I am no stranger (nor are you, probably) to how the wider media sometimes depicts bloggers: as closeted wannabees who add to the rise of ‘faux journalism’. Books are currently being published on the subject.
This could understandably contribute to any beginner blogger’s self-consciousness; especially those who are staring at their ad revenue reports, wondering if any money is every going to start showing up.
I used to be bashful when I talked about my blog. Not anymore. Why should I be? I’m proud of it. I’m proud of what it catalogues; thoughts, my goals, even my ambitions.
No doubt you feel the same about yours, too. But any hint of shyness, or pause, when you talk of your blog is hardly going to attract readers. Or advertisers.
Recently, I migrated from Blogger to WordPress; a rather stressful time for me, for I was deathly afraid that over a year’s worth of work and effort would somehow evaporate into nothingness (luckily, it didn’t). I had several reasons for the change; the main ones being I was a little tired of the limits of Blogger, and I wanted a purer control of my own writing and ‘brand’, for lack of a better word.
When I discussed my plans with non-bloggers, they all asked me “Why?” Why change? Why bother? What’s the difference?
I replied, “I just felt like it was time. It didn’t feel comfortable anymore.”
Granted, this was rather a drastic change. It needn’t be. Standard templates only need to be tweaked slightly to give yourself the opportunity to individualise (and hence ‘validate’) your blogging status. This mightn’t be important to some people; for others it just might be the chance to assert their creative will, and this newly found confidence can lead them on to loftier plans.
And sometimes stamping your own blogging status begins with how you speak about blogging in the first place.
Here’s my challenge:
- Put your blog’s URL as part of your signature in your email (if you haven’t already).
- Mention it in conversations.
- Enter blog carnivals.
- Do what you can (short of spamming, naturally!) to spread the word of your blog.
What are you waiting for?
Help sell your blog to the world. Isn’t it worth it?
