When you walk up to most regular folks out there and ask them if they blog, what do you think they would say? Would they think you’re crazy because everyone’s doing it or would they call you an old fogey because blogging is so out of style now?
Well, what if they’ve never heard of it before, or only tried it once and gave up shortly thereafter? This is what has happened to most people that I know. They try it for a little while, don’t see any type of results, and then just give up the whole thing. It’s too bad too as they are some super awesome people I’d love to share thoughts with more often.
In this article, a gracious reader and champion for life-change was kind enough to do a little question and answer interview survey with me. I don’t claim to be the best interviewer in the world, but I do promise some good, raw, and honest answers from normal people like you and me. I do my best to NOT filter these answers, except for the bad words and hateful speech (which of course doesn’t happen often).
With that little blurb out of the way, let’s dive right into the content!
Today’s Topic: Blogging (Round 3)
‘R’ = Richard N. Stephenson (me!)
‘I’ = Interviewee (anonymous by request unless otherwise noted)
[This interview is inspired and fueled by research done for my book: Quick Content Formula.]
R: Describe what blogging means to you.
I: Blogging is a means of self-expression on the internet that allows people to share what they are passionate. You can blog about whatever you find relevant and and audience of like-minded people from around the world can find it and form a community around your blog. I think this personalized community building around individuals’ interests is one of the most amazing and unifying aspects of internet culture.
R: Describe how blogging would be useful to people looking to change their lives/careers.
I: Blogging would be useful to people looking to change their lives by soliticiting comments about how to accomplish this task. The article which is really what a blog is could request suggestions from the internet readers on what they have don to change their lives or careers. Blogging is an open online forum available to over 2 billion internet users, so the platform is wide and varied to get ideas on how to change lives and careers.
R: Give an example of blogging being used that has inspired you (from either internet/mainstream media examples or personal examples).
I: When my grandmother was being treated for lymphoma, my uncle kept a blog about my grandmother’s experiences with chemotherapy. I live far from the rest of my family, so the blog was a good way for me to keep informed about her condition. It was clear from reading the blog that the chemo was very hard on my grandmother, but she was very strong. It inspired me to take on the challenge of walking a half marathon to raise money for lymphoma research. I am not at all athletic, but I knew that if my grandmother could get through chemo, I could get through a half marathon.
R: How do you think a better understanding of blogging would help other people in their personal or professional life?
I: I think a lot of people don’t even understand what a blog IS, because the description can mean many different things. Blogs can be written from one person’s perspective, or have multiple contributors. Also, people should understand that they should not take everything they read in a blog seriously–blogs are not news organizations. Anyone can be a blogger, and unless that blogger is actively researching and providing sources for what they report, it’s all just that blogger’s opinion.
R: Give an example of how blogging has helped you professionally or personally.
I: Blogging helps our HOA. We’re able to see announcements and changes that are being made. It’s nice to be able to stay up to date and even comment on anything we agree or disagree with. It helps start conversations between neighbors that I don’t think would happen otherwise & helps us arrive at better solutions to problems in our area.
R: Describe at least one way you think blogging could cause trouble or hurt someone in their personal or professional life.
I: If someone has questionable views or writes about things that are against the norm, or taboo in society. Another way, would be someone writing unfavorable things about their employer or friends online.Finally, if they are posting or writing about illegal things such as drugs or child pornography.
R: Give an example of how blogging has hurt you or caused you trouble in the past.
I: Blogging has caused me trouble in the past because of voicing my opinion on a writing site forum. I have to be careful about what I say on a website especially on weekends when party goers could be writing while intoxicated. My writing expertise was questioned because of speaking on a controversial topic of relationships of cheating.
R: How do you think blogging could help you in a professional setting? Why is that?
I: Blogging is the best way to put out your personal feelings, kind of like a diary. In a professional work environment, one may become stressed, frustrated, even depressed by perhaps repeating the same mundane cycle of getting up, going to work, going home, then repeating for hundreds of days out of the year. Blogging could in-turn help bring out the creativity, fun, and emotion that could certainly be lacking, thus providing an outlet of expression. This ‘alleviation’ of boredom from the workplace can then perhaps provide greater morale and energy when in the workplace, as one would have something to look forward to after the day is done.
R: Give an example of how blogging could be useful at work. Why do you think this?
I: For me blogging is not useful at work. My job has nothing to do with blogging, and I have never seen the usefulness of it. However, I can see the usefulness for certain people. An example would be if someone is working for advertisements, then blogging could give them a chance to get viewers and advertisements views and thus more money.
R: How do you think blogging could help you at home? Why is that?
I: Blogging could help at home because it is a past time that can be an outlet to stress and anxiety that sometime accompany family or home life. Blogging helps at home because it provides a passive way of letting out frustrations and getting comments as well instead of having an open forum at a meet up conference, for an example. Blogging is thoughts placed on paper which can be obtrusive or unobtrusive. The bottom line is getting the thoughts on paper online instead of voicing them because everyone does not have access to a public outside forum.
R: Give an example of how blogging could be useful at home or in family life. Why do you think this?
I: Blogging is a way of really expressing inner feelings, much like a diary. In family life sometimes you just need to vent about things that your family does or says to someone, and there isn’t always someone to listen to you. If you have a blog, you have the entire internet and anyone who’s interested can peer into your life. Most people do this through social media, but others don’t feel comfortable spilling the details of their family life with their friends and people they’re in close contact with. If you want someone to listen, but not someone who is capable of judging you in real life, a blog is a very good thing to have.
R: How do you think blogging could help you in a personal relationship? Why is that?
I: Blogging could help in a personal relationship because the article could solicit comments about people who could be experiencing a break up, for an example. The blog could request comments on how they cope with the heart break and how did they resume their lives after getting into an alone state of being. Blogging is a forum to share ideas and those who has experienced a break up in a relationship could offer suggestions on how to survive a relationship break up.
R: Give an example of how blogging could be useful in a personal relationship. Why do you think this?
I: Blogging could be useful in a personal relationship if the blogger used the forum to explore important relationship questions and invite feedback from readers. It could be an avenue for self-reflection that helps the blogger come to terms with feelings. Blogging might be a way to talk about something that can’t be resolved with a partner and so, the need to talk about it met through another modality.
R: Describe at least one thing you would like to learn more about blogging.
I: The one thing I would like to learn about blogging is how to get revenue on a daily basis and become part of the internet network of blogging giants. Blogging giants are seen in magazines where they actually have columns attributed to their blogs which means more internet traffic and more revenue. How to monetize the blog for an automatic monthly checks based on readership is the one thing I would like to learn about blogging.
R: Give your number one piece of advice for someone looking to learn more about blogging.
I: To learn more about blogging the reader has to go where the blogging is getting accomplished. The reader should read as many blogs as possible and notice the conversational tone that is used and make a survey of the topics. Learning by example is one of the major ways of learning more about blogging which involves reading more of the successful blogs such as the ones that appear in major magazines.
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That’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed this interview conversation and found at least one useful bit of information you can immediately begin to apply in your life.
Also, if you’d like to figure out how to make a lot of great content for your own blog, website, school work, or email newsletters, then you might enjoy the Quick Content Formula. This is my own personal (and favorite!) method of creating highly engaging, fun, and useful information at a very quick pace. It’s a great way to beat that blinking cursor and write more awesome stuff. Click here to check it out.
Please share your thoughts, experiences, or your own interview answers and let’s share some real life wisdom, okay?