Out at Sea – To Blog or Not to Blog?
“My dreams are worthless, my plans are dust, my goals are impossible. All are of no value unless they are followed by action. I will act now.” Og Mandino “The Greatest Salesman in the World”
A couple of years ago, a writer friend started a blog. Her sharp, concise, informative posts received a lot of comments – or so it seemed – 38-40 on average. Much to my surprise, after about four months, she stopped. What happened? She told me, “I’m writing a book, but when I was blogging, I spent so much time reading and commenting on other people’s blogs, that I didn’t have time for my own writing. And that’s more important to me.”
In a recent blog post, “Kick your blog up a notch, Come to Blog World,”Gutsy Writer included the following statistics:
Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
* Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day.
* There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day.
* Blog readers average 23 hours online each week.
That’s a lot of blogs, a lot of readers, a lot of posts, and a lot of hours spent writing, reading and leaving comments. No wonder 50% of all blogs go dead within 6 months (like my friend’s).
Many bloggers, including myself, start off thinking blogging will be easy or like writing a journal – and for some it is. Most of us expect that good writing, interesting topics, important keywords and social media such as Facebook and Twitter will appeal to readers and it’s only a matter of time before we find a wider audience. Instead, we discover we’re writing for friends and family and after a while, even they lose interest.
My blog was originally intended to support my soon-to-be-published book, “Don’t Hang Up!” and is attached to my website. When my publication plans – and my economy and personal life fell apart – I decided to carry on with it. I joined a LinkedIn blogging discussion forum, a fascinating experience that led me to such an interesting variety of blogs that I subscribed to as many as I could. The blogging world had me hooked.
Some newbie bloggers, like me, in search of a wider audience, find ourselves caught up in the blogging world. To our surprise, it is fascinating and enthralling to the point where trying to find ways into it becomes the focal point of our lives.
At first, it was like taking an intensive course in blogging, learning about blogging from the pros, about content, traffic, message, communication, etc. Only after six months of this have I realized that I still have a lot more to learn, which will require much more involvement before I can even aspire to improve my disappointing Google stats.
And frankly, it’s becoming boring, often repetitive – though I have discovered some pearls of wisdom and outstanding bloggers and posts that I file under Advice or Best Blogs Ever, as well as some delightful and informative personal blogs.
However, in this time, I have not written a word – not a single word – of my book. I haven’t even made corrections or done any editing.
So I face an important decision.
What is my goal in life? To be a book author or a really good blogger with a big following?
What is my job profile? It says book author/freelance writer/Hispanic research writer/analyst. Nowhere does it say Blogger.
Have I gone off track or just wandered into another world?
Or has my focus changed?
If I want to be a great Blogger, I should have something to sell – a product, a service, an idea. So far, I have nothing.
My life’s dream, ever since I was 12 and wrote my first full-length book (240 typewritten pages, double spaced) has been to become a published author.
It appears that I’m ambushing my dream in the rather elusive quest of becoming that one in a million bloggers to get a reasonable following.
What am I to do?
Stay out at sea, sailing around in the blogosphere like a lost ship?
Or go back to my own writing, get my books in shape, and try to find an agent/publisher or to self-publish.
Sounds like a no-brainer.
This would not mean that I’d stop blogging completely. Just slow down, and instead of reading and leaving comments on 20-30 blogs a week, I’ll pull back to about 10.
So what do you think?
I’d love to hear from you so as to erase any doubts as to which road to take.
Photo credits: Veronica Valades
Tags: Blogging, Blogging statistics, Blogging vs. Writing, Decisions, Gutsy Writer, Self-discovery, Writing vs. Blogging
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Blogging, Life Challenges, Writers and Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
23 Responses to “Out at Sea – To Blog or Not to Blog?”
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Dear Pennie!
Seems to me that you’ve answered your own question, but maybe you should add a comparison to the second option for balance and more clarity:
“Should I stay out in the blogosphere like a lost ship or should I pursue my dream of getting a book published, like a ….?
Cheers,
Maki
Maki,
I certainly can see your point. However, at the moment, the Muse has deserted me and I can’t think what I should say outside of something superficial or cliche such as pursue my dream of getting a book published “like a ship heading for its home port.” Or maybe that is how I would feel when my book(s) finally get published – as if I’ve reached home at last.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Penelope,
This was terrific! I can totally relate to how blogging takes up way more time than you think. I wrote an article on my blog a few months back about the very same thing: In Praise of The Blogging Black-Out. I just finished my book and I did cut way back on visiting and commenting on other blogs to do it.
Angela,
Thanks for your comment. I’m very interested in reading the blog you wrote on the same subject especially since you say that you also cut back on visiting and commenting and were able to finish your book. I wonder how many other writer bloggers have also been conflicted about this, and had to decide what to focus on. It seems like a few manage to do both, and do them well, but I also have to work, and there’s only so much time left to divide up. I’ll see what happens.
You have answered your own question. Even blogging is like being on a lost ship for you then you should seriously do some soul searching and fulfill the main ambition that you had intended for. The book should be your priority and the blog should be secondary. I know you would think “What does a stranger from across the world know about me?” But having to work on your dream is much more important. Finishing your to do lists is not productivity (I got this from a fellow blogger). Keep us posted, do tell us what you decide!
Hajira, Thanks for the reply. Good advice from a stranger across the world – where are you? I also like what your fellow blogger had to say. Yes, I have to establish priorities and my books are that though once I have one in print or an e-book, blogging may well become a priority. However, I’m not giving it up – just this intense search to learn how to become a super blogger with a wide audience. I’m content with what I have.
Pennie,
Please “Don’t Hang up.” I know what you mean about the amount of time it takes to get an audience, but you know, as well as everyone else, that it takes time to build your platform, and you cannot give up in today’s media driven world. I am going to post about what authors did before social media, and was shocked about how much promotion was done 100, 300, 400 years ago, that we may not realize today. Things keep changing and I struggle to keep up and learn. I spend hours too, but I believe, you can relax, once you get the attention of a publisher. You just have to prove that people are interested in what you have to offer. Everyone says, you have to give people something useful that helps them. That’s the way the world works today, so perhaps we all need to focus on what we can offer our audience. Not easy, I agree. Thanks for the mention, and keep going. You’re doing great.
Sonia,
Thanks for cheering me on. I’ve learned a lot from you and your experiences, and I can see how much work you’ve done with your blog, and all you have accomplished so you know whereof you speak. The thing is I can’t neglect my writing anymore. I need to write both for emotional and therapeutic reasons, something blogging will never fulfill. And work also takes a lump out of my time.
Am very interested to read what you have to say about social media hundreds of years ago.
Hi Penelope,
I believe you can finish editing your book and write your blog. Make them work together more. You could even write about the gremlins that keep you from editing.
Somehow I don’t think it’s the blogging keeping you from your book. You may nix that and find it’s something else.
I visit maybe 10 blogs a week, so that’s a good number. Most blogs don’t get any comments so you are doing quite well.
When you’ve finished your book, a blog that’s been kept active will be a big help.
It takes a while to get a blog going, to get folks sending you emails asking if you teach in their area, wanting to take your classes. That’s how it’s happened for me. I meet people at events who say I read your blog and I didn’t even know it.
We live in an instant world and anything more than 6 months to a year can seem like way too long. Yes, most folks will quit same with newsletters. I’ve been doing my e-inspire for THREE years. Most send out a few and that’s it.
I find that dedicated time for a project works best. Like every Tuesday night no matter what — you will edit your book.
Make an on-line pact with your readers and tell us each time you blog at the bottom what you’ve edited. We can be your accountability partners.
Best wishes for your fab book! G.
Giulietta, I really appreciate your assuring words and advice. Knowing something about your experience in this area is very helpful to me. I love your suggestions especially find a dedicated time and making an on-line pact. However, one obstacle that maybe I should have mentioned is my freelance work: When I get jobs or projects, they are usually rush and very time consuming, and since I need the money, forget about blogging or writing. Then I have to run to catch up on everything from e-mails to grocery shopping to personal things – and then what do I do? Blog, write, edit? You get the gist.
This is such an interesting question, Penelope! I know that I haven’t had a single moment to even brainstorm about eBook possibilities, let alone a book, since I’ve been spending so much time developing my blog. I especially love how your post brings up the idea of what we truly want — I hadn’t even thought about it. I hadn’t included blogger in my job description — I could, but do I want to?
On the other hand, I was just reading a post about the law of attraction and how the only thing holding us back from achieving our dreams is our beliefs. If we believe that we don’t have enough time, then we don’t.
Thanks so much for having me think about this, Penelope! Love that we were introduced through Sherry Zander and I look forward to reading more! =)
Samantha,
Aren’t these online introductions and friendships great? I’m meeting some great people whom I’d never otherwise know. Read your profile on Twitter and we seem to have a lot in common though age is not one. I’m just finishing a couple more blog posts so may blog more often though it’s dependent on how much work I get, as sometimes, after a 12-16 hour day, I don’t feel like doing much.
I vote for getting back to your book. You can slow down on your blogging without losing it completely.
I started out blogging thinking it could be profitable one day. Read too many books. Listened to too many success stories, but the reality of it is that I blog just for the pure enjoyment.
I don’t have the time right now to post every day or even every week sometimes, but when I do post it is something that is important enough that I took the time out of my other work activities to write it down and get it out there. Even if read it, it makes me feel great to express my feelings. And I have fallen into some work that lets me do what I love — to write and edit.
So, Penny, go write your book. The blog will always be here…..
Just my thoughts. good luck!!
Even if no one reads it, it makes me feel great to express my feelings.
Sorry for my error above
Hi Penelope,
I am working on an article about why I love the blogoshpere/online community and the time I spend in it. Besides my website and online business, I hold a full-time job, and raise two young children, so time is a factor. I look at everything I invest my energy in as creating…each moment I am creating something. The energy I create with is absorbed into those creations, so I think of all that delights me about what I am investing in.
Giulietta expressed it well: the blogosphere is a place for rich connections; if you visit sites that enrich your life in some way, or give you practical tips that help your book along, or give you personal support, that might allow you to feel as though the time you spend contributes to your dream..
I don’t think anything has to be an either/or..I think if we invest our energy into all that we love, our choices are this *and* this *and* this..and I use the affirmation: I have more than enough time to create all that I love..to keep me focused on abundance…
Joy,
What a wonderful reply – so full of wisdom and encouragement. Many thanks for your great advice.
Selecting between blog or not to blog I would definitely decide to blog. For me blogging was just a hobby first and an easy way to express my opinion. Afterwards, blogging has become an online business that has turned into additional sourse of income in my family budget.
Terje,
Thanks for your comment and advice. As you say, blogging can become an online business or in my case, a vehicle to promote my book.
Those are some cool blog stats — thanks for sharing. Wow, as happens as I read your posts, I can relate. I dove into blogging head first earlier this year, then ran into an overwhelming amount of work and put much of the blogging aside. I also have two books I’m working on with two separate individuals — one I only need to edit and the other I have to write from the person’s years of notes — and I still need to make a living through writing jobs. Although I love to blog and read other blogs, I honestly don’t have the time to do it as often as I’d like.
Honestly, Pennie, I think this is the time to make your book a priority. I believe there are some new corners you are about to turn in your personal life, love life and your professional life, some really important corners.
You are a treasure that’s been hidden for a time and I believe it’s now the season for you shine. You may have had some of your fervor stolen from you through some past experiences, but I believe you’re entering into a time of fruition of some things you’ve put on the back burner. You’re not who you used to be and you’re not yet who you will be, but who you are is someone who has lots of experience to share and many need to hear your story.
I can’t wait to read the final published copy of “Don’t Hang Up.” I hope to purchase the first copy of the first edition of it.
Sherry,
What great advice and thanks for the great compliments. I’m really glad that you shared your own blogging problems with me and also, along with several other of our mutual online blogging friends, feel that I should make my book my priority. To do this, I’m going to have to wean myself away from reading blogs and my online friends, which have become addictive. Also, I don’t want to completely give up on my blog as I think it’s good to have as an online reference for when my book comes out. I may just publish a few excerpts like I used to or even republish old ones for my new readers to see.
Some blog comments like yours above are worth keeping in a special file for when I feel at a crossroads or lack confidence to go ahead.
Mi queridisima Pennie>
Yo se y todos los que te conocemos tambien, que haz nacido con el talento suficiente como para crear personajes, situaciones sorprendentes, escribir y describir emociones, esa es tu vida! tu meta! y cada dia esta mas cerca..
Dices bien, los blogs son un medio mas de promoverte, dosificales su tiempo!
SALUDOS!
[...] I already asked this question in a blog post months before, “Out to Sea. To Blog or Not to Blog.” [...]
I think it was Sebastian Horsley who said that blogging is for people who can’t find a publisher. I do know that I have blogged for years, and am done. My current blog will be left up, more as an archive than anything else. But I’m through. I’ve decided to work on my music and also a book on the occult. I think that, for me, staring at a computer screen trying to come up with some clever words to give away for free is madness. I much rather be paid for my eccentricities.
But I do enjoy your blog. Having said that: write the book.