There is a lot of chatter out there regarding the future of blogs and blogging. A recent post on the WIRED blog suggests that if you haven’t started a blog you shouldn’t, and if you already have a blog you should pull the plug. Let’s ignore the irony that the author is a blogger for Valleywag, doing a guest post on another blog. Here’s why blogging will be bigger than ever in 2009:
You Need a Hub for Your Online Identity
While it may be possible to be a rockstar on a social network and not
have your own domain, every well known online personality I can think of does. Their domain is the central hub for their online existence,
it is where everything comes together. They own it, they control it, they change features and functionality as they wish.
So, if you are going to have your own domain, what are you going to put on it? How about a little exclusive content? Maybe some photos? Maybe some videos? How are you going to share that? A BLOG. Blogs are the fulcrum of an individuals person brand and online identity.
Domains and Hosting are Cheap and Easy
You can get a .com domain from GoDaddy for under $10. Use that domain
with a free blog hosting service like Tumblr and you have a personal
blog on your own domain for less than the cost of a night at the movies. You can set it all up in less than 15 minutes. The technical barrier to blogging is lower than ever.
140 Characters is @weak
I am a huge fan of Twitter, but it absolutely sucks for trying to convey complex messages. I could never share the content of this post with (oops…hit the 140 character limit).
Twitter Has Replaced Search
While Twitter isn’t a great platform for sharing complex messages it is an awesome promotional tool. My personal blog gets more traffic from Twitter than it does from Google, and most of the Google traffic is on old posts. You don’t need to be an SEO guru to get visitors to your blog, simply Tweet it out.
Content, Content Everywhere
It is easier than ever to find inspiration for a post. There are
conversations happening throughout the blogosphere and any one of them
can set off a spark (like WIRED did for this post). In addition to
inspiration, easy embeds allow people to grab photos, videos and text
to enhance their post. Blogging isn’t as hard as it used to be.
Bloggers Beget More Bloggers
We have seen an explosion of bloggers in the past few years, but
blogging is still in its infancy. As more people blog, more people are
talking about blogging, helping their friends get setup and growing the
community. Three years ago nobody in my family had a personal blog,
today my girlfriend, brother and sister all do (they are also on Twitter and Facebook). How many people have
you told about blogging?
You Can’t Monetize Free Platforms
Are you making money directly from Facebook, Twitter or Flickr? I am making a whopping zero dollars (twice what I made last year). That’s because these platforms are free. Any dollars being generated go directly to the owner of that property. It may be your post or picture driving all that traffic, but if the content is not on a site that you own your chances of making a dime on it are slim to none.
The Economy Sucks
It’s no secret that the economy has tightened up. People have lost their jobs, their savings and their way of life. They have a lot to talk about and too much free time. Blogging is a natural outlet for these people to express themselves and make a little extra money.
If you haven’t started a blog already what are you waiting for? 2009 is the year of the blogger.
