Friday, February 21, 2014

I used to be a blogger.


I used to be a blogger.

Yes, I was. And I must say that I wasn’t just a blogger, but I was an active blogger. I blogged in the morning, I blogged in the afternoon, I blogged in the evening. Heck! I used to even dream about blogging!

It was fun, addicting and therapeutic. Being in my own little corner in the blogosphere, pouring my soul out through my blog, unmindful of the fact that no one was reading my posts.

Then I met other bloggers online. I began to have readers and I started reading other blogs. I began interacting online, made some friends and my own little corner on the web got wider. It made blogging more interesting.

I also learned that I am not confined to my own personal experiences in blogging. I can also share my thoughts and views on what’s happening around me – in sports, politics, entertainment, business, and anything I can share my two-cent’ worth of opinion. Blogging could be my voice!

So I did! Delved into politics when I used to be apolitical. Shared my thoughts on movies and personalities when I am really not much into the entertainment industry. Talked about boxing when I do not even follow the sport.

And this is what made me more excited about blogging – that I can earn money through my blogs! Goody! Doing something I really love and earning money on the side. What could be better than that?!

But it wasn’t easy. I began hearing about search engine optimization (SEO), online advertisement, online affiliate marketing, online writing opportunities, and other online money-making buzz!

Then I heard about blogging events and bloggers’ meet-ups and I said to myself, “Hey! I’m a blogger, I should be there!”

So I started attending blogging events and bloggers’ meet-ups. Met bloggers in the real world and heard some inspiring, motivational, as well as some horrific blogging experiences. It was kind of weird at first though… it felt like I was listening to the blogs talking.

Getting my voice heard on current issues… income opportunities… inspiring bloggers… what could go wrong?!

Fast forward… I now consider myself lucky if I could get at least a blog post every six months.

What happened? Honestly, I don’t know. I just lost my blogging zest.

Never got to see those floating moolahs online, never got to understand SEO, never got any decent writing opportunity and got too tired on sinking my teeth on issues I don’t even want to take a bite into.

And bloggers? Just like any real people – some are good, some are bad, some are real, some are nice, some are mean, and some are everything in between.

At the end of the day, blogging was no longer fun.

I had much fun… freedom, when blogging for me was just sitting there in my own little corner and writing just about anything that might only make sense to me… when blogging was as natural as breathing and there were no keywords to consider and no target audience to think about, but just letting your soul breathe.

Blogging was fun when a blogger was not defined – SE0, events, product launchings, influencers, marketers, public relations, money-makers, reviewers, fact (which were often just opinions) presenters, and the like. I am not saying that those are bad, but they just don’t fit me.

I miss my old blogging self… believe me, I used to be a blogger.


(And if you noticed that I seem to cut my post and omitted some points, it only shows how bad I am a blogger right now)



2 comments:

  1. I finally arrived at a similar conclusion, Roy. And after taking a nice, long break, I'm back to blogging - the way I did in the beginning, when it suits me, and on topics I find interesting enough to write about. If the single adsense ad ever earns me any money, it'll go towards the hosting fees. But I'm not focused on that. I don't worry about it. What happened? Burn out. That's what happened. I'm in recovery - how about you?

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    Replies
    1. I don't know if I can even say I am on the road to recovery right now, Holly. I have attempted so many times before to get back but I always stumble and get back to the start box. I am not even sure if I still want to get back, actually.

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