Blogging basically came about as a way for people to add opinion and editorials to their websites without having to change the actual html. They wanted the easy access and publishing capabilities of an online forum without the hassles of maintaining one.
At first, blogging only caught on at established websites, or websites from established news and media sources. The idea, because it required no specialized knowledge, quickly spread worldwide. More and more people wanted a way to publish content to their websites easily. From that point, developers paid attention, especially ISPs (Internet Service Providers).
Now, no one needs any special knowledge or skills. You only have to pick an ISP which has a blog application installed already, sign up for any one of hundreds of blog servers, or upload a few lines of code to your existing website. Only the third option requires anything resembling special knowledge, and you only have to know how to upload files.
Fast forward to today. There are millions of blogs with thousands being added daily. Is there really a future in it?
The most successful blogs are those maintained by celebrities from the political void, and a few from technical gurus. It’s not because they have any specialized knowledge either.
They have access to something which most bloggers don’t. They have access to advertising. That is where the natural selection of blogging begins and ends.
In today’s world even bad press is good. Look at the blogs of noted people like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Almost everyone in America has heard of them, and most of what they’ve heard isn’t good. That doesn’t mean that you can start a blog trashing people and have it succeed. They had the opportunity to start in a different media outlet.
So how does one create a noteworthy blog? Well, in simple terms you have to sell yourself along with a well written blog. It’s the same thing authors the world over have to do in order to attract publishers and readers. You need to email everyone you know, have them email everyone they know, and even advertise on other websites. A good message alone isn’t enough.
It also doesn’t hurt to pass out business cards. Anything you can do to attract attention, even if it’s negative. Press releases to your local media outlets can also help. Again, you’re trying to sell yourself. Some might think it’s easy, but most would beg to differ.
So the question remains – is there a future in blogging? There certainly is, but you have to be willing to go that extra mile. Just writing an excellent blog entry isn’t going to cut it. That is unless your name is known in every household and you have a few awards under your belt.
If you’re going to become that next blog giant, you had better get going. As was stated above, you’re going to need either a lot of money or to put in a lot of hard work (usually both). Just keep your goal in mind, and don’t lose sight of it.
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