Why do YOU blog? Get it right.

Much has been said in the South African blogosphere lately about the state of, well, blogging.

The debate revolves around the quality of blogposts, which has led to a distinction between professional and amateur blogging – namely blogging as a professional on a certain topic or industry; or blogging for the sake of sharing your opinions and insights related to certain subjects near and dear to your heart (as an amateur).

Gino Cosme feels: “Blogging is a useful communication tool that, when executed properly with an ‘authentic, humble and honest voice’, can be used to build relationships with targeted users.”

However, this is easier said than done.

Nic Haralambous comments that a downside of amateur blogging is the incoherent posts that emerge. The correct way to do it (whether you’re a professional or an amateur) is to: “have an opinion, be conclusive, state things, back them up, do a tiny bit of a research and… pop in a link. You don’t have to rehash things that other people might already have explained – it’s the nature of the internet, hyperlink it.”

He adds that professional bloggers should do more than merely ‘blog for money’, as blogging is only a viable source of income if you can keep and increase your audience. Professionals can still be creative and think ‘out of the box’ in their blogging. Nic concludes: “If you are careful and smart about your blog, you can gain a very strong following and a very good reputation in a relatively short period of time”.

Simply put, it’s about getting your message across in a clear way. I lean towards Dave Duarte’s view, that: “The true essence of blogging… remains with the amateur enthusiast who writes about the subject s/he believes in, and participates in a community of other amateur bloggers who have a similar interest in the subject.”

It’s also a good idea to get a feel for what your readers actually want from you. Mike Stopforth asked this question on his blog a few months ago, in an effort to ‘be a better blogger’. This sparked a few interesting responses, but the overall request from Mike’s readers was simply for more about what Mike’s passionate about.

General consensus among these social media specialists seems to be that keeping your blog audience interested – whether professional or amateur – lies in caring about your topic, and letting this show in your writing.

Point taken!