Blogging as a Career?

Jason Kottke has given up his job and is going to live off the proceeds of his blog.

I’ve been self-publishing on the web for almost 10 years now, first with a little site on my school’s web server, then on various ISP accounts, then 0sil8, and finally kottke.org for the last 7 years (almost). Looking back on it all, this little hobby of mine has been the most rewarding, pleasurable, maddening, challenging thing in my life. I’ve met so many nice, good people, formed valued relationships with some of them, traveled to distant lands (and New Jersey), procured jobs & other business opportunities, discovered new interests, music, movies & books, and lots of other stuff, all for putting a little bit of me out there for people to see.

And yet, I almost quit last spring. The site was getting out of hand and wasn’t fun anymore. It was taking me away from my professional responsibilities, my social life, and my relationship with my girlfriend. There was no room in my life for it anymore. As you can imagine, thinking of quitting what had been the best thing in my life bummed me right the hell out.

After thinking about it for a few weeks, I had a bit of an epiphany. The real problem was the tension between my web design career and my self-publishing efforts; that friction was unbalancing everything else. One of them had to go, and so I decided to switch careers and pursue the editing/writing of this site as a full-time job.

I am seriously jealous that he can even consider this. I seem to spend a greater and greater amount of time on my blog, and I have been running for months, let alone years. I dread to think how many blogs I will have to read after ayear of this, and even if I just comment on a few and link blog the rest, it’ll still take up a large chunk of my time, which as an ‘amateur’ – by which I mean not only that I don’t blog for a living but that I am not in a job where blogging is exactly part of my job description… – I don’t have a great deal of.

Here’s some other views on this:

More to come as I see them.

The Google Toolbar Excitement

The BBC just got round to commenting on the Google Toolbar 3 upset, so maybe I ought to quickly post a summation of what’s happening.

Search engine firm Google has released a trial tool which is concerning some net users because it directs people to pre-selected commercial websites.

The AutoLink feature comes with Google’s latest toolbar and provides links in a webpage to Amazon.com if it finds a book’s ISBN number on the site.

It also links to Google’s map service, if there is an address, or to car firm Carfax, if there is a licence plate.

Google said the feature, available only in the US, “adds useful links”.

But some users are concerned that Google’s dominant position in the search engine market place could mean it would be giving a competitive edge to firms like Amazon.

Steve Rubel first, to my knowledge, picked up on the similarity to this and another technology called SmartTags which Microsoft were blasted for trying to introduce into Internet Explorer some time ago.

How come nobody is crying foul here? Remember all the heat Microsoft took over its planned Smart Tags feature a few years ago? Gary alludes to it, but I think that there should be more discussion here. Let’s face it, Google is to the Web what Microsoft is to PCs – the operating system everyone uses to search. It has nearly the same lock on consumers’ share of mind (sorry Yahoo). And millions use the Google Toolbar. They shouldn’t get away with what Microsoft was unable to. It’s not fair and it shows that no matter what Google does, they can do no wrong in the eyes of the American public – at least for now. Could you imagine the uproar if Microsoft had tried this with the new MSN Toolbar Suite?

Make sure you visit the post in question as Steve provides loads of useful links in his post.

Dave Winer also makes various good points:

I’m talking with Google PR people later today. To summarize what I said in the podcast, the question is where is the line, what’s permissible content modification and what’s not? Certainly there is a line, right? We don’t mind them changing the font or size of our text, or even converting it to voice to make it accessible to deaf people. Then, the question of trust comes up. When Google bought Blogger, they stated clearly that they would not do anything to tilt the table in favor of Blogger, but shortly after, within weeks, they broke that promise, ironically, using the Google Toolbar. Even worse, they would not engage in dialog. Those were very difficult times, and the people who were responsible may not even be at Google now. Who knows. But the fact is, you can’t go by corporate promises in areas like this, and even if you could, their promises are not binding on other companies. It all may sound theoretic, but I’ve been around this block many times over many years. You have to have a sense where the line is, and not budge one inch. As I said in the podcast, we’ll likely have some powerful allies on this one, it’s content vs technology, the First Amendment and commerce, free speech and money (lots of it).

Scoble then weighed in:

SmartTags and things that add links to content are seen by users as helpful, content producers as evil, and tools makers as strategic. This is one time where the users are not right. Content producers’ rights must be protected (yes, I know I am hypocritical there because of my stance on RSS, but we need to look at prior usage of HTML vs. RSS. That’s real important to do. RSS has ALWAYS been repurposed. It’s a syndication format. HTML, on the other hand, has never had links added to it by big companies. When big companies change the usage model of HTML they are playing on dangerous ground).

Hmm. Pretty clear on the issue of web content. It’s a good point that Scoble make about most users being happy about this – for the majority of surfers, they would consider it to be a real bonus that they don’t have to copy and paste details from one site to another.

But a website owener has to be able to control where his or her links go. If I make my money through adverts to (say) BOL, I don’t, and BOL wouldn’t want, links popping up to Amazon stores. And who would get the credit for passing the business to Amazon? Not me, I’d wager.

Melanie Phillips on IDS the Bloggers’ Friend

Melanie Phillips has picked up on Iain Duncan Smith’s article in The Guardian.

Phillips, I shoud point out, is someone I read for the same reason people pick scabs. It irritating, slightly painful, but nevertheless weirdly addictive.

Anyway, her point is that:

blogging democratises the national conversation by providing an alternative discourse to the world view of the left, which the mainstream media (MSM) regards as the neutral middle ground. This warped perception means not only that it presents news through a distorting prism, but that by definition it cannot acknowledge that it is distorted, thus creating a closed thought process. This phenomenon is what leaves the BBC, in particular, unable to fulfil its public service obligation to objectivity and fairness.

Zzzzz. Typical wittering about media bias. The British media has always been biaised towards the party in government. There weren’t many complainst from the Tories during the 80s about not getting enough screen time.

Throughout Phillips seems to take delight in using words like ‘blogosphere’ but clearly doesn’t understand what she is talking about. She doesn’t even allow trackbacks on her posts, let alone comments. Where’s the relationship building here? To me, this is hectoring to a dumb audience who can’t respond.

For political blogs to work, they have to encourage participation. This means making facilities like trackbacks and comments available and taking the time to monitor and respond to them, and to sort out problems when they occur. Otherwise, how does the ‘blog’ differ from any other website?

My 10 thoughts on successful blogging

1. Read more blogs

What you get out of your blog depends entirely on what you put in. Good, interesting blogs do not evolve in a vacuum. Read as many blogs as you can. Not only will you pick up on useful tidbits to improve your blogging, you are exposing yourself to new ideas and content you can discuss yourself. There are plenty of blogs-about-blogs. This might smack a little of navel-gazing, but with any new form, evolution comes through discussion and collaboration. Pick up new ideas and put them into practice. Listen to what experienced bloggers have to say.

Two blogs that you must subscribe to, and visit daily, are Steve Rubel and Robert Scoble. These two write more sense about blogging than anyone else. They also provide great links – after a couple of weeks your blogroll will have increased tenfold. These guys drag your ears to the ground where theirs are.

You have to use an RSS aggregator. Try out all the ones to can find till you find the one that works for you. I’m sticking with Bloglines. All the time I try out others, and every time I come crawling back. The one advantage with Bloglines for me is that it enables me to scan quicker than anything else.

Subscribe to anything you might think may interest you. Don’t discriminate in the blogs you subscribe to. It won’t take up more than a couple of seconds of your time to scan them, if there’s nothing to interest you. But there might be that one article that pops up in a few month’s time that makes it worthwhile.

Subscribe to link blogs – they are a valuable resource of interesting posts and new feeds to subscribe to. Likewise, check out people’s blogrolls if they make them available. They should.

2. Use a link blog

Have a separate link blog that you can post quick links to interesting articles on. This has a dual advantage – you can save items for later viewing, and you provide your readers with details on what you’re reading, offering them an insight on your perspective and where you are coming from.

3. Make sure your blog has a feed

People who blog without RSS feeds don’t deserve to be read. Blog engines that don’t produce them don’t deserve to be used. No-one has the time to look at individual blog sites, that’s what the aggregators are for. Never presume that your content is so great that people will go out of their way to read it. Make life as easy for your readers as possible.

4. Find a niche – but evolve it

There’s no point writing on some esoteric subject from the off. What are the chances of anyone coming by you? Write about a few things that interest you to start with. Focus on the one you have your eye on, by all means, but include other stuff too.

Really importantly, be regular. Keep the posts coming, at least a couple a day. If you are going to be away, let your readers know. The last thing you want is people thinking the blog is dead and unsubcribing. It’s a commitment to be taken seriously.

Over time, your blog will evolve, and its niche will become clear, if you want one. It’s an organic process. But unless you are a total weirdo, if stuff interests you, the chances are that there are other people on the web who will be interested too. But you have to cast a wide net to begin with.

5. Link, link and comment

Link to everyone you mention in a post – it’s common courtesy and makes your blog infinitely more useful. No-one would want to read a blog, only to have to switch to Google to find what you’re on about. Use trackbacks to let people know you are reading them and commenting on them. Use comments on other blogs to make salient and constructive points. But don’t do it for the sake of it. The more interesting your points, the more likely people are to sit up and take notice, and subscribe to your blog.

Make sure your blog allows comments, otherwise you are just having a conversation with a mirror. Always respond to comments people leave on your blog at the start, when there aren’t too many, so that a relationship can be formed with your readers. If someone comments on your blog, do them the courtesy of commenting on theirs. The key words are reciprocation and collaboration.

6. Keep notes on everything

You never know when they might come in handy. Always keep a simple text editor open, like Notepad on Windows, so you can tap stuff in as it occurs to you. Keep a notebook. Use an email account as an idea store. Ideas for blog posts can come from anywhere, from a conversation, an email, a book, a magazine or newspaper. Keep your eyes open and keep a way of recording what you see handy.

7. Make sure your presentation is good

Some people disagree on the need for good spelling or grammar, but I think it’s essential. I find it puts me off reading, as all I can think about is the mutilation of the English language in front of me. It’s true that the brain tends to skip some spelling mistakes, and no-one is error free, but its a good idea to read stuff back to ensure it makes sense. Capitalise sentences. That’s a big one for me. Avoid swearing, it can needlessly put off readers.

Your blog site should look nice too. Regular readers will be subscribers, but to attract new readers it’s a good idea to look like you know what you are doing. Try to avoid the most common templates that are available, make yours distinctive.

Try and make your posts stand out too. If there is a relevant image available, use it. Sign up to Flickr and post your own photos. Set up a random photo generator near the top of your page, it creates interest and makes people stick around.

Provide links to your blogroll, your link blog, other sites you are involved with. Have links to sites you visit regularly, it helps give new readers an impression of who you are. Include an email address so people feel you are accessible.

Choose a blog engine you like and trust. Make sure it has the features you want available. make sure its intuitive for you to use. Does it fit in with your methods of working? Consider your URL, and where you host your blog. Splashing out on webspace and a nice address can make you appear more committed, more serious about what you are doing. But it isn’t essential. If your content is good, you will rise up the Google ranks and people will find you by search, or though others’ links. Don’t change your URL. Stick with your decision. Don’t frustrate your readers.

To categorise or not to categorise? Some do, some don’t. It’s not that important either way. If you write on a diffuse range of subjects, it might be an idea to. It’s a good idea to give your posts titles though – it makes scanning on aggregators much easier.

8. Be interesting, even controversial, but not stupid

Don’t blog about things you shouldn’t. Don’t leave yourself or (even worse) others open to personal criticism because of what you post. If you don’t fully understand an issue, don’t blog on it – yet. Read more, take in other people’s views. Don’t make yourself look an idiot. Don’t flame people. What’s the point? You can disagree with others while remaining polite. It isn’t hard. Don’t deliberately take an extreme stance to provoke reactions. The most likely effect this will have is that people will ignore you.

9. Be funny

Hey, why don’t I take my own advice?! Everything that is good has jokes. Even the most bleak books, TV shows, films have jokes in them to make them classics. Even if it’s a black, dry seam of humour, it keeps the reader interested and coming back. Another way of putting this would be Don’t be boring. Don’t take yourself, your posts or your blog too seriously. Laugh at yourself. Respond positively to criticism.

10. Stick at it

No-one’s leaving comments. No-one is trackbacking to your posts. You don’t register until the 300th page on a Google on your name. Welcome to my world! But don’t give up. Think about why you started your blog. Was it for fame and adulation? Yes. Was it to get an enormous Google PageRank? Yes. Oh. Well, that isn’t going to happen, at least for a long, long time, or until you get a job at Microsoft or Google. Instead, focus on the smaller positives. Maintaining a blog keeps you in touch with friends and family who might read it. And if you only have a small number of readers, well, you owe it to them to keep going. Plus, your blog posts are improving your skills as a writer, which has to be a good thing. But most of all, you are taking part in a collaborative project, the blogosphere, which is on a quite remarkable scale. Someone, somewhere, is listening.

Link Blog Update

Plenty of stuff going on the link blog.

I was uncertain at first whether or not to just have this stuff on this blog, and give it a new category, so if that’s what people wanted to look at they could do easily. But I know now that it would have ended up looking bitty, and pretty unsatisfactory. It doesn’t seem like having the link blog is decreasing my posting rate on here either, which is good.

One gripe though. While blogging stuff is quick and easy using Bloglines, the posting window can’t be resized. Not a problem for most users, nor me at home, but at work I am forced to use a myopia-inducing 14 inch (I think, my rule only goes up to 12, so I guessed the rest) screen. This means I have to nudge the posting window so as much of it is off the top end of the screen as possible just so that I can reach the ‘Post this’ button. Gah.

How Robert Scoble Reads 1000 blogs a day

Blogaholics: How Robert Scoble Reads 1000 blogs a day

Using his aggregator to pull his information, he can then access it on his laptop, his cell phone, or even on his television. Yes, it seems it is with him no matter where he is (except perhaps when he is sleeping. We hope). Part of his strategy is to have an offline way to read them so he is not dependent on internet access. He can read them in the car or in the plane without problem.

His feeds are organized into folders, and those folders are organized alphabetically. He usually is methodical, reading top down. If he does not finish, he will go bottom up the next day. Only one main reading period per day.

The benefit of an aggregator is that it organizes the new posts in a “text river” showing you the titles and or content top down. You can pick and choose what you want to be as you scan it. Very easy. By scanning so many topics and feeds, how do you possibly decide what is worth while? You look for trends. That is the benefits of multiple feeds at this magnitude. You can spot the trends very early (can see x number of people on the same topic in a short time period) and talk about them yourself when the idea is still new.

If Scoble scans something he wants to read, he reads it. If it’s good, he will click through to the website itself or save it to his “Blog It” folder.

Bloggers will rescue the right

Iain Duncan Smith thinks blogging can help the Tories win the election!

For decades the national conversation in most western countries has been directed by a few talking heads. Newspapers play important roles but all the evidence suggests that broadcasters have possessed the greatest potential to frame public debate. British politicians have known that communicating their message depends upon getting the nod from a small number of powerful figures in the broadcast media.

The editor of BBC1’s six o’clock news bulletin can make a minister’s day by putting his department’s latest announcement at the front of the bulletin. Hearing Huw Edwards say something positive about that afternoon’s policy launch will even put a smile on Alastair Campbell’s face.

But all of this looks set to change because of the blogosphere. Blogging is a geeky expression for how people use online logs, or diaries, to share their opinions. If a weblog is interesting and informed enough it can reach millions of people at zero cost. Karl Rove, the man George Bush described as the architect of his re-election, recently said that the dominance of America’s mainstream media is coming to an end. And Rove credits the Davids of the blogosphere for the humbling of the old media Goliaths. After decades of centralisation, Rove believes that the national conversation is being democratised.

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Bloggers will rescue the right