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Posted by: David Spinks - 1 December 2009 / 16:31
At the last blogchat, Michael Schechter brought up the topic: “going from casual blogging to more consistent blogging”. There were a number of responses which touched on many concepts from the blending of “personal and professional” to blogging goals and best practices. I thought I’d share my thoughts a bit more on the topic…
Photo cred: Guillermo R. de Loizaga
As I see it, there are three general types of bloggers. Keep in mind, these are generalizations, and will of course have many exceptions.
The Casual Blogger
- Can post whenever the urge to write hits them, at random times.
- Can write about whatever they want.
- Doesn’t necessarily worry about stats (hits, comments, etc)
- Doesn’t take into account search engine optimization.
- No clear goals.
The Serious Blogger
- Clear set of goals.
- Posts with relative consistency. May use a schedule and post on the same days every week.
- Consistent topics. Can have multiple topics but they all fall in line with the focus of the blog.
- Consistent post formats “types” (interview, video, debate, informational etc…)
- Pays attention to statistics to optimize the content that is most successful.
- Uses keywords with search engines in mind.
The Professional (Revenue Driven) Blogger
- Clear set of goals that leads to revenue.
- Typically uses ads and/or affiliate programs.
- Very consistent in post format and rate of content production.
- Lives by statistics, and aims to optimize the #1 statistic: revenue.
- Search Engine Optimized in many aspects.
So basically, the major differences that define the three different types of bloggers are goals, strategy and focus.
So what do you think? What are the best ways to make the transition from casual blogging to serious blogging? From serious blogging to professional blogging?
(best responses may be included in future posts covering these topics)
Posted by: David Spinks - 13 July 2009 / 11:32
Photo cred: Vipul ㏄ Mathur
I know you didn’t think we were done adding features! You may have noticed our newest addition, the Amazon widget on the bottom of the right column on every author page. For example, view Sean Percival’s page.
What this widget does is automatically search for an author’s name across Amazon to find any published material that’s available for purchase.
Why does this matter? If you read bloggers regularly, you may find a book that you’d like to check out from those bloggers.
If you are a published blogger…
- It will drive more readers from inside and outside of your community to check out your book.
- It can positively affect a reader’s view of you as a legitimate author when reviewing your blog.
- Users will view your reviews and your book right there in one location. If your readers have rated you highly as an online author, they may be more inclined to purchase your book, and vice versa.
- It will serve as the only database (correct me if I’m wrong) to find published bloggers in one location.
It’s a new addition that we’re very interested to see how users utilize, and how it can be developed into a more valuable tool over time. If you have any feedback, as always, we’re interested to hear your thoughts…
Posted by: David Spinks - 6 July 2009 / 11:40
Photo cred: Andrew*
There have been a lot of discussions about whether or not blogging is dead. Some great posts to check out on this topic include but are far from limited to Brian Clark, Steve Rubel, and Chris Brogan…
I don’t think blogging is dead, I think that there is less focus on the actual blog content and more focus on the blogger. Hearing the blogger’s voice is no longer enough. We now want to read, see, and understand the blogger. Many are turning to the new upcoming trend in “lifestreaming” where in concept, you are sharing your life, “streaming” your experiences and thoughts online.
Blogging is still an integral aspect of content sharing on the internet…it’s just being tied in with other content forms.
There are a number of ways for one to express themselves online. Some will choose to stick to blogging, some to video, some to microblogging, some to photo, etc… Blogging seemed to be the most popular in the past. Now it’s just sharing the spotlight.
The value of a blogger or author transcends that of their blog or book. This is one of the main reasons for the creation of Scribnia. Taking a look at the author, rather than the content. Of course the perception of a blogger is often focused on the content that they produce, but in my experience here I’ve found something very interesting…
When users rate authors on Scribnia, they often rate them on a lot more than their content. Reviews often mention how well the blogger engages with their community, their value on twitter and other tools, their personal experiences with the author…their content, actions, personality, and more are all taken into account.
It seems…we care more about who’s behind the blog than the blog itself (A big inspiration for the “behind the blog” series we recently started).
The blog is the content. We used to focus on the content. Now we are more concerned with the content-creator…and you can’t have a content-creator without content.
There will be a place for blogging for years to come.