Hosting a Blog Carnival
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about Blog Carnivals, what they are and how you can get involved. They can be a good way of promoting your blog and building up links.
HOWEVER, as part of the most recent carnival I hosted, it became apparent that many people don’t bother to visit and READ carnival posts. Which begs the question - are they a helpful way of building blog traffic or is it simply a glorified version of a link farm?
Here are some quotes from some recent discussion on LighteningOnline:
This carnival is an example of how I believe a carnival should look and be, not what most carnival are: just link farms. Suzie Cheel
Such a well presented carnival, Lightening. I generally don’t read carnival posts unless the blogger has actually taken the time to comment or highlight each post - otherwise its just a collection of links. This is how Carnivals should be run, but I imagine it was a big job putting it together! Guera
My Thoughts On Hosting a Blog Carnival
(based on my very large experience base of having hosted 3 whole carnivals 
)
1. Don’t view hosting a Blog Carnival as a “quick and easy” post.
It can be done quickly and easily by posting code from Instacarnival. That is how this carnival was done. It’s not that there is necessarily anything *wrong* with doing a carnival this way. It’s just that most people don’t bother to read them. 
Which is incredibly sad because a LOT of carnival entries are a bloggers best posts and well worth reading.
2. Read every post that is submitted
Skim reading is okay. You at least get a feel for the post. By linking to a post from your blog, you are in a way endorsing that post. So it’s useful just to check over each post and blog. I prefer to check all of my links first so will tend to compose the links, save, then preview. From preview I can click the links in my post to check that there are no errors in the link. While I’m there, it doesn’t take long to have a look over the post.
3. Make sure you understand what the criteria is for accepting a post into a carnival
Sometimes the carnival owner will check the posts that have been submitted. However, it’s a good idea to have an understanding of what the submission criteria is for the carnival you are hosting. Some people seem to submit to any and every carnival they can find in the hopes of gaining a link back. I don’t think there are any “rules” against submitting a post to more than one carnival but I do think it should be relevant and appropriate for the carnival it is submitted to.
4. Add your own “flavour” to the carnival.
I first got the idea that carnivals could be presented more than one way by reading Aussie Carnival of Sorry, Love, Whales and Other Stuff hosted by Colin at Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe. When I got to the end I suddenly realised that I had actually READ it all. And I was inspired to actually go and read many of the posts mentioned. I don’t think it was until this point that I realised I tended to skim carnival posts without really taking much in. I might visit a post or two but in general they weren’t as inspiring as I’d always assumed.
That was all very well for someone like Colin who is a talented and witty writer. Attempting to copy his style was only likely to end in disaster and tears for me. And likely to sound false and forced.
I wondered what I could bring to a carnival that would show a little of my own personality to those reading. For my most recent carnival hosting, I chose to include smileys and the colour pink as factors which were representative of my blog. To define my comments from the comments of those submitted, I used pink text and started the line with a smiley icon. My comments were based around something that made me smile in each post. Not especially “creative” but at the same time adding my own “flavour” to the carnival.
5. Dare To Be Different
When I first started hosting carnivals I was terrified that I might somehow do it “wrong”. I guess what I’ve learnt from feedback so far is that you can’t really do it “wrong”. As the host it is up to you to decide how you want to present your carnival. And if the feedback I’ve gotten in recent times is anything to go by, different is GOOD when it comes to presenting a carnival.
Final Thoughts
It occured to me as I was composing this post that my thoughts might actually put people off when it comes to hosting carnivals.
That isn’t my intention at all. Hosting a carnival can actually bring your blog more exposure than participating in one. Putting a little bit of extra time into doing it well can only be a good investment in your blog.
Even to highlight a post or two that you like or highlight the post of the person who hosted prior to you are simple ideas that can add a bit of life to an otherwise predictable post.
A small amount of effort by all of us can help make Blog Carnivals more interesting, fun and inspiring. I think it’s an investment that could pay dividends for us all.
Please Weigh In
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Blog Carnivals. Do you think they make worthwhile posts or are they simply a fancy word for a “link farm”? Do you have any tips or ideas for simple ways to “jazz up” a Blog Carnival post?
Please take a moment to respond to the poll in my sidebar regarding Blog Carnivals.
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Comments
This is a great post, Lightening and an interesting question. When I first started exploring carnivals I was impressed with the stated philosophy that it was connecting people writing like minded things and highlighting blog posts about similar topics. It seemed like a good way to find others posting on the same topic and to have them find me. But I got a bit disillusioned with them after reading (or skimming, mostly) the carnival posts which I now realise were put together with instacarnival. To me those posts are not much more than a link farm. I have still submitted a few posts to carnivals in the last few months, but only really when its been a post I am proud of and want to get a bit of exposure for, and when I think it really fits the carnival topic. I haven’t really seen a lot of traffic from the carnivals although I guess I’ve got another link from it, but I wonder how worth it it is doing them. If everyone wrote a carnival post like yours, I think the participants would get a lot more out of them, not just from more traffic but from actual interested readers, which I think is what they are supposed to be about. The effort of doing a proper carnival post might put people off though, as you said, but really, if you’re hosting the carnival, the least you can do is read the posts!
I have had a number of exasperating sessions on the computer hosting carnivals, but I have always tried to do a little more when hosting. I would not be satisfied with an instacarnival, but that is just me.
I am much more likely to read the posts in a carnival if the blog owner has made an effort to personalise it and showcase posts.
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