What do you miss from your pre-pro-blogging days?

I’ve only been blogging for money for about two years now give or take. Before that, I still blogged, I just blogged for me alone, and for no pay. I still wrote, I just did so in other writing venues.

Since I started blogging for pay, I’ve noticed that I miss a couple of things from before; when I only blogged for fun.

What I miss…

I miss reading blogs: I know, that sounds kind of funny; a blogger who doesn’t read blogs. I DO read some blogs, but not as many as before, and also, I sometimes feel like I’m more searching for topics or leads or networking than actually reading for fun. Also, frankly, after posting 30-40 + posts I hardly feel like reading blogs in my spare time. I’m online enough looking at blogs.

I miss writing what I want: This is two sided because by now, I’ve been blogging long enough that I do get to blog for money at blogs I like (I’m lucky). I also almost always get to choose what topics to blog about at said blogs. Still, before I blogged for pay, I never gave ANY thought to what I blogged about. I’d just blog what I was thinking. Now I spend a fair amount of time thinking about things like, “I wonder if my readers will enjoy this” or, “If I blog this theme, I might get more traffic” or I’ll run contests. I often put a lot of thought into posts before I write, which I never used to feel compelled to do.

Overall, I adore blogging. However, there are some differences between blogging for me, for free, vs. blogging for clients. That’s expected, because every single job comes with differences and ups and downs, but even knowing this is expected I do sometimes still miss the sheer fun of carefree, no pay, no traffic worries blogging. Don’t get me wrong, blogging for pay is a hoot at times, and trust me, I feel lucky that I not only get to blog, but that people give me money to do so. But once in a while I miss the old days.

Maybe I’ll take a day off here soon and do nothing but read all my old blog haunts.

If you used to blog for you, and now you blog for pay is there anything you miss from the old days?

Blogging (For Others) For Free

Blogging has evolved from being a cool little hobby that might make you a little bit of money to a mega business. Some bloggers report to making six figures or more a year from their own blogs. Other bloggers earn the equivalent of a regular, family-supporting salary as a blogger for hire. Which, of course, is where we fit in.

I came across this post at Gawker called “Volunteer Bloggers, Stop Subsidizing the Entire Internet“, and saved it to talk about here because it speaks to me. It reminds me of when I first started writing online in 2000. When I began looking for places to find freelance writing work I was appalled at how many websites expected writers to work for the glory and exposure. Indeed, writing is the only profession I know of where a potential client or employer expects to get something for nothing. Now I see the same thing happening for bloggers.

Should You Blog for Free?

I’m not talking about guest posts or blogging contests, exchanging guest posts is part of the job and in most cases it’s a fair trade. I’m talking about stocking someone else blog or website with content on a regular basis and receiving nothing in return except for a byline. Meanwhile, as in the case with the AOL bloggers and the Huffington Post, the owners are earning money from advertising.

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think many employers or webmasters are asking their web hosts to donate free server space. Nor do I believe their webmasters and sales teams are working in exchange for a byline. So why then, is the writer or blogger always the one to get the shaft?

Online is forever

Unlike a magazine or newspaper that is put out to be recycled, your words are online forever. That means there’s a chance folks will be reading your content every single day. In other words, it’s you and your labor who ensured the success of a particular website or blog. If you didn’t take the time to write a post that keeps them coming, if you didn’t take the time to research keywords or subject matter, mingle with the community and form just the right combination of words, there wouldn’t be any reason for anyone to visit said blog. Why then is the blogger not the one to get paid?

What’s in it for you?

Before giving away your work, find out what’s in it for you. Will you really, truly be getting good exposure or is your stint volunteer blogging for Joes Crappy Blog No One Will Read really going to bring you the glory its owner promised?

You deserve to be paid for your hard work. If you’re going to be building up someone else’s blog for free, you may as well create your own blog and collect your own advertising. Isn’t that better than letting someone else get rich from your labor?