One Blogger, Many Roles
August 10, 2008 by J.C. Hewitt
I am a blogger
As a blogger, I keep and update a blog. I do it as a business. Because of this, I have many other roles besides blogger.
I am a writer
I write just about every day of the year. If I am not writing for my own blog, I am writing for someone else’s blog or I am working on an assignment that came from my blogging. Whatever the case, I am always writing.
I am an editor
I am often in the rather uncomfortable position of editing my own work. This is a situation in which my abilities and flaws as a writer do not mesh well with my abilities and flaws as an editor. I don’t always catch my mistakes. When I don’t, it is the editor’s fault. As editor, I also solicit and edit articles from outside sources. There, I am at least dealing with someone else’s flaws, which are often easier to recognize and fix.
I am a publisher
I own my blog. That means I own a publication. That publication has to have standards, and I am in charge of setting those standards. I am responsible for all of the things that appear on my site. I set the direction I want my blog to go in. In the end, everything about the publication is my decision. I am often put in a position of having to overrule the writer and the editor because I have to think of the big picture.
I am a designer
I wish I was a better one. I am at least smart enough not to rely entirely upon myself, although I assure you that it wasn’t an easy decision. I use a blog theme, and I paid some real money to make sure that I have a good theme. In the end though, the way things are placed on a page, the graphics I use, the font style, the font size, those are all up to me as the designer.
I am a marketer
I maintain a marketing strategy. It isn’t as well thought-out as it probably should be, but it includes advertising, networking, contests, branding, and publicity. I have a small budget (though better than some others) so I have to be creative and I have to stay on top of the latest trends.
I am a customer service representative
When I get a complaint about my blog, anything from the content to the design to the technical features, I am in charge of getting the problem fixed if it can be fixed. I am also in charge of making sure that the customer gets a satisfactory response that keeps them coming back. It isn’t always easy.
I am an analyst
I spend a great deal of my time looking at my web statistics. I pay attention to where people come from, what they look at while they are on my site, how long they stay and where they go when they leave. I also monitor revenue sources closely, because when they go down or up, I want to know why. Having this knowledge helps me plan for the future and to correct problems as they occur.
I am a web programmer
There are plenty of people who are better at this than I am, but I know enough to fix errors as they come up, and to make minor changes when needed. In the old days I could build a site from scratch, but at this point I have to be happy with being able to tweak someone else’s work to fit my needs.
I am a small business owner
As a small business owner I have to collect revenue and keep a budget. I have to weigh the pros and cons of investing money in the business versus taking the profit out of the business and using it to provide for my family. I have to do the accounting and the taxes and I have to decide when it is appropriate to buy new hardware, software, furniture and equipment. I have to decide whether the business is succeeding or failing and what to do to make things better.
I am all of these things and more
All of these role spring from my life as a blogger. They can be difficult to maintain and to separate. My needs as a small business owner or as a publisher are often at odds with my desires as a writer. I sometimes write or don’t write about a topic based on how I think it will be received versus the level of interest I have. I have to determine how far from my central topic (writing) I can stray. I have to decide if another writer is more appropriate for a topic than I am. I have to weigh issues of revenue versus design and content. I sometimes have to be nice when I really don’t want to be because the success of my blog carries more weight than my personal issues.
I am a blogger
These are the issues I deal with. I love it, but anyone thinking of blogging, especially for profit, had better be prepared to fill all of these roles and more. It is one hell of a ride.
*Stands and applauds*
John. Well said.
Way to break it down.
Writer Dads last blog post..Gosh, Golly, Darn it, Wow.
Amen!
Thank you guys. It felt good to write.
Very well said. I added you to my StumbleUpon site so I can keep reminding myself of how many hats we wear.
Beth from Avenue Zs last blog post..Please tell me this isn’t true
That was a great article. I think you’ve caught what it is in essence to be a blogger. A life I’m looking forward to diving in headfirst.
R. Alexander Spoerer
http://www.renegadesanctuary.com
@ Beth
Thank you for the stumble. I have had 93 visits already.
@ RAS
Welcome to the game. I have added your blog to my RSS.
John,
Although my blog isn’t monetized, I can still identify with all of these hats through my writing business.
And what you said about editing is so true—we editors find it easy to catch everyone’s mistakes but our own.
@ John. Thank you! It’s good to be in the game.
I think it’s a great exercise properly to analyse what one actually does and your article is very succinct at identifying the many different hats you wear to be a successful blogger. It helps one focus. I wonder what list you might have compiled had you analysed your service proposition e.g. “One Business, Many Services”.
@ Ewan
Or one blog, many audiences.
@ Lillie
Running any small business is a challenge. I am constantly amazed at the things my blog teaches me.
Nice one. When you are blogger you are actually all those people in one person. Very inspiring and admirable, wow!:)
Very inspirating,you can learn many things just by blogging a month or two.I was also in the blogging world but my blog didn’t get many traffic as i wanted so i quit that job.
@ A-waha and Tpss,
I do like to spread inspiration wherever I go. Thanks for the love.
Quite so. In fact, we do blogging and writing less and do marketing, SEO, promotion, and publication more. That’s why every blogger should include the other sections like I have done in my blog about creative writing, publishing, SEO
I enjoy Poewar, and have just bookmarked the site for further reviews.
Interestingly indeed, when you write and publish your works, you have to edit it, and in order to get enough readers, you have to market it, and in order for that, we have to optimize well for search engines.
That’s why most of the blogs successful ones out there, point posts to such categories as SEO every now and then. I believe the posters have to take care of other bloggers as well, since by posting their ways of promotion, the others can benefit as well quite well.
This has enabled me write my blog with all these important aspects and even included monetization of blogs as a topic.
Lenin Nairs last blog post..Point of View Thoughts in Fiction
I too thinking that Bloggers are jack of all trades and i am proud of It:)
Future Bellss last blog post..Do-Follow Resources: All you need to know about Do-Follow and No-Follow Blogs
You are a blogger. You are neither editor nor publisher. To pretend otherwise is to display your ignorance of the publishing profession.
You are a blogger. You are the Internet equivalent of a 14-year-old girl with her diary.
Dave, I think you’re taking a narrow view of two of the terms in this list. When I was in grad school for journalism, we were just beginning to study the ramifications of “publishing” works on the web before they were published in print.
Thus, even if you took the most strict view of “publisher” and limited it to things that weren’t printed, this blog is certainly still a very public venue where valuable information is disseminated to people who seek it. A 14-year-old girl with a diary is not an equivalent.
He also solicits and edits the work of others — thus he is, by any definition — an editor.
Beth from Avenue Zs last blog post..Dude, find a new word
Whether editor, publisher or blogger, it is with humour, courtesy and good grace.
Ahhh Dave,
If I accept your view, what does that make you?