanking Universe has *made it*–don’t worry about THAT. 🙂
I am kinda a newbie on this link stuff i appreciate your posting the links as it is fun to find new sites that i would not have if you had not posted them in the first place as far as linking back to you well i tend to think since you are the bigger and more well known in the community they are going to go back to you instead of through linking because it is easier to go to sites that you know and also some of the new ones get tired of blogging(writers block, lack of content, repeat content…what have you etc.) so i am confused about your dillema (because it is more about sharing than increased traffic). I also think that the only reasons to delete some site is that it is a dead link or someone has complained about the site you linked them to as having viruses, spam or more porn and even at that if i don’t like the blog or whatever i don’t go back and i only went there because i found it on your site so what is the problem?
Jim