Is blogging dead?

You're reading Boss Creator Bulletin—5-minute (or less) weekly insights empowering you to become a more confident content creator. I hope this issue benefits you and your content projects. Ready? Let's get to it! 

By the way, this issue contains affiliate links, so I may receive a small (tiny) commission if you use one to make a purchase.

I started blogging around 2007 on Blogger.com before creating a self-hosted WordPress blog via the domain hosting provider Hostmonster, a very different scene from what's online now.

I taught myself HTML to customize my blog before it became a digital "mag" with other writers. Dominating SEO seemed more straightforward back then because competition for long-tail keywords was less fierce.

Nowadays, unless you master SEO or work with a competent expert, your posts on a traditional blog are unlikely to outperform big companies with large ad budgets and massive audiences.

Hence, the recent misguided belief that blogging is dead.

Granted, writing and publishing content on a dedicated "blog" platform is traditionally called "blogging," but the landscape for blogging has evolved.

In many ways, blogging or having a blog is semantics. 

Regularly publishing written content on any platform could be considered "blogging" because, at its core, blogging is the process of writing and sharing material (articles and essays about an event, situation, or topic) on a website.

💡Sharing content via social captions could be considered micro-blogging.

Most folks get sidetracked (or sidelined) by the idea of blogging because they believe "blogging" is strictly sharing personal essays, which is not the case.

For a time, blogging bridged the gap between journalism and creative writing—they are not the same thing, nor are they mutually exclusive.   

Instead of getting hung up on the semantics of "blogging," find your creative voice—your distinct brand, tone, or how you "speak" to your audience and a publishing platform.

A self-hosted website or blog is your internet property. Or you could use social media or another publishing platform like: 

• LinkedIn

• Medium

• Ghost

• Write.as

• Or Buy Me A Coffee

Consider this: You'll likely never out-SEO LinkedIn, but you can "borrow" SEO by publishing content there. 

The trick to successful "blogging" is consistently and regularly publishing content.

Of course, I highly recommend owning your medium—publishing content on platforms you control. Then, re-purposing your content to use the SEO of other popular platforms and websites will help more people find you and connect with your content (i.e., your articles, essays, vlogs (video blogs), podcast episodes, etc.).

Why bother blogging (in the traditional sense or otherwise)?

1. The world needs more authentic voices: Your message, voice, and journey. 

2. You can inspire others with your life experience and expertise.

3. You create values-aligned content that positively impacts your readers. 

4. You can turn your passions into profit.

5. Blogging boosts your "brand" awareness (more folks learn about you) and increases organic traffic to your business or passion project.

Yeah, one could argue that traditional blogging is dead IF you strictly rely on outdated techniques. However, regularly publishing content on your owned internet property (a blog or website) PLUS re-sharing your content on a popular platform could be your path to blogging success. 

What do you think? Is blogging dead?

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading!

~Jae

P.S. If you're just getting started with writing online for your business or passion project or want a quick system to level up, try this.

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