Blogging Challenge: Who Are You Actually Blogging For?

The feed question Deb posed the other day made me wonder – as a paid blogger, who am I most responsible to? Deb asked if bloggers should shorten their feeds to please readers. It seems like many people do think that whatever readers want readers should get. But what readers want is not always what benefits my client and myself.

In the world of blogging you have some choices about who to blog for – you may be blogging for one, two, or all three choices.

• Yourself
• Readers
• Clients

You may have a clear idea about why you blog. Back in the day before I ever knew about blogging for clients; I blogged for myself. I blogged because I loved to read other blogs and because I liked writing. I never put ads on blogs or pushed for traffic. I surfed blogs, left comments, and gathered readers organically, but it was honestly all about me and my words. I wanted to say stuff and I did. That’s why I first had a blog. At some point, I naturally transitioned into writing posts that not only I would like, but that I knew my group of readers would like as well.

Then along comes paid blogging. I landed one paid blogging gig, found it more suitable to my personality than magazine and copy writing, and I quit most other writing jobs, taking on mainly blog gigs. Now that I’m a paid blogger – who do I blog for exactly? Where does my responsibility start and stop?

As a paid blogger:

I’m blogging for myself, because I make money that pays my bills. Blogging directly benefits my life, my son’s care and keep, and our well being (i.e we get to eat). Also, I love my job, so I’m likely blogging for my own happiness as well.

I’m blogging for readers because I’m providing information, entertainment, news, what have you. For readers interested in my topics, I give them something they need, want, or enjoy.

I’m blogging for clients who have hired me to promote something, be it an idea or product. My clients want me to entertain and inform readers and appeal to advertisers. They also want me to get lots of page views.

Sometimes I’ve had clients directly order me to do something that I know darn well is not in my reader’s best interest. Like write seven posts a day, blog about some lame topic that no one will like, or they want me to write keyword heavy – to the point that a blog post looks all spammy.

Blogging is not the only profession that faces issues like this. It was the same when I wrote business copy, it was the same when I worked as a social worker, it’s the same for my friend who teaches high school. There’s always a circle – the boss vs. employee vs. person receiving the service.

As a social worker, I’d fight my boss aggressively if I thought a choice they wanted was not in the best interest of a youth. However, sometimes I’d lose. When you get right down to it, your boss tends to have the final say. In some cases I’ve left jobs when a boss decided to do something I’m dead set against, in other cases I’ve stuck it out. It depends on the severity of the decision my boss makes.

As a paid blogger, I believe that readers should come pretty high on the totem pole; without readers, you don’t have blogs. But if I continually make a scene and go against my client’s wants and needs, then I’d have to find a new line of work. With blogging, like with any job, you make choices. In my case, my choice is to try to balance what’s in everyone’s best interest – my clients, my readers, and my own. Pleasing everyone when it comes to blogs is not an easy task; as I think the comments on Deb’s post showed.

If you blog for a client, blog for pay, my question to you is: how do you find balance in paid blogging? How do you keep everyone happy, when sometimes what’s best for one person in the blog circle may not be what’s best for another?

So Not On Board With Shyftr

So, the blog post darling of the weekend is likely the whole Shyftr issue. In case you’ve missed it, here’s a little recap, and if you want to learn more background go visit the linked posts. I’m not rehashing it all here.

Shyftr stands for Share Your Feeds Together. They offer all your favorite feeds brought together in one place. Like Problogger? Fine, add that feed. Treehugger? I bet you can find them too. Basically, instead of using your feed service, Shyftr wants you to use them. Not only can you read full blog posts at the Shyftr site but comment as well. What this adds up to is that you never have to visit a blog to read the posts or comment – you can just do it at Shyftr.

Frankly I don’t see how this is legal but let’s see what others think…

On board: Louis Gray; actually this post seems more like a, “careful what you wish for” post or an adaptation than an actual on board, but he is on board.

Seems on board: Scobleizer

Not on board: Tony Hung

Not on board: Me

There are plenty of posts about this topic out there – these three above are linked somewhat so I posted them. Also the comments at each of the posts are interesting, and offer perspectives from both sides, which I like.

The comment issue:

An issue I see with this is comment moderation. Having my comments held elsewhere doesn’t allow me the chance to moderate comments which means my goal of keeping comments related to my work respectful is now out of the picture. From what it looks like, only Shyftr can mod comments, and since they didn’t write my post, and they can’t read my mind, how can they possible mod properly?

For example, let’s look at Tony Hung’s post above. His post at his blog has one set of comments. Now if you go to the Shyftr page with this same blog post, there is a whole other set of comments, one of which says, “Oh, and I”ll up you a “I think Tony Hung is an blow hard”, and say, see if you can moderate it.” Maybe the person is joking, maybe not. Say they’re not – that’s so not cool.

The big issue:

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The Warm & Fuzzy Side of Blogging for Others

The other day I posted what I think the negatives of blogging for others are. Today – the nicer side of blogging. All the positives about blogging for someone else.

• I get to do something I love every day – blog. I’d blog anyhow, but the fact that people actually give me money to blog amazes me. Most days I feel pretty lucky.

• What other job would allow me, a single mama, to work from home like this? I get to homeschool my son Cedar, and if I blog at night we can hang at the park all day if we want. I guess there are other work-at-home jobs, but none I’d have as much fun with.

• I can make a decent living. I made more when I wrote other mediums, but the perk of being happier with blogging outweighs that right now.

• On top of blogging paying my bills, it’s far more regular than when I’d wait six months for a magazine to pay me. It’s steadier and feels a little more secure, at least as secure as freelancing can feel.

• No advertising! I love blogging but I don’t love dealing with the advertising side of blogging, and at blogs other people own, I don’t have to.

• I don’t have to pay for hosting, themes, or invest time in setting a blog up. Once in a while, at a cool network, they’ll ask you to help choose colors, or names if a blog was your idea, but mostly I don’t deal with any of the blog set-up.

• Know what’s funny. Tonight one of my networks had some unexpected downtime due to tech issues. Ironically so did this blog. For this blog, I had to mess around, call tech support, deal with it. My network blogs – well, the network tech support was busy making it all better while I did absolutely nothing. Ah nice.

• Once you’re a little more well established it’s fairly easy to get new work, if you want it. You know people who know people. Other clients can view your work online, see that you’re established, and they want to hire you. It’s no longer a life of everyday queries. That to me, is a huge perk. I hated querying all the time.

• Personally blogging has allowed me to be more involved in my work. When I wrote in other areas, I always felt like I was handing off someone else’s needs and ideas. Sure I’ll post issues that a client or editor wants me to at some of my blogs, but the telling part, the how I feel about it part, that’s all my voice. My voice was never so loud in other forms of paid writing.

Then of course there are the social aspects.
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