Comments on: The Professionalization of Blogging

By: Amy Harden

Amy Harden — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:19:00 +0000

I am blogging because I love to write AND it is a way to keep my writing muscles agile. I do seek out marketing that compliments my work and will further help others. This is primarily true with my non-fiction writing and forums. I actually use the affiliates to support my writing and the ability to just work on my writing…but it is quite time consuming doing it by myself and the return not as large as I would need. I would prefer to just write and not worry about how what I am writing can be spun in to a way to promote for others.

I believe the writer who is not earning money BUT gaining a readership IS ultimately earning eventual loyalty and trust of their readers which they need to sell themselves to an agent or publishing company…so discouraging those who blog to write as not being professional may be part of a rewriting of the blogging atmosphere…but ignoring them may be foolish as they are a group that is full of talent, creativity and the future of writing, blogging and even marketing. They need to be counted, considered and a growing group that will ultimately join the rest of the pack. In business it is good…smart…to watch those who will be changing the trends and may take your place. It is called survival in the market…a basic business/marketing lesson…Know your competition!

By: Ann Odle

Ann Odle — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:01:00 +0000

Maybe we need to create a new definition of “professional” blogger? Sure there are people out there making a living blogging, I’m not one of them (yet, if ever); but I would like to be considered a professional.
I have the same issue with my direct sales businesses–they’re not exactly a hobby. I am making some money off of them; but like my blogging, I do those things because I enjoy them.

So is there a difference between “being professional” and “doing something because you enjoy it” AND why can’t it be the same?!

By: Barb

Barb — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 21:16:00 +0000

If I am honest – and I try to be for the most part – I would love to make a living writing. I have no idea how to market myself or my blog. And I don’t have time to learn. Maybe I don’t want to. I can’t imagine myself and my words as a “brand.” I’ll just keep writing and see what happens.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:58:00 +0000

What an interesting discussion. While I do use my blog to promote my book and movie, the main reason I still blog is that it continues to help me stretch and grow as a writer by the exposure I have to other writers and writing websites, plus I just love the people I’ve met. I never did think of it as a way to make money in and of itself and don’t really care what the marketing websites think of me.

By: Lynne Spreen

Lynne Spreen — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:29:00 +0000

It’s not about comfort, it’s about time expended to create and flog the blog, and interact. If the soon-to-be-debut author (of fiction only) is blogging to achieve visibility for her book, there are less time-consuming, more effective ways of doing that. Let’s assume you work hard to get five hundred subscribers, and each one buys a book. You’re still blogging, but they’re done buying. So you’re done, marketing wise; your next hope is peripheral marketing: that they will all tell their friends about your book, and that your blog will be seen by new eyeballs who will buy. IMO, better use of time would be to get busy on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites with greater customer churn rate.

By: janegassner

janegassner — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:24:00 +0000

I think you’re right, Allison–it’s all in the connotation. It’s kinda like the whole issue of being called girls or women. It meant a lot to those that it meant a lot to!

By: janegassner

janegassner — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:22:00 +0000

As someone who has been a professional writer for umpteen years (!) and a blogger for about 8, I can’t tell you what the difference is being being a writer and a writer. I know people make that distinction but I just don’t understand it.

By: janegassner

janegassner — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:19:00 +0000

I know, Barbara, that there’s a whole ‘nother post in this discussion of turning one’s blog over to the advertisers. It was something we talked about at Mom 2.0 and different approaches were suggested by those who felt successful in the way they were doing it.