Are You Blogging Just to Be Blogging?
I’m sure you probably thought about your mission and your long-term objectives during the planning stages and launch of your blog. You continue to do so, of course. But have you revisited your goals lately — with blogging as an activity taken out of the equation?
New bloggers quickly become enamored with this technology, in and of itself, and easily become lost in all the tangential micro-goals associated with blogs — design elements, promotion efforts, social media diversions, code wrangling and tweaking, bells and whistles… Not to mention issues directly associated with your editorial schedule, marketing, and maintenance of blogging as an activity — when to blog, how often to post, what to write about, sourcing images for illustrations, how to attract new visitors, how many readers are converting to subscribers, what are you offering them as an incentive for paying attention to you… Then there’s the goal of income — making money — or a more meaningful expression of the value you’re creating — there’s a bottom-line there somewhere…
While you’re busy doing all THAT and more, playing with your new toy and loving the sound of your own voice — in love with the “Neato!” aspect of seeing your voice and your message at work in the world — have you lost sight of why you’re doing all this blogging in the first place?
The initial goal greatly resembles the end game.
Jessa of ClairvoyantGuidance.net said something very insightful to me about blogging-to-be-blogging that I want to share with her blessing:
“When I first opened my blog I read all the other blogs that were “experts” on blogging and attracting money. I commented, I participated in memes, I loaded up my feed reader — and then I hit the wall.
I was exhausted!
When I looked at the energy of the blogosphere — I just felt all this TENSION and PRESSURE to PERFORM — to be more PRODUCTIVE.
So I did some thinking and asking and praying and realized that I did not start a blog to be a popular BLOGGER, I started a blog to be a POPULAR and REAL Reader [Jessa uses the term "reader" to describe a professional role as a clairvoyant, intuitive, medium].
Big Major Difference.”
Amen! The difference is major. Take Jessa’s example here and adapt it to your mission: “I did not start a blog to be a popular blogger, I started a blog to be a popular _____.”
For someone who is not sucked into the problogging hype, Jessa impresses me for the degree to which she “gets” blogging and how to use a blog to support her mission and her goals — I think the very fact that she is conscious of how blogging to be blogging becomes just a kind of global scale navel-gazing is what puts her efforts in line with her goals.
I wonder when the “experts” who blog to be blogging about blogging do everything ELSE:
- If you post 3, 4, 5 times a week, when are you writing or working on anything other than your blog?
- What do you plan to do with all the attention? What do you do for all your readers besides send them posts?
The more “successful” my blog Shift Your Spirits becomes, the more work I have beyond the blog — one-on-one client services, joint ventures with other authors and businesses, more potential books, programs, and goals to develop. Those all are the reasons why I blog in the first place — my posts are the tip of the iceberg.
Is your blogging mission — your Big Chunk of Goals — all tip and no berg? Revisit your mission statement and also complete the following:
- “My blog allows me to ______.”
- “My blog attracts people to me so that I can _____.”
- “My blog impacts my mission/my business by _____.”
- “If each and every one of my subscribers/regular readers could hire me/contact me to engage them in a one-on-one relationship, it would be so that we could _____.”
Remind yourself — realign yourself — with your goals; your goals are something beyond blogging just to be blogging… Aren’t they?
Feel free to use the comments below to express, share, and manifest your blogging mission: “I did not start a blog to be a blogger; I started my blog to ______.”
Slade Roberson is an intuitive counselor, ATP®, professional blogger, and the author of Shift Your Spirits, Automatic Intuitive Response, and the PageCoach Problogging Tutorial Series. Slade on Blogging shares behind-the-screens internet marketing, self-publishing, and blogging strategies with other personal development writers, coaches, and healing arts practitioners.
Comments
20 Responses to “Are You Blogging Just to Be Blogging?”
Leave a Reply
-
Affiliates
-
Search
Slade,
I did not start a blog to be a blogger, I started my blog to share my art, or better said: the creation and evolution of my art.
Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. That’s always the feeling I get after reading each of your post Slade. Which I kinda wonder why I don’t get the same feeling when I read other blogs on blogging. Haha.
You’re absolutely right. I’ve to admit there’s a little backtracking from my initial motivations - owning a profitable online website - to building up a loyal readership to align my plan of a new product release. All that hard work into social marketing and stuff’s to get the attention on the content. So that, I can achieve my goals for a higher RSS subscription rate. It’s tough but so far, has been really worthwhile.
Cheers,
Ellesse
Slade, I love this post. I think about this (the mission of my blog) all the time but in a kind of “I’ll get to that tomorrow” sort of way. I’d rather be blogging, of course. I’d rather write and write and write… and that brings me to the answers to your little quiz/mission statement exercise.
“My blog allows me to ______ write and write and write.â€
“My blog attracts people to me so that I can _____ show them how well I can write
“My blog impacts my mission/my business by _____ creating a PERSONAL context for my work as an author, spiritual columnist and counselor.â€
“If each and every one of my subscribers/regular readers could hire me/contact me to engage them in a one-on-one relationship, it would be so that we could _____ talk about God (and then I could write about the cool things we discover through that conversation).â€
Clearly, for me, blogging is about writing–and connecting with people who like thinking about spirit. But it’s also about promoting myself as an author. I’d heard, just before I started blogging (from you, Slade) that publishers today want to know that you have a real audience before they risk publishing you. Publishing is expensive, after all. Monitoring an author’s blog can give them insight into her productivity, thought patterns, ideas and audience.
So that’s why I started… but the reason I fell in love with blogging was different. I love seeing my words arranged all neatly on the post page. That’s the truth.
Aaaaaah, I needed to read that today. Because I have been so busy giving readings (which is a good thing, right?) that I’ve barely had a chance to write. So my blog, which is fulfilling its purpose, hurray, has been weighing on me, which is silly!
While I created my blog to have an opportunity to build relationships with prospects, it has really turned into a spiritual practice in its own right that serves me. In order to write articles, I ask myself what I’m currently working on or what theme is presenting itself in my life. So it’s a way to process my own lessons. And that’s not something that I ever want to put in my “have to do” column. So thank you for reminding me that my blog belongs squarely in my “want to do” column!
Blessings,
Andrea
I did not start my blog to be a blogger. I started my blog to have an outlet for my writing so that my experiences might benefit others.
It is exciting watching the subscription numbers grow as other people find my site even though the numbers aren’t my main goal.
It is exciting reading the comments and knowing that I am accomplishing my goal of giving others the opportunity to think about abuse in a more intimate way rather than as something that happens to someone else and knowing that my blog is more about the hope that I can give others who may be where I was and don’t know that they can heal.
I have slowed down in writing articles over the past few months because of the difficulty for me of writing some of my articles. I want my articles to come across as honest and not simply as advise to others. Afterall, my blog is about “my” journey.
Slade,
Great post. Thank you.
It’s interesting to note that I have recently been revisiting the mission of my blog and as such many posts/reports/comments have come to me of late that contribute greatly to this reassessment process.
The bottom line for me right now is that I am tired of focusing on trying to “sell” to people, whether it’s ideas or products.
So, “I did not start a blog to be a blogger; I started my blog to honestly express my feelings and thoughts about relevant topics in my niche, knowing that others share these fellings and/or will enjoy and benefit from my posts.â€
I know that’s a little verbose and perhaps vague, but it’s off the top of my head and pretty much how I’m feeling right now.
Thanks again Slade,
Mark
I start by asking Slade to allow me to remain anonymous. Second, I am not a blogger. It was a few months ago that Slade wrote a post challenging those of us who aren’t blogging to do just that.
My desire to write bug bit me hard that day. I was ready to take the challenge, he said it only takes a few minutes and you can be off and running.
Here it is a few months later and I haven’t yet begun online. I have been doing the work here, at home. Maybe I can call it practice or adjusting or preparation. Today I know why this isn’t a public venture.
I did not start a blog to be a blogger; I started my blog to ______. My fill-in-the-blank does not have all the soundness that is necessary behind the words.
I decided there is power in knowing the tools are not yet all in place, the not readiness of my objective.
Slade, let me repeat the sentiments Ellesse put so aptly.
Vitor,
I feel that just being able to answer that question or fill in that blank so succinctly and specifically is the center point that All Your Other Blogging-Related Stuff flows from…
Ellesse,
Wow — thank you for that glowing encouragement. Do you see how “Owning a successful online business” is part of the sentence? The part before the fill-in-the-blank?
“Own a successful online business that ______.” Success is primarily determined by the response of others to the value you create.
Andrea,
I feel you! I am so “successfully” busy with Readings that my posting goes down the To Do List. Because connecting with my individual clients is the point — may I always be just a little bit too busy doing the Things that I blog for in the first place, right?
Oh, and, forgive me (everyone) for taking a while to respond to comments. I would have to say that comments to existing posts is a priority over new ones.
Patricia,
It’s your journey, so it’s your pace. You’re driving! Have faith that the perfect level of productivity for you is perfect for those who are following along. No doubt it takes a matching amount of energy for your readers to receive your pieces…
Mark,
The “Sell” mentality doesn’t sell nearly as well as the authentic passion and integrity. The “off the top of your head” reasons for blogging are indirect, subtle, but ultimately more powerful, in my humble opinion. Your readers respond to your Truth on an emotional level — let them use that to “sell themselves.” A softer touch, when it’s not all Bluff and Front, is a much more comfortable energy to maintain - for yourself and your readers.
Anonymous,
If it makes you feel any better, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll know the perfect ______ to fill in BEFORE blogging. Even if you have a general idea of what goes in that blank, I think anyone here can testify that an increasing amount of precision and awareness of what that It is, exactly, comes during the journey. Much of it is revealed through the response of the readers. Some of it, you can’t know until you start putting it out there. One of the great things about blogging as a publishing medium is that it is an evolving, forgiving work-in-progress.
Amy,
I overlooked you in that mass response, there! So sorry…
But actually, your comment stands out regarding the relationship between Blogging and Writing. I don’t think that necessarily everyone who is a Blogger identifies or expresses as a Writer, but certainly it’s hard for me to imagine how anyone who identifies as a Writer would not be drawn to blogging (as a practice or medium).
I feel, in terms of identifying Mission, you could easily replace the words blog and blogging with write and writing:
I write because ______.
My writing impacts people who read it by ______.
My words carry value in the areas of ______.
Whether it’s blogging or any other form of writing (with the exception of totally private journaling exercises) the work has an intended audience and a mission at its core.
Thanks for the timely reminder, mate! It’s easy to get lost in the details but forget the big picture.
Absolutely, Slade. Value creation is something I keep reminding myself. I’m working on increasing reader engagement too, models I used to gauge my blog growth starting from next year…
And hey, you deserve the compliment!
Cheers,
Ellesse
Brilliant, Slade — and I know I’m a bit late to the game in replying, but that’s because I’ve been having the same kind of wake-up call lately…
Blogging (and all of its “add-ons”) was taking so much time from all the other things I needed to do, I’ve been cutting back incredibly: I just opened my feedreader this morning for the first time in weeks… I’m only posting once a week or so… and I’m thinking of closing my Crackbook (um, Facebook) account. I never go there anymore. I mean, why?
Birds of a feather, eh? Take care.
Hey Adam,
I’m even later in replying to your comment — I can claim Holiday vacation, right?
Oh, man, are you teetering on the edge of becoming a cyborg? (Facebook, with a Crackberry, a voice-activated Bluetooth headset… You’d be something like 5% A.I.-enhanced, at that point…)
I’m kidding, of course — just in case the humor doesn’t translate in plain text.
You know, all the social media activity makes me a little crazy. It takes a lot of effort to maintain content and respond to comments on my OWN web space, let alone working on someone else’s. Social media/networking sites make me feel like I’m “cheating” on my virtual self…
I did read something recently about a new Google project to string social media-Facebook-esque functionality between/on top of existing parts of the blogosphere:
WordPress the New Facebook?
The concept makes sense to me — plug my blogging efforts into distributed social networking automagically — sounds promising.
Wake me when it’s out of beta…
Hi Slade,
I saw your blog the day I started my blog but I registered my domain name many months ago when I had a sudden inspired idea. I decided to bookmark your site and return to it and it seemed like I came back at the right time. I have been spending many hours getting my blog set up and it has been a very rewarding process. The blog has been up for approx 1 week and I have already had 18 unique visitors from 4 different countries! I am not sure if these stats are good, but I am so excited anyways! When I saw your blog post again I felt compelled this time to leave a comment about why I am so excited about my blog…
“I did not start a blog to be a blogger; I started my blog to Inspire myself and others.â€
“My blog allows me to write down what’s on my mind and share it with others.â€
“My blog attracts people to me because they can see the impact of what personal and spiritual development can do.”
“My blog impacts my mission/my business by allowing me to share with other people how they can actively create their lives.â€
“If each and every one of my subscribers/regular readers could hire me/contact me to engage them in a one-on-one relationship, it would be so that we could examine blocks to manifesting and share manifestation stories together!â€
If you are interested, you can take a look at my mission statement at:
http://www.manifestationstories.com/index.php/the-intention/
and let me know what you think
I am so happy I found your blog!~~
May,
Congratulations on your blog! Looks great.
I really like your tagline
An absolutely infinite and realistic intention, at the same time… Excellent!
Thank you for sharing your mission statements here with us.
Hey May, I can’t help taking a peek at your site and I agree with Slade. Loved the look and most impressively the tagline. Well done and welcome to the blogging world…
Cheers,
Ellesse
Hi Slade and Ellesse,
Thank you for sharing your comment. For someone who is one week into blogging, I can’t tell you how much this means to me that people are actually visiting my blog and liking it
May~~~
[...] How do you manage all the ways you could be spending your interacting-with-others-online time? You know; social media, email, blogging, posting photos of your family online, all that digital jazz. You’ve probably got lots of “channels” for interacting with the world, and if you’re like most people I’ve been in touch with lately (and tons of others), there are some channels that you subscribe to wholeheartedly, and others that may have once been important, but now are fading away. [...]
You’re welcome, May
Cheers,
Ellesse
Slade,
Very nice article indeed!
Why did I start my blog?
Here it is (hope it is okay to give a link here): http://www.desikanadadur.com/blog/2007/02/12/why-and-how-i-started-this-blog/ , to satisfy my writer’s itch!
Thanks for the timely reminder, as I have been getting distracted with installing cool plugins and changing design elements.
Cheers,
- Desika