Stop Your Crying – Blogging Isn’t Just For Kids

Well, you asked for it Mitch. LOL I had already read this post, as well as the previous one, and I respectfully disagree with much of it. Since you invited my rant, I mean reaction, I’ll do my best not to make it about me and, of course, I will remain respectful.

Anyone that read that opening statement couldn’t possibly skip this one. 😉 The truth is, for anyone that doesn’t already know, I’ve been friends with Mitch for many years, and I cannot think of a single person I know online that I respect more than Mitch Mitchell.

Okay, here we go…

First, the statement,

I know these folks care more about how many people they can get subscribed to their newsletter or how many products they can sell than they actually care about the readers”,

seems totally unfair.

It’s not unfair that the statement isn’t true, the idea that their business motives are somehow wrong, deceptive, or inappropriate. They’re not. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using a blog to sell products, build a list, or just use it for earning trust and developing influence.

In my opinion, and that’s all this is, we need to stop with the “purist” notion of blogging.

This “starving artist” (with a few exceptional standouts) mentality is hurting the platform.

Or at the very least, recognize that blogs are, and can be, a tool for business. In fact, blogs can legitimately be many things at once, including great content mixed with a marketing message – just not in the same breath on the same post.

Here’s the deal, I’ve been blogging since 2004, shortly after Google bought Blogger. I can even remember when we could easily add an image to a blog post for the first time – he says in a weak old man’s voice. lol My first site was in 1999 on GeoCities. Remember them?

Oh snap, I said I’d do my best not to make it about me. Happens every time. Wait, what were we talking about?

Oh, popups. Hold on, I’m getting there.

So my point is, for over a decade (I gave myself a couple of years of padding), I’ve been shouting to the masses (All 14 people that read my blog) that almost everyone can have a blog. I’ve been paid to sit in conference rooms and explain how blogging and content marketing can, and should, benefit their business.

Okay, I know you may be screaming that you never said businesses shouldn’t blog, you just hate popups.

But you see, that’s tying the hands of business blogs in the name of purism.

A blog can be an extension of our soul, as much art as a painting or naked ladies made from clay – gracefully spinning on a turntable between my hands, caressing my fingers… Sorry.

Or, a blog can be a tool. A blog as a tool is every bit as legitimate as a blog that is written solely for an audience. In fact, I’d argue that they both can exist together within the same blog.

Let me say that again – bloggers CAN offer amazing content for free, build a list, and offer products, all in perfect harmony and without upsetting the time/space continuum. I’ve been teaching exactly that for years.

Here I go, this is me getting to the point…

So, as bloggers and content creators, we give, and give, and give. We give our heart and soul and freely help others – for free.

After all that value (a very over and misused word, by the way), how dare we have the audacity to activate a tiny little invitation, in the form a distracting pop-up, to join our list!

Wait, did I say invitation? I should have said invasion, right?

Who do these bloggers think they are? The next thing you know, they’ll be asking us to buy something.

Pay for something? That’s why we have Walmart and Coney Island. No, that blogger should build a list on their own time, as long as it doesn’t get in my way.

I don’t care if they have helped millions, have a family to feed, and work 10 hours a day at a job they hate. I read blogs for my benefit and shouldn’t be bothered with some writer’s true agenda – more readers and more money. How dare they!

Seriously? Are we actually ranting about a list building tool – an effective one at that (I know, it’s debatable but that’s not the issue) – on someone’s blog that may be changing lives for the better, because it’s such a tragic annoyance?

Is it really? Is it really that much of an annoyance? Can you? Can you wipe out that much red?

If tests show popups work on someone’s blog, bringing in the right subscriber, and that’s a major roll for the blog, who am I to object to the marketing method? I certainly don’t think the popup voids all potential value within the content provided.

Popups do not ruin a reader’s experience unless they allow it to. I will admit I don’t care for many of the distractions myself, but I would still counsel bloggers to make business decisions based on effectiveness and not my personal preference.

You say you have a problem with people who in one voice say they are there for the people and in another voice, aka action, are doing the very thing that alienates us from wanting to deal with them.

I say, that’s about as unreasonable as it gets.

It sounds like you’re saying that if someone adds a popup to build a list or offer a product so that they can help even more people in even more ways, they’re somehow two-faced because you didn’t get to read the content you came for before you seen an ad? Seriously?

I will certainly admit that popups do have the potential to hurt a brand (As you know, bloggers and business are brands) but that has more to do with timing, message, and strategy than it does distraction.

Ask me to buy a pair of shoes before I get in the store and I’m likely to walk away – but that’s another topic.

Again, I respectfully disagree. You know I love you Mitch, and I’m not going to say you’re wrong – but you know I’m right. I know you won’t admit it – but you know. If you need some tissue, send me a DM on Twitter, I don’t read those either. LOL