A conversation has popped up time and time again in the blogosphere, especially among the ‘problogging’ community. What is more important, blogging for money or blogging for profile? I’ll leave the answer to that question for other discussions hosted other places and instead talk specifically about blogger profile. What is the value in profile? How is porfile built? Why would someone choose profile over money, if forced to choose.
I am the kind of blogger who blogs for profile. This generally means that money follows, but those who blog for dollars usually are seen to be dedicated to a single site that they build up into a very lucrative business by itself. This also isolates blog network types that make their money on the backs of others who write as part of the network.
As someone who blogs for profile, the philosophy usually follows that by writing in many different locations, many eyes will see my writing and name recognition will follow. As we know from many different walks of life, name recognition is often key to unlocking other areas of business and life. Benefits come to those who have name recognition.
Take someone I know (non-blogger) named Bill Green. Bill makes $250,000 as a small business consultant but you wouldn’t ever know his name. He lives in a large million dollar home in suburban Maryland, has a family, beautiful wife and lacks for nothing. But Bill will never make any moeny outside of his industry in the local area because no one really knows who he is. He’s happy that way, and if he’s happy I’m happy.
In the blogging community, there are tons of people making tons of money on blogging. Okay, maybe not tons of people, but a lot anyway. Then there are people who have built their profile and are recognized as SMEs. Wherever they write, people follow. I hope to be at this point at some time in my life. I’m happy to be given the chance to blog on blogging at my own site but also at Problogger and Blog Herald. This is important for me as I build my profile. There are others, Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei at b5media, for instance that has built herself a profile in the area of Science and Genetic research having blogged many places. People in her community recognize her as an SME and who knows? Hsien may write a book sometime.
To me, and I’m only one opinion, blogging for profile is the same as killing two birds with one stone. Not only do you get the recognition, but you get the money to boot. Can’t beat that!
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What about a hybrid metholodogy Blogging for a Money Profile.
I’d like to make Money and still gain a profile.
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No there’s no room for such a category. :)
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You can blog for money using SEO and never be known to anyone, even the taxman. If you blog for profile, you’re looking beyond blogging - towards journalism, authorship, consultancy, a spot on Big Brother. But you have to have something distinctive to say, or a bodybuilding methodology that makes you supremely useful to wealthy people and corporations.
If you have all that, you shouldn’t be starting on blogging. You should be out learning your trade on the stock market floor or in the offices that matter.
Blogging is peripheral to everything but blogging. Everyone who has a column in a major newspaper is known for something other than the column.
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I started blogging originally because I enjoyed writing, then I launched a couple of business blogs (one of which is still up and running), then I started writing for other blogs, then I started a Web magazine (it crashed - see story in Blog Herald archive for details), and now I’m at Property Maven. If your profile is high enough the money will definitely follow.