Professional Blogging
Well, after blazing through some Javascript code for the folks over at the U.N. (yes, that’s the real United Nations), I’m thoroughly pooped. I don’t even really know why I did it, except as a favor for Ramit (PBwiki VP and the guy who does I will teach you to be rich, probably the only finance-related blog I will ever read because I hate thinking about money). I suppose it helps my resume, but then I begin to question the necessity of me padding my tech resume when my choices of career paths at the moment seem to be either 1) poor musician or 2) stressed-out doctor.
Anyway, something I’ve been thinking about lately is how the hell people blog professionally. There are a lot of tip sites out there by people who have “made it” (a few of them are in my blogroll if you’re interested) and are apparently raking in substantial incomes simply from amassing a giant readership and selling adspace, but that’s still way beyond me. It’s baffling (and sorta makes me jealous)…
But why does it matter, you ask. Jason, are YOU trying to break into the market or something? Well, yes and no. The past few weeks, I’ve played with the idea of marketing myself better and turning my blog towards some specific popular topic. Up to now, I’ve written about whatever comes to mind, but it seems to me like the most popular blogs become bastions of information on very specific things, be it Hollywood, hip-hop, or sex. Now that’s not to say that these folks never digress, because occasionally, very personal posts show up, but the M.O. is always more specific. On the other hand, if you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m far from focused.
Anyway, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, professional blogging. Despite my inability at the moment to really go for it and specialize, I have been making a little money doing it. Furthermore, having written a weekly column for the PBwiki blog for close to two months now, I’ve gotten a completely new perspective on the art of blogging. Here are some quick thoughts:
- Regularity is key. To build a solid readership, you have to write regularly and make sure it is quality every time.
- If you’re going to blog on a level anywhere above “emo-punk kid crying about not having friends” (personal blogs excluded, because they’re a different beast), then you have to plan.
- The ultimate in planning: write articles ahead of time and save them up for bad/busy days.
- In a few hours, my girlfriend will spew whatever beverage she is ingesting (my guess is some exotic British tea) as she reads about how her hermit boyfriend is telling the non-hermit world to network. Yes, network. Answer comments people make in your blogs. Visit others’ blogs, and leave comments for them. Make friends. It’s fabulous.
- Have a personality. Everybody says it, but it’s true: if you want to be read, then you have to be interesting. That said, having a personality does not mean being an ass. Some people do that very well, but there are way too many wannabes out there and I’m sick of them. Dare to be interesting and friendly.
And that’s all I have to say for now. Next time, you may even get a real entry.
Monday, February 26th, 2007 : Blogging : 3 Comments
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3 Responses to “Professional Blogging”
February 26th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
“I have been making a little money doing it.”
ORLY? And how have you been accomplishing that little feat?
February 26th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I only read your blog because I’m your friend
But honestly, think about how you are. Your interests are far too many…who would your audience possibly be? Plus, the majority of the time you are far too academic in your writing style.
I’m not saying all this to be a punk; anyone who looks at my blog can see the horrible spelling and lack of actual thought. But, as you said…it falls under the realm of personal blogs.
Anyhow, we always said in editing class that you’re supposed to say something nice before giving criticism, but clearly I forgot that, so I’ll say it now. I am impressed that you were working on code for the U.N. Also, maybe you’ll become a billionaire off of blog writing and then you can laugh and toss pennies at me in the street.
February 26th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Well, I guess that was my point. If I wanted to blog professionally, I would have to find some specific thing that I would write about constantly, and it’d have to be something popular enough that I could get a substantial portion of the net population to find it worthwhile. My stats tell me that my most mainstream posts get the most action, so that observation bears out.
Oh well.