Why You Should Not Blog
Yes, you read that right. Why you should NOT blog.
Blogging is not for everyone.
There are some good reasons I have seen suggested why you should not blog:
- You don’t have the time to do it justice.
- Blogging would add nothing to your business or life.
- Writing is too difficult or unpleasant.
- Your company is struggling to keep up with current order levels.
- Customer contact can never be in the culture.
- Change is out of the question.
- Colleagues can’t be relied on to behave.
- Lawyers, PR and Brand team have to sign off on every communication.
- … And so on
Some of these are more valid than others, some have counter arguments and some are harder to solve than others. I can think of tactics that suit certain businesses better than blogging purely from an ROI basis.
One example would be a local swimming teacher who is booked up three years in advance and barely has time to spend with her own kids. A blog might give her opportunities to sell her expertise, gain private bookings, make more money and free up her time, or it might just create more work, a chore that takes her away from family quality time. It depends on the person and nobody can decide for her.
That all said, fact is there is only one reason you should never blog.
You should never blog if you are not interested in communicating.
Blogging is all about your interaction with an audience. It is not a passive advertising platform. Creating a blog is not a magic ticket to the top of search engine results, and it will not suck eyeballs like a vacuum cleaner.
To succeed in blogging you have to be interested in your audience, you have to be there, be authentic, interact, and you have to consistently serve and delight them. If this is too much like effort, do anything else but blog. It just won’t work for you.
On the positive side, blogs are very good at attracting, educating and interesting audiences. You can get very fast feedback, gain a better industry profile, create sales leads, and have fun doing it.
It all depends on your mindset and motivation.
By Chris Garrett. Posted in Blogging
Good advice, but sometimes you might not know if blogging suits you until you try.
Another wise words post.
Many people could probably do better blogs if they just kept a little notebook of things to blog about instead of suddenly thinking “oh, it’s about time I did a blog post” and then sit down and not be able to think of anything to write.
If you’ve got something on your mind to blog about, posting can be a really quick thing and fun but if you’re trying to think of something to write, it takes ages and is NOT fun
A good thought provoking article by Chris Garrett.
Blogging and earning money blogging is something most of the newbies think to be very easy, but Blogging itself is a continuous process and is a consistent hard work to keep going. The various number of posts I have read on both Chrisg.com and Problogger.net explain the same.
As I also understand reading the “Problogger book” that constant motivation and consistent effort is all that is needed with a noble goal of helping others by telling them something useful through our blog. This shall be the primary objective. Money is secondary and if the primary objective is fulfilled, money will be generated automatically from our blog.
Some people though they know they can’t blog for long simply register some domain names and cause inconvenience to others who may be interested in a particular domain name.
Simply put, they take time, energy and commitment. And sure that sounds mentally draining. But it isn’t so much if you are truly passionate about what you want to say when you type away at the keyboard and hit that “publish now” button.
It was only for fun and networking at the beginning, but since I read a money making blog (this include your blog, chris!)…blogging almost take my whole time lately…
Chris,
I like the article and the light tone. Many reasons not to blog are only excuses (like many reasons not to diet or clean up a résumé), to be sure, and many folks can benefit from writing a blog.
There is a good serious point here, also. Some folks are engaged readers and even happy commenters who then get into blogging and become unhappy slaves to it.
It is a big commitment, like adding a time-consuming new hobby to your life. It does require a large well of ideas to be swimming in your head. To make it part of your life you’ve either got to have free time now you don’t know what to do with, or dump something that’s already part of your life. Still 24 hours in a day!
I hope people who are considering it will read your post and think about both sides before deciding.
Regards,
Kelly
Hi Chris!
I’m a Virtual Assistant (VA) and as such my online presence is my brand. Instead of having a flashy website which is the norm, it made more sense to me to create a personal touch online with a blog. I’m only a newbie but much to my relief, I’m getting positive feedback and even inspiring others in my field to start blogging for their business too! True it’s not for everyone, but there is no denying the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it, and by that I’m not referring to $$$!
All the best!
Alex
Passive blogging? Sounds like an oxymoron. I agree that interaction and communication are the essence and foundation of blogging. Those aspects drew me in, and despite some OMGosh moments about making it as a blogger, they still motivate me. When one person has told you a post has helped or changed them, you can’t help but want to serve your audience more.
Chris:
I agree – blogging is not for everyone. Anymore than your business or my business is for everyone.
I have a couple of friends that are into a “membership” pyramid type deal who are driving me crazy about getting into it. I keep telling them it’s not for everyone and certainly not for me. They think because I am an entrepreneur that I want to operate any business.
I think passion about what you do is a key ingredient.
A good read.
Perhaps making money as the only motivation should be added to these reasons why not to blog. Everything doesn’t have to be monetized.
Couldn’t agree more, Chris. The one aspect of blogging that I particularly appreciate is that it has freed many static website owner-operators to go beyond the parsed-email conversation and establish community without gambling on a forum -which may or may not be the right move for a particular site.
Ironey is that we still blog
Nice post.
I just want to emphasize the point Richard made… You don’t know if blogging is going to be right for you until you jump in and try. Just do it! The more you write, the better you’ll get. The better you get, the more joyous it becomes.
Looking at the way things are going, blogging will continue to be popular whatever the reasons that drive people to blog.
I agreed with you. But to check whether blogging is suitable for anyone, they have to try it first.
It’s been fun to be able to share with our customers (and many others, who may or may not ever be customers) a little of who we are, what we’re interested and the like.
Even a mere photo blog can go a long ways to increase traffic and credibility.
I agree, blogging is not for everyone. I find that people who think blogging is the quick and easy way to make money online are the ones that face the greatest disappointment when they actually have to put effort into it.
However, if your are motivated, blogging about a topic you are passionate about, use plug ins and software to help make your blogging easier and the BIG ONE, truly want to help people… blogging is great.
I guess it all depends what the person hopes to get out of it.
I am also a Virtual Assistant (a Mac OS X VA). I am in the process of converting my static website to a dynamic blog. So the reason I will be blogging is to draw an audience of potential clients and colleagues by providing my viewpoints, reviews and tips.
So it is not so much a full time experience for me, but an enhancement and marketing tool for my virtual assistant company.
I think Troy made a good point about keeping a little notebook around if you are trying to find time to blog. Take a look at Seth Godin’s blog which is short and sweet pretty much on a daily business. I am sure he is pretty busy and still finds time to blog. I also think that blogging can help stimulate your mind to open up more doors not only from a business level, but also a personal level. I feel that I have developed into a much more educated person after blogging for a little while.
I personally work, go to school, stay involved with different groups, and run my own business on the side and still have time to blog at least a little. I became more knowledgeable of current events and technology trends. I was also able to come up with more ideas for other entrepreneurial ventures down the road.
I think if you are an active blogger and communicate on other blogs you will see your network multiply and find yourself with wider eyes. I don’t see how either of these two things could be a disadvantage.
Well said, well said, Chris. Not everyone needs to blog, and not every company needs a blog.
I just dived in and am still blogging regularly after two and a half years. For many people I agree that you have to just give it a go and see if it works for you. It helps if you are motivated by an issue, a passion or want to make money or something. Blah Blah Blogs are well, just that. Highly structured and professional blogs are also not my cup of tea.
Great Article. We started our blog mainly as a hobby not really expecting it to get much of an audience, and whilst we are not pulling in huge numbers we are getting some good traffic and comments. We find a good way to stay on top of things is to have a bout 2 or 3 blogs on the go at any one time. Then you can add to them in a spare 10 minutes and it doesn’t feel like a chore. It also always means you have a good idea for a blog without having to site down and come with an idea of the top of your head. A notebook is also a good idea to jot down ideas as you come up with them.
@Richard Morton – Yes try it, but I think most people know if they have the slightest interest in communicating before they go in
@Troy – Yes a notebook of ideas is very useful, but I do advise people to only post when they have something to say. Fluff and filler serves nobody
@Ashok – I must admit I am guilty of buying domains and doing nothing with them
@Ricardo – Yup, if the passion is there it is much easier
@internet – It’s not so bad if you enjoy it, you *do* enjoy it don’t you?
@Kelly – I’m worried that adding a blog becomes just another job for people, what we need are more bloggers who thrive on the sharing and interaction
@Alexandra – I am glad to see you are inspiring others, keep it up
@SpaceAgeSage – There is nothing better than making a positive difference in the world
@BloggerNewbie – Some people are passionate about money for its own sake but I am afraid there needs to be more than just financial reward for most of us as Maslow once taught us
@jhay – No and in fact sometimes monetizing kills the joy, for example I tried to make money from photography and it took ages for me to find the simple pleasure in taking photographs afterwards
@Barry – Agreed, and with a blog you can see if there is a community there or simply an audience
@Shirazi – I think those who leave comments are demonstrating a liking for communication
@Ricardo – Yes, and nobody out there is scoring you, but don’t make a big public launch
@Jason – I think though the key is “drive you” – if you have no drive then why blog?
@Milinda – Yes, but caution is necessary when you represent a company or public persona. Best to quietly test using a personal, small blog if you are just trying it out
@NW – It can, but like public speaking, you can also harm your reputation by doing it big and badly
@Edward – One of the first things I ask is “what is your goal”. The answer can lead you in many different directions, but you need to start there.
@Taryn – VA people need a good connection to their potential customers, a blog is an excellent way to do that
@Bryan – Going in with the right attitude and mindset it can only be an advantage, though not everyone does go in that way
@raj – Yup, unfortunately right now it and social media are trumpeted as silver bullets
@Colin – Luckily there is something and somewhere for everyone
@Steve – I call draft articles “panic posts”, for days where it just doesn’t flow. That said, there is no harm in missing days.
And Chris wins the award for most commenters replied to in a single comment back!! Most I ever did, I think, was 12 or 16