Recently I called a meeting with the Artist, Marketer and Publisher within me. I asked them what they thought about my plans to dominate the galaxy with my blogging.
Immediately the Artist within me stood up and said, “Your blog is your voice to the world, man, your canvas of expression. Treat your writing like art–make it perfect and beautiful, even if you have to suffer for it.”
“Shut up, you hippie!” said the Marketer within me.
“Care to explain yourself?” I asked the Marketer.
“You bet,” he said. “Stop listening to the Artist. Readers don’t care about your so-called art. If you’re going to write, then write copy. Copy sells things, and you need money.”
The Marketer had a point, I thought. I can’t just keep freely expressing myself and expect people to pay me for it. But writing copy all day just isn’t my thing, either. I invited to Publisher within me to stand up and say something.
“I was wondering if you were ever going to call on me,” he said. “Your blog is a business. If you’ve got nothing to sell, you’ve got no business. So what are you selling?”
The Publisher had me on that one. I’ve been putting so much energy into this blog without any real plan to monetize it. Was money supposed to just magically appear after a few months?
As I was sorting these things out in my head, the Artist, Marketer and Publisher started quarreling.
“Sell outs!” screamed the artist.
“Blogging is copywriting!” yelled the Marketer.
“Write copy all day long…what the heck for if you’ve got no product?” bellowed the Publisher.
Then I had an idea. I’d call in The Editor within me. He’d know how to handle this.
The Editor showed up and the room fell silent.
“What can I do for you, Charles?” asked the Editor.
“I’m having a blogging crisis,” I said. “The Artist, Marketer and Publisher within me are fighting over who’s right and who’s wrong. What do I do?”
“Why are you blogging, anyway?” asked the Editor.
“I want people to enjoy my writing, but I also want them to find me useful, authoritative and trustworthy. And I need to get paid.”
“First of all, Charles, think about your readers. They want value. They’re willing to give you what little time and attention they have if you offer them something valuable in return.
“Secondly, all three of those guys offer some truth in what they’re saying. Let’s start with the Artist. All he’s really asking you is to be genuine in your writing. Reveal yourself. Your voice will attract and engage people on a much more personal level.”
“That’s what I meant to say,” said the Artist. “Honest writing from the heart will build relationships with your readers.”
“The Marketer is partly right about copywriting,” continued the Editor. “People won’t buy things from you if you don’t sell it to them. Your blog posts don’t have to be written in copy, but your conversion and sales pages do.”
“Well spoken,” said the Marketer. “Copywriting is the pitch you make to your customers. You don’t have to be a scumbag to write good copy, either.”
“The Publisher has the most valid point of all,” said the Editor. “If you’re not selling anything, how do you expect to be paid? You need to find or create things to sell that people will value and appreciate. This doesn’t mean you’re not selling out–it just means you’re making a living.”
“Yes, Charles, stop blogging for free,” added the Publisher. “How about authoring an ebook? And try some affiliate marketing, too? Maybe some consulting on the side?”
“It’s starting to make sense,” I said. “Seems like I need the Artist, Marketer and Publisher all working together to succeed at this.”
“And me,” said the Editor. “Be authentic, have something worthwhile to sell and then sell it.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Not quite. Your blog is just one piece of a larger pie called Content Marketing. You can also use your blog as a jumping off point for bigger opportunities.”
“How is that?” I asked.
“Well if you put in the hard work and market yourself, and your ideas are revolutionary, people will flock to you. Who knows the places you’ll go from there.”
I was satisfied. I thanked the Editor, Artist, Marketer and Publisher within me and proceeded to get back to work. This time, with a smile on my face.
Eggshell photo by Logan Cyrus, cloudscape photo by kwerfeldein, sunflower photo by treyevan.
Wow, thanks, Dan, that was a huge compliment. I wasn’t sure what people would think about it. I wanted to try writing what could have been “just another blog post” in a totally different content.
I haven’t forgotten, either — I still owe you a post 🙂 Still trying to get my rhythm down!
Great post. It’s nice to have someone else bear witness to the voices in our (bloggers) heads.
Brooke