Comments on: Business Blog Advice: Your Blog Is Not Your Business

By: Jacksonville Real Estate Agent - Brad Officer

Jacksonville Real Estate Agent - Brad Officer — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:42:40 +0000

Great post. So often we get consumed with our blog as opposed to creating income through our blog.

By: James

James — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:43:26 +0000

good post, but a lot more people make money blogging and make a business out of it than you wrote about

By: Heh

Heh — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:39:17 +0000

“This needed to be said and said loud and clear.The only guys I know making money through their blogs are fellows who are teaching others how to make money blogging.” In my opinion you think that because you spend too much time reading bloggers who blog about blogging (ewww, meta-blogging) rather than trying to find your own niche and make your own way. Notice any web trends recently? Chow, Dosh and even the Great Problogger are all losing traction – they aren’t the wave anymore and their business model was never sustainable. Ask yourself this: if these people knew how to blog in a sustainable way without self-reference why do they spend all their time telling you how to blog? Find your own way.

By: Heh

Heh — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:35:25 +0000

I read this and, as someone who makes a living ‘blogging’ (though I don’t really like the term thanks to articles like this) it smacked of ‘I don’t make money blogging’ … just my two cents

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:49:34 +0000

The most common problems with blogs is that they are poorly written. People think that the website is their business and forget that the blog is only a marketing tool in selling something more important. You are really selling your writing and the blog is secondary.

By: MLA

MLA — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:54:50 +0000

Blogging as a business…well I don´t agree. I blog everyday hoping to generate relevant traffic to my website or as I prefer to call it, my marketplace. Selling SEO, SEM, tracking etc. is my core business.

Blogging are, as I see it, a way to boost my sale and are thereby seen as marketing.

Just my five cents…

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:38:35 +0000

Mack,
I’ve seen that too. Yet, how does ‘the dumping ground’ blog help increase business?

derek,
Yeah, but it is a marketing tool you can use for your business.

By: derek

derek — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:31:56 +0000

i agreed with you absolutely! Your blog is not your business

By: Mack

Mack — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:18:18 +0000

I think a lot of businesses seem to get a blog because they heard that blogs are a good way to connect with their potential audience, but for some reason they don’t allow anyone who posts on them to have anything more interesting to say than your average dry press release. So the blog becomes less of a give and take and just ends up as a dumping ground for company news.

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:34:07 +0000

Char,
Seems like we’re missing each other here. And it is easy to just float in the stream – so thanks for not doing that (plus, I like good, healthy, focused debate).

When Chris and I talk about business, we’re talking about the model, the structures and the strategies surrounding how you make your money. If you’re a blogger who posts ads and affiliates, you’re then, in the business of selling ad space. The blog is just the billboard the ads go on.

If you’re a service provider – say a designer – your design work is your business. It’s the service you provide for your clients. Your blog or website, then, becomes a means for promotion and marketing – even if your site is monetized.

So it’s not about the copy writing nor the photography but about your overall business model. That’s where business is built – in the modeling and structures. The rest is how you do your business, not what the business is.

Thoughts?

By: Char

Char — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:23:48 +0000

@Chris,
“the business is not the product . . . the business initiates them.” A photographer’s business *is* photography and the product *is* photography. Without the photography what business does the photographer have? In the case of blogging, or rather writing which underlies the blogging, I think your point is perhaps valid but not as a global statement.

@Chris & Dawud—
I think you both are missing the fine point here: the business isn’t merely “writing” but rather is specifically, blogging. As a “writer” yes, I can sell my wares via any number of vehicles but as a blogger only the vehicle must be a blog.

It is highly unlikely that I would hire someone to blog if they don’t have a blog to exhibit their blogging skills, just as it is highly unlikely that I could get a technical writing job w/o showing I know how to write in that genre.

As I said, I’m really just challenging the tide here because it’s just too tempting to sit back and say “yeah! right on!”

*grin*

And yes, Dawud, I do think that monetization is part of the blogging business concept, usually. Sometimes, however, maybe it’s something else. For me it’s about doing a type of writing that I just love to do, and recognizing that there are businesses out there that need a way to connect with their customers that isn’t hyped up copywriting, but they just don’t have the time or gift for writing to get things going/done.

And on that note … have a good day!

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:27:15 +0000

Char,
Exactly what Chis said above.

So could you continue your business if your blog was offline? Have you had clients that have not come through your blog?

Chris,
Lovely answer, thanks.

Do you think that the idea of blog as a business stems from all the talk of monetization or is it something else?

By: Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:40:37 +0000

@Char – The business is not the product or the marketing, the business initiates them. Your blog sells your writing on behalf of your business, it is a showcase, not the business itself. Should your blog be offline people could still engage you through job boards, forum, word of mouth and other referrals so the business exists independent of blog?

By: Char

Char — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:51:41 +0000

Okay, so I read all the comments. and let me play Devil’s Advocate here a moment … although only slightly devilish since blog writing for businesses is something I hope to develop as a business.

If you are a writer, or even more specifically, a professional blog writer, then isn’t your blog your business?

Can you differentiate the frame from the product if the product is dependent upon the frame for completion? Can a professional blog writer *be* a blog writer w/o a blog frame to flow into?

As always, a well done and thought provoking article. Thanks for letting me participate.

Char

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:10:20 +0000

roll top,
It certainly can, I agree. But what do you do when you’re blog isn’t helping with growing your business?

Susan,
So what would you say is the biggest advantage your blog has over a static website for your business?

Top Rated,
So should we all get insurance?

Peter,
Interesting. Have you considered creating a strategy around you blog that could convert clients?

calabria,
It is about a revenue model. And while your blog can be the method for creating traffic, for instance, it’s not, in and of itself a revenue model.

By: calabria real estate

calabria real estate — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:47:05 +0000

haha…sorry about my grammar. What I meant was that although a blog can grow your business, you need to of course focus on the business aspect..or at least the revenue aspect of your business. It really depends on what your planning on doing, but you need to keep your plans focused. If you are going to blog for fun, then go for it, but keep in mind the revenue model you have set up.

By: calabria real estate

calabria real estate — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:31:00 +0000

Blog is really nothing!. Using blog as business is definitely wrong.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:05:10 +0000

I tend to use blogging as a means of generating unique content (unrelated to my business as it may be), by simply writing about topics I find interesting. I link the blog to my other sites that are more integral to the business.

Readers rarely convert into customers, but the additional links never hurt anyone.

By: Top Rated

Top Rated — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:08:03 +0000

A blog is really just a type of website, and a tool of the business. I like to think of the blog as my store, the actual building. If the building burns down tomorrow, no big deal. I just move into the place across the street, and keep on going.

By: Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggspert

Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggspert — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:34:17 +0000

Great article Dawud! And excellent points. I consider my blog the icing on the cake, the selling point for my marketing firm. It shows people that I know what I’m talking about and gives them confidence to hire me.