The 11th P of Blogging: Perspective

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11423268.post-66508534378692534792008-04-11T18:21:00.000-05:002008-12-10T11:41:23.529-06:00The 11th P of Blogging: Perspective<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_81-2935-EUY/R__vP-EoHEI/AAAAAAAAAXU/uyhUe4GMY5k/s1600-h/blog_stress.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_81-2935-EUY/R__vP-EoHEI/AAAAAAAAAXU/uyhUe4GMY5k/s200/blog_stress.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188128353393581122" border="0" /></a> The <a href="http://webmarketcentral.blogspot.com/2008/04/other-6-ps-of-blogging.html">10Ps of blogging</a> may seem to be quite enough, but a recent article by Matt Richtel of the New Yorks Times entitled <a href="http://www.startribune.com/nation/17326264.html">Work fast, die young: The blogger lifestyle?</a> pointed out the need for an 11th "P" word—perspective. Why do you blog? Probably for many reasons, but most of the bloggers I most frequently interact with—people like Brian Carroll of the <a href="http://blog.startwithalead.com/">B2B Lead Generation Blog</a>, Elge Premeau at <a href="http://emarketingstrategist.blogspot.com/">My Travels on the Net</a>, Albert Maruggi at the <a href="http://www.providentpartners.net/blog/">Marketing Edge</a>, and Skip Lineberg of <a href="http://marketinggenius.blogspot.com/">Marketing Genius</a>—blog primarily as a PR activity to support a separate consulting business or marketing agency. There are also corporate bloggers, analysts, journalists, and people who just enjoy writing as a creative outlet. The vast majority of bloggers do so on a part-time basis, but a few people—a tiny fraction of a fraction of the 100 million-plus bloggers—do it for a living. Which brings us back to Richtel's article. He focused on two technology bloggers, <a href="http://www.news.com/8301-13953_3-9894930-80.html">Russell Shaw</a> and <a href="http://us.blognation.com/2007/12/03/marc-orchant-suffers-massive-coronary/">Marc Orchant</a>, who died suddenly and prematurely, and speculated that the "blogger lifestyle" may contribute to coronary problems. Both deaths are a tragic loss, and while Richtel accurately points out that two deaths out of 100 million bloggers hardly constitutes a trend, an endless regimen of 18-hour days, coffee and protein supplements is hardly conducive to a long and healthy life. Perspective comes in this paragraph from Richtel: "Bloggers at some of the bigger sites say most writers earn about $30,000 a year starting out, and some can make as much as $70,000. A tireless few bloggers reach six figures." Those top bloggers reach 100,000 page views per month. For perspective, if your blog gets more than a handful visitors per day, it's doing better than 99% of the blogs in existence. If you are getting 300 or more visits per month, your blog is in the top 1/2 of 1% of all blogs. 100,000 page views per month is the stratosphere. The bottom line is to keep blogging in perspective. It can be a healthy creative outlet, and a valuable PR tool. But as one's sole means of making a living, the odds of success seem too remote, the dangers of the lifestyle too real, and the likely rewards insufficient to make this the most appealing career path imaginable. ***** <div id="tags">technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Matt" rel="tag">Matt</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Richtel," rel="tag">Richtel,</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/New" rel="tag">New</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Yorks" rel="tag">Yorks</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Times," rel="tag">Times,</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Work" rel="tag">Work</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/fast," rel="tag">fast,</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/die" rel="tag">die</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/young:" rel="tag">young:</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The" rel="tag">The</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogger" rel="tag">blogger</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/lifestyle?," 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