There’s a lot of crap out there in the blogosphere – get-rich scams, blogs that exist solely to ‘scrape’ content from other blogs, posts written only with SEO in mind, and so much more. To me the existence of these trappings suggest that perhaps blogging has become something of a “dream career,” surrounded now by hucksters who try to entice the lazy with promises of wealth without much work.

As these voices become greater in number and louder in their shouting, it’s possible – even likely – that the essence of blogging could be lost. And so I’m asking a very basic question: has this already happened? Has blogging lost its soul?

What is the soul of blogging?

Of course, we first have to define the soul of blogging before we can determine if it’s been lost. I hope you will share your definition of “the soul of blogging” in the comments below.  Here’s mine:

The soul of blogging is the giving spirit of bloggers.

I’d been blogging about my own minutiae for a few years when I decided to launch a niche blog. My mentor in the leap to “blogging with purpose” was a person who was and is about helping others, Mike Sansone of Converstations. What I learned from Mike is that blogging – even for money – can come from a place of giving (of oneself) rather than seeking rewards. And so for me, if blogging is to retain its soul, bloggers must come from that place of giving in a few different ways:

• They must be authentic. This means they express their own ideas (or build upon/add to the ideas of others) in their own voice.
• They must strive to be altruistic, to be about more than themselves. They cannot be all-consumed with their own expertise, but instead must want to be a resource for their readers, even if that means sharing voices other than their own.
• And they must be generous, seeking to give frequently that which they seek to receive, whether it be comments, or links, or whatever other currency.

So – has blogging lost its soul?

For a brief period in 2007 the blogging pundits were all wondering whether “blogging had peaked” as a medium. This was because a Technorati report on “the health of the blogosphere” showed that the number of daily blog posts worldwide had been dropping. I argued at the time – and I still believe today – that if post quantity was the sole measure of the health of the blogosphere then we were probably delusional about that health anyway. I said at the time:

So while the sheer number of daily posts has perhaps peaked… what’s taking place now is the maturation of the blog from ego-driven, junk-filled novelty to information-rich, purpose-driven conversation.”

This, I argued, was a much better measure of whether “blogging had peaked.” It’s also a fine way to measure whether blogging has lost its soul.

Are bloggers still authentic, altruistic and generous? Mostly, yes. The problem is that the huckster voices – those that seek only to separate you from your money with a big promise, or that exist only to steal your content for the sake of their own “link juice” – seem to be making the most noise, and noise begets attention.

It’s important to remember that those are not the only – or even the primary – voices of the blogosphere. The primary voices are still those who have, over time, established their credentials, given more than they received, and reached out to help others time and time again.

Are some bloggers living a “dream career,” making money from blogging? A few are, yes. But they didn’t get there quickly, and they didn’t get there by hawking some secret formula for blogging success. They built their blogs one authentic, altruistic and generous post at a time. Would that we each could reach that level of success by doing the same.

Janet Green has been blogging since 2002. Her current blogs cover motorcycling, life and family in Des Moines, Iowa, and of course blogging. Her blogs and social media profiles are all linked at www.janetgreen.net.

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Many will agree that list posts are often times the most popular format as they enable the reader a quick skim without missing much of the core message.  As blog readers, we may intend on reading through an entire post, but we certainly don’t want to have to actually read the thing before we determine if it’s the one we want to give our precious time to.  With a list post we can glance at a few listed headings and make this determination without breaking a mental sweat.  Too many 12px sized letters between these headings and we’re libel to just move on to our next possible post.

The problem is, many bloggers either don’t like writing conventional list posts or many blog readers don’t really enjoy reading them.  So how can we maintain this skim-ability without confining our content to 1’s, 2’s, 3’s and so on?

Breaking Down Big Posts

I’ve been writing some pretty hefty posts over at Motivate Thyself.  Some have pushed past 3,500 words.  Yet if you were to pop over there and scroll through a few, you’d see that they are still quite easy to skim and decide if the content is worth the full read.  I rarely go more than a few paragraphs without some kind of heading that introduces the next hundred and fifty words.  I list my content without using bullets or numbers and while maintaining a more conventional writing style (most of the time).

As I write, I keep an eye out for chunks of content.  If I’m starting a new paragraph and it seems to jump into its own unique thought or idea or section, I create a heading to start it off.  This way, I not only give my readers clear guidelines to my longs posts, but I maintain a kind of listed structure that helps me maintain focus as I blaze through thousands of words.

Other Kinds of Content Markers

Headings, bullets and numbers are only a few ways of breaking down your content into easily indigestible bites.  We can also achieve this by using other forms of text formats.  Whether we bold our words, color or italicize them, we can cleanly organize our insight while maintaining the interest of our readers.

Integrating A Conventional List

Many of my posts also have numbered or bulleted lists built in.  Usually toward the end, acting as a kind of summary, I find this to be perfect for the application part of the post.  It’s easy to knock out some great writing and share awesome insight, but then leave out the real meat.  Most blog readers (depending on what they’re reading, of course) want to know what to do next.  If they’ve read an awesome, thought provoking post, they want that last bite to be filled with some form of direction.  A kind of, “Now do this, this and this…” kind of thing.  Otherwise, they’re left feeling like, “In theory, that all made sense, but how do I apply it to my own life?”

Sticking To Your Own Unique Style

The bottom line is this:  We all have our own unique voice to share with the world and no one can convey that style better that you can.  Yet there are certain ways to write our thoughts that are most effective for the common blog reader.  If we neglect either of these facts we risk weakening our reach.  So by all means, find what works and then mold it into an easily edible morsel for visitors to comfortably enjoy.

Listing your thoughts is a tried and true method in the blogging community, but not all lists have to look the same.  Find the structure that fits your style the best, while leaving bread crumbs for your readers along the way.  Go too long without a breather and risk losing many of your readers as they grow tired of the uninterrupted information overload.

Eric

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See you in the comments…

Eric and Sean

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Eric and Sean talk about the hard times and great potential that blogging brings most anyone who pushes past the first 6 months.

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One of the hardest parts of being a blogger is trying to explain its unusual growth characteristics to a non-blogger.  I mean, how many times do we have to have this conversation…

Q: “So, do you make any money?”

A: I’m working on it.

Q: “If you’re not making any money, when will you?”

A: I don’t know for sure, but once I pick up some speed it should really take off.

Q: “How so?”

A: Well…

First, To Clarify

What I’m talking about is the idea that a blog can be growing at a slow rate for a year or more and then just TAKE OFF!  And as the blogger who sees every little step forward and backward, we often times understand the warning signs that our hard work is going to pay off very shortly.

Let’s say we’re starting to see more linkbacks from blogs we’ve never noticed.  And let’s say we notice a new buzz about the quality of our posts.  Maybe Twitter is starting to buzz about our blog and our facebook friends begin to boil (kind of a disturbing statement, I know).  It’s kind of like being the only one reading the seismograph that’s telling of a soon to be erupting volcano, while the rest of the residents go about their business like it’s just another day.

A Technical Explanation That Can Be Understood By A Non-Technical Audience

Recently I’ve been having a lot of fun with Search Engine Optimization.  Whether I’m seeing if I can move higher up on Google with a certain post or trying to get search hits from particular phrasing, I’m enjoying the leaning process as well as the results.  One thing you’ll find if you get into SEO is that you can go from no search hits, to large amounts of search traffic in a matter of moments.

Let’s use one of my posts for example.  Having a blog called Motivate Thyself, I decided I needed to tackle the big question, “How To Motivate Yourself“.  So I wrote the post and then optimized it for the search engines.  After a few days of dropping it on the the pages of my blog, it showed up around page 10 of Google.  A few days later it made its way down to page 5 where it stayed for about a week.  Then one day it suddenly showed up at the bottom of page 2 where it has slowly been bumping it’s way up.  Now it teeters back and forth between the top of page 2 and the bottom of page 1.

What I noticed during this entire time was the fact that it wasn’t until I hit page 1 that I started receiving search hits.  It literally went from 0 to 10 hits a day.  My blog, as well as those who landed on it from Google, never knew about this post’s place in Google until it hit page one.  BUT I DID!  As I monitored its progress and compared it with my general understanding of SEO and the way search engines/traffic work, I knew search hits were right around the corner and I was right.

Blogging IS JUST Like This

No one but the blogger him/herself feels the pulse of the their blog.  As we tune-in to its heart beat and tap into it’s telling traffic patterns we are nearly able to tell the future.  And just like search traffic, our blogs can go from zero to zenhabits in a matter of months (the wordplay required a z, I had no choice ).

So the next time someone asks you to explain the exponential growth potential of blogging, you just tell them about this search engine analogy.  And if they still don’t get it, tell them to get their head out of the sand, IT’S THE 21st CENTURY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Or just blame me for the poor analogy.

Eric

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Oh what fun! I love a good back and forth.

Blogging isn’t easy. There is a massive blogging proletariat working way too hard for way too little. If your only aim is to share your voice with an online journal, or open the doors of your life to your family and friends, then you need not consider the upcoming thoughts. 

Most blogs fail. Getting started and getting going are two different things. If you aren’t prepared for the long haul, you will more than likely confront frustration, fear, and discontent. There are already too many abandoned blogs swimming in a sea of forgotten bytes. Before you launch a blog in an endeavor to earn online income, consider the following things:

1. Sharpen your voice. No one wants to read boring text that offers little. A blog that does nothing to stand apart is a blog that will eventually be abandoned to orbit like a forgotten satellite. If blogging is your business, you want people to hire you. People are hired because of the trust they instill and the personality they project.
2. A successful blog requires massive commitment. There are posts to write, emails to answer, and comments to watch. The experience can sometimes feel rather unforgiving. If you are not ready for a consistent commitment of time, your blog will more than likely flounder. It takes time to groom a blog it to it’s fullest potential.
3. A successful blog isn’t an island. Blogging is about community. You must be willing to understand and interact with the fellow bloggers around you.  Even the best blog isn’t enough to account for other requirements, such as social media and online marketing. If you are unwilling to learn the basics of internet traffic, a blog may leave you feeling disappointed.
4. Be original. The same ideas are bandied about with abandon all across the Internet. This is perfectly understandable, but you must do everything you can to be more than an echo. Repeating the same information is fine, repeating it in the same way is not. Everyone has their own voice, make sure you are willing to use yours.
5. Be patient. Successful blogging is a process not an event. Lightning quick technology has made us believe in lightning quick success, but such is a false idol that will only have us finding failure.

Anyone can start a blog, and anyone who wants one certainly should. Just be clear with your intentions and allow them to pave your path to the proper commitment.

Sean

Sean can be found writing for himself at Writer Dad and others at Ghostwriter Dad.

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Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, Digital-Photography-School and Twitip shared some time with The Blueprint discussing blogging and voice in our video interview.

All we can say is, MAN, that guy knows his stuff.  Truly a gentleman as well; an absolute pleasure to talk with. 

ENJOY!

The BB Team

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We’re thrilled to finally show you the first info product produced by the Blueprint.  Details are spilled in the video above.  Be sure to check it out and see what we’ve been spending the last three months on.  You bloggers are gonna love it!

Also included in the package is a comprehensive collection of blogging bookmarks.  It’s a single file, easily imported into either Firefox or Safari, gradually gathered by Eric over a period of half a year.

The PreLaunch price is $29, but that will only last until Friday at which point we will pull the product from our virtual shelves.  Upon its final launch, it will be available only at the regular price of $49.  So be sure to get grab the complete blogging kit while it’s still the price of dinner for two (not including tip).

Oh, and did we mention it comes with FULL Email support?

The BB Team

Click the button below to purchase your kit.

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