So, You Want to Blog?
by Ronnie Citron-Fink

In case you've been living under a rock, blogging is everywhere. From the New York Times blog to the most popular blog of the moment, Gizmodo—a gadget blog—blogging has become a new literary form. Blogging requires writers to express themselves in a way that is both journalistic and interactive with readers.

I, myself am a blogger. Last year this time I had only read a handful of blogs and had no idea how this genre of writing worked or why. After a little less than a year, I am an established blogger with a large readership following and have offers for additional blogging, guest posts and some fun perks (press passes to trade shows, books and movies to review and even dinners).

Let's backtrack and see how this fast-paced genre of writing that was unheard of five years ago become mainstream and for some, the authority of the written word.

Here's my stab at what a blog is. First of all, the word blogging comes from the term weblog. A blog is like a diary or journal that consists of articles or posts. It can be business related, political, collaborative, newsworthy or just a place to record private thoughts in a public way. Blogs tend to have a personal approach to the topic or or area of interest. Often blogs are educational in tone and content. Most blogs are updated regularly with new posts. Many times, blogs link you to other similar sites. There is an art to blogging that I get into below.

Where did blogs come from? Around 1997, the term blog was shortened from weblog by the creative director of Epinions.com, Peter Merholz. When blogs were in their infancy many bloggers knew each other through their internet connections and were swapping links among themselves to drive people to their sites (this is called the blogger eco-system). In the next few years, blogs became a pastime for many. Businesses were created around blogs, with web developers hand-coding the websites to fit the more interactive model of a blog. The personal tone of blogs differentiates them from more general websites; many websites have blogs incorporated within the site.

By the year 2000, people were making as many as 300–350 new blogs a day. Today there are many programs for creating blogs; two popular ones are Blogger and Wordpress. According to Technorati.com earlier this year, "There are over 112 million blogs every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second." That's a lot of content information floating out around there in cyberspace. While many blogs have the distinct mission of feeding their business by making money (mostly through advertising and buy/sell product marketing), many blogs never grab more than a few readers.

Why read a blog? Generally, most folks read blogs targeted to them because of a common interest, person or product. Blogs filter the web for content and point visitors in new directions, where they can discover new, related websites and products. Many blogs have specialized targeted e-newsletters. These newsletters tend to be short and snappy, and the reader views abbreviated articles or small "bites" of information selected just for them. Usually the readers share a common thread and the blogger provides a shared voice. For instance, I love creating Do-It-Yourself home design and read the blog, Design Sponge daily to keep up with projects, trends and new products on the subject.

Another reason to read blogs is to get acquainted with a new and different news media and entertainment outlet. Evaluate the credibility of a blog the way you would a TV newscast. Have you ever wanted to talk back to the TV? With a blog you can. Most blog posts have a comments area where the blogger can interact with readers.

Although many blogs are educational and provide the reader with informational content that implies that the reader can comment by answering a question or comment, some are not interactive. A certain amount of blogging is self-serving. No doubt many of those blogs are only read by the author's friends and family.

Blogs can also serve as a "platform" to promote or educate about a specific agenda. Interestingly, there's a bit of controversy among bloggers about blogging fundamentals. First and foremost, a blog has to be solidly written. I can't tell you how many posts come across my screen with misspelled words or blatant grammatical errors. When this happens often, I delete the blog. It loses credibility for me, and no doubt others. Maybe it's the English teacher in me, but there's no excuse for bad writing and poorly researched content when there are lots of superb writers in the blogosphere. Secondly, the "platform" has to be authentic. However short or long the posts, the content needs to be inspired, fresh and written in a voice that portrays the unique and accurate point of view of the expert (blogger).

There seems to be an unofficial 350 word limit among bloggers for most posts. This is based on the assumption that most viewers have very short attention spans. That may be true, but "blog for pay" writers are often given word counts to adhere by. In my case, I work for a website as a "blog for pay" blogger. Sounds kind of illicit, but it can be lucrative for writers. The posts (articles) that I write are approximately 500 words. I have a lot of word count leeway as my articles can give or take 200 words.

Blogging for a website is similar to writing for a magazine with an editor, producer (for the pictures and web formatting) and very specific steps for submissions.This may include how the post gets delivered to the website. For instance, the website I work for is based in California and I post my articles into the online editing tool, Wordpress. Not being the most technological blogger in the blogosphere, I thought this would be my stumbling block. I approach the directions to Wordpress much like I would a complicated knitting pattern. Don't read ahead, just surrender and the steps take over. Once you push "edit," your written pearl is off and you can start writing the next post.

Bloggers who want to get paid to blog by hosting their own websites need to think of blogging as a business tool. Bloggers with their own websites get paid mainly by finding ads and by driving traffic (readers) to their sites. There are three well-known money-generating programs: Google AdSense, Amazon Associates, and Yahoo Publisher Networks. Blogger extraordinaire Arianna Huffington says there are other ways to make money as a blogger, by thinking like a publicist.

I've found that to become successful any blog must have two basic components: a niche and a knack. Blogging is not rocket science. It is like having a casual conversation in a written form with expert advice and a sprinkling of provocative ideas. Readers pick right up when the blogger is contemplating his navel, and those blogs go down the tubes very fast.

The niche is the area the author's an expert in the theme or subject of the blog. Any blogger must be passionate about her or his chosen subject. Passionate enough to be able to generate many ideas per day. Right now I write a blog called EcoNesting, about green or eco-friendly home design. I also write a Do It Yourself (DIY) blog called EcoNesting DIY along the same vein. This is something I know a lot about. I've studied home design, educated myself on how to do various interior home design projects and written articles in publications (this one and others). I also read everything I can get my hands on about it. So much so, that in a relatively short time I have become an online expert on the subject.

Having a teaching background helps me get my point across. Within my niche, I present ideas, educate my reader about the subject and field comments about my posts. Mostly, my readers share my love for "clean, green home design with a modern twist" and are very appreciative of the information I present. Sometimes I encounter someone who disagrees, for example, about what the best "green" flooring might be (there are many shades of green out there) or why it might be advantageous to repurpose furniture. I have to be on my toes because if there's any reason for someone to find fault, they will. Mostly, the comments I receive thank me for the information or tell me about their green renovation stories or praise my findings. After awhile I start to see the same people posting comments: the blog becomes a community of sorts.

Who knew my writing style would fit the blog model? For me the knack is I like to talk (no surprise to those who know me), and writing in a chatty style is a friendly place to start. Having a sense of humor helps too. More important is having something to say that others relate to. Once you understand the nuts and bolts of blogging, it can be a lot of fun.

So, what do you think, are you ready to crawl out from under that rock and try your hand at writing or reading in the blogosphere? Comments anyone?

Hudson Valley Blogs

Historic Hudson Valley blog

Mid-Hudson Valley theatre blog

Robinson Greig's Photography blog

A blog for HV blogs

Another blog of HV blogs

Poughkeepsie Journal blog

Websites Mentioned in this Article

New York Times blog

DesignSponge

EcoNesting

Gizmodo

Huffington Post

Blogspot

WordPress