Why you need a blog, if there are social networks
Yesterday I listened to Darren Rowse’s podcast in Facebook (professional blogger from Australia) on the topic “Is blogging really dead?”
So, I really liked how Darren described the current purpose of the blog. Better just do not say.
Why did he actually broadcast it? On one of the broadcasts, Darren was asked why blogs are needed today, when there are social networks, Youtube, live video, podcasting and many other opportunities to promote themselves and their product, and work with the target audience.
Darren, as a professional blogger already with great experience, certainly could not miss this question and organized a separate video with an answer to this question.
I will not retell everything that Darren said in the course of 15 minutes, we will only convey the essence.
So, the first and most important thing – blogging is alive! Simply there was a shift a little the other way. The matter is that now the blogger is engaged not only in his blog. The field of activity has greatly expanded.
About 5 years ago, the main task of the blogger was to write useful content on the blog that inspires, motivates, gives ideas, trains, reveals a blogger as a person.
Today there is a huge number of services, social networks, where the blogger conducts its activities:
- in social networks communicates with friends, gives useful material,
- writes podcasts and places them on audiohosting,
- leads webinars through hangouts or paid platforms, and then puts records on youtube or vimeo,
- conducts live video in periscope and facebook,
- writes books and places them in ussuu, and many more.
Today, the blogger generates a huge amount of material outside the blog. And it’s great. But there is one “but”, in each social network, on each platform (youtube, periscope, hangouts, issuu) has its own audience.
And now the main task of the blog is to be the home (center) for all this. A blog is a place on the Internet where a blogger accumulates all his activities on the Internet.
What does it mean?
On the blog, we continue to write useful articles on the blog, as before. Yes, yes, people still like to read. But in addition to this:
We send articles to social networks to our friends, inviting them to read and take part in the discussion.
We post the records of our webinars, which are placed on Youtube, and on youtube we specify a link to the expanded material on the video on the blog.
On the blog we create pages where we place information about our books, or products.
On the main page we display the main content of the blog, products and reviews.
We post podcast records, and on audio hosting we give links to the blog where the podcast with the expanded information is placed.
Communicate with the audience
I agree with Darren on 100%. Better not say. A blog is the home of everything you do on the Internet, it’s the center of your activity on the Internet, where all the brooks flow. All in one place.
And most importantly, a blog is your property. Social networks can ban, they are not eternal, the audience is not permanent. But the blog is your asset. The more you invest in it, the more dividends it will bring.
These are the thoughts. Tell us, how do you imagine a blog? What is it for you?