Bob Bly is bored with blogging...

Yup. After only one week. Bob Bly (he's a highly respected B2B copywriter) emailed me this morning: "Deb, A full week in the blogosphere ... already bored with the whole thing ... tell me again why you like this? How much time per week do you spend writing your blog, checking your blog, and going to and reading other blogs?" Bob, great questions all. And they deserve a considered reply. So here goes...

First, blogging is writing. That's all it is. Good blogging is good writing. It is not copywriting. That is, writing-for-hire whose purpose is to sell someone else's products or services. So for you, Bob, a blog might serve as an outlet for itchy fingers to sound off on topics / issues / bugaboos that come up in the course of your copywriting assignments. Do you have that urge? If you do, that's a raison d'etre for your blog. If you don't, well... I understand.

I think you told me you've always got a book in the works, as well as articles and your ezine. Perhaps you don't need another outlet. But the *immediate* exposure and payback you can get from your visibility in your blog might be worth the effort. It must take you 18 months from conception to publication to get a new book out. With a blog entry, it can take 18 seconds. And you're improving your ranking in the search engines everytime you do it.

I know you're awfully successful. But why not think even bigger. How many international clients and engagements do you have? Would you like to be invited to speak in Australia and New Zealand (I know your family would love to join you on those trips!) or Japan and China?? If as many people who are leaving comments on your blog (it must be a record!) continue to comment and debate... you'll be known and respected in Timbuktu before the end of the year. (Perhaps you already are.)

As to why I blog... well, it's simple. I have an urge to write. I was a journalist for several decades. Now I'm a marketing consultant. But I guess I'm really a recovering journalist. I still have the urge to "report," to clarify, to offer perspective. And the elegance and simplicity of blogging software gives me a manageable forum in which to write short entries quickly and easily. I'm thinking out loud here...

How much time do I spend reading other people's blogs each week? Not as much time as I'd like to. How much time do I spend blogging myself? Not much. 15 or 20 minutes here or there. A couple of times a week. Sometimes less. This morning I was up early. Saw your email. Started to write this post. Saved it as a draft. And just came back to finish and publish it.

I'm a HUGE procrastinator. Blogging gives me a tool to write quickly. And to be as short and sweet as I want. And the ripple effect is significant. A corporate communications director just called me from a Fortune 500 company saying he had read this new blog, BlogWrite For CEOs, and was I available for a presentation on blogging. He found BlogWrite by googling for "blogging" and "corporate" and "best practices." I find that amazing... my new blog has been live for only 30 days.

But that's the beauty of blogging as a tool. It's simple AND powerful. Oh, and as to why I'm replying to your email in a blog post versus a private message to you... why not? If I'm going to spend the time to compose a thoughtful reply why not get double duty out of it. I've rambled a bit... but I hope I've answered your questions. See ya in the blogosphere.

Comments

[Bob Bly]

You won't believe this, but a couple of hours ago, a reporter from our local daily paper, the Bergen Record, called me up to interview me about blogs! (His editor had seen my e-zine.)

I like your answer. Maybe this blogging will not fit me. I don't need another outlet to publish -- I write columns for DM News, Writer's Digest, Subscription Marketing, Early to Rise, and soon will be for Digital Media Advisors ... and have half a dozen books under contract in various stages of progress ... plus my monthly e-zine. So maybe a blog is redundant?

No one can become too famous, so that benefit appeals ... whether a blog will do that for me remains to be seen.

The technology is daunting to a luddite like me. I can't figure out how to do a lot of things that you and others do on their blogs.

And as for reading, give me a book, newspaper, or magazine any day. Hard to relax on the coach and read a blog.

Check out the 2-page article in the Dec. 13, 2004 issue of Business Week about blogging, and the article in the same issue about marketing ROI. Predicts that much of this branding babble will vanish in favor of good old ROI-generating DM.