Is Blogging Dead

Hint: it's not

Since the day the internet came into our lives (and yes, I'm old enough that the internet was not in my home until high school) people have been finding ways to connect with each other online.

First we had GeoCities, Yahoo groups and AIM. And blogs. And like all things new and shiny, everyone wanted to get one. So they did.

Shoot, so did I. And every author on the planet ran out and got a blog. Put up their first post of "Hi, this is who I am" and then stared at the screen and wondered what they should do next.

But not everyone needs to have a blog, though I happen to be fairly partial to them.

Before deciding if you should have a blog, you need to determine if you have something to say. Which seems like that would be obvious, but isn't. A lot of authors have blogs because they think they should. And those are the blogs with random updates that leave readers guessing what the topic of the day will be. A blog that doesn't have a clear message will discover that no one is tuning in.

So what should you say?

Heck if I know. Because I have no idea what you know.

It took me a while t0 find my voice here. If you go back and read my early blog posts (please don't do this) you'll see that I'm all over the place. And my blog stats reflected that. Readers were sporadic and far from numerous.

But then I took a step back and asked myself "what do I have to say?" I really took some time to think about what I knew that other people would want to know. It didn't take long to realize that my degree in Marketing and years of experience in Marketing could easily translate into a blog about Marketing books.

But there is one other step outside of having something to say. And that's having something to say that other people want to hear. It's great if you know everything about the history of thimbles, but I don't think there's a huge audience for that. So make sure that what you have to say is reasonably interesting. That said, you'd be surprised what others find interesting.

So, is blogging dead? I don't think so. I think blogging about nothing Seinfeld style out into the webisphere and expecting thousands of people to tune in is not going to happen. But if you have something to say that other people want to hear, blogging can (and is) a great way to grow your platform.

And speaking of a platform (because this blog is part of mine), I'm asking for your help this week with my Thunderclap campaign. It only takes a minute, costs nothing, and helps me spread the word for the cover reveal of Rite of Revelation, coming up on 10/28. Signing up earns you a big virtual hug from yours truly. Thanks in advance! Now go have a great Back to the Future day!