Updated 3/26: Read this post, too. Issa from Issa’s Crazy World, is another one of those totally lovely and very talented writers I adore. Her writing is honest and funny and heartbreaking. I would hate for her to disappear from the blogosphere because of the direction blogging is going.
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A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about trying to find my niche in blogging and wondering if I really needed one. I had forgotten that I started this blog because I wanted an outlet to write and, if I was lucky, to connect with other people. I’ve been better about not obsessing over my stats (I still peek once in a while!), and about just trying to write without over-thinking it.
It seems that I’m not the only one wrestling with this.
This week the buzz word online is “Branding.” I can’t read through my Twitter stream or feed reader without seeing post after post about how to Brand Your Blog, Re-Brand Your Blog, and How to Turn Your Blog Into a Business. There are the elite few who actually make their living doing this, but for most of us, we’d be lucky if our blogs made enough to buy a cup of coffee. Or a gumball. (Are they still only a penny?)
By writing about their lives, Dooce and The Pioneer Woman (just two examples) have become brands. And they’ve extended their brands into books, TV and, in The Pioneer Woman’s case, a movie about her life. Marriage, babies, poop, pets, cooking and a host of other ordinary topics—personal topics—are relatable to most woman. And men. Their blogs, which most likely started the same way as most of ours, have become the model that many of us want.
Am I jealous? Totally!
Sort of.
I’d love to be able to make a living doing what I love (preferably at home in my sweats). But the irony in all of that is that there are some fantastic writers out there who are doubting themselves and the worthiness of their blog posts because they aren’t earning ridiculous amounts of money from advertising deals or making the rounds on the talk show circuit. They aren’t branded.
The Business of Blogging is a little depressing.
One my my favorite writers—Yvonne of Joy Unexpected just wrote a great post about feeling intimidated to write on her own blog right now. It seems like a lot of bloggers are caught up in stats and writing Something Important About Important Topics, and making money, and writers like Yvonne, who just like to write about the everyday things—the small snippets of life that build something bigger and more meaningful—are trying to figure out where they fit in.
What was also interesting to me about that post is that Tanis from The Redneck Mommy, who has a huge readership, commented, saying she “misses the freedom of just writing whatever the hell it is that I want to without worrying about ad revenue, sponsorships or even my audience.”
To me, that comment speaks volumes.
The pressure to regularly deliver interesting content while keeping stats and readership up to keep your advertisers happy must take a lot of the fun out of blogging. It’s incredible that bloggers have been taken seriously and are treated as professionals. I love that they’re treated as Writers (with a capital W). It’s awesome that anyone has been able to make money, or land a job, or become a household name because of their blog.
I just hope that these women—and countless others—continue to get personal and keep telling their great stories because they have inspired me to write again.
Although, if Starbucks wanted to sponsor my blog, I certainly wouldn’t turn them down.
I'd like a Triple Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte, please!
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