Is Blogging Dead?

“Is blogging dead?” I asked myself looking around a jam-packed room.

I am fortunate that I live close enough to Tampa, Florida that I can make the occasional run up there and network with a wide variety of entrepreneurs. About a year and a half ago, I walked into a Meetup for podcasters—people who either were already podcasting or who wanted to start one. It was standing-room-only.

I had a weird feeling of déjà vu. (All over again.) Then it hit me: These were the same people who had been sitting in internet marketing rooms a decade earlier, learning about blogging. And while there tends to be an overlap of people from group to group, these weren’t really ALL the same people. They were the same type of people—small business owners and entrepreneurs who actively pursued education to keep their businesses on the cutting edge. Ten years ago they were bloggers. Now they were shifting to podcasting.

So you can see why I wondered if blogging was a dying art, or really just an abandoned strategy left behind when something prettier, shinier, and newer came along.

And I felt a little sad and a little old, and definitely behind the times because I am first and foremost a writer. My second thought was (and this is absolutely true) “Great. Now I have to start a f***ing podcast. One MORE thing to do.”

Adding Podcasting to the Mix

But adding podcasting to your marketing mix is a very smart thing to do. People learn through different modalities—some by reading, some by listening, others by watching videos or actually going through a process hands-on. Podcasting is another way to get your message out into the world. And just as some people learn better by reading and may be predisposed to write a blog, others learn better by listening and it may be easier for them to create content by talking. In other words, it’s all good.

If you are a podcaster or would like to learn more about podcasting, you should be at Podfest this March 6th – 8th in Orlando. Click here for details. PODFEST 2020

Blogging may have started out with the written word, but it quickly incorporated audio and video (vlogging, a word with a very weird mouth-feel). In essence, blogging in different formats.

Search engines love bloggers. Blogging is one of the best ways to keep fresh content on your site. You can optimize for various niches in your industry and segments of your target market, and, if you’re really good at your job, become a trusted resource for your readers (or listeners or viewers).

You’ll notice that people who have been killing it on the internet for years haven’t stopped blogging. Neil Patel, Naomi Dunford (Ittybiz), Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, all blog. Yes, they do podcasts and videos and other things, too. But they have thousands of pages on their sites that bring their readers back again and again. And garner new readers. Bottom line, blogging in any format builds traffic to your website.

The trick is to blog consistently, week in and week out. You need to build up a body of work and you won’t really see much traction until you have upwards of 70 posts (or podcasts or videos). Seventy is not a magic number; it seems to be more of a minimum. The wall we all hit: It’s hard to keep putting out content when you’re not sure if anyone is actually paying attention. Too many people give up after a few months of blogging when they don’t see any results. You feel like you are yelling into the void. It’s easy to quit.

Definitely not. (You knew I was going to say that, right?) It’s evolving and growing, but not going away. If you’re in business, whether you’re a consultant, a personal trainer, or an artist trying to sell your paintings, a blog can help you find your audience.

Pull out a pen, microphone or camera, and start blogging in the format that’s easiest for you.

Need help staying consistent with your blog? Me, too! So I did something about it. I created an AWESOME planner to help me stay on track. Now I know what I’m going to write about BEFORE I sit down (there’s a concept…). I have my posts planned out months in advance and as I come across articles and sites that relate to the post, I can make a note in the right place (as opposed to one of a MILLION scraps of paper) so I have it when I need it. If you need to start kicking blog butt, check out THE BRILLIANT CONTENT PLANNER. Download it today. Blog easier for the rest of your blogging life.