In the “olden days” of blogging, it seemed you could start a blog about anything and everyone would love it. Nowadays, everyone and their dogs and cats are blogging. So, is the old saying “If you blog, they will come” little more than an artifact of blogging mythology now? Well, as with many myths, the saying is founded in some truth. Let’s look at where this idea came from and just how accurate it is today.
Blogging is still a great medium. Some will argue vlogging and livestreaming will replace blogging in the long run, and they well may do that. In fact, people now seem to think if you vlog, people will come in droves. There’s some truth to that, just as blogging was over a decade ago. That’s because video is a more popular medium today, for better or worse, than plain text. Videos are, for many people, easier to consume. Marketing experts keep saying it. Since many people are highly visual learners, that’s probably true.
What was the reason blogs could take off so easily years ago, then? Of course, streaming video was much more difficult in years past. There was also a lot less competition in the blogosphere. You could become an authority very easily on a wide range of topics. By 2020, every popular niche has become pretty well covered.
Really, vlogging and blogging are just creating content on different mediums. When you’re a pro blogger, it can be like producing a little TV show or mini-movie with each video you make. That’s why some video content creators prefer livestreams, letting the viewers have more of a say in the direction of the show.
That isn’t to say blogging is easier than vlogging, either. But, with blogging, it’s easier to remain anonymous. That’s probably why it’s still so popular for a great many topics. Still, while vlogging is growing extremely quickly, competition is growing ever fiercer! In fact, it may even be harder than blogging if you start now! With venues like YouTube, though, your potential audience is a bit easier to reach, which is why some people prefer it.
As with anything online, though, you can get found if you really do your homework and become extremely great at selling your work. If you are really set on starting a blog, a vlog, podcast, or some combination of those, don’t be discouraged! It just takes far more work now only because more people are doing it. Sometimes, you just have to find a very specific niche that no one’s covered well enough. That’s often where the money is now.
With the right networking, a ton of hard work, and a little luck, you can realize something of your content creation dreams. Will success happen overnight like it may once have done? Probably not. But, you won’t know what might happen until you do it a little bit at a time!
“If you blog, they will come” is still partly true. The trick with blogging or vlogging is to be consistent! Just remember, getting started is the hardest part, so if you want to jump into content creation, don’t delay!
~ Amelia <3
2 thoughts on “If You Blog, Will They Come?”
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The main issue creatives are now dealing with is basically the oversaturation of blogs, vlogs, and podcasts. In the old days, very few people had websites, whereas today it seems that everyone posts online, and when social media posts are published almost continuously, this only adds more content to the already oversaturated internet.
That’s why people try to produce more content than ever, when really the trick is to find the most effective distribution channels. Now that I think of it, that’s probably a topic I should write about!