The Fine Line Between to Professional Blogging

When I first started blogging in 2006 the very last thing on my mind was taking any of my blogs professional.  The medium was new and I was very much wet behind the ears using the medium.  For at least one of my blogs the idea now is definitely taking it to the professional level.  The traffic is excellent and it is earning a tidy monthly income quite nicely.  There really is a fine line in taking a blog to the professional level. 

I'd love to sit here and tell you how I got this blog to that level but the reality is I have 8 blogs, 2 of which are private.  Of my six blogs the cooking blog has become quite successful.  I heavily promote this blog so the success has not come without a lot of hard work.  Here are a few things I did to make this blog successful and what I continue to work on for my other blogs:

• content - Without the content this blog would not exist.  Content got me the attention of the search engines and content keeps their attention.  Seriously without the attention of the search engines a blog is about as good as dead.  The primary focus of all of my blogs has been content.
• promotion - I use a wide range of promotion methods for all of my blogs but this particular blog tends to get promoted a bit more.  Promotion involves more than just online sources or at least it does for me.  I have family, friends and neighbours follow my blogs.  I use a combination of online advertising and social networking to help promote my blogs.  Promotion also includes regular pinging
• listen to my readers - I use a variety of methods to get my reader's input.  It is easy for them to click a link to email me directly and other than comment moderation easy to leave comments.  While I draw the line at comment spam and personal attacks other comments are allowed and I try very hard to at the very least respond to those comments.  
• listen to the search engines - I'm sorry but if you aren't going to listen to what the search engines want or are looking for the traffic from them will dry up.  I use a variety of techniques to get and keep the attention of the search engines. 
• experimentation - I am seriously not scared to do a bit of experimenting on my blogs.  I'm always tinkering with my blogs.  From time to time I come across recommendations from other bloggers so occasionally I will try one of their tips.  The bottom line is they are really sharing what works for them because when it comes to blogging no one is an expert.  If it works great but if it doesn't I'm not scared to try something else.  I take the same approach to advertising and promotion.  Experimenting is a huge part of blog promotion because you never know what is going to work or if it will work but if it does work you have to be prepared to run with it. 

I really question whether professional blogging even exists.  I'm not talking about blogs that are part of companies that in essence are another form of their promotion.  I'm talking about blogs where a person only blogs, makes a living solely off of their blog(s) and that's it.  Can it happen, certainly it is possible but not very likely and especially without using tactics such as selling your ebooks on your blog(s).  The donation button is certainly not going to do it and a lot of times the ebooks being sold are pimping a glorified MLM type of deal.  Advertising can certainly bring in a tidy profit definitely enough to supplement your income but not enough to say your blog is professional.

Is income the deciding factor as to whether a blog is professional or not.   I really don't think so!  If a blogger is sincere and honest about what they are doing then my feeling is they are every bit as professional as a blogger who was hired to do a blog for some type of commercial site.  Both can be equally professional but with different motivators.  At any rate there is a fine line that once crossed takes you over to professional blogging.

Garden Gnome
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