This guest blog post is by Damien Riley of Postcards from the Funny Farm.

Talk has really peaked about Google PageRank (PR) versus value for a blog. Can Google’s university created algorithms really dictate automatically the value of a website? My answer is no they can’t but they remain the industry parent for handing out “worth.” In turn, advertising companies and websurfers in general tend to assign value as they are told to by Google. Does anyone else find this disconcerting? Anyway, my post here is not about Google or PR, it’s about becoming a site of value. How do you get there? Well, first you have to define value and what you want to become. For example, I find value in posts that make me feel inspired, but not everyone does. The good news is, anyone can add value to her/his blog. You don’t need to wait for Google to tell you if you have worth.

The other day a friend on a social media site I frequent thanked me for linking to her site. She said it meant a lot coming from an “established blog.” I was taken a bit aback when I heard that. Because my blog undergoes so many changes and evolutions, I never really considered it “established.” Then I thought about it. There are a lot of items I take for granted that do make me “established,” if only relative to others:

1. My blog has been in existence for over 2 years.
2. It has 909 posts.
3. I get 80 unique visits a day on average. (source Google Analytics)
4. I have a loyal blogroll full with sites I have developed relationships with

These and other items do indeed make me an established blogger. As I thought about these items that make me “valuable” to less established blogs, I began to look at them in hopes of putting them together in a quick tip to help blogs just starting out. As I analyzed, I came up with good news and bad news. The good news is that the requirement for these items is something anyone can do. The bad news is, people starting really don’t have it usually: patience.

New and old bloggers benefit by patience. To define your own value is to declare independence from parent companies like Google that thrive by assigning value as they see it. You can create your own success by setting goals and then working daily to meet them. In the end, you will be sure your blog is valuable and, one fringe benefit might be that Google affirms what you already know is true (along with Technorati, RealRank, etc). Be patient at doing the right things toward your goals through confident writing and you will be more of an “established blogger” every day. What makes your blog valuable?

For more information on this topic along with psychology and inspiration, visit Damien’s blog Postcards from the Funny Farm.