Hi Anne,
I am an educational writer with several publications to my credit. I have seen a lot of ads for bloggers on your site. I admit it, I am a newbie. I don’t get the whole blog thing. Why would someone want to pay you for writing your opinions? Where do you suggest I get started to learn about blogs?
Rich (In Comments)
Hi Rich,
I’m not always sure I “get the whole blog thing” either. Before I send you off to other sources, let me say this:
I more or less divide blogs into three categories:
- True weblogs – that is, postings by individuals who simply want to share their lives or part of it on the web and have found blogs an effective and simple way to do that.
- Entrepreneurial blogs like mine that are commercial ventures but by people who really don’t want to work in a corporate setting. Blogging then becomes part or, more rarely, all of a self-employment scheme.
- Marketing blogs which are blogs owned by organizations who want to use a blogging format to promote their product.
So, Rich, if you wanted to start your own blog about education you’d probably fall into the first or second category. However if the NEA (National Education Association) hired you they’d almost certainly be paying you to pitch their story and their agenda.
Some Blogging Resources
Deb Ng of Freelance Writing Gigs writes more often about blogging than I do and has a different take on it. Darren Rowse does Problogger.net, an outstanding blog about creating a profitable blog. Yaro Starak talks a lot about blogs on his Entrepreneurs-Journey.com and also offers courses on blogging which I like. Finally, DailyBlogTips has a list of their favorite 25 blogs on blogging. (Yes, blogging gets recursive all the time.)
What do you think of my 3 blogging categories?
Write well and often,
Image from http://www.sxc.hu
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Heh… blogs on blogging. May I suggest avoiding ProBlogger unless you’re serious about earning money via a blog? It’s very dry if you’re not into the whole business thing.
The “whole blog thing” makes sense when you realise that there’s a lot of them out there that *aren’t* personal web-journals. Like this one, eh, Anne! The blog format just lends itself well to news, opinion and so on. I do three paid blog jobs at the moment, mostly news- and opinion-based, and it makes sense: good blog attracts visitors, equals readership, equals “customers” (whatever that means to the site owner).
I also have a short series on starting blogging on my blog (yes, a blog entry about blogging…), for absolute beginners. Nowhere near as good as some, but maybe helpful.
SpikeTheLobster’s last blog post..The Word Philes 7
I concur with Spike re: resources. On my RSS feed, I have Anne’s blog, ProBlogger, and Copyblogger, to name a few. I will check yours, Anne, after I finish this reply.
I think there has to be another category. The writing blogs, environment blogs, science blogs, cooking blogs, etc., don’t seem to fall into the true weblog category. They’re not what people did that day (usually) but seem to be about their passions and interests. I don’t expect to make any money off my posts, I do hope to get known, and published and read, and I’d be less than honest to say otherwise.
FWIW,
Norm
Norm’s last blog post..Ersatz Coffee
Anne,
Thanks for the link to Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger. I learned a lot just from his video. Now I’m rethinking my entire setup and know how to do it.
Deidre
Excellent site, keep up the good work
Thanks Bill – looks like you’ve got a few stories to tell – are you also writing?