The Blog, The Blogger, And The Passion
“Blog about your passion.” I am sure you have heard of it. I heard of this statement many times before when I first started out and the blogs that I read then were mostly not involved in the monetization wave. And so I started with some “Thoughts” blog, and wrote just about anything that comes to mind. The first comment I received made my eyes twinkle and my heartbeat faster. My fingers were aching to type more.
What was it that I was passionate about? Am I blogging about my passion? Plenty of us probably don’t know about niche blogging when we started out, so our early blogs were of the general type. Or shall we say, a little of everything.
The Passion for Writing
The passion for writing made me survive four years of blogging. It made us write about our breakfast, our rants, our feelings towards anything under the sun. Blogging has become an outlet to keep one sane, at least temporarily. It also sparked our imagination and made it easy for us to compose poems, write short fiction, essays, reviews and even paid posts. Even if some grammar police took a jab at our esteem, we push on. Practice makes perfect, isn’t it?
The passion for writing oftentimes influence our itching fingers even when we drink coffee or face the computer screen at work. You open a document file even if you only need spreadsheets at work. You even scribble a possible blog post on a piece of table napkin. Blogging is God’s gift to aspiring writers wanting to have their works published, or be seen by a larger audience. Gone are the secret journal days. Hurray for the new media! By the way, I have a short story featured at Jena Isle’s site. Check out: Missing the Bus
But when the passion for writing wanes, what will happen to the blog? Like a book left to the dust, it will return to the dust.
The Passion for Travel
I have friends who opened travel blogs because of their passion for travel. It is nice to share traveling tips, and maybe earn freebies in exchange for travel writeups. I have a travel category in this site. You might want to check Bantayan and Camotes Islands. I tell you that they are paradise waiting for you.
The Passion for Making Money
They might say that your writings are sub par, but you have the passion to make money online. So whether by hook or by crook, legit or scrap, as long as it makes money, it is alright for you. It is alright for me too as long as you don’t copy my post verbatim.
As I learned from the probloggers, what they do offline, they just bring online. There is money in blogging alright, but there is money outside of blogging too. They don’t stop at making blog posts and chasing PPC money. They sell ebooks, handle internet marketing seminars, join money-making endeavours here and there.
What will happen to the blog when there is no more money in blogging? Like when google ban your site that relies heavily on adsense and search engine traffic? Or when the recession will take its toll on the advertisers? Yikes, I wish that will never happen.
The Passion for Links, Stats, Ranks and Traffic
You may not be into money-making but you love to see your site rise from the ranks. Crazy about web traffic, links, stats and ranks! You want to reach the stats of this or that blogger and you want the no.1 ranking at SERP for the keyword which is just your own name. You read trends and the latest buzz on the net. You check your alexa rank every day or two.
You want your comments to reach a 100 per post, half of that are yours. It doesn’t matter anyway. The numbers are way greater than the rest of the bloggers out there. You ask, smile, seduce, beg, or even harass other bloggers for ex-links. Of the 100, 50% responded. It isn’t a bad percentage.
The Passion to Socialize
The site you own is like a bulletin board or shall we say, a coffee shop. People meet and greet each other even if you only serve the same menu for two weeks. You bloghop, leave comments, and invite people to visit your cute site. You have hundreds of online friends, and ten thousand twitter followers. But sadly, you don’t mention any of your offline friends.
So what if someone starts flaming your site, or attack you personally? Wow! I hate to think about it.
The Passion to Rant
Is there such a passion to rant? Honestly, I don’t want to read rants, even if the reasons are valid. For me it is just a matter of perspectives. But some are really passionate about blogging their rants. It could be intellectually juicy dealing with politics and the economy. Or it could be as silly as ranting about how bad your maid cooked your scrambled eggs.
The Passion for Sports
My passion for sports led me to open a sports blog. I blog about football even if my friends (online and offline) don’t know anything about it. I will not care if they visit my site or not. I am a frustrated sports analyst so just let me be so in my blog. (But I secretly wish you visit me there too).
Just Keep on Blogging
“Just keep on blogging” and “Blog on the things you are passionate about” are the most common advice I read from bloggers. The one thing that will keep you blogging is passion. And you can easily keep up with your blogging schedule if you write about something you are passionate of. But is passion enough? Like fire, it needs fuel to keep the flame burning. And if that passion wanes, you will need money, recognition, time and of course, the support and encouragement of fellow bloggers.
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Ceblogger is a CPA trapped in his cubicle while his mind wanders outside watching the world, and exploring possibilities his mind conceived.
June 18th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
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June 18th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
it’s like almost all of the above are the passion contained in my blog. been thinking about niche blogging but maintaining one blog is too much for a working mom.
June 19th, 2009 at 1:18 am
i think i would go after the passion to socialize and write. i am not making any money on my blog, so i just write and write on my blog, and to hell with those blogging police!
and making friends with people behind those blogs is simply an amazing experience.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:00 am
bing, some niche blogs require only 2-5 posts a month. but it would be the optimization that requires plenty of work, especially if you are in a profitable niche.
but you’re site is fine bing. i’ve seen it even before your paid post days.
elmot, google is the ultimate police. some peers may be merely acting. haha.
“and making friends with people behind those blogs is simply an amazing experience”
i was expecting you at iblog5.
June 20th, 2009 at 2:14 am
i have the passion to say stupid things. does that count? ugh silly me.
love,
nobe
http://www.deariago.com
http://www.iamnobe.wordpress.com
June 20th, 2009 at 3:40 am
hey nobe, it’s nice of you to drop by again! who says you have the passion to say stupid things? your shorts posts are brilliantly crafted, and thought-provoking as well. And with perfectly blended images, your readers will just have to nod and affirm, “so true, so true!”
June 20th, 2009 at 8:38 am
This is very well written, Novz. I would have to research to post something like this. lol. I do agree with the points you’ve raised: one must blog about his passion, because if he doesn’t , then his interest will wane and eventually fizzles out.
I have created a link to this article from my sidebar. It deserves to be read. Thanks also for the linkylove.
All the best.
June 20th, 2009 at 8:40 am
That should read : “…and WILL EVENTUALLY FIZZLE OUT” . The keypads you know…lol.
June 20th, 2009 at 8:41 am
“writing about our breakfast…” lol
the stuff that personal blogs are made off, before the wave of monetization came in
in fact, until now, niched blogs post those kind of stuff – rants and all, in their blogs
and for a multiple blogs-blogger like me, I sometimes get confused which one to post where lol
June 20th, 2009 at 8:56 am
jena, this is written from my own experience and observation. at times, we struggle and couldn’t write anything for many days. good thing i have other sites wherein i write about other topics which I am also passionate about.
June 20th, 2009 at 9:01 am
roy, now we have twitter to write about our breakfast. lol! some niched blogs have an off-topic/personal post once in a while. i.e. once in every ten post. it will also show their human side. and i think it’s good.
i think i’ve seen four or five of your sites. i’ll check out the others.
June 20th, 2009 at 11:56 am
so have you decided what to do with this site? what theme/niche will you use for this blog? ^^
I’ll be in manila on the 26th. pero short trip lang.
I’ll go back july 3rd for the philippine open.
June 20th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
step @personal finance, ems will be here on the 11th. will you still be in manila on that day?
June 20th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
for me, I blog for my passion in photography and digital art..
btw, nice post..
June 21st, 2009 at 8:42 am
You’re absolutely correct about passion:
1. If you write for the money: what if you don’t earn enough to even pay for the upkeep of the blog? You’d stop blogging?
2. If you write for web search traffic: what if you really can’t understand SEO and other tricks of the trade even if these hit you in the face? You’d go crying yourself to sleep?
3. If you write to fill your personal void in you: what if it’s not a void but a black hole? Saan ka pupulutin next?
4. If you write to make friends: What if you’re a scoundrel and can’t find online buddies even if you paid them? Poor you.
If you’ve the passion you don’t need external influences or validation. It’s good when they come – that’s a bonus. It’s passion that will keep you going.
What a passionate post – you’ve lit up the fire in my belly with this one, Novz. “,)
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:33 pm
hi kelvin! i alreay linked you. nice cam you have there!
jan, passion wanes. and i oftentimes find myself struggling.
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:32 am
I blog for food and friendship
puede na ba yun?
This is a very nice post. salamat for reminding us…
June 24th, 2009 at 12:24 am
dinah, that’s good! i love to blog about food too. or maybe promote my pachamba recipes. haha.
June 28th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
This is true. Me, I’m blogging to practice writing and understand things I read. I am currently reading about monetizing blogs so that I can hopefully use it. I am also trying to read about SEO. My reason for blogging is writing but it is also not bad if it can feed me. Even if for snacks only at first.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
YEAH, YOU CANT WRITE AN EFFECTIVE ARTICLE WITHOUT PASSION I THINK…
THAT’S THE FIRST THING WHY WE BECAME BLOGGERS I THINK, BUT SUCCESSFUL BLOGGERS MADE THEIR PASSION ON RIGHT DIRECTIVES.
THANKS FOR THIS.
-Nhoel of http://www.keywordspeak.com
July 11th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
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September 6th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
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