A change is in the air in the blogosphere. I don't think anyone really knows what it is, but something is brewing. The status quo for the life of a blogger isn't cutting it anymore. The pennies being paid to the blogging masses for content and sidebar ads are just not equaling the amount of time and vested interest one has in their posts anymore. Becoming brand ambassadors, working with agents and {GASP} actually being paid for our thoughts is the talk of the town. Dare I say a blogosphere revolution is at hand?
Like most, what I started in 2006 as a creative outlet is now a business and a personal brand. While I once hid my blog from prospective employers, my various blogs are now proudly displayed on the top of my resume. It's no longer about free drinks. Its now about how I can successfully support my family using my talents. I'm not kidding myself into thinking I'm the only one out there with that goal. Hundreds of other bloggers out there share my mindset, and hundreds are actually doing it. In this business I talk a lot with people all over the nation about what we are doing, where we hope to go - goals, aspirations, etc. I always come back to content. I've always thought that good content was the key to success, but honestly, that's not the case.
As we grow and begin to analyze our traffic we are all noticing the same thing - the crap posts are the ones that get read.
Half asleep, we throw up a rant about Starbucks, desperate for content we write about fall nail trends - and these are the posts that catch fire. Whether they were Stumbled, Pinned or Shared on Facebook, we watch these posts rake in hundreds and thousands of hits. Meanwhile, the beautiful ode to your life-changing decision sits stale, dust gathering on the hit counter. The poignant post you threw your day into about the state of the Mommy Wars goes unnoticed while people are STILL reading about fall nail trends well into the winter months.
So I ask. Why are the lame posts getting read and the good posts not?
Is it that the Internet, like the general population, just seems to be getting dumber? Is it that more and more people read blogs from work or from mobile devices - where they only have a moment to decompress, thus leading to the mindless fodder? Honestly, I don't know the answer. But as a blogger and a writer and a professional, it's a little sad to see. Since our pay is based on traffic, as bloggers are we dumbing ourselves down to a traffic generating level? And if we haven't yet - is it only a matter of time until we do? And then what? Then what does the blogosphere become?
On the flip side, when it comes to actually making decent money from our blogs, we are only as good as our traffic. Retail stores don't carry items that don't sell, so why shouldn't you offer the public what they want?
So I'm throwing it out there to fellow bloggers - do you notice this same trend on your blog? Are you mindful of this when you write posts?