The following is... - digital. marketing. speak. - Tumblr

Blogging is so cliche is it not?

The following is a post I wrote in response to a thread I saw. Here?s the original thread:

I have been writing as a hobby for years and have always thought about starting a blog but I feel like I am just jumping on the ?everyone is doing it? bandwagon and I?m not sure if I like that or not. What are people?s thoughts on blogging these days, are there too many around already? Whats trending right now for blogging? I?d love to hear others thoughts about creative writing on the web.

My response:

Cassandra, if you feel ?obligated? to blog then probably blogging is not your thing and you?re just trying to keep up with the Steins. Nonetheless, if you feel a natural desire to add value to your community but unable because of time commitments or perhaps your employer frowns upon your blogging, that?s a discussion for a different thread. If you want to dip your feet into blogging, you may want to start by using Tumblr where you have the flexibility to do reblogging, infographic and picture posts, multimedia posts (e.g. audio, video, embeds, quotes, etc), and even do traditional blog posts when you feel inspired/have time for full fledged posts.

I want to reiterate that building followers, likes, fans, and SEO should be your secondary goal, if at all. Because the reality is this: if you add value to existing information or providing compelling original creative (regardless of what form it takes), everything else will follow. I?m not saying that you shouldn?t seed-market your blog with your natural fans and biggest supporters (friends, family, colleagues) but the less you think of your blog as a marketing piece, the more you can be creative and enjoy/benefit from the process of blogging. Also, people are very smart and lack time for non-genuine messages (you know who are!) so be yourself Cassandra!

I admire you courage in posting this question because many people are closet-bloggers and just don?t know the best way to proceed forward. I hope this helps you and feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.

Just FYI, I created this blog in about 15 minutes, not because I?m a wildly talented blogger, but mostly because I wanted to add value to this conversation:

http://vladgorenshteyn.tumblr.com/post/38061240261/to-blog-or-not-to-blog

There?I just gave up one of my secrets: some of my best blogs are responses to other people?s blog or questions?

Source: http://vladgorenshteyn.tumblr.com/post/38061240261

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