Since I became what’s been called a ‘professional blogger’ (not my words), I actually realized that by getting paid (well enough) to write content, that I am indeed a professional blogger just as much as a minor league hockey player is a professional athlete.
Having been told that I’ve been anchoring the most successful NHL site on Fansided’s network, I’ve been asked for advice. The only advice I had to give was to network. Bloggers need to be linked and referenced on other sites. That’s how Gunaxin works and that’s how Capitals Outsider works.
Some bloggers, however, don’t care about that. They just go out and write content but do little to nothing to promote their stuff. It’s like they’re playing a game of make-believe. They’re essentially kids playing ‘reporter’ and showing their article to their parents. Why would bloggers spend so much time writing content that no one reads?
Now, I’m not talking about diary blogs, or unleash-the-thoughts blogs, like this one. I’m talking about blogs that have a theme, particularly sports blogs.
I’ve counted approximately 50 Capitals-themed blogs. There are likely more, but it’s hard to keep up when all it really takes to create a blog is to open a free WordPress or Blogger account. But when I started looking at the Alexa site rankings of these blogs, not only did I realize that very few people read them, but some of the higher quality ones were lacking in readers, too. I’m not entirely sure what drives people to write content that no one reads, but perhaps it’s the same thing that drives me to write short stories though I know they aren’t going to be published. It’s a hobby.
Bloggers have been getting a ton of praise lately for the hard work they’re doing, but the reality is that many of them don’t have a consistent audience and don’t generate any revenue. These are the people who think 50 pages views are ‘a ton.’ If an article of mine on Gunaxin only got 50 page views, I wouldn’t be able to afford to eat. And to think, I used to work at a place that spent upwards of a grand on an article that very few people read. Seems like a waste of money, to me.
All I can say is, I’m glad I ‘made it’ as a blogger, and it’s all thanks to Gunaxin and Capitals Outsider, which are sites that get page views and generate revenue, something that bloggers should strive for if they’re actually serious about what they do. Otherwise, they might as well be kids playing make-believe.