Thursday, September 16, 2010

To Blog for Me, or Blog for Free?

That is the question. Or rather my wonderings and whatnots are specifically wondering if I should look into blogging on a well-known blog to gain interest in my own and thereby: my writing. Currently I blog for me. Yes it's free, but it is on my own site. I own the content, can do whatever I want, whenever. If I blog for another it will be less for me and more for free (not taking into account the benefits down the road).

I hear of a couple that are looking for contributors, and they seem like they would be a good fit. I'd name names, but I'm not sure if that information is free to be shared. So for those of you that know better, feel free to name them for me in my comments.

But...

Is there a point to blogging for free on another's site? Are there those "benefits" down the road, that I hope for?

What do I want out of blogging anyway?

Foremost in my mind are thoughts of building an audience that knows me and finds interest in my future novels and art. Secondly, I think of all the experience I'll gain by working out my thoughts on "paper" and hearing from the masses and the more experienced--of which there are so many. Yikes!

It seems too simple to say, "Of course it will help build me as a brand," but then nothing is simple. Blogging time takes away from creative writing time. Spending more, would take away even...more. And who's to say someone will even click over from another blog to my own. I expect some will. But will the traffic increase be worthwhile?

There is money to consider, which would make the decision easier. But is there money in blogging for me? In the near future I don't see any direct money from it (yes, the ads are THAT successful). It is a vehicle for me to form thoughts, network, and to talk about my novels (eventually), oh yeah...art too--well, I will again...at some point. I swear. (In fact I have a specific project in mind that will bring that back to the fore, but my 3rd draft agony has been delaying that. Ok, not agony. Just delayed gratification...ewwww. Mind out of gutter. Now.)

What are your thoughts? Anyone do the same that saw a benefit and what was that benefit? Any detriments? How about condiments?

Ok, I'm done. Now your turn.

11 comments:

  1. I see blogging on other people's blogs as a way to gain audience, get your name out there, and give back to the blogging community, which in itself is largely supportive of one another. It's fine to want to blog for yourself, but if you ever tire of going it alone in the Blogosphere, you might consider guest blogging.

    And if you have a novel or other writing coming out, you can always do a virtual book tour, too.

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  2. Jeffrey first to the punch again! Thanks for your enthusiasm. If I had an award for your efforts you'd have it.

    Good point on becoming more a part of the blogosphere. That's certainly networking with the experts and learning from those of greater knowledge. I can't imagine ever being a super-prolific blogger, but I do enjoy it and have learned a lot and hope to continue.

    Regards,
    Clifton

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  3. To continue on my P.T. Barnum theme...

    One day a plump beggar came by for a handout. Instead, Barnum offered him a job at a dollar and a half a day. He handed the puzzled beggar five ordinary bricks. “Now,” said Barnum, “go and lay a brick on the sidewalk at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street; another close by the Museum; a third diagonally across the way… put down the fourth on the sidewalk in front of St. Paul’s Church, opposite; then, with the fifth brick in hand, take up a rapid march from one point to the other, making the circuit, exchanging your brick at every point, and say nothing to anyone. At the end of every hour by St. Paul’s clock show this ticket at the Museum door; enter, walking solemnly through every hall in the building; pass out, and resume your work.”

    The beggar moved off with his five bricks, and began his idiot’s play. Within half an hour, more than five hundred curious people were following him. In an hour, the crowd had doubled. When the brick-toting pied piper entered the Museum, dozens bought tickets to follow him. This continued throughout the day for several days, and Barnum’s business showed a satisfying increase.

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  4. I think it depends on the blog - there's some sites where it's good to get your name out there, but others, I think it really doesn't make sense. It depends on the blog's audience.

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  5. I agree, it's all about building your audience for your future book releases. Andrew stated it best...some blogs are good, and some not so much. The trouble is in figuring out which ones will give you the best bang for the buck (so to speak, since these are free blogs)...

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  6. Thanks for the comments guys.

    @Zardog - Amusing and clever. Now is there a way to do that for your website?

    @Andrew Liptak - Absolutely, and definitely something to consider. But then it's also about building relationships too. Right? Of course, time is valuable, so there has to be some consideration.

    @AstonWest - Time is money, and time is short. Why, oh why do I need to sleep. As nice as it can be it seems so wasteful. Makes me a little jealous of the insomniacs out there.

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  7. One day, I'll perfect a cloning technique and then be able to have someone writing all day long (while I'm at work or sleeping)...

    Until then...

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  8. Sure, it sounds good. But what kind of Synchronizing product will you use to make sure you and your clone stay on the same page? And what if there is a glitch and instead of uploading their info to your brain and vice versa it deletes something? Ack!

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  9. Oh crap. That's actually a kind of interesting story idea. Fine... freebie! Any takers?

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  10. Story idea already taken unfortunately - watch the Surrogate with Bruce Willis.

    Blogging for others is good as long as you're not spreading yourself thin. My rule? Treat it as a business so you have to be deliberate about your moves. Audience means traffic so make sure you analyze your incoming/outgoing traffic here. Most folks don't leave comments but they're out there watching you. Seriously I have to cut myself short here, I can talk for hours on the subject. Just my .02 though.

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  11. Ok, good to know. I guess I need to watch that movie.

    Thanks for the notes Van Saint. I appreciate your input. If you look to my current blog you'll see that I decided to give it a shot and I'm going to be doing some limited blogging for SFSignal.com. We'll see how it goes. To go further would be spreading myself too thin, so at the moment I'll probably stop there. We'll see though.

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Thanks for reading, now tell me what you think.