A personal blog can be about anything. When you use it as a marketing tool, it becomes about driving traffic. Is this change from a personal tool to a marketing tool a good thing or a bad thing?
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A personal blog can be an online journal of thoughts and feelings, just something to record the inner life of the blogger. This can be very empowering for the blogger. The blogger has no goal other than to get words down on paper, sort to speak.
Once the blogger decides to use his or her blog to drive traffic, and if the blogger is serious about driving as much traffic as possible, his or her blog becomes more than just an online journal. It becomes a marketing tool, a business and a source of money. This has several implications for the blogger.
A personal blog can be diffused, recording everything that comes to the blogger’s mind. A business blog must have a more narrow focus.
A personal blog can be written in a careless fashion, spelling and grammar don’t matter as much as intensity of feeling. The writing on a business blog is a representation of the quality of the product or service that the blog is trying to drive traffic to. Spelling and grammar are of paramount importance.
On a personal blog the writer can be poorly informed about the subjects he or she is writing about. On the business blog, the content had better ooze professionalism and competency.
I use my personal blog as a marketing tool to drive as much traffic as I can to my Triond articles and flash fiction short stories. I now consider my personal blog a business. So, I run it as a business. The business has helped to make me a better writer. For me, that’s a good thing.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:30 am
Nice idea. Everyone of us started out as a an amateur writer making fun of his/her published works. But when traffic becomes intense and the points seem rather slow it drives you nuts that you seem to think businesswise. Thanks for bringing the idea my friend in as much as we wish to earn from the good times Triond makes her part too, if only embarrassments could be better addressed in time.
August 16th, 2009 at 9:29 am
deep blue, I kind of miss the old days when I first started to blog and it was all about fun. And if I did foolish things with my personal blog it really didn’t matter. Now, not being as professional as possible would be an embarrassment.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing/whats-your-fiction-writing-style/
August 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Great article Guy. Has definitely made me think about a few things. It’s so hard to remember that every character or image you put on the internet can be read by any future employer. Great stuff!
August 16th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Jeremy, I’ve leant a lot about blogging from my little blog and as my Triond page views continue to go up my little blog is very much part of the solution. We all learn by doing.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing-business/opportunities/writers-writing-and-good-short-story-ideas/
August 16th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Thank you, good article. I’ll try to keep that in mind.
August 16th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Good article! I consider mine business as well. the more readership, the better and more money.
August 16th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Do you use adsense on your blog and then make money that way as well as driving traffic to your articles here? Just starting to do this myself.
August 16th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Yes, Guy, you are right, professionalism goes hand in hand with being scholarly. Myself, I am turned off by content that oozes four letter words. I feel that is better left in the streets (back streets or alleys lol) than in the public eye. I want my blogs to be clean, educational, inspirational, entertaining and thought provoking.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Well put and well thought out.
This is great advice.
Thank you.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Hi Guy,
Thank you so much for the comment, it means a lot to me. Feedback is very important to me because it tells me if my intent to write was justified. I got good tips and confirmations from this article in particular. As you could sense that I’ve just started and I’m holding a whole lot back. I’m working on organization of my thoughts and beliefs, cooperating with facts or vice versa. A great challenge for a Scorpio!
Mahalo,
Juliana Cristy Damasco
Maui, HI.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:52 am
When your avocation becomes your vocation, the personal blog becomes a marketing blog automatically. Yes, isn’t it great that your passion pays your bills too!
August 17th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Literary Princess: I have lots of fun with my blog. I’m trying to become more aware of the key words and tags that I use in the content of my Triond account and on my blog. It’s a real education.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing/creative-writing-and-the-endless-flow-of-good-ideas/
August 17th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Hello, marleneram26: there’s a lot of work involved in trying to create content for your personal blog and your Triond content; but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Most writers probably feel the same way.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing-business/opportunities/writers-writing-and-good-short-story-ideas/
August 17th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Hello, Joe: I use WordPress. It does not allow the blogger to put ads on his or her blog. At one time I did blog on Blogspot and I had Google ads on my blog but lost my Googe account because I was writing pornographic flash fiction. Now I use WordPress and write erotica.
http://www.authspot.com/Short-Stories/Orgasm.869803
August 17th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Yes, Judy, I think what we are both getting at is that we want to be taken seriously as writers. For instance, profanity certainly has its place. It’s just that for what I write on Triond, I don’t need it.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing/good-writing-ideas-never-die/
August 17th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Hi, lynda: blogging has open for me a new topic to write about on Triond; or I should say, using your personal blog as a marketing tool has open for me a new topic. Anyway, thank you for stopping by.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing/creative-writing-and-passion/
August 17th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Good morning, Juliana. It’s a beautiful, sunny morning here in Pittsburgh. It’s a great day for blogging, writing and reading. I’ll be watching for more titles from you that catch my eye.
http://www.authspot.com/Short-Stories/Tainted-Love.683751
August 17th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Uma, yes it is great when one can have passion for one’s business. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point in life but some people never do so I feel lucky. Better late than never.
http://www.writinghood.com/writing/the-qualities-of-a-good-creative-writer/
August 31st, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Very good idea indeed! But I think it really depends on the number of readers to your blog sometimes for the effectiveness of the marketing. Oh, and I noticed you have been using “flash fiction” concept even on your articles! Short, succint, concise and to the point. That’s actually a very clever and time-saving concept altogether. Good work man!
September 1st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Hi, nightcharmer: Well, the more time you invest in your blog the more readers you’ll get. I could average 100 page views a day; but I don’t have the time to do it.
Yes, the flash fiction concept works beautifully with articles. I write flash articles.