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Blogging has been great for me. It has opened my eyes to new things to read online, new communities to join, and ultimately, new ideas that are growing inside my mind about lots of different things – and the dedication that it takes to share these things with the world.
The only problem I have found with blogging so far, is that I have the distinct feeling that I am sometimes (not always, thanks commentators!) talking to nobody. I am out in the abyss of blogging, where many float but few take root.
That may sound a little bit dramatic, but it is what makes blogging challenging. Everyone can have a blog (everyone with internet access and a little bit of time), but everyone doesn’t keep it up. In my career, the total number of blogs started has been five, including this one.
I had one just about Yoga, one about people who help the world, one about sustaining Africa, and one about how I didn’t really know how to use a blog. None of them lasted for longer than a month, tops.
I think this had a lot to do with the fact that I was only discussing them with my husband. As thrilling as that is, I was really interested in these so-called “other readers” that exist out there in cyberspace. There were supposed to be millions, right? I hadn’t attracted so much as three.
Now, with my relatively recent involvement in Brazen Careerist, I have discovered that many people blog without expecting much of an audience – and the reverse also happens. We blog not wanting an audience, and then sometimes get one. The internet is so funny this way.
Ultimately, what I have learned from Brazen is the fact that marketing is a huge part of blogging as a serious entity. If you blog about the adventures of cat, dog, and kids, maybe marketing doesn’t need to be in your plans. But if you are like me, and you want to hear other people’s view on a variety of topics – and hopefully succeed in helping people in the world, an audience is crucial.
I am thankful that for the most part, I feel content with whatever audience life brings me that day. Yes, there are those times when I look at the WordPress.com stats, and feel sad that no one really knew what I had to say on that afternoon, but I keep trying.
Learning about the process requires a lot of shouts into the dark, but the most can be learned, I think, when you study your own voice.
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Comments
11.16.09
I think every blogger has felt this way: "Is anyone out there?" Yet, it's interesting to understand why bloggers begin to blog. I started to blog just for my close family and friends to keep in touch. The idea of a page view or number of comments wasn't on my mind for the first four months of blogging.
Soon I realized that blogging actually creates a community and lo and behold, people I didn't know were commenting on my blog. I started focusing on topics that were interesting to me and reaching out, marketing my blog a bit, joining sites like Brazen and learning from others.
I think the bottom line is that comments don't equate blog success and it's nice as a blogger to find out what success means to you and your blog. I've read many amazing blog posts about this very topic and it's different to each person.
Thanks for shedding more light on this topic. Plus, I love your title :)
11.16.09
Thanks Grace! I actually just left a comment on your blog as you posted that! It is very true - why we blog, or why we do any type of public discussion on the web is really interesting. I am particularly interested in the ways in which people from very different life communities find each other on the web.
Glad you liked the title - The real version was one of my favorite books when I was younger!
11.16.09
Beth - I'm not sure bloggers ever stop feeling this way. My blog isn't super popular, but I have a community and have commenters... and yet, I still feel "blog-lonely" oftentimes. This mirrors life though, right? So I guess we just have to keep on chuggin' :)
11.16.09
Beth, I think anyone who gives blogging or self-expression of any kind a good, earnest effort over some amount of time sees results in some shape or form. Maybe it's a job, maybe it's a friend and maybe it's the beginnings to a book. Who know's right? There's a calling to write for a lot of us, for other's, it's a logical choice to self-brand or communicate. No matter what, I think if you keep it up you'll find something out about yourself and others that you weren't expecting and that's kind of awesome if you ask me!
11.16.09
Beth, I think I identified with about 99.9% of what you just wrote.
I'm constantly reminded that if I'm blogging to attract readers, and not because I actually enjoy it, then I'm not going to keep blogging.
Keep blogging! So will I!
11.19.09
Beth - appreciate your sentiments and sharing your honesty.
JR - your response captures how I started blogging (with some colleagues) - without expectations but curious to see where it takes us. We started our blog as a sort of "continuing education" in retail marketing, around a concept we are trying to own called "Retail Leverage".
We went into it knowing we were hitting a pretty narrow / niche target, so there have never been expectations of a huge numbers. We do have the benefit of having a community of colleagues past & present that have interest in the topics we write about.
It may turn out to be nothing more than the continuing education, but I can already see that it serves as another resume/portfolio of sorts, and we have actually found that there is one audience that is very interested in what we have to say - that being advertising agencies trying to understand how retail works.
It has only been 100 days but we are excited to see what the future holds - and if we will have the stamina to keep it up.
Ben Smith
http://www.retailleverage.com
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