Can You Blog Too Much?
Interesting thought here from David Peralty
I think that writing on numerous blogs can be detrimental, but as Chris Garrett has proven, it can also be very helpful, as everywhere I turn around his name pops up
Do you think I’m getting over-exposed?
As David says, part of my personal branding has been from writing so much and for so many sites. I get enjoyment out of it, and have made some great friends, so even if there was zero financial incentive I would still do it.
The downside comes if this exposure works against my branding rather than for it.
I try to only post on sites that compliment my other writing, and either on popular sites or make them that way. This way I am writing to multiple audiences rather than one. While there is inevitably overlap, I try to not have too much.
If I have made a mistake it is probably by writing too much about blogging. This is likely where I am becoming over exposed.
What do you think? Should I pull back from the amount of places I am blogging?
Posted on December 04th, 2007 by Chris Garrett in Blogging
Personally, I think the “branding” works well. I subscribe to a number of sites that you write for and when I’m going through my feeds, I recognise your “voice” immediately. So I read on. There are a few other writers in the field that I recognise as well, regardless of which blog they are coming through on. There is probably only one that I get too much of and that isn’t because the content isn’t good; it’s because I’ve developed and find it less relevant to me.
I think one of the strongest features of your voice/brand/whatever is that it that you write as though you are having a conversation. I don’t mean that you’re casual, or unprofessional, just that everything is a dialogue, an invitation to participate.
Some people teach didactically, some people teach by example and some people teach by inclusion. They all have their place, and suit different people.
Your style works for me. I get given things to think about, then I can run with it.
Err no Chris…I don’t think you are over exposed at all. Massively under exposed I think. You feature on 3 blogs out of the 300 or so I subscribe to.
You personally? No, but I do think there is such a thing as too much blogging for a site. For example, one of the sites you blog at (blogging tips), I used to be a regular reader, but now there are multiple updates a day and that is too much for me to keep up with personally, so I just stopped reading. The content and quality is still good but I do believe that too many posts can be more detrimental than having too few posts.
@cerebralmum - Having a “voice” is important so I am glad you think it is working. It can be a tricky balance to maintain, the “conversation” versus “teaching” style, I find I slip into it outside of blog writing which can be dangerous
@Jack - Actually that percentage seems high to me
@ses5909 - Yeah I agree, one of the problems people have mentioned to me about some blogs is too much too fast. When Performancing launched we were doing multiple long posts a day and found the audience grew weary quite quickly of that. I think multiple newsy posts can work, or a mix.
I don’t think you are over exposed, what I have a problem with is over exposure to new products from the usual suspect sites. An example of this was the recent release of Teaching Sells.
Problogger, Yaro Starak etc etc all bombarded me with this new monetisation method. I had a look, but soon became turned off when one after another “Authority bloggers” made a pitch.
I can understand that. Especially in the blogs about blogging subject there is quite an active echo chamber, which is one of the reasons I rarely post “news”.
No, I don’t think it is overkill. However, I think by far the easiest way to blog is to blog about blogging. To create frequent and interesting content about non-blogging subjects… that is a real challenge and shows real writing skill.
I am still pretty new to the blog world. I subscribe to a dozen, read four daily, post on two a few times a week, and have two favorites for two different reasons. You definitely have the personality and realize. I will try to explore a little more to find the other avenues you write through, then maybe my opinion will be a little more valid. Although, I read your chrisg journal everyday, and would probably read 3 or 4 more of your journal’s a day. Keep it up.
Chris, I like running into your posts around the web and I think it’s having a positive effect on your feedburner count.
I do have a suggestion though. Since you are writing so many posts around the web, I think your personal site would be a great place for more in depth, pillar content that will stand the test of time. That will help you distinguish chrisg.com from the many articles you’re sharing around the web. It’ll also encourage social bookmarking which never hurts!
For most people I’d say you’re not overexposed. Since you and I do similar things and operate in the same circles, I see your name frequently.
I second Aaron’s suggestion — it’s a great idea.
@ses5909: You don’t have read everything, you know!
This is where a service like Google Reader helps, I star the posts I want to read on first pass, then mark everything else as read. Then I go read the starred posts. I can even keep up with Boing Boing this way, because I don’t read probably 80% of what they publish.
Awww Chris. You can never blog too much!
~Mariella aka august of performancing
As long as your posts say something useful it is fine.
I use to be involved in town politics and we had some members who spoke on every issue just to hear themselves speak. Didn’t say anything useful. They became parodies of themselves.
I think for you to bounce around at different sites is only a good thing for you and can only help your branding. The reality is that not many people could even pull that off Chris. That’s a gift you have, so use it.
I can’t help but think that your blog lately does a good job of reminding me of the “Aaron Wall story”. Get a name and reputation with awesome content and fresh thinking and then continue to update on a more-than-regular basis with trivial, debauched posts.
I’m still subscribed to yours and Aaron’s blogs in the hope of some pearls showing up once in a while.
Interesting that a large percentage of your readers claim not to know who you are, Chris. Let’s hope that most of them are joking!