I have a ton of blog posts to write today, but before I dive in and get started, I have to work out some thoughts that are jumbling around in my head. Please feel free to leave comments, but I want to say one thing- this post is NOT about paid posts. I’m not wrestling with my decision to monetize my blog. Rather, I’m thinking about this blog in general, as a whole, as a brand, and what I want it to say about me as a person, as a blogger. And about how I want to interact with the blogosphere.
See? Told you right up there in the title that I was having Deep Thoughts!
What prompted all of this was a visit I paid yesterday to a blog I’ve been reading for well over a year, one that has become extremely popular and rightfully so. She recently did a new redesign of her site, and it didn’t take me long to realize what was different. See, quite often when we start a new blog, we are all about letting visitors know where we see ourselves within the greater blogging community. We put up a blogroll and badges and links to other sites to say “these are the sites that I relate to”.
And there’s nothing wrong with doing that, of course. But what I have noticed, going into my third year of blogging, is that many of the blogs that were already established when I started have began to move away from blogrolls and badges and links to other sites. Instead, they become self-promotional, with the main page displaying just information about the author and their content.
Which leads me to wonder, what does it really mean to be a blogger? Is it just about promoting yourself, or is there a greater obligation to also promote the community that one’s blog belongs to? We all want other blogs to link to us, yet we don’t want to give away too much of our own precious sidebar space to linking back. The blogger that I referred to who did the site redesign has almost no links going out on her main page. She has her recent posts, her archives, and a link to her Flickr page. There’s no indication of where she sees herself within the greater blogging community, which leads me to another question-
Isn’t that the whole point of a personal blog, to focus on oneself? With all of the sites out there urging us in 36-point font to JOIN US! CREATE YOUR PROFILE PAGE! BE A MEMBER!, at what point to we spread ourselves so thinly that we forget where we were at the beginning? I have profile pages at so many different social networking sites, that I don’t have time to actually interact with any of the people who have befriended me on them.
But, I’m digressing. How we use our blogs, what we choose to put on our pages, who we choose to link to, all of that comes down to personal decisions. What works for one blogger isn’t necessarily going to work for another. Join groups, don’t join groups, link to other sites, don’t link to other sites. There’s no one formula that guarantees blog success. I’m not sure I’ll ever figure out my “place” in the blogosphere, I know I’ll eventually get tired of looking at the banner image in the header and look for something else, and I know I’ll constantly tinker with my sidebars. I’ll always hope for comments on posts and be thrilled when someone adds my blog to their blogroll.
I seem to have run out of thoughts. Have I mentioned that Chris is in Toronto on business, has been gone since last Thursday and won’t get home until this Friday night? All this non-stop parenting and housekeeping is using up my limited supply of brain cells 
Thanks for reading, my friends. I’m taking a short break and then I will be back with two DVD reviews and a Scholastic book giveaway. On MomReviews I have reviews of a CD and two DVDs to do, plus a giveaway of some cool new trading cards for girls. On MomCooks, I have this week’s Menu Plan to figure out! Plus parenting and stuff. Onward and forward.
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To me, blogs are so great, because they can be whatever the mom wants it to be.
Personally, I don’t have advertising, blogrolls, buttons, etc. on my blog sidebar because I’m a minimalist. I don’t have a problem with other bloggers who do, but for me, it’s too much going on visually.
However, I consistently link to other bloggers in posts/comment on other blogs/etc. (I think that is part of being a community.)
I guess in sum, my thoughts are like yours “to each his/her own”…I hope that you have fun on the journey!
Twitter: Table4Five
says:
Kimberly- Thanks for the comment! You must be doing something right, your blog has a page rank of 4, which means a lot of sites are linking back to you. Mine’s only a 2
Maybe I should rethink the whole crowded sidebar thing after all.
I’m sorry girl. You are so sweet and will do anything for anyone. It’s a shame that people are so selfish. It’s a good post and I hope they see it!
I just wrote a loooong comment, only to have it eaten up by wordpress…. ugggh. Maybe I will email you instead?
Twitter: AccidentalMommy
says:
My LOOOONG comment got eaten as well!
I am on Kim’s page. I have minimalized my sidebar because it was too busy and I like things clean and neat. Likewise, I try to be generous with linking to others.I’m in the process of moving to WordPress and I can’t wait to get my index buttons off my sidebar and onto a horizontal nav bar!!!!!
I did stop linking to people b/c it got to be too many. I do honor the blogs I read on my blogroll (a page I link to). I also stopped passing on awards. I appreciate each and every one, but it got silly there were so many, and passing them on was stressful.
At the same time, I hear what you’re saying and it has given me some food for thought. My blog’s focus has DEFINITELY changed as it has grown in readership and I hope to always be true to myself and the fabulous friends that I’ve made through blogging. Each one means the world to me. And YOU are one of them, dear!
Clarification: In paragraph #2, I was referring to buttons linking to others. I do link to others within my posts a lot!
I should proofread!
Interesting post. Okay, here we go:
First, I got here b/c I follow you on Twitter. I don’t have anything wrong with the shameless self-promotion all over Twitter (I do it myself) but I liked your tweet about having blogged about ‘personal stuff’ and so I checked out your blog. I’m glad I did (I typically don’t read the shameless promotion stuff, just fyi)
Second, your blog heading is beautiful. I love it. For several reasons, but if I don’t focus real hard here, I’ll digress (as I always do) and later on forget what I was trying to say…
Last but not least… I agree with you that ‘to each her/his own’ when it comes to why people blog but I think, like with anything these days, that the great, unique brands, or blogs, wind up getting ‘bought up’ by the Big Dogs. I think about a handbag designer that I used to love for her little creations of wonder (ostrich feathers and crystals galore)… all started on her dining room table and she was an overnight success in her little South Carolina neck o’ the woods. Her original website and branding reflected her true self and her successes. But then, Success knocked in her door, and suddenly she is a Brand and no longer a Woman. The little shop on the corner it now in upscale shopping malls worldwide and she is the Creative Director of a company that bought her out… so much for the little gal and her dining room table.
I guess thats what happens when you want Growth as your Ultimate Destination. I don’t know yet where I want to go. For now, I just like having my free little blog from Blogger where I can rant and rave about my strange life living on a cattle ranch, stuck in the middle of nowhere. I am amazed watching the Google Analytics that I am gaining readership from all over the world! Thats payment enough for me so far
Thanks for bringing me to your blog- its great!
OMG I’m horrified by all of my spelling errors. I hit Post before I checked- I’m SORRY!
Twitter: CorrinRenee
says:
I’ve never been much for sidebar clutter, and I just recently redesigned my blog and trimmed my links down even more.
I think I’m one of those rare monetized bloggers that doesn’t pay attention to stats, has rarely been involved in blog rolls, and only comments on blogs that I would read even if I wasn’t a blogger myself. That’s reflected in the fact that I’m not making thousands of dollars a month blogging, but I also think it adds something more to my blogging. At least for me, and hopefully for my readers.
If I like you, your blog, your product, or you throw some pennies my way, that warrants linking, commenting, badges, and such.
Twitter: Table4Five
says:
Lori-Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, sweetie. I miss you, you know. I wish we could be neighbors!
Just wanted you to know that I was here, although I don’t have too much to add. I’ve been thinking about sidebar stuff lately, too, but considering that I really just need to WRITE ALREADY! I’m putting that on the back burner.
I’ve said it before, but I really love your new header.
Twitter: blm03
says:
I think our blogs reflect where we are in our lives. When I started, I had every widget everyone gave me. Now, I am a lot more picky and I try to keep my sidebars as clean as possible (which is still a work in progress).
Like you, I am all for a template change when needed.
I’ve also noticed this. I kind of feel the same way you do, that if we want people to promote our blogs, we should promote others’ blogs. Which brings me to the question I’ve been meaning to ask you: Do you have a Table4Five widget I can add to my sidebar?
I was just thinking about this myself … about how varied blogs are. Some are like a personal diary, others are like a business website, and then there is the hybrid. Many blogs lack focus altogether, as evidenced by the LONG list of categories in their sidebar, but others are so narrowly focused that there is no warmth at all … they are kind of like visiting a business run by robots. I prefer to do business at mom and pop shops … where the owners are working the register, and they greet you by name when you happen by.
yes you have strong will and I believe that strong will will change ur blog into a brand.
keep on
.-= grace´s last blog ..Avalon –coQ10 wrinkle defence night cream review =-.