Professional VS Personal: Blog Identity Crisis Solved
Last week I vented a conundrum I've constantly faced with my blog. Heck, a lot of bloggers face this at some point or another. It was hard to decide whether or not my blog should be strictly marketing based or throw in some journal entries here and there. Thanks to some great advice from the comments and co-workers I think I've finally decided what to do.
Two different blogs.
I've had a blog going on Tumblr for a while now but don't really do a lot with it. A lot of times, I'll just post random pictures, reblog some posts and...that's abouto it. No real writing. However, I played around with some different themes and figured out a way to allow people to subscribe via email. Lack of a subscription option is what really stopped me from really pursuing Tumblr as a journaling endeavor. Tonight, I found a theme that played nice with extra email links and decided on my dual blogging quest.
One person I learn a ton from is business blogger @tanveernaseer. He suggested in the comments that I keep the two separate. His thoughts were that narrowing the subject matter will give readers a better expectation of what to read on a blog. A blog that lacks focus - in his opinion - will lose a readership quickly. And I agree with him.
I also have friends and family from my hometown and other places that like to keep up with what I'm doing. For the most part, Brain Wads has been that only source outside of personal correspondence. I realize that I've probably lost my initial loyal readership because not all of them are interested in the more marketing/tech focuses of this blog. Having a subscription opt-in through Thought Spams (my Tumblr journal) will help build a solution for that.
For those of you who are just curious about what goes on Thought Spasms without leaving this site, I'll be keeping a Thought Spasms tab at the top of the page. However, if my personal journal is something that you may be into (not sure why but...) you can start by subscribing via this link.
This doesn't mean Brain Wads will be a dry corporate-ish site (at least I hope not). Most of what I write here will still be drawing from personal experiences, mistakes and accomplishments. The things that make any blogger insight authentic - like personal experience - will remain on here. I never want to post for the sheer sake of posting. It's a waste of both our times. This just means the content will (hopefully) be more focused and relevant to you all.
Long story short - my blogging identity crisis is over. If you want to see the personal side, visit Thought Spasms at http://drewhawkins.tumblr.com. Or if you are a Tumblr user, shoot me a follow :)
Related articles
- Tumblr: Blogging for Journalists (comm334spring2011.wordpress.com)
- 3 Ways "Reblogging" Is Powering Tumblr's Growth (socialtimes.com)
- David Spinks, Co-Founder of BlogDash: 'The 'Influencer' World is a Crazy Place (mediabistro.com)