Call me cynical but it seems to me that the blogging world has become the last bastion of the entrepreneurial individual who is scrambling to make a success of his or her new business.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.
Just look at Twitter — another haven for the entrepreneur — just look at how many tweets are dedicated to “making more money with your blog” and “how to drive more customers to your blog-site. Go ahead, I’ll wait. I want to see if I’m exaggerating or not.
Back so soon?
You’ll have noticed, that Twitter is full of these helpful tweets. I know I noticed and it made me question why folks blog.
I know why I do.
I think I know why a lot of folks whose blogs I follow do. But you only have to look at your spam list to see that there are a lot of folks in the blogging verse who are trying to make money.
I don’t blame them. I was interested when I first started blogging, that on the blogger.com site that I first used, I saw that you could put adverts on your blog and get some pennies from the advertisers. I even tried to monetize my site.
Unfortunately, unless you live within the shores of the US continent, you cannot monetize your account. I was a bit nonplussed. It did not (and still doesn’t) seem very fair. Most of my blogging audience reside in the US. I have a great spread over the rest of the world, but the good ol’ USA always comes first in terms of “readership.”
I suppose I am a little bitter about not being able to make a little change off my blogging. Not enough to really complain though. Just a little grousing to let the world know how I feel about it.
And of course that’s the crux of the matter. I blog so I can let the world know how I feel about things.
Whether it’s about the latest film I’ve seen or the horror of the Dark Knight shootings. I want to get my two penneth worth out there for folks to see. Not because I think I’m clever enough or sage enough to make a difference one way or the other, but because I can.
I’ve always been able to put two words together in a sentence and not sound too idiotic. This makes me a communicator. Not necessarily a great one, but a communicator nonetheless.
Because I have this ability, I like to communicate. Of course it helps the whole process when someone comments on something you’ve written. Even if it’s to (intelligently) disagree. I’m also pleased if someone takes a split-second to ‘like’ what I’ve written.
This all makes it seem more like communication. Without feedback for your real (or imagined) audience your blog starts to feel a little like you’re standing on a street corner wearing a placard that says “The end is nigh” and you are shouting to a unlistening, uncaring public.
So while I’m not blogging for monetary recompense aka dough, I am blogging for reward of a different nature.
The reward of knowing that somebody out there is listening and I can leave my placard at home.
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Plus it feels a bit…tacky? Of course I might change my tune if someone offered to pay me for my posts…:-D
Thank-you for not blogging for money. The tweets and posts are super annoying. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 🙂
And to that sentiment I add a hearty amen. 🙂 Oh and thanks for all the reblogging!!
Reblogged this on Serendipity and commented:
I write for you, whoever you are. And I write for me. I wouldn’t mind making money from it, but there are lines I won’t cross. Besides, I made money from writing for more then 35 years! The difference is that now, unpaid, I get to say what I want and don’t have to write what I’m told to write. That’s worth a lot to me.
Most of the “real” advertisers only have adverts aimed at the U.S. audience. The others? I need money but they are scammers. I pray I’m never that desparate that I need to rip off my fellow humans.
😀
I totally agree! That little orange thingy really helps. There’s nothing better than checking on your blog and seeing that lit up. 🙂
It seems to be sorted though now, so it’s all good hopefully!
One of the reasons I blog is to help me get a writing job of some form. It helps me keep my writing skills sharp and proves I am actively still writing new things. So, I’m not actively looking to monetise my blog but hopefully it’ll make me richer indirectly in the future! I also love interacting with other bloggers and it’s pretty addictive when you see that little orange star of speech bubble pop up!
I guess I’m going to have to check with the WordPress staff as to why my comments are getting relegated to the spam bin. lol
LOL I guess
Glad it wasn’t just with me that Mike’s comments disappeared into the spam folder!
I know what you mean. I always try to at least like a post I’ve read and I’ll do my best to leave a comment. I do give a little benefit of doubt if I don’t hear back. I’ve had quite a few folks tell my that for some strange reason, my comments wind up in their spam list. 😮
Yeah, in the beginning I thought it was easy to get an audience, but it takes quite an effort. I’m happy with all the readers I’ve got now myself, but I’m still doing my best to expand that as much as I can.
There are quite a few bloggers who never respond to comments I leave. That usually means that I won’t be visiting them anymore in the future.
I tried to do an ad thingy, but it was too complex for my poor addled brain to work out. I have since given up on attempting remuneration for my blogs. 😀
It took me awhile to realise that the interaction was so important. It has made the whole blogging process so much more enjoyable. Thanks for taking the time to share! Cheers mate! 🙂
When I look at my spam list I just find your comments 🙂 Although that seems to be fixed now, your last few were fine!
I got accepted for that ad scheme wordpress do, but since we all have adverts on our blogs anyway unless we pay wordpress $30 per year, I didnt want any more on.
I know what you mean, regularly get mails to put something up (usually for casino’s), but still have not gone into any of them. Of course the greatest rewards are comments (and likes), but I also like the fact that occasionally I get the opportunity to interview a director, visit a press screening or receive a movie through the mail to review. But the interaction with others is the thing which makes blogging so enjoyable.