Blogging Needs a Sharper Image

hawkWhen you hear the term “blogging” or “blogger,” does it resonate as credible publishing? Or amateur hobby?

I sense that most people still regard blogging as personal hobby or marketing enhancement, or both (which is okay), but not the lucrative game-changer of the publishing industry. This is about to change, and here’s why:

The Future of Blogging

Blogging has its roots in personal publishing and more recently—paid personal publishing. We need to brace ourselves for what’s next.

Modern blogging won’t be the same from what it is today, but the fundamentals will remain: niche sites with excellent content and aggressive self-branding.

The first thing this shift will eliminate is [Read more...]

Why I’m Not Going to IzeaFest

shamuNot that I’ll be missed or even accounted for, but I have some good reasons for not going.

For those of you unfamiliar, IzeaFest is a blogger’s conference put on Izea, which is led by Ted Murphy. From everything I’ve seen and read of Ted, he’s a cool guy, if not a bit on the bizarre side, but I like that.

Ted is also very enterprising: he has founded six companies–including Izea–and is one of the forefathers of paid blogging. Plus, he and I have tweeted each other about marathon running (I know bloody nipples, Ted).

I bought my IZEAFest ticket way back in February when I was projecting some sort of smashing success with my blog. Something to the effect that I’d finally get to meet all the superstars who had heard of me but hadn’t yet met me. How naive.

Let’s say I’m nowhere close to that point, but I’m okay with that. Anonymity is not why I’m bowing out.

The real reason I won’t be attending IZEAFest is because [Read more...]