I was exploring about some online statistics and the increased rate of blooming blogs made me think about bloggers. Can we really call ourselves, "Bloggers"? Mmm... If we have and manage our own blog, we might start calling it ourselves eventhough we don't find what's blogging is in the first place. It will take time and effort to be recognized as a valuable blogger instead of being just the blogger who has a blog. What really made me think that, the people who known as bloggers misusing the idea behind blogging. Don't you have a blog yet? There are many free blogging platforms for you to start with. Start one today and you will be ready to call yourself a "Blogger". BUT?!
Bloggers are not of different or same kind, but unique with their personality and different personal attributes. You can come up with different names such as a Tech blogger, Internet Marketing blogger, Pet blogger, Pro blogger and so on. It defines you and what you have been blogging about for some extent. But the real deal is how your audience defines you. Have you thought about that? :) What has the better value ~ Is it you calling yourself a blogger or someone else identifying you as a blogger?
Stop Calling, Start Proving
Bloggers are still human beings. Bloggers do mistakes and can keep doing the same mistake over and over, unless they wanna start blogging better and successful in blogosphere. Eventhough you don't know what blogging really is, you can keep blogging and call yourself a blogger.
Eventhough you can categorize bloggers in to different types, I'd like to pick two types of bloggers right now.
● Bloggers who enjoy blogging
● Bloggers who blogging for direct or indirect benefits
If I ask bloggers whether you enjoy blogging or not, I can expect "YES" from almost all bloggers. We can't really say what's behind the blogging always, but we can identify when we read blogs that whether they are generously create value for their audience or trying to show off value in there.
If you ask me, I love bloggers who enjoy blogging. The thing is they are always creating value and generous enough when it comes to value creation. It's not about competition for them though most of them lead the competition. The value they create will return the favor.
Bloggers who expecting direct or indirect benefits might be creating the value for their audience, but starts to discourage by the fact that they are not getting what they expected. They expect more and more, and count on traffic, SEO measures, revenue and all sorts of tangible benefits they can gain instead of giving away. More of a complicated scenario in the long run :)
The numbers doesn't necessarily imply you are creating more value for your audience as nowadays there are many marketing strategies involved in blogging to make it possible. Still, the original and quality content is a primary factor which defines how much value you have created for your audience. Let your audience define what type of blogger you are. STOP calling and START proving it :)
Characteristics of
The thought starts to bug me to do a post which reflects some characteristics of people who call themselves a blogger. I don't know how true I am, but you can decide now whether I can call them bloggers or not. Let's talk about few characteristics and hopefully I believe it might add knowledge for bloggers and prevent misusing for some extent.
Eventhough you can categorize bloggers in to different types, I'd like to pick two types of bloggers right now.
● Bloggers who enjoy blogging
● Bloggers who blogging for direct or indirect benefits
If I ask bloggers whether you enjoy blogging or not, I can expect "YES" from almost all bloggers. We can't really say what's behind the blogging always, but we can identify when we read blogs that whether they are generously create value for their audience or trying to show off value in there.
If you ask me, I love bloggers who enjoy blogging. The thing is they are always creating value and generous enough when it comes to value creation. It's not about competition for them though most of them lead the competition. The value they create will return the favor.
Blogging for Benefits
Bloggers who expecting direct or indirect benefits might be creating the value for their audience, but starts to discourage by the fact that they are not getting what they expected. They expect more and more, and count on traffic, SEO measures, revenue and all sorts of tangible benefits they can gain instead of giving away. More of a complicated scenario in the long run :)
The numbers doesn't necessarily imply you are creating more value for your audience as nowadays there are many marketing strategies involved in blogging to make it possible. Still, the original and quality content is a primary factor which defines how much value you have created for your audience. Let your audience define what type of blogger you are. STOP calling and START proving it :)
Characteristics of Bloggers
The thought starts to bug me to do a post which reflects some characteristics of people who call themselves a blogger. I don't know how true I am, but you can decide now whether I can call them bloggers or not. Let's talk about few characteristics and hopefully I believe it might add knowledge for bloggers and prevent misusing for some extent.
You Don't Express Yourself
Blogging is a media to communicate with people. Now blogging is just not about writing. You can communicate through your voice, videos with more visual impact and there are more methodologies you can make use of. I'm not gonna talk about the informational content as anyone can have them from anywhere, placed on their blogs. But who made it possible?
What's the point of having someone else's content on a professionally designed blog while having so called passionate and expert bloggers behind it? :) Experts can't write their own content? They might getting traffic for someone else's content which has been published without an explicit permission of original author, but it's not blogging. Now would you think they can call themselves, bloggers? It's killing the meaning of blogging and reflects that they are not dedicated bloggers but content scrappers.
I just wanna ask you, can you call them bloggers? Purge the content you have got from other resources and start doing it by yourself if you wanna eligible to be a blogger. Express yourself folks :)
It's Not What You Know
Do content generates automatically? NO! There is always a person authors each and every content. Bloggers do write, let their voice out or create videos if they are capable of. You have freedom of speech online, but you need to use it effectively. You may always hear that you need to be yourself on your blog and of course, that will depict your personality all over your blog. Eventhough you write your own content, the question is whether you express what you know or what you think you know?
There's a BIG difference. Let's take my recent post about HootSuite as an example. You can either take a look at its features and go through HootSuite help articles to see how could it be a wonderful tool for people to make use of. That's fairly an easy way to research and you have all information you need for a new blog post, plus save you more time too. But if there is a mismatch with what it claims and what it really does, you gonna be in a real trouble as you haven't done what you intended to do. Faking hurts :)
Else you can take some time to explore its features by yourself and use it personally to see how it helps you to manage your Social Media accounts as it claims. It will take more time to research but when you write about it, you know exactly whether it does its job as it claims. You will able to point out what could be possibly go wrong with it or what other features that can make use of. Even if someone really start using it after reading your post, it proves that you have done your homework well. Also you are ready to address any kind of questions as you have been using it.
The best thing about writing what you know is that the readers can see whether you have done your homework or not. It improves trust on you and they start to believe that you are something they can count on. That's where the new and strong relationships starts to grow around you and your audience wouldn't hesitate to recommend you.
Now, this is not something that can identify at first sight but the bloggers who fake it will get into hot water. Would you rather prefer a blogger who express what they know or what they think they know? Who would be the one to reward as a blogger? :)
Now, this is not something that can identify at first sight but the bloggers who fake it will get into hot water. Would you rather prefer a blogger who express what they know or what they think they know? Who would be the one to reward as a blogger? :)
You are Not Passionate
You might call you are passionate enough but your audience is always there to determine how much dedicated you are depends on the tremendous value you provide on your blog. Passionate bloggers count on blogging first and touch other aspects afterwards.
It's true that blogging open up more opportunities and can make a living out of it too. Bloggers have things to aware such as SEO to deliver their content to right people. They need to aware of blog traffic to measure performance and improve experience in future. But once they obsess with those factors instead of the primary goal, which is blogging, things gonna change. The passion will broken into pieces.
If you are not focus on the primary goal on your blog, you gonna do something wrong. You need to aware of the blogging on your blog first and then other type of efforts. I have few questions for you,
○ Can you recall a moment that you stop by on a blog and distracted by advertisements?
○ Can you remember a post you read on a blog that has lot of keywords and makes no sense?
○ Can you recall a blog that always ask something from you instead of giving you anything?
○ Can you remember stopping by on a blog with 1000s of subscribers or higher PageRank and wondering how with such a low-quality content?
Can you... Let's STOP ;) Now I think you get what I mean. Such incidents reminds that still people out there who focus on showing off, instead of giving the value. Can you call such bloggers, the passionate bloggers?
I'm asking you - Would you think they preserve the true meaning of blogging? Still, can we call them bloggers?
If you have been doing such mistakes as a blogger, yet it's not too late :) You can take action, make a change and start afresh with a new begining for a wonderful blogging journey :)
Now, I'm calling you for action. Do you think such characteritics have been killing the meaning of blogging? What are the other types of mistakes that people do and kill the true meaning behind blogging?
HI Mayura
Great post!
I think you have raised the very sensitive issue and the very correct one. Though I'm a newbie myself and really cannot differentiate much but at many places I have seen bloggers writing without passion, it is not coming directly from their hearts and one can easily make out from their writing and I know the reason also because most are doing that as part time job or for few extra bucks to pay few bills.
There are few blogs which are actually the advertisement boards, their post getting lost in those writings. I don't want to be too critical on that but I think benefit of doubt should be given to those bloggers and they should mend their ways and start writing stuff we are dying to see and most of them can surely improve and can take the world by storm if they really want.
Thanks Mayura for raising this concern at a very appropriate time and everyone should be joining the chorus on your blog.
Sapna
Hi mayura,
Great article mate and very intersting topic. I like the way you said stop calling yourself blogger and start proving.But i differ a bit,i think when you do best of your work then you will be appriciated so i dont think you have to prove it.
Blogging for me is sharing your opinion your views ,share information, get information,yes ofcourse money is important what you called benefits .As i am a full time blogger ,It is the only source of bread and butter for me.From last some years i was writing things my experience my views and everything that comes to my mind in my diary i was not aware of blogging platfrom much but as soon as i got to know about this i decided that this is something that i will really enjoy.
So this was it i think blogging is ,atleast for me.And i really dont i should call myself a blogger or not ,i put it totally on my audience to judge that.
Thank You
Shorya Bist
From Youthofest
Great post Mayura! I am passionate about my blogging, as you know, and enjoy it! When it becomes unenjoyable, it's time to walk away for a bit. Do I call myself a Blogger? Yes, I do. I have 2 blogs and I am the Author and Owner of both. Do I do it for fun? Yes, I do. Do I expect to get paid for em? No, that would mean it's a job and imo, it would take all the fun out of it.
Thanks for this post Mayura. Really puts things into perspective!
I remember when I first heard this term Mayura, I certainly didn't consider myself to be a blogger. I was just someone who had a blog and enjoyed sharing my content with others.
I do love this platform though because it's the best way to express what you love to share with your readers.
Now that I've been doing this for a number of years now I definitely consider myself to be a blogger and I love it!
Thank you for sharing your views on this topic and I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of interaction on this post.
~Adrienne
Hello Mayura great post, Well to tell you the truth blogging has become a BIG part of my life even my wife is please to see her hubby sit at his desk and hammer out content.
I think I can safely say everyone who posting here can consider them self's as bloggers.
We sometime don't give our self enough credit for the things we do online but sit back for a second and ask your self this, how many people do you know in the REAL WORLD, that can do what we do?
I bet you're scratching your heads and saying, he's right not many. your are all so creative in so many way and should consider your self's gifted. It's my pleasure to meet each and everyone of you.
Thanks so much my friend for a very inspiring post I will not be -BUFFING it :)
Hey Mayura, I will say I am a blogger who enjoys blogging! I love my blog and the readers who I connect with. It's different to running a business, it's personal and means a lot to me to help people.
There is a fine line between people who run a website/blog for financial gain rather than to help people. For me blogging is about community and helping the people in your community. If you as a blogger can create community and make an income, then it's a job well done IMO.
Thanks for sharing Mayura :-)
Dan
Hi Mayura,
Wow a very long and good post here.
you're totally right, anyone call themselves bloggers these days, but are they really?
As a matter of fact this makes me think of affiliate marketers which I was not that long ago. Well, I can tell that those people are not so much bloggers as they are more advertisers. That I know, because, I truly discovered what blogging was really all about when I started visiting real blogger's blogs.
To be a good blogger, you're right, we need to know what we are talking about and be passionate about it too.
Thank you for this post, Mayura.
Hello Mayura,
I've always been the type of person to share my knowledge with and help others. When I started researching work-from-home jobs for my own personal career I would share what I found with friends and family.
It wasn't until a friend of mine said in passing during a conversation we had that I should put all my research and notes on a website and that's how Work from Home Concepts was born. I put my blog together for the sole purpose of helping other people find a work/life balance and avoid being scammed like I was.
Do I call myself a blogger? Not really. I learned how to blog by reading other blogs on how to create content and how to present it on a blog. I'm a researcher and consultant who took the most popular method of sharing my notes and findings and put them in a conversation-like post. And if my readers use the term blogger to define me, to me that means I've delivered my message effectively using that platform. Maybe in a couple years or more I will ask myself this question again, and that time my answer will be yes, I am a blogger.
Wonderful post my friend, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
Hello Mayura; Although still a "newbie" I consider myself to be a blogger and do it for the enjoyment, as well as the learning experience. Passion is what drives my writing, always. The social aspect and meeting wonderful new people is also part of what makes it fun. Things like SEO and analytics are still quite foreign to me and not at the forefront of my motivation. Always enjoy your helpful and educational posts. Cheers!
Hi Sapna,
We all were newbies and I guess, still we are as the learning curve never ends :)
You are very true there 'cause we can see some bloggers just write because they have to. We can spot 'em easily as we go through :) I think it's alright as they have enough room to improve over time. Obviously it takes time and to find out what they have been doing.
But question pops up when they don't, though they can. If they focus more, they can earn more money out of it. Don't you think? :) Search engines will bring traffic but when readers find the author is not someone to trust, they purposely ignore search results from such sites.
I think if we do something, we need to try to do it right Sapna :) It matters. For me, those advertisement boards convince that it's solely for making money. It doesn't mean they always have low quality content, but if they focus more on content and think about readers, as the traffic grows, they will able to make more money out of it :)
You know, trust is not something easy to build when it's broken. Your suggestion would be a great one for such bloggers. I hope this post might start 'em thinking :)
Thanks for coming by and adding more value to this post through your thoughts and ideas dear :)
Cheers...
Hi Shorya,
The World famous personalities didn't talk much but proved that to this World, right mate? :)
Well, if you have such a nice fellows around you who do encourage and appreciate instead of criticism, you will definitely feel how wonderful this World is Shorya.
But just imagine a poor but good blogger who has no such people around him or her to support and other folks might ask why you waste your time to help others without earning money out of it in such a financial crisis. Remember there are bad folks hidden and looking at you until you fail too. They are cunning enough :)
I believe blogging as a way to help too mate :) I know you do a lot through your informative articles. I appreciate you for writing your heart out instead of keeping to yourself. Lot of people can benefit from it mate :)
Owh yeah... You can take that challenege and let 'em decide what kind of blogger you are :) Actions speak louder than words mate.
Thanks for coming by and adding your personal views and thoughts on this matter mate :)
Cheers...
Hi Brenda,
Oh I know ya ;) You are comfortable enough with it and enjoy doing it for sure. Don't wanna pressure yourself, no? Anyone who stop by on your blog would tell about your blogging.
You can call it Brenda :) You can ask your audience and I've seen that they have been telling it too.
Sometimes bloggers might try to use their content to generate money and that's alright. No problemo. If they are up for that and have a good strategy, they can find it an easy way to generate some money while doing what they love. But the things can go wrong when they expect more money instead of putting more effort on their blogs dear. You can think of such scenarios, right?
Mostly I see the people who steal others' content and try to generate money by bringing traffic to their blogs. That not ethical enough and I doubt how can we call 'em bloggers at all.
Thanks for coming over and sharing your views on this matter Brenda :)
Cheers...
Hi Adrienne,
I love that. Obviously at first we all are someone with a blog for sure dear :) As we go through this journey of blogging, we might take different routres and if we end up on the wrong one, we are responsible for that. We made that choices, no? :)
I can see how much you enjoy blogging and hanging out with wodnerful people over at your blog Adrienne :) You love to teach and help others through it. If you ask your community, they would give you many reasons than you can imagine.
Anyone do mistakes can start afresh again, right dear? :) There are bloggers who might follow the wrong route and I believe bloggers who don't have no idea about blogging would give this a thought and enter into a new blogging life without killing the meaning behind blogging. Well, I'm hoping it :)
Thanks for coming by and adding your views and thoughts on this topic Adrienne :)
Cheers...
Hi Rob,
That made me smile mate ;) Your wife must be a supportive character in your life. Having someone believes in your moves make things much better and improve happiness :)
I know what you mean mate. We select bloggers when building relationships and even I don't have a friend who obsessed with other factors than blogging. They all have been creating value through their content and I believe they will never let surpass other intentions. Would you? ;)
That's a RIGHT question to ask there mate. We spend a lot of time on content but don't take the time we spend seriously 'cause we just love it no matter what. I know, sometimes we might think about the interaction it gets too. But when we hear someone found it helpful, I don't wanna tell you how thrilled we would be, right? :) We need to value ourselves. But people has less value trying to show it off. It's human nature ;)
Hmm... You know, there are people with different kind of expertises, but how many use 'em for good? I think we can say YES there. Count on more good stuff mate :) You will rock it.
Thanks for coming over and adding more value through your views and ideas mate :) I'm grateful for meeting you too Rob.
Cheers...
Hi Daniel,
You should and do you need me to ask your audience too? ;) I know the answer mate. Yeah, as I see your content been helpful to people out there and I know you are not trying to generate some money out of it. The community is the key there :)
Mmm... The intention matters :) We can see that some bloggers start with helping and then it becomes a source of income. But most of people take the other way, as they get to know that they can earn money through blogging and try to generate income first without creating value for the community or trying to create value through unethical ways. However it all depends on trust, right Dan? :)
I agree with you there on building value for community and make living out of it in the end. It's not an overnight process, but would be highly successful. I'm glad if all bloggers think in that way mate :)
Thanks for coming over and adding your views on this topic Daniel :)
Cheers...
Hi Sylviane,
Ha ha... Well, writing my heart out instead of writing a how to dear :)
Remember I ask you about article rewriting? :) Bad things going on while some other folks trying to make things right dear. You can recall how many times your content has been published on other blogs without your permission, no? :) People is so much interested in easy money or such benefits.
From my perspectives, I define you as a writer though :) People jump on blogging right after knowing what they can do with it and mistakes are allowed as that's how they gonna learn through their journey.
But instead of being recognized as a passionate bloggers, some folks just identify themselves as passionate without even following basics in blogging. We can hate 'em for being bad, but instead we can give 'em a chance, no dear? :)
I hope our thoughts here will make things change for someone out there to start fresh with blogging without spoiling it.
Thanks for coming over and adding value here through your views and experiences on this matter Sylviane :)
Cheers...
Hi Corina,
I've been exploring your blog lately and noticed you have been posting new jobs over there too dear :) That's really helping for folks who desperate enough and has no idea where to start. Now why would someone waste their time for someone else who even don't know? The bloggers don't believe in the value of blogging would call that.
I'll second that as a right decision to take as your knowledge can be helpful to many others surfing the web dear :) People have been trapped with scams when it comes to online and their money and time will goes to thin air. Sometimes it might be a life saver for someone.
We all are people with blogs and as we go through this blogging journey, we would be recognized as how much dedicated we are dear :) That's for sure. It's not an overnight process. As you go, you will hear others talking about you and how much helpful you are. You can be proud of yourself and I know you care your community over there too. Have faith on it dear :)
Thanks for coming over and adding your thoughts and experiences you had throughout your blogging journey Corina :)
Cheers...
Hi Debbie,
We all are newbies, don't we dear? ;) There's a lot to learn.
Lately I've read your background story on blogging and I have no dout that you enjoy it yourself dear. As you love pets and have a similar job, it's not a secret that passion drives you for blogging.
Ohw yeah, blogging helps meet new people and build connections with like-minded folks :) Your centralized hub is your blog.
So far I haven't able to witness a blog about pets that trying to obsess with generating money, SEO rankings or such factors. Mmm... Contests sometimes, but they don't change the way they blogging. I think they just love what they do, right? :) They do like they love animals, with no or less expectations.
You are in right mindset when it comes to blogging Debbie :) Keep on doing and I can see why pet bloggers do successful in most parts. They believe in blogging :)
Thanks for coming by and sharing your thoughts on blogging Debbie :)
Cheers...
I've never considered myself a blogger when I started. I just wanted to share my mistakes online with others so they could learn. I guess I realized I may be a blogger when some people came up to me and started talking to me about my posts.
I found blogging to be relaxing for me from my other online activities and jobs. I can't imagine not blogging now :)
Funny how you mentioned about blogs with ads - I just came across one with good content but I could not leave a comment because it had so many ads, it was a real turn-off. And the blog post had no image!
Another turn-off is too small text that I have to squint.
Hi Lisa,
That's quite interesting that you wanted to share your mistakes for others to learn out of it dear :) I can see how you try out new methodologies and tricks over there and ask opinion for your community.
Obviously you have been creating value through your blog and I think almost anyone now recognize you with the word "Inspire" :) Ha ha... Very true. Blogging has been another day-to-day activity for most of us by now while many others worrying about what content to publish.
Ads are for revenue generation but inapropriate usage killing the meaning of blogging itself too Lisa. I'm sure you have seen more of such examples. If I've had ads all over here, I doubt how may would interact with me instead of viewing content. Bloggers need to figure out such basic mistakes.
Hmm... Images can be another turn off, but there are times that text alone can play well, no dear? :) Squint... As you implied, we can't ignore the user experience on blogs.
Thanks for coming by and adding more value here through your views and experiences Lisa :)
Cheers...
What an interesting topic of discussion Mayura!
Sorry for coming in late this time - just caught up with some work that needed more of my attention. :)
Well, I have never really sat down and thought that I am a blogger or a writer! But you made me think on that! I guess as long as I remember, I've been writing and just writing for donkey's years, or perhaps being a professional freelance writer that's my job. Blogging came in later once I learnt what is a blog, and I thought of sharing my experiences with everyone in a way to help newbies and others.
You already know Mayura, as I say it so very often - I always write from my heart and not for any kind of gain or making money. Yes, I know most people blog for money and that's good because it's their source of income perhaps. But I strongly feel that blogging should first be a passion - something that you love doing, and once it becomes something you love - the money will flow in. I guess you need to be patient with things - isn't it?
I agree, most people have their blogs done up like advt. boards, or will put up poor quality content, and they tend to write just for the sake of blogging. But how long will they really be able to carry on this way I wonder. Nevertheless, I think I am a blogger and writer, but I am still learning and will keep doing so right till the end. :)
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post with us. :)
Hi Harleena,
Ohw no... You are never late dear and I really appreciate your honesty as always :)
We mostly know you as a freelance writer Harleena :) But mostly familiar with your aspect of blogging. It must be very long time since you step into writing and blogging can be start by anyone with no much expertise on it, right? :) I know about the thought of yours to start a blog on the Christmas day and your intention was helping others. Anyone stop by on your blog would recognize what you have been doing with your blog at first sight :) Would you write a blog post and ask to like your Facebook page? I know you don't.
Yeah Harleena, I see you enjoy blogging and the extra benefits such as money, reputation is great way for bloggers to make more out of their blogging. If someone love blogging, nothing will stop him from doing it, no? :)
The things is that some people just create a blog and pour content from somewhere else to bring traffic as the traffic is the way for making money in most of scenarios. Unethical, we'd say. Sometimes eventhough they write their own content, the willingness of earning money tend to go beyond that and ruin their efforts at the end. So they will blog just because they need more content. Now are they really bloggers? :)
You are very true that if someone really focus on blogging and give the value, money and more opportunities will come on their way. But with no patience, all the efforts will go into thin air. An important point for bloggers who give up on blogging.
It's true that we are surrounded by many blogs and we can't even imagine the numbers. Number grows, but quality? If you are a blogger, the first thing is to focus on blogging, right dear? :) It's alright that they call they are passionate enough, but where's the true passion?
Many people thinks of converting their blog to a source of income or if we explore around, we can see people abusing it in many other ways. They do everything they can. But even the best efforts can be useless, if they are not for the right thing, no? :) Such blogs might abandoned when they find it's not easy to keep up.
Mostly people who love blogging hates them for what they are doing. But still they can start afresh and hope for new begining, no? :) I think if they get the right guidance or tips, they might able to start fresh and do something better with their blogs while expecting more benefits out of it.
Hope all the contribution here would change someone's attitude towards blogging to do it right :)
Thanks for coming by and adding much more value for this post with your views and thoughts on this matter Harleena :)
Cheers...
Hi Mayura, Excellent analysis. You outlined the ways that people give bloggers a bad name. Unfortunately the term has been cheapened by the poor quality content of those who are doing the things you said, such as scraping or filling their sites with ads.
Perhaps your inspirational sermon here will help restore dignity to the title of blogger!
Hi Mayura,
Another great post raising an important issue. I am new to blogging and I am still learning and I learn about my niche and the struggles that I went through and I know those who are in the same niche go through and I try to create content that help those who go through the same struggles. I just share what I learn and as you said when the intention is to help, money will come later.
Thanks for such a great post Mayura. There is always gem-packed content here. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Be Blessed,
Neamat
Made me think there for a moment Mayura.
There are many questions up there which makes one look back and check to see what they are providing by their writing and content. This is a great way to put forth your thoughts and also make the interaction from your readers like a conversation rather than just a comment.
Yes, I did start off thinking "If he can write, then even I can write"...took me some time to realize the actual time and dedication that is involved in coming up with an original post that actually has some value to your readers.
Today, I cannot say that I can write like many other professionals out there, I like to provide more to my readers, but there is so much little time :-) I know am making up reasons here, hey this also gave me an idea to my next post :-)
Awesome thoughts and some great comments too..enjoyed reading it.
Hi Mayura,
Just discovered your blog from a comment that you left on Corina's work from home blog. Your post is excellent!
My current blog is about to turn one year old and I try to take the approach that I am writing it and building it in the hopes of offering something of value to others. Thoughts, ideas, inspiration. Anything that they may not have thought of earlier, or just needed a gentle reminder of.
There is always new stuff to learn, but I do enjoy interacting with everyone, and discovering fellow bloggers as well. Have great week! :-)
Hi Carolyn,
Wouldn't it be wonderful enough if those bloggers take it serious and provide much more value with their own efforts? :)
As you always say, if they are not focusing on killer content but quality content that might help someone out there, people can see the value of a blogger instead of overlooking them as a another person who just wanna write. We can see the count is rising but quality still in the question.
It's true that some would love the benefits it takes, but they don't need to kill the core of it, no Carolyn? :) People looking for easy do ways.
Let's hope our thoughts can help build the dignity of bloggers and take 'em to right path :)
Thanks for coming over and sharing your thoughts on this Carolyn :)
Cheers...
Hi Neamat,
I can see bloggers struggling in providing greater value and some others make use of such efforts with no respect :) Well, bad guys would be always there.
The primary objective of a blogger is blogging but not something else, no dear?
There are many bloggers who spend their time to learn and share away their experiences for others to find helpful. It takes some time and also more strategies are there to focus on other benifits too. If such people who call themselves a blogger do that right, I think the abusing of blogging can be minimized.
Thanks for coming by and adding your thoughts and views on this matter Neamat :)
Cheers...
Hi Praveen,
Are we professionals? ;) I don't think that far though. We are creating value for our audience via our online hub, right mate? Our audience will define us.
I know we all start as newbies and as you said ~ "If he can write, then even I can write" :) But over time we get to know how to create more value and it might turn into a source of income too. But how many would go through that transition? That's what bugging me Praveen and I hope the thoughts here would help make change in 'em.
I believe in yours as you offers great tips over there for people to start the day with a morning coffee to brigten up the day ;) Well, we can come up with many reasons but let's go prove it instead.
That's really cool :) I hope you would make a wonderful post too mate.
Thanks for coming by and adding more value here through your views and experiences Praveen :)
Cheers...
Hi Sicorra,
Aww... You're most welcome here and hope you would enjoy the party over here dear :)
So you have been blogging for a year and that's a nice thought to have as a blogger to offer value :) If everyone believes in that, I think most of bloggers would be wonderful enough as they don't try to pour value via someone else's content or without caring the meaning behind blogging.
The value you give for your audience matters. As you go through your journey, you will realize that :) May be, already you know that.
I believe all our thoughts here would help someone to understand what they have been doing wrong and switch to the right pathway dear :) This World needs more real bloggers.
Thanks for coming by and sharing your thoughts on this topic Sicorra :)
Cheers...
Hey Mayura
I'm a stay at home dad first and foremost but I also have a blog. That really doesn't make me a blogger does it?
Well, hopefully one day I might be but at the moment I just want to get better at writing, help as many people as I can and it's something for me to do in my spare time.
Hey Tim,
Ha ha... You have a blog and the question is whether it's creating a value for your audience or not, right mate? :)
I think you might wanna ask 'em or find a clue to prove it, but I'd say that's for sure as you have been sharing your experiences through your blog which gonna helpful for many others who are going through such circumstances.
The idea of helping others is wonderful Tim :) When it comes to some people they are trying to help themselves by selling someone else's efforts. Now that's where I ask whether they can call bloggers themselves. Let's prove it mate ;)
Thanks for coming over and adding your thoughts on blogging Tim :)
Cheers...
Hi Mayura!
You have brought out some great points here! I would have to say yes to your question. I am a blogger. I write from my heart and also get inspired from my clients of what is "needed" for them to grow. So, that is why I love to write about self-development. I sincerely believe that there are two parts of us.
One is the left brain that has a plan and puts it to action. The other is all that stuff inside us. The subconscious mind that can hold us back from our journey. When a person has a plan to put into action, they sometimes get distracted, or just stop and leave the wonderful world of the internet and business. That's where I like to come in and blog about things to "cheer them on" to make them think and help them grow.
My blog is my real estate whereby I can say anything I want. When first blogging I have learned to ask "What is Your Why?" Why are you spending time blogging? Once that question is answered, the journey is easy.
What's my Why you may ask? Simple...I blog not for myself, but for my clients who want to start their own business. Those who are "stuck" in jobs they don't like and it brings them down. My why is to help them create something part time or full time, whatever the case may be.
This keeps me blogging, this is the main reason why I blog!
-Donna
Tim - I definitely think you qualify as a blogger - your blog's full of valuable content, produced by your own fair hands, written in your own voice and loved and appreciated by your readers.
Mayura - I think you make some great points in this post. I didn't actually start out with the intention of becoming a blogger - I just wanted to set up an authority website and the blogging side has kind of happened by default. I've been amazed at how it's taken over my life!
Like you, I get extremely frustrated by the number of so-called blogs that are clearly just set up as money-making machines, with no real interest in providing value, or building relationships with readers. How DO they get those page rank scores!?
When people write rubbish posts, or just spin content from some other poor blogger who's probably sweat blood over it - also, when they leave thoughtless, meaningless comments on their own or other people's blogs - that's not what I call blogging.
This is what I call a blog!
Great post, Mayura - thank you!
Sue :)
Mayura you are correct some blogs are too commercial and full of advertisements and nonsense. I personally feel its like the distinction between business writing and creative writing. Some bloggers write from the heart no matter what the subject is while others grab information from other sources and tie it all together with a few of their own words. The difference is authenticity
I love blogging, Mayura, and I love adding value to people's lives too. Most of the blogs I follow are pretty valuable and are good writers. But there are those out there, like you said, that are - well, not giving value or are just pitching. I'm glad you are not like that! You ALWAYS give value.
Hi Mayura.
Interesting post.
There is a grey line between blogging for profit and blogging for passion even though they both seem to carry different meaning on paper. Sometimes they become one.
Real Bloggers don't fake it (blogging). They write what they know about. If they lack any knowledge on a specific topic, they research it, break it down into small bits, rewrite it in their own voice and style and share it with their readers.
Hello Mayura, First of all thanks for sharing such a wonderful post here. I started my blogging career before 1 years it’s not a big deal I know but it’s really a great journey for me I must say that because I learn too many things which I never thought and I’m still learning. Honestly speaking I was nothing before 1 year but blogging career made my life in other creative platform. If you have passion to do things which you think then no one has dare to stop you. Dedication and Passion helps me a lot.
Thanks,
Amol
From ConnectAmol
Hi Donna,
I really appreciate your confidence over it and it's very true that your blog is about helping people dear :) I'm not a client but still I love the topics there as I can relate and improve myself. I'd give a huge applause for preventing me from procrastinating. I'm grateful indeed dear :)
When I first get to know you I have heard about how you bring people offline into online World and build their business online while helping them to come out of their safe zone. It's not easy when people not much believe in online world, but you do for 'em and cheer them up as you say. It's a public secret for sure :)
Absolutely Donna :) The why is what I'm questioning here. I think first priority of a blogger is blogging and it needs to be something that they believe in. You can see how the people call themselves bloggers do harm and abuse it by offering very low level content and without understanding why they need to blog well. They are much focused in outcome and don't think whether they are really blogging or doing something else.
If bloggers focus on creating value for others or at least for people who they care, I believe the blogging will get a new meaning and dignity will restore again.
Thanks for coming by and sharing your experiences and thoughts on blogging and this matter Donna :)
Cheers...
Hi Gail,
I don't feel exploring such blogs though they have wonderful content dear :) You know it impose the feeling that they are much aware of their outcome but not about their audience.
You are very true that bloggers have different approaches in writing and they spend enormous time on preparing them for their audience :) But the sad truth is many others still out there to go grab someone else's content and try to generate money for 'em. I know it doesn't last long but they are spoiling the meaning behind the blogging. Hmm... We all need to aware and take them to the right path if we can.
I hope our thoughts here will benefit them to understand what is it about :)
Thanks for coming by and sharing your views and thoughts on this matter Gail :)
Cheers...
Hi Sue,
I'll second that too Sue :) Tim has great content over at his place and lately he has been sharing what he has gone through to help others not to be troubled by the same reason. He's proving it ;)
First I thought you were a freelance writer as you write about writing tips but then I get to know who you are and what you do at the Google+ hangout. It's really nice how you start with an authority website and addicted to blogging, right? :)
I know Sue. I wonder when I read their about page that they claim passionate blogger or blogging expert, but has no value there but someone else's content. Or they just put on 'em by changing some wordings. Ah.. With the help of such content they can gain a good PageRank, Alexa rank or whatever rank too. You know, technology is not smart enough yet to identify 'em. But yet they are not real bloggers.
They are blooming everyday and we can hate them as much as we can everyday if we needs to. I know they are stealing someone's efforts and pretty bad enough too. Here I'd like to take a chance to ask them to do their own blogging and create value for their audience by themselves without spoiling the meaning. If they do it, we all can call 'em passionate bloggers who love blogging :)
Thanks for coming over and adding value here with your views and thoughts Sue :)
Cheers...
Hi Amy,
You have been helping people beyond the blogging and I can feel them when I hear about your experiences at African countries dear :) I think we have very nice bloggers around who always willing to provide value for their audience without a second thought.
Ohw yeah Amy... There are such people always looking for stealing the value to get more value for 'em. But no one can steal all the value but yet benefit from it.
I think bloggers have a very unique personality of offering value for others but these kind of people absolutely kill the meaning of it. I think we would be able to help with our thoughts here to welcome them to the right pathway :)
Thanks for coming by and adding your thoughts on this matter dear :)
Cheers...
Hi Paul,
Blogging for profit would be alright if they give value for their audience without doing it because they have to do it, right mate? :) We can hear stories how people combine both and become very successful in the end. Now that's awesome :)
Very true :) Real bloggers never fake and if someone does, audience will get to know. The trust issues are critical here and they leave when they don't find the value they seeking for. See, as you implied, they take lot of time to come up with quality content and when someone kills it, then we can't really call 'em bloggers :)
Thanks for coming over and sharing your views and thoughts on blogging Paul :)
Cheers...
Hi Amol,
Wonderful mate :) Now that's what I really admire and what if we just do it because we just wanna do it? I don't think we will feel such an improvement over time.
Well, taking that route might take some time to achieve if we looking for some other benefits out of it. But if we continuously provide value to our audience no matters what without obsessing the outcome, everything will come on our way :)
The passion is a very sensitive word Amol :) You know everyone can call it, but the real passionate folks will prove it for sure. Indeed, the dedication is always integrated in our so called passion. I don't think the passionate people need to worry about dedication again as they are always dedicate for it :)
Thanks for coming by and adding value here through your thoughts and experiences mate :)
Cheers...
Really digging this blog. Glad I found it!
Hi Mayura,
Another great post from you and it really made me think!
I'm been blogging for several months now, but I'm not sure I'd be considered a blogger. hmmm. Maybe I'm just a lady with a blog for now! :D
I know what you mean about people who aren't being true and are using the content of others and they are definitely not bloggers, just people regurgitating someone else's hard work. That's just wrong.
What I really love about blogging is sharing what I've learned, trying to help people with issues in my niche or in general, and sharing who I am with my readers. It's all fun!
Thanks for another awesome post, Mayura!
Jess
Thanks Sean :) Hope you will enjoy the content here mate.
Cheers...
Hi Jess,
lol :D We all can start calling the person with a blog dear. I'm sure that's how it starts as we are never be good in blogging without blogging. Let the audience define you whether you provide the value they seeking you. Jump onto your comment section and you can decide you are heading the right way or not ;)
Yeah Jess. The bloggers steal content? I don't think real bloggers would do that. The passionate bloggers write just because they need to blog today? They are not passionate either I guess. That's just wrong and they need to get out of it unless they wanna kill the meaning of blogging and spoil their success.
Absolutely, I think almost we see that people sharing their opinions and what they have been through for others, right? :) It doesn't mean they all are true or false, but open to discussion to analyze and embrace if that's what makes sense.
Same goes for me as I share what I learn too dear. I know about the value you provide on your blog too as a reader Jess :) Anyone goes over there finds out that the information you provide is not coming out from someone else or you are not focused on increasing the numbers there. Well, we don't wanna call it but let's prove it ;)
Thanks for coming by and sharing your views and thoughts on this matter Jess :)
Cheers...
Hi Mayura,
Now I feel becoming a true blogger isn't so easy. And as you described there are some person's own a blogs but with no valuable content. I like to be a blogger and I think of me as a girl who is trying to be a blogger! :D
This will be a great post to everyone as I believe. :) Thanks for posting.
Hi Chathu,
Ha ha... Quite not easy, but it's nothing if you are really into blogging and offering value.
Yeah, there are some folks who call 'em experts and passionate has nothing to offer for their audience but someone else's content. There's a value in content but yet it's someone else who created that value and such folks using 'em without any idea. Also some just blog because they have to, not to add more value.
Effective blogging needs passion and dedication dear :) Once you start blogging with passion you would never stop writing and offering value. We need more of such bloggers in my opinion and I hope the facts and thoughts we have discussed here along with other commenters might helpful for such people to focus more on creating value instead of abusing it :)
Thanks for coming by and sharing your personal thoughts on this matter Chathu :)
Cheers...
I'm not crazy about the word blogger. I usually call myself a writer because I'm serious about writing as a craft. I think if you're in it to be a "pro-blogger" or build a popular blog (whether it's to get paid or not) then it becomes more about following the best blogging advice. And I'm all for doing what works for numbers, but for me the creative aspect of it matters more. I try to find a way to build an audience but stay true to the craft of writing.
Other than that, really anyone who blogs consistently is a blogger. There doesn't have to be any rules :)
Hi Denise,
Ha ha... I'm not crazy about it either dear :) I know there are many bloggers who adds value through their content and now that's real blogging. It could be their way of generating income too and that's a great way to make use of their efforts.
You have said it ~ Staying true to the craft of writing. Now that's what I'm talking as some folks call 'em as bloggers do not try to be real in blogging and instead trying to take more out of it by giving less.
Bloggers have no rules for sure ;) Content scrappers can be consistent enough as they steal content from others and publish on their blogs Denise. Someone can do write anything without giving much thought if they needs to get more content for their blogs and be consistent. Would they be real bloggers? ;)
If they can get rid of 'em and do blogging truly with their own efforts, then I think they are real bloggers Denise :)
Thanks for coming over and adding your valuable thoughts on blogging dear :)
Cheers...
Blogging allows anyone to share there craft/art. The key I have learned is that it must come from areas of purpose, talents, and passions. Those are the blogs that really get people attention.
I just found your blog and look forward to connecting with you.
Ditto.
That's a great attitude to have Tim. It's that type of mindset that leads to success in life and blogging.
Hi Dan,
Welcome to my online space and I'm looking forward to know you better too :)
Absolutely mate :) I really believe bloggers are dedicated people with different sorts of personal attributes and tastes. Their blogs reveal the personality of bloggers and due to such much genuine efforts, they grab attention :) People love such bloggers, right? :)
Anyway every blog is unique no matter what.
Thanks for coming over and sharing your thoughts on this topic Dan :)
Cheers...
It's great to be here.
I agree:)
Talk to you soon.
Hi Mayura,
Wonderful and you have pointed the corners very well. Your subject matter flows around many areas about blogging and answering all become another post :)
I get into Blogging just for my passion towards writing and nothing much. We know, there are thousands of professional bloggers who write amazingly and I am pretty sure that's not my cup of tea. I simply love to share my views and thoughts to all my readers when ever I come across something interesting and makes me feel happy. That's it.
Indeed, I have not even started thinking about revenue generation at this stage :)..and May be down the road. :) Not on my current agenda. Your time and passion is very vital to hold the journey, and I can feel this is really very hard for long run.
Thanks for your terrific post.
Hi Manickam,
You are very true there mate :) The responses of bloggers here are very supportive on that matter and I think it's something some folks don't think about when they start blogging.
Your reason of blogging applies for me here as I don't think of monetizing content much but building my own online business mate :) My blog is about my views, what I go through and what I find helpful for others as well.
Most of bloggers I connected online are with such intentions but not about benefits it takes in first place :) I think that's what matters, the value they offer through their passion, interests, expertise etc. If they need benefits, they will flow after all and as you implied it's a long-term plan but very fruitful indeed.
Hope you can turn your passion into more benefits later on as you focus on value there mate :) Don't worry about what to earn, but what to give.
Thanks for coming over and adding more value here with your views and thoughts Manickam :)
Cheers...