Bloggers talk all the time about owning their brands. Creating a profile for your business (blog) and sticking to it. Being recognized by potential advertisers is key and they want to be recognized by their business not by the person behind the business. Social networking screws this up for me. I am not a writer that happens to be a person. I'm pretty sure all writers are people. I am a person who happens to enjoy writing.
My profile pic on Facebook changes almost daily. I do not have a fan page for any of my blogs. My posts all feed to FB but I'm there to connect with people. I'm a people person. I love to meet new friends. I make friends easily and the blogging part is secondary on the social networks. I have bought more stuff from complete strangers who happen to be "friends" because I love to support crafters and have enjoyed everything I have received. I dont expect them to visit my blogs in return. I don't keep track of who visits/comments back in the blogging world. I don't keep score of favors in my real life so why would that be different in my online endeavor?
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to be a brand. I want to be a person who has a brand. Is that so bad?
My profile pic on Facebook changes almost daily. I do not have a fan page for any of my blogs. My posts all feed to FB but I'm there to connect with people. I'm a people person. I love to meet new friends. I make friends easily and the blogging part is secondary on the social networks. I have bought more stuff from complete strangers who happen to be "friends" because I love to support crafters and have enjoyed everything I have received. I dont expect them to visit my blogs in return. I don't keep track of who visits/comments back in the blogging world. I don't keep score of favors in my real life so why would that be different in my online endeavor?
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to be a brand. I want to be a person who has a brand. Is that so bad?
I love your perspective. I struggle to remember why I started a blog. It definitely wasn't to worry about if advertisers wanted me to hawk their products. I also like the connecting with people part of it but I also find that when people take me to task for an opinion or unfollow me if I say something that they deem stupid, or whatever they deem it, it hurts my feelings. Crazy, I know as I don't know these people personally...still it does.
ReplyDeleteThe other part that I find troubling is the people that write about the proficiency of other people's writing. One women wrote on a forum that if she sees sloppy sentence structure she won't read the next sentance. HHHHMMM ...it is safe to say that she didn't read the 2nd sentence of anything that I have written.
I am thinking the reason I started this is I thought it would be fun interacting with other people that are fun and creative. yeh, maybe that is what I thought this would be like. (some days with some bloggers it is THAT)
I don't follow a lot of rules. I remember an Aunt as a kid who always said she loved reading my letters because I wrote like I talked. I may say "I'm gonna go to the store" instead of I'm going to go to the store." so that's how I type it. I also sometimes feel like I leave a lot of little details out but, when I read a post that goes on and on, even if I'm super interested, I don't have the time to read a chapter, so I write shorter posts.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I like most about blogging is that it's a never-ending learning process. Things always change, new widgets and groups form and I'm always re-inventing myself, lol. I like to change my headers and avatars.
In one forum everyone was worried about working out and losing weight for an upcoming conference. They wanted to look like their avatars that hadn't changed in 5 years. It made me laugh. When I no longer look like my avatar, I take a new picture. That's the simple answer to me. I'll never be good at branding if I have to stay the same:)
I don't get the branding thing either. Besides one day we feel like writing about one topic, another day something different. My homeless blog sticks to it's focus, but that seems logical to me. Sandy's Space, and even Traveling Suitcase...you just never know what you're going to find. I like you, feel like I really get to know some of my on line friends. Then sometimes...I actually get to meet them and that's really cool. Somedays you want white wine, somedays martini....that's the way I write too. The trick I think is to write about things you're interested in...you do, the cute things about your kiddo's, your wine etc. I don't want to read just one topic either, as much as I love yarn and related items....I do like read blogs about other topics. Brand me eclectic.
ReplyDeleteFor some people, not all, I think branding is something to hide behind. They are all business with little to no personal posts. Some people are really good with creating and sticking to an online persona, it gets too confusing to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's much easier, for me, to be me. I post what I'm thinking and am open to all comments, not just from people who agree with me. I love most the differences in people I meet. You, for instance, rarely agree with any of my parenting posts and yet I consider you a friend. Someone I respect for having a different opinion and for sharing it. That's how we learn. Getting new ideas, whether we choose to use them or not. opens our eyes to all the possibilities.
Right on, Rachele!
ReplyDeleteI realized years ago that I wasn't going to make any real money blogging, so I stopped worrying about ads and all that. I also consciously realized that I blog for connection and community.
"I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to be a brand. I want to be a person who has a brand. Is that so bad?"
ReplyDeleteI say, "Amen" to that!