eXtra For Every Publisher

Copyblogger is an expert when it comes to using the power of making list posts. He has done wonders with them, and so have many other bloggers, all thanks to the fact that none of us have any attention span.

Simply put, lists work because they conform to the idea of “Left-Brain Marketing”. Everyone has two sides of the brain, and each part controls a specific way of thinking. The left brain is analytical, and prefers a step-by-step approach (i.e. lists) while the right brain prefers to see the big picture first and then deal with the details later.

Television commercials take the right brain approach with highly-produced images and expensive repetition. On the other hand, the left brain list format has been a successful approach for many decades with direct marketers, magazine publishers, late-night comedians and more recently with Internet content producers and social media marketers.

Many social media users want to know exactly what they’re in for, and the list format caters specifically to that need. It lets them know up front in the headline what to expect and what the time commitment will be.

If you want to gain some attention to your blog, set up a few list posts about pretty much anything, and you will most likely see some decent return. I, for one, hate the longer 101 items lists, but give me a dozen points on being more productive, and I will probably read it.

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There are many people that think being a problogger is great, and for the most part it is, but I wanted to cover some of the negative side of being a problogger, and a few things that most people don’t think about.

Working From Home

Most people wouldn’t expect working from home to be an item on the con’s list, but it is. There are a lot more distractions at home from telemarketers, family and friends, and objects you own. I have found a days wasted in front of the television, or on the phone, when I should have been getting work done instead.

Sometimes you just think to yourself, maybe a round or two on the Xbox will allow me to unwind so I can refocus, and the next thing you know, it is late in the evening and you haven’t done any work at all.

Balancing Work and Life

Balancing work and life ties in with working from home as in both, you will need to separate yourself from the world around you, and manage your time. I am pretty bad at this. I either give work all my time, or my home life all my time.

Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t be better off working twelve hours a day for four days a week, and dealing with the rest of what constitutes my life during the three days off. But either way, it can be horrible to try to find the energy and focus to properly balance work and life.

Not being able to do this has caused burnout and created rifts in my relationships on numerous occasions.

Computer Time

When working as a problogger, you will spend an inordinate amount of time on a computer. So much so that you will have to become an expert at using one. It will become part of your ever day routine, and take over your life. I now have three computers at home, and because I am a geek, they all have different operating systems. I suggest that no one else ever go to such extremes, but if you want to be a problogger, you will have to get used to using computers all the time.

Oh, and you computer(s) will stop working at the worst time, so you best get good at repairing them or know someone that can.

Personality Requirements

There is something about problogging that requires a strange personality. One that can deal with being alone for long periods of time, and yet that same person also has to be able to network, and be interesting to be around. This type of personality is rare, and also a bit odd, and so that is why it is in the con’s column of being a problogger.

Energy Usage

One of the things that I have noticed about this job is the small amount of energy that the jobs uses. Sure reading and writing all day can be tiring, but my belly says that I am getting fatter and more physically lazy. Now, things that were difficult before, like roller blading for a couple hours, seem impossible after only an hour. It is like your body gets used to only needing a tiny bit of energy. Your appetite slowly changes, and you begin to gain weight. Think fatblogging is only a fad? I think it’s only going to get worse.

Between the high amount of focus and concentration, and the near zero amount physical activity, blogging can really wear you down.

Unstable Industry

You have to remember that pretty much anything online is pretty unstable. As an international problogger, I have to deal with the currency exchange, but other than that, I face the same instabilities as other probloggers. Some of the things you might face include: monetization strategies change, search engine optimization can shift about, and niches that are worth thousands of dollars one day, can have so much new competition introduced that they are only worth pennies the next. Doesn’t that seem like fun? It sometimes feels like you spend almost as much time planning ahead as working on your current projects.

Conclusion

These are just some of the negatives that come with working in the blogging industry, but after all that, I am still glad that I do what I do. This has been the most enjoyable job I have ever had, and I really hope that it never ends. Just keep all this in mind when you are looking at going the problogger route, and if any of these are a deal breaker, then walk away, and try something else.

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Over on b5media’s Business and Blogging site, there is a post up entitled, Blogging is a Transferable Skill, where Des Walsh says that putting Blogging on your resume, might help you get hired.

And I quote:

as any half-way committed blogger knows, there is a lot of knowledge and skill in this field that you can only acquire by doing it.

So, for example, an eighteen year old who may not have a lot of developed skill in financial management may be a mad keen blogger/MySpacer : the knowledge and skill they have acquired in that private activity might be very timely and potentially very valuable, say for a financial services business which is about to set up a corporate blog and needs someone to make it all work.

If I were the employer, I might well decide that the blogging candidate’s skills in this area outweighed a lack of experience in other skill areas. That candidate might well get the job over someone with more financial skills but who doesn’t blog or have any interest in blogging.

A very interesting idea, and something I hadn’t really considered. It makes complete sense though, especially as companies get more familiar with blogs and what kind of effects they can have on a business. I was almost hired at one point, by a web development company, to help work on things like blogs for corporations that don’t really understand its value. One of the reasons they sought me out was because I was a blogger, and I knew enough PHP to get me by.

I didn’t join their company, but they later hired a stronger coder, and weaker blogger who fit the position nicely. The point is though, that they wanted a blogger. Someone that understood Technorati, the blogosphere, and the power of blogging, and could convey that to their clients.

So add it to your resume, and be proud of your skills as a blogger. There might be many blogs out there in the world, but there are very few true dedicated bloggers.

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It seems so simple, so innocuous, but really instant messaging is the evil sinkhole of productivity. I have a few different programs, to manage the different lists of people I talk to, as everyone seems to have a different preference. Even my work has its own Jabber server and network, adding one more to the pile.

The corporate instant messaging platform was so we could turn off the rest, and be able to focus on work, but the reality is that all instant messaging needs to be turned off to really get a good amount of work done. Any interruption to your focus, or what I call my “groove”, will distract you from your goals, stop you from getting things done, and cost you time and energy that could have been put into work tasks.

Writing conversations, even just in short form instant messaging takes much more concentration than talking on the phone to someone, as it uses both your sense of sight and touch, where talking via an audio medium, through Skype or the phone, only uses your hearing.

The biggest productivity tip I can give you is to turn off your instant messaging programs during your blogging time. Schedule when you will be available to be accessed through such means, and let people know they can e-mail you, or if it is an emergency or very high priority, they can take the time to call you. I know calling can be a distraction as well, so make sure they realize that it is only in extreme situations that calling would be acceptable.

Instant messaging tools are productivity killers, and in this highly competitive world, the last thing you want is to be unproductive.

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I have been working as a problogger for two years now, and I wanted to create a record for myself and others on my progression to this point in my career. I also have to say that my time line is not the norm and I know of people that have become a problogger faster, or way slower than myself.

Early 2002 - I start to get into web publishing. Not really blogging yet, but the best I can do with my limited understanding of the web.

January 2003 - I create a Blogger account and use it to publish my life on my personal site. Only my friends read it. I can now manipulate the web better now, but I am still a horrible coder, and an even worse designer.

September 2003 - I get off Blogger and start using a PHP script called Elite News (dead?). It works, so I try to focus on getting better at design. I haven’t yet even heard of blogging for money, and I am actually a little annoyed at sites with advertising.

December 2004 - I am now using WordPress for all the blogs I write on. Thanks to Michael of Binary Bonsai, I have inspiration to try to make my site look better, but of course, my design skill is horrible. I have also found out that I love reading blogs, and begin to subscribe to just about everything I can find.

Early 2005 - I find Problogger.net and I am hooked. People make money from their blogs? I have only been using mine to complain about my life. Who knew? I am studying to be a Computer Network Administrator and I am totally devoted to that career goal, but I am worried there won’t be any jobs when I am done school.

May 2005 - Darren Rowse decides he is going on vacation and would love to have people write on his blogs. I am lucky enough to get one of those positions. My blog at the time even gets a link from Problogger.net. It is mixed in with a list of twenty-four people, but the traffic it brings is still substantial.

June 2005 - Wrote articles for Darren on his laptop blog, and watched the traffic increase during the summer months. Pretty much unheard of when it comes to blogs. Traffic usually declines during the summer months, or at best stays stable.

July 2005 - Interviewed Jacob Gower about his business, and the sites he recently acquired. It didn’t really get much traffic to my site, but it interested him in me, and my writing.

July 2005 - I get a job doing a bunch of things online. It has horrible pay, long hours, and posting many times a day. It is rough, but I love it.

September 2005 - Jacob offers me a full time problogger for Bloggy Network. I write on a numerous amount of sites, including his headline sites. This quickly spins me into a state of constant burn out, but I realize that this is the career that I was made for.

November 2005 - Change roles a bit because Jacob can tell I am swamped. With all the work I had been doing, quality had really suffered. My job shifts away from doing massive numbers of posts, to doing bigger articles, research, and continuing to manage multiple sites. By changing things up, I enjoyed my job more, and was also able to have a better work and life balance.

All of 2006 - Not much changes, Bloggy Network continues to grow, and I am given more responsibilities. I work on coding WordPress themes for the company and its clients, as well as taking over almost all WordPress related responsibilities.

April 2007 - Promoted to Director of Communications at Bloggy Network LLC. My job changes again. I am working more on the back end of things, including setting up our blogs to use subversion repositories.

June 2007 - Put in charge of a sub-network within Bloggy Network called IsMyHome. I never realized how much work it takes to run a blog network.

Other Interesting Facts

I have been given a Digital Camera, Xbox 360, and a bunch of other things from my job. These perks have been absolutely great, and I wouldn’t have these things otherwise. Not all networks give them, but when they do, it is an amazing feeling. Though over the last while, my pay has gone up, and the perks have gone away, I am still very grateful for all the cool gadgets and whatnot that I received.

I never planned on being a problogger. It fell into my lap thanks to working on increasing my profile through interviewing big name people, and reporting on changes in ownership of popular websites. Taking on the guest blogging position was also one of the biggest career boosts I could have gotten.

As Director of Communications for Bloggy Network, I get to do very little blogging anymore. This has decreased my profile online, since I am no longer in the “public eye”. I am trying to find ways to compensate for this through networking and constant communication, but it is difficult.

Most of the staff at Bloggy Network were not into blogging for even half as long as I was before getting paid for their work. Michael, one of the people I am most happy about us hiring, was only blogging for a few months before transitioning into a full time problogger for Bloggy Network.

Final Notes

Blogging can be the greatest career, but you really need to be patient with it. Too many people are trying to rush for the quick buck, but passion, attention, patience and networking can get you a problogging job, if you want it bad enough.

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