But the title blogger I feel is way overused. Do business owners want to be bloggers or do they want to use blogs to market their business? As I focus on businesses, I just seldom see the blog as a business in and of itself.

LG,
Somewhat true. There’s a few elements to creating a successful blog. But the first criteria of success is defining what success means to you.

Meg,
Love your points, thanks.

For me is that often I see people defining themselves as bloggers and not connecting their ‘professional’ blogging to their business. They somehow get off on topics that don’t relate to what they do. That’s fine for the business owner who wants to be blogging about his model train hobby. Yet it’s not beneficial to the business owner who’s trying to increase his customer reach through his blog.

So I don’t think it’s a matter of being ashamed to be a blogger. Rather, I think it’s important to get back to the basics of why one blogs in the first place. And if you’re blogging to serve your business, then stay on course with what your business needs.

I always think of semantics – we are what we say we are. If I say I’m a blogger – does that come before I say I’m a business owner who blogs?

Can anyone be a blogger? Certainly a lot of people can be, but the same can be said about being a artist, or businessperson, or parent.

If anything, it’s the combination of titles and what they represent that makes us more unique — not their reduction. For example, there is a difference between being an artist and an artist who blogs.

But what I don’t understand is why so many people seem so ashamed to call themselves bloggers? So what if your teenage niece calls herself a blogger — it doesn’t dirty the title any more than her calling herself an artist sullies the name of Monet.

I’m proud to be a blogger. I’m proud of my work. And given how much time I put into my blogs, I think I’ve earned the title.

I just tell them I create websites, which is true, and some of them happen to be blogs.

I’ve been struggling on monetizing my blog as well. I get a couple of requests weekly to add money-making options to my blog. Yet, I still haven’t wanted to add monetizing yet. We’ll see what the future holds.

Living Rooms,
It is, certainly, among bloggers. But the term blog, while heard, is still greatly misunderstood among the general populous.

And, what’s more important to me – and what Darren’s suggesting – is that generically being a blogger may be thinking too much about being a blogger and too less about being a business owner who’s blogging.

James,
Blogger is certainly a valid career, without a doubt. Sorry if it seemed like I was suggesting such.

I like breaking norms. I’ve never been one to cookie-cut what I do. And I pass that on to my clients. I don’t ignore traditional business practices – not all. In fact, I use them as a common starting point with all my clients. Then, I help my clients create a more customized approach to growing their business. So for me, it’s much more organic.

And since I’m rarely on an elevator, I don’t care about the elevator speech. The conversation I mentioned can happen in as little as 3 minutes. For me, the focus is on the relationship more than the sale. And so if I met someone on an elevator and got into what their business is about, I would invite to sit down for a few minutes and chat. Just my approach – and it’s worked great so far.

And for the record, I do ask many of my clients to write their elevator speech.

Had to chuckle at your breaking of the marketing rules about not having an elevator pitch… in fact, your pitch sounds more like an afternoon conversation, which would be hard to carry out in an elevator

@ Naomi – I think that breaking the perception of starving writer and the up-and-coming problematic blogger isn’t going to be resolved by finding a new term. Short-term, yes. Long-term, it still keeps the career of writer with the negative associations it still has. Time to change that perspective by standing tough, shedding the starving writer/Danielle Steele mindset and getting us all some respect.

I can also see “online publisher” or “publisher” as being problematic. Publisher = books in people’s minds.

Thanks for the welcome. I’m glad I’ve finally found your blog. As far as the money I make, it’s varied. (That makes me sound like I’m in the mob, but I swear I’m not.) I run a marketing consultancy firm that offers marketing advice to very small companies, as in, one person. I write freelance, both in articles and in copywriting, and I’ve very recently started to monetize my blog.

The monetizing was a difficult leap, one I only made after I got several requests. For the longest time I thought I shouldn’t be advertising on a “business” blog, but I started to realize I don’t run a business blog. So I’m taking anything about the consultancy off the blog, putting it on it’s own static site, and monetizing. It’s a slow process because I’m pretty mindful of looking like a sell-out, but the money’s starting to come.

As far as blogging being too general and limiting of a term, I think that’s what’s been happening to writers for decades. We’ve all heard the horror stories of writers at cocktail parties being asked what they do for a living and people choking on their wine at the response. “Oh yeah? Anything I might have read?” People believe it’s just novels. I think that’s what might happen to bloggers who self-identify as such. Dooce and John Chow are very different people, but it seems that non-bloggers who have read Dooce don’t believe bloggers can be anything but, and vice versa.

On the other hand (I’m at, what? Five hands now?) blogging almost inherently un-includes podcasting or vlogging or whatever, and it could be limiting in that regard. If you’re a blogger, moving to another medium is a jump. If you’re an online publisher, you don’t limit yourself as much.

Great conversation you’ve got going here!

James, I think you set the tone for your perspective in the first comment when you said you are a problogger. Then, that clearly makes you a blogger. And since I know David Armano, I know he’s not saying that if your profession is blogging you shouldn’t call yourself a blogger.

Rather, David was trying to express the idea that many bloggers aren’t problogging – it’s not their business. Instead, their business is marketing or branding or coaching, etc. He’s suggesting to people to be what you are professionally – whether consultant or mom – and don’t get ’stuck’ in the concepts around being a blogger. That is, of course, unless you’re a problogger.

And Naomi, I hear you points as well. And I’m of the mind that people can call themselves anything they want. I know lots of lack-luster consultants out there calling themselves experts.

Yet, don’t you think that calling yourself something as vast as a blogger can limit you? At the very least, couldn’t it limit your perspectives for change and growth?

But I still disagree with the statement from David Armano above that Dawud mentioned he agreed with as well, which is:

“Stop calling yourself a blogger. You are a… (designer, businessperson, marketer, artist, baker, mother, grandfather, etc). Calling ourselves bloggers takes away from what makes us unique.”

I think that Texas housewife would say that being called “mother” takes away from her uniqueness, just as much as me not calling myself blogger would take away from mine

It can be and is a full-time employment requiring specific skills and knowledge. I would agree that it can be, but I wouldn’t say that it is across the board. In my opinion, the Texas housewife writing part-time about inspirational romance novels and making a few bucks a month from Amazon affiliate revenue is just as much a blogger as you or I, even if she sucks.

Second, how do you make your money?

James,
Funny you should ask about my elevator pitch. I don’t have one. And I’m sure your next question is why…

A good part of what I do for my clients is organic. I’m saying I’m super-special or anything. It’s just that I form more to my client’s needs then get them to form to my methodology.

That said, I don’t entice prospects with a couple of short, catchy lines. Rather, I give myself a label – something I think they might understand based on their background. Then, I get into what they do – letting them tell me their story. From there, I let a conversation build – focused almost entirely on them.

This provides me a number of advantages, I’ve found. One, it shows them that I care about them and their business. Two, it relaxes the mood of selling. Three, it illustrates that I’m a caring and compassionate person (which I most often am). Four, it lets me learn a bit about their need – and whether I fit their need – before I spend too much time on what I do. Five, I never really tell them what I do directly. Rather, I talk with them about potential solutions for their problems. By then, if we’ve gotten this far, I’m in. Now it’s a matter of whether I want them as a client or not.

Different approach. And I’m leaving out details, of course. But I’ve found this much more effective and to the point of conversion then any other introductory-style methods.

And usually I know if there’s potential in the first 2-3 minutes.

Marianne,
I love that! Are you problogging?

An action does not a professional make. If I pick up a wrench and apply it to a pipe, I am not a plumber. If I mix a batch of mortar and make a stack with bricks, I am not a mason. People cannot take these linear action qualifications to authorities and ask for recognition as professionals. I think it’s a dangerous line to walk, thinking in such literal terms.

And you have to admit, blogging can be a professional job in itself. It can be and is a full-time employment requiring specific skills and knowledge

@ Dawud – Soo… what’s your elevator pitch?