The Death of Personal Development Blogging

[Ralphiej]

So I was reading an article about the death of blogging. I understood the reality that many people are blogging less because they don't have to anymore. Blogging was a way to communicate with friends and promote a business. Facebook has taken care of communicating with friends and Twitter has brought marketing to a whole other level.

What about the other bloggers? The ones who had advice and wanted to share it with the world. Well, they're dying off too (at least their blogs are). I think most people saw Steve Pavlina succeed in blogging and asumed they could do the same. I know some good bloggers that have thrown in the towel because they were unable to duplicate the success they've expected.

I'm lucky enough to say that my blog has had some really great months, and I can also say that there have been some tough months. But I'm staying in the game and I think you should too and heres why:

1. If you love sharing motivation information and changing lives.
It's what I'm on this planet to do. I speak to associations, universities, high schools, just about anyone who wants to hear me share my experience and information.You can't talk to me for five minutes without hearing me say something about personal development or motivation.

2. If you have good content, continue.
The death of the blogs that don't really offer value is a good thing. The fact that they are not clogging up the market makes good content more valuable.

3. Because, "90% of failure comes from quitting."-Paul J Meyer.
I told you that you couldn't talk to me for 5 minutes without hearing about personal development or motivation.

PD Bloggers Unite!!!

[Abitofzen]

I'm definitely sticking with it.

There is always some new hype about what's hot, what's not... what model is dying, and what the latest new thing is. Sometimes this 'news' is useful and/or accurate... and quite frequently it isn't.

The same is true of blogs. Maybe it's just on a plateau... or maybe this is the swan song of blogging.

There is, however, an important principle to mention:

Great information is priceless!

I offer it on my blog.

I know several other people that offer it on thiers.

As long as people appreciate great information, there will be a place for tools like blogging... will blogging remain the most effective tool to distribute the information?

Maybe not... but hopefully those of us who are into personal development won't have too much trouble changing with the times...

keep smiling,

Ben

[freewheelnat]

Most of the first generation of bloggers got into it for the right reasons, ie they were excited by this new way of communicating and they learned how to use it as they did it.

Most of the second generation of bloggers got into it for the wrong reasons, ie they heard success stories and tried to replicate them.

Now it's time for the third generation of bloggers, ie those who know what the medium can do for them and who have decided it is the right place and way to share their knowledge.

Blogging 3.0 has arrived

[spirit4711]

The topic of this thread is a great blog post title .

I've started blogging 3 months ago (not on PD) and I love it, but it is an obligation too. I'll keep on going for at least a year.

[gerber]

I love sharing my experiences, my thoughts and my ideas with other people. This is the main reason why I will continue with my personal development blog.

Yes, I can do all this on Facebook or Twitter, but a blog post allows me to go far more in-depth. And then I mention on Facebook and Twitter that I have created a new blog post, so it's really more of an integration of blogging and social media.

[bluedragon]

I will always continue to write, but only when I have something really good to say. During the last 2 months I wrote very few articles partly because almost nobody is visiting my site (20-40 visitors per day) and almost nobody comments, and partly because I felt I still have much to learn about certain topics. But as I keep learning, I will improve my writing and my marketing skills and I will make it work.

[Gazzali]

Originally Posted by Ralphiej

So I was reading an article about the death of blogging. I understood the reality that many people are blogging less because they don't have to anymore. Blogging was a way to communicate with friends and promote a business. Facebook has taken care of communicating with friends and Twitter has brought marketing to a whole other level.

What about the other bloggers? The ones who had advice and wanted to share it with the world. Well, they're dying off too (at least their blogs are). I think most people saw Steve Pavlina succeed in blogging and asumed they could do the same. I know some good bloggers that have thrown in the towel because they were unable to duplicate the success they've expected.

I'm lucky enough to say that my blog has had some really great months, and I can also say that there have been some tough months. But I'm staying in the game and I think you should too and heres why:

1. If you love sharing motivation information and changing lives.
It's what I'm on this planet to do. I speak to associations, universities, high schools, just about anyone who wants to hear me share my experience and information.You can't talk to me for five minutes without hearing me say something about personal development or motivation.

2. If you have good content, continue.
The death of the blogs that don't really offer value is a good thing. The fact that they are not clogging up the market makes good content more valuable.

3. Because, "90% of failure comes from quitting."-Paul J Meyer.
I told you that you couldn't talk to me for 5 minutes without hearing about personal development or motivation.

PD Bloggers Unite!!!

To me blogging is an avenue of finding an alternative to employment. I am still searching for that alternative...hope i can find that kind of platform

[Gene]

I have been blogging since 2003. I blog for many reasons but the most important reason I continue to blog is that I hope what I write and the audios I give away for free as well as the custom audios I produce help people in some way.

I do make money from my audios as I charge for many of my custom audios. I hope to provide value and help people. I post infrequently on my blog but expect to continue maintaining and adding to my blog for many years.

[neomonk]

Originally Posted by bluedragon

I will always continue to write, but only when I have something really good to say. During the last 2 months I wrote very few articles partly because almost nobody is visiting my site (20-40 visitors per day) and almost nobody comments, and partly because I felt I still have much to learn about certain topics. But as I keep learning, I will improve my writing and my marketing skills and I will make it work.

Don't be afraid to seed your comments with fake comments to encourage real ones. It works well.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Blogging is going by the wayside, which means only the really good blogs will survive. I guess this means that only the blogs that provide real and genuine value that stands the test of time will survive. My blog has suffered greatly, but it's no concern to me because I haven't been posting there as frequently. I also changed the theme of my blog from personal development to something completely different because I don't feel writing about PD is authentic to my life. I have different stories to share in a different context.

I wouldn't say blogging is dead, but it is getting into its twilight years. Facebook may be part of the problem. God, I hate facebook. But it's here, and we'd better get used to it.

[BlueCrane]

To blog or not to blog - I don't think that is really the question. May be as the sole method of communicating on the internet it has certain limitations, but luckily it can be integrated into larger web applications now.

I use blogging in combination with other functionality and services on my websites now and the versatility and choices you have these days make or break the winners.

[Dogs]

Hmm.. I'm familiar with web logs, but.. I've never read them much, thought about it much, had any interest in it, or anything else for that matter..

though I do love preeching to people who need it.. You know the ones..

"I can't do this, that, the other, blah blah, too much stuff in the way, etc etc, can't do it! LIFE SUCKS!"

It aint necessarily so...

so how do blogs factor in, and what is the goal?

[YourHumbleNarrator]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

I wouldn't say blogging is dead, but it is getting into its twilight years. Facebook may be part of the problem. God, I hate facebook. But it's here, and we'd better get used to it.

Yes. Facebook is the downfall of everything good and you have to use it. Nevermind that this whole social networking thing has probably reached its peak and it's either nearing or on its decline.

I like this motto: "Don't complain, innovate." It's what impaul is doing and I'm betting he'll be pretty successful. Or if tech stuff isn't your bag, move on to something else. Just don't play the victim when you're clearly not.

[James81]

Wow, you all are a bunch of Debbie Downers.

1. I don't see how you can compare facebook and twitter to blogging. Those are two completely different mediums. Especially twitter, which is just random one or two word sentences thrown up at random times. Facebook is a social networking site. Blogs are meant to convey information and are really a piss poor way of social networking. So, perhaps you hold a belief that blogs are about social networking that is perhaps flawing your own personal experiences?

2. By your logic, message boards should be long dead. message boards are the oldest of the bunch, if I remember correctly. But one good trip to: The largest Message Boards and Forums on the web! will show you that they are in no way near on the decline in use as a medium for socializing. And while myspace and facebook and twitter have put a dent in it, message boards are still going strong because they offer something that those other sites don't.

That being said, perhaps you are trying to convey that the market for blogs has become saturated to the point where if you aren't producing extremely high quality posts and offering extreme value, then you, at best, will only ever be mediocre at blogging.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with that.

Secondly, then, the idea isn't that blogs are dying. The idea is that you need to continously looking for new and exciting ways to make your blog unique. You need to comb every post with a fine tooth comb for grammar. And, this goes without saying, but you HAVE to be at least a decent writer with something new to bring to the table.

It's not as easy as sitting down and typing up a 500 word post and hitting submit. Blogging takes work. A lot of work.

[ricky]

Yeah I don't think we can compare facebook and twitter to blogging. Blogging is not dying off. Blogs that were started for the wrong reason are dying off.
Even though a lot of people start blogging to help others, in time if no one reads their blogs they too get disheartened and eventually stop.
If they see that people are actually reading their blogs and benefiting from them then they would continue.
I have gone through a lot in my life and blogging is a way of sharing my story with others. My hope is to help someone, even one person with my story.
And since I'm not giving up on life, I want to share my journey with others, again to maybe motivate others, maybe encourage others.
But if no one read my blog for over a year or so, I don't know how long I would have continued for.
I get tremendous benefit from reading blogs of other people involved in personal development. In times of despair, sometimes it's blogs like those that keep me going.
And I realized that in order for people to actually benefit from my blog, they would have to first find my blog so that's when I started tweaking my blog for keywords, SEO and so on.

Like John D. Rockefeller said " Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing."

[Gazzali]

It really depends on how you say things in a different way.. I am staying.

[Aleksander Krstic]

Originally Posted by neomonk

Don't be afraid to seed your comments with fake comments to encourage real ones. It works well.

Nah not in alignment with Truth, if you've read Steve's book.

It's not like that I'm still blogging, but I would never do that.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Aleksander Krstic

Nah not in alignment with Truth, if you've read Steve's book.

It's not like that I'm still blogging, but I would never do that.

Yeah, me neither.

If I'm not getting responses to my posts, then I know that it's because my posts have no response value and that I need to improve my posts in some way.

[Daffy Duck]

You know what I would like to see die in personal development blogging? The idea that "if you work for someone else, you're an uncreative corporate slave." I'm disappointed that Leo from Zenhabits has started to promote this false idea as well, as evidenced in his post today. It seems many the big personal development bloggers say this at one time or another.

Being self-employed is great. I did it for a couple years. But I didn't go around making silly over-generalized statements about others who had a "normal" career. Not everyone who works for a corporation is a "slave," and not every personal development guy is a Green Living Blogging Ebook Selling Vegetarian.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

You know what I would like to see die in personal development blogging? The idea that "if you work for someone else, you're an uncreative corporate slave." I'm disappointed that Leo from Zenhabits has started to promote this false idea as well, as evidenced in his post today. It seems many the big personal development bloggers say this at one time or another.

Being self-employed is great. I did it for a couple years. But I didn't go around making silly over-generalized statements about others who had a "normal" career. Not everyone who works for a corporation is a "slave," and not every personal development guy is a Green Living Blogging Ebook Selling Vegetarian.

The interesting thing is that you can become MORE of a slave by working for yourself than you can working a job if you let it happen. I work 40 hours a week in a job right now. I know people who own their own business who work double that and MORE. And, like my mom told me yesterday about working for yourself, if you're not working at it, it's at the very least always on your mind. To me,that sounds like "slave" mentality moreso than my piddly 40 hours a week-when I walk out the door it's history-slavepaying job.

Not to say I like my job, but you're right...you can be a slave to any form of work whether you are your own boss or not.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

... not every personal development guy is a Green Living Blogging Ebook Selling Vegetarian.

And not every personal development blogging guy is a guy, either.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Angela

And not every personal development blogging guy is a guy, either.

Only the good ones, amirite?



*strikes off "make an incredibly sexist joke" from his list of things to do today*

[beatnix]

Originally Posted by James81

Wow, you all are a bunch of Debbie Downers.

1. I don't see how you can compare facebook and twitter to blogging. Those are two completely different mediums. Especially twitter, which is just random one or two word sentences thrown up at random times. Facebook is a social networking site. Blogs are meant to convey information and are really a piss poor way of social networking. So, perhaps you hold a belief that blogs are about social networking that is perhaps flawing your own personal experiences?

2. By your logic, message boards should be long dead. message boards are the oldest of the bunch, if I remember correctly. But one good trip to: The largest Message Boards and Forums on the web! will show you that they are in no way near on the decline in use as a medium for socializing. And while myspace and facebook and twitter have put a dent in it, message boards are still going strong because they offer something that those other sites don't.

That being said, perhaps you are trying to convey that the market for blogs has become saturated to the point where if you aren't producing extremely high quality posts and offering extreme value, then you, at best, will only ever be mediocre at blogging.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with that.

Secondly, then, the idea isn't that blogs are dying. The idea is that you need to continously looking for new and exciting ways to make your blog unique. You need to comb every post with a fine tooth comb for grammar. And, this goes without saying, but you HAVE to be at least a decent writer with something new to bring to the table.

It's not as easy as sitting down and typing up a 500 word post and hitting submit. Blogging takes work. A lot of work.

Excellent post. Thank you, James

[ar81]

Facebook: You may gain friends, and also enemies. Your social interaction may fail.
Twitter: You may get into trouble if you broadcast the wrong thing. It is specially bad in business.
Message boards: Moderators may ban you in hostile forums. Members may not like long posts.
Blog: It is a space for you and your rants, long or short. If someone does not like an entry, that's not your problem.

[FazK]

I don't think blogging is dead it's just not as new as it once was. There is also a lot more competition nowadays than there used to be. I think that anyone who wants to be a blogger today is going to have to raise to level of their game massively