Blogging has become a hype and not only can yo make a hobby out of it, it can also be your source of livelihood. Just last year, GMA have shown in the Mel and Joey program featuring those bloggers who were earning 5 to 6 figure income (in pesos) but the show have given people presumption that its easy to blog and Joey de Leon have mention that it is a good “Racket” or a sideline. But its far from the truth. Its easy if you already became famous after many years of hard work plus the money and time you spent. ( I have a post about it earlier, you can see it here )
So You Wanna Start Blogging?
The first thing that will come to your mind, assuming you already know the technical know-how of blogging like setting up a domain name, installing WordPress (a blogging software), installing and modifying themes or blog layout and some SEO techniques. Or if you don’t want to own your domain name and you are totally broke, you can sign up on blogger.com or multiply.com which will give you a free hosting and a bunch of themes to choose from.
So again, after setting up your blog, the first thing will come in your mind is “what will I blog about?”. But really what you should be asking is “Will I focus on myself (as the author) or around the blog itself?”. This question sounds silly and looks never came on the majority of people who wants to start blogging. I can honestly say that I’m also tempted by those bloggers who personalized their blogs that looks like their own diary. It is also tempting because some personal blogs looks pleasing, captivating and friendly because of the style or maybe the pleasing personality of the blogger.
It might work to some, specially celebrities but how about ordinary people like us who does not have a gift of attracting readers and doesn’t really have a pleasing personality? (Let’s face it, not all people have pleasing personalities. That is why when you look at the Job section of some newspaper classified ads, some companies require an applicant to have a “Pleasing Personality”) I’m sure if I will put my face on the homepage of this blog and tell the world about myself and yakity yak about all the things that happened to myself, again I’m sure readers will say “Who Is This Guy Anyway?” or “The Nerve of This Guy!”.
If you are observant, very few popular blogs have the author names on the title or domain name. Most have a certain kind of niche. For example, Yugatech (technology news), Starmometer (celebrity news) and Problogger (blogging tips). I have better explanation why it is tough to make a personal blog or site popular which I got from Problogger:
Why Personal Branded Blogs Are A Tough Sell?
So why do I think that it is harder to make a personal branded blog popular (excluded the case where you already have a celebrity status on a certain niche)?
For two main reasons. First of all because when people visit a personal branded blog, they will inevitably face both the content and your person, and both of those factors will need to convince the visitor if he is to return a second time.
In other words, he will need to like both the content AND the person. The inevitable reaction some people will have is the following: “Hmm, who is this guy anyway?”
The second reason is connected with how we are used to consume our information. Mainstream media used to be the source of all credible and reliable content until some time ago, and those sites were never branded around their authors.
Having a blog that mimics that style, therefore, can lend you credibility.
The fact is, the internet didn’t change despite of new technologies coming. From the moment I started surfing many years back, still what is really important is not who you are, or what you can do. What is important is what your readers will get for visiting your blog (e.g. tips, trick, gossip). Always think that your blog visitors or readers only have this question in their mind: “”What’s in it for me?”
Posted by Manuel
Manuel Montala was an online entrepreneur who enjoys blogging about entrepreneurship and gathering information for his blog to help budding entrepreneurs. You can also reach him on twitter: http://twitter.com/mmontala
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Please give me contact no. on the featured pharmacy which sells generic drugs.
many thanks
my contact no. 09175510378
Featured on what?
Can u please give me some tips on how to develop my blog?
thanks and more power ..
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