On Being On The Blogging Fence: My Thoughts About BlogHer12
by Cecily Kellogg on August 7, 2012
In recovery, we talk about how being on the fence is the most uncomfortable place to be; you know you need to get sober, but you can’t stop drinking. It’s hell.
This year’s BlogHer made me realize that in many ways, I’m on the blogging fence.
BlogHer has exploded; it is a powerhouse of influence and power now – after all, this year a sitting President of the United States addressed the attendees. But it’s also BIG. And crowded. And full of lots of “new” bloggers.
This year was the first year that I felt like I didn’t recognize myself among the attendees.
I’m a writer, first and foremost. Words fill me with joy each day, and make me feel firmly connected to the world around me, and I love nothing more than spilling those words out onto the pages of my blogs and sharing them with you.
But I felt… read the rest over at the Uppercase Lowdown.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
It was awkward to have people ask me what brands I’ve worked with before they asked me my name. Even saying I was a columnist in print didn’t hold much sway with those who were interested in making fast cash. I want to be a good writer. I am want to be a good blogger. Thanks for the thoughts C.
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Are you ever planning to actually blog again? Or will this just turn into a link farm for your paying gigs? Cute how you built an audience here and then just abandoned it.
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Sara, yes, I do.
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Actually, I have more to say.
My paying gigs pay my bills. I’m not going to apologize for asking my readers to click over to my other blog. This blog doesn’t pay the bills, so, like with any thing else, sometimes it gets last priority after doing my jobs, loving my family, and being a human. I’m so grateful that once a week I get to blog as me in my own voice somewhere and get paid for it. I think it’s cute that you find that to be a negative thing.
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For the record, I appreciate the fact that you put teasers for your posts on your other blog here. I hate commenting on those big blogs. ;)
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DITTO. I do sometimes click on your links to the bigger sites, but I probably wouldn’t comment there.
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Ditto x 2!
Sara, I love snarky people. ;) Dear oh dear, where to start with this. First, what is wrong with getting paid. I don’t see you working for free. Second what is wrong with putting a teaser, it is after all HER blog. If her audience is loyal, then she will be fine. Let her deal with the issues that arise, because after all, it is HER blog.
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First, the photos of our glasses swap: www.flickr.com/photos/nikkiana/7714549772/. Thank you for that moment. I know I very seldom comment on your blog… but you we were one of two familiar faces that I saw all Saturday.
I found myself nodding along to this post so hard I was practically headbanging and then put on Black Sabbath to finish nodding it all out. I felt really out of place at BlogHer.
I’m of the very old school blogger variety… vintage 1997 (at the tender age of thirteen). It wasn’t even a word then… When people talked about making money with it, they talked about taking their newly found HTML/CSS/Graphic Design/Programming chops and becoming web developers and designers, not writers. Which is what I did, I make my money building websites using Drupal, the same platform that BlogHer runs on.
The fact that you can make money blogging now sorta blows my mind… and at some level, offends my sensibilities towards good content. It’s not that I’m against sponsored posts and the big sites that pay for content… and it’s not that I haven’t done it or wouldn’t do it… but I’m bored with it. So mindnumbingly bored.
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What draws me to a blog is the writer’s ability and willingness to be honest and share their experiences. I’m drawn to blogs that focus on topics/issues that are important to me (parenting, mental health, running, marriage) and that let the reader into the life of the writer to some degree. I use blogs as a way to connect… to know that I am not alone in the challenges I face, to remind myself that everyone has a story worthy of reading.
If a blogger can do that AND make money with the blog, fine by me. But I do find that when bloggers hit the big time, their lives become about the business of blogging/branding/monetizing, and that bores me (I am definitely not referring to your blog – I love your honesty).
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I feel myself straddling that fence myself, and Blogher really proved that to me. I didn’t go to nearly as many sessions as I wanted to because of the lure of swag. (I do have to say, a definite favorite swag from the expo hall was that hug from you :) )
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I find it interesting that people are so vehemently opposed to people monetizing. I choose not to on my personal blog. I never did. Well, I tried GoogleAds on my long-gone blog for about a week, but then I felt dirty and took them off. I think I made 7 cents.
My current personal blog has gotten me several writing gigs, and it has suffered because of it. But now I can afford to put my kids in preschool without guilt. And I feel better bringing in some cash, frankly. A lot of people, especially in the last four years or so, have tried to supplement their household incomes with mini-incomes that come from blogs. Even $25 a week from a couple of badges on a small blog can help. And it makes people feel good.
And I kind of feel like if giveaways and such were not attended, people wouldn’t do them. The sites I work for (and write reviews and giveaways for) get many more hits and comments on the giveaway posts than on the informational or creative posts. Bread and circuses perhaps, but money must be made.
To me, it’s kind of like (hurriedly) changing the channel away from Big Brother or The Bachelor. I don’t like blogs with giveaways (talk about ironic hypocrisy!), so I don’t visit them. Unless I’m supporting a friend. I don’t like blogs about cats or barbecued pork either. And I don’t visit them.
Good thing there’s lots of room in these here Internets.
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Too funny, I read the Helen James piece earlier today and wanted to hug her. Now, I want to hug you too.
My first blog was in Diaryland in 2002. After that, it was LiveJournal. Finally I landed on Wordpress.
Lately I’ve been in a financial bind and a lot of my readers have been pushing me to monetize. And I don’t have a problem with monetizing but I do have a problem with being an advertisement myself. To me there is a difference. I’m just not comfortable aggressively monetizing my therapy I guess.
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This post covers so many of the thoughts swirling around in my mind. It seems like I am always asking myself if I want to make money off of my blog. I think the answer is mostly no – but I’m not opposed to it. I have an affiliate link on there now…
I got out of BlogHer what I wanted to, I think. I’m at a point where I have grown and changed and am figuring out how my blog should keep changing with me. I have a lot to think about, but after sitting in on Blogging for the Love of It and Celebrate Your Small Blog what it comes down to is I don’t want the essence of what my blog is to change. I blog because I love to write. But there is no shame in making money from that.
I’ve never done a review or giveaway, but I was contacted by a couple of brands from BlogHer that I really connected with and I think I will work with them. Because I don’t think it’s changing who I am. And they are companies that I might want to continue to work with. It’s a strange fence to be on.
Also, I’ve seen a lot of recap posts with similar or negative sentiments. It seems many Bloggers are changing.
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This changes the dynamic of BlogHer; the focus from bloggers attending is all business, now, with less focus on the creative.
Well if only they would have meaty business sessions LOL that had space. /rant. Cecily, I’ve been doing this for years and years and I started because I enjoyed it. When it became bigger than me I was forced to treat it like a business. Most (if not all) large blogs are successful BECAUSE they are creative. What many young bloggers don’t understand is that in order to become ‘successful’ (and yes that is relative) they have to be creative and unique. If you want to start a blog for money you will most likely fail, but if you love your blog, I see absolutely no problem in monetizing content. The truth is, most bloggers who work for free abandon their blogs. The blog graveyard is VAST. You see the guilty posts here and there, but I HOPE that good bloggers strive to monetize, because they will get something more than a comment or a like or a digital hug, they will get money in their pocket.
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It is SO HARD to balance blogging for yourself and your loyal “friend” readers, and blogging to pay bills, build a career, or WHATEVER. We all just do what we need to do, and if people appreciate it – great! If they don’t – well, they don’t!
I’m sorry you are feeling on the fence. I hope you can find that happy blogging place again.
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I’m with the early commenter up there. Of course it’s fantastic that you are paid for your work. But *this* blog doesn’t serve any interesting purpose any more. This blog was great back when you had something to say — the boys, your pregnancy with Tori. But . . . you don’t let the well fill up any more. I know you have to make a living, but that fact shows in your writing. It isn’t particularly — interesting, any more.
If you are going to write that book, it’s time to shut this blog down. Or at least admit to yourself that this blog is really just a funnel to your paying gigs. Where the content is very watered-down, because you don’t pause.
This happened to Harriet Beecher Stowe, dear, and to May Sarton, and to any number of originally-good writers. They turned into sort of daily journalists, plagued by the need for money (a legit need) but unwilling/unable to just stop for one moment and really work on a good piece of writing. I’m not sure what the solution is for you, but you probably know this already. The answer isn’t with those kooks out in California who yammer about envisioning your perfect future or some such nonsense, I know that. The answer is in writing down that real story and actually making a book. Your daily life now is not the adventure of that content.
As far as BlogHer being more about business now . . . well, that’s not surprising. People need to make a living. And most people’s lives are not compelling reading, at least not most of the time. It’s OK to blog for shorter, interesting periods of time. BlogHer is about business because generating real content is difficult, and letting go of a rapt audience in recognition of the fact that one is not currently generating compelling content — that’s even harder.
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“Yay google is my monarch aided me to find this prominent website ! . Don’t criterion away busy accompanying your extremitys. It does nay debar using your cranium. by Andy Rooney.”
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