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I’ve been reading a lot of blogs lately that I haven’t been to for a while. I think I figured out why I haven’t been back; they’ve gone to the dogs! I can’t believe the amount of crap I’m reading on some other websites. So many uninteresting articles and loads of self ego-inflating dribble. The worst part is, these were high-traffic, very interesting websites that I used to go to for advice. These days, I wouldn’t trust anything that they said…let alone want to read about it.
I’m not going to mention the names of the few sites that I’m thinking of because they really don’t need any more promotion. Funny thing is, so many people still rant and rave about how good these sites are! Why?…I don’t know! I guess popularity breeds more popularity.
Have you thought about what you’ll do when you start making money (I mean money) from the Internet? Did you ever think about how you would change as a person when you started getting the traffic and audience to your website you always dreamed of?
These are just a couple of questions that I’ve been wondering if other people have asked themselves before they “made it”. The obvious answer is no, they never thought about anything like that before they made it big. Do you know how I know? It’s easy, it’s how they talk about themselves. When you start making a lot of money or have a lot of money, you don’t need to brag about it. Do you know why people brag about how much money they make online?…it’s because people are attracted to a lifestyle that they don’t have. A good example are celebrities. When you can see how someone lives and they write about it online, well people want to know details. It also shows a lot of insecurities.
This is my one paragraph brag as I’m using it as an example. I actually do own a high-priced sports car. Not once have I ever pulled-up beside another car and tried to race them. Not once have I snobbed someone who has asked me a question about my car. Not once have I ever mentioned anything about this car on this site or any of my other sites. The reason why? There’s no need to! It has nothing to do with the topic of my blog, and why would I mention it? Yes, you may be interested to know what kind of car it is, how I got it, why I wanted it, etc. but I don’t need to. I am secure with myself, I don’t need other people to tell me how good I am. Of course it’s always nice to get a compliment, but fishing for a compliment isn’t the same.
There’s a reason I don’t have sports cars as my header, link trains as every second article, ReviewMe (sponsor-paid articles) and other junk on my website…I don’t want it. Sure, I could brag about the sports car I own and how much horsepower it makes, how well I live, how you should spread my viral link trains all over the Internet or buy a product that I don’t even endorse because I wrote a sponsor-paid article about it. But, I wouldn’t and I don’t. I don’t need to tell you how great I am, or how you could be great like me.
You already are great. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone and if you think differently, well you shouldn’t be blogging or writing on a website. I’ve constantly seen the quality of blogs and websites go downhill the more popular they got. It’s a common trend and you really don’t need to be a part of it. Remember why you started writing in the first place. Most likely it was to share information with other people. Information sharing is a two-way street, it’s you and your readers…not just you. Keep this in mind whenever you lose sight of where you’re going.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Ann Bernard - Aug 26, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Joe, I’m not sure which site/people you are referring to…I’d have to read what they wrote to really support what you are saying, but may be those people in question aren’t bragging, but rather, very proud of what they do have now.
I have asked myself the question of what will I do when I start making some major dinero from my venture and I tell you what…considering how broke I have been in the last 2 or so years…I will definitely talk about and enjoy my success.
Perhaps those other folks also scraped the bottom of the barrel for many years before hitting it big…
2 Joe - Aug 27, 2007 at 12:55 am
Well I hope that’s what it is Ann. If it is then I would have to apologize for my long rant. It’s just frustrating reading self ego-inflating junk that doesn’t help anyone.
I really hope you do well with your venture. I’m sure you will. Never give up and as long as you put your heart and soul into it, I’m sure you’ll make it.
I’ve been there before. For the most part, things have a strange way of unfolding. When I didn’t expect to make money is when I made most of mine. On the other hand, when I thought I would make a ton of money, I hardly made any.
All the best with your venture and if you ever need any help, just let me know!
3 LuKiaNo - Aug 27, 2007 at 3:11 pm
I think people should be allowed to be proud of what they realized… if they become boring or annoying you should just leave and never return. Of course you could also say I should leave and never return if I don’t like your post or if I don’t agree with you.. but isn’t blogging a lot more fun when you have the opportunity to find out someone else’s opinion and start a conversation?
Maybe that’s what you should do. Go to their blogs and tell them to stop bragging!
4 Chuck Westbrook - Aug 27, 2007 at 4:59 pm
You tell ‘em, Joe.
I’d like to see you expound on the topic of bad blog posts on formerly or occasionally good blogs.
I bet you could write a good post on the subject.
5 Joe - Aug 27, 2007 at 8:48 pm
LuKiaNo - I don’t disagree! I think being proud is great, especially when you’ve accomplished something amazing. I don’t like gloating though which I think is the reason I get annoyed with them. Maybe I should go to their blogs and tell them, although I see other people have already done my work for me so we’ll see how things change haha
Chuck - Thanks for that! It’d be interesting to see. I’ve been looking into guest authoring…maybe I’ll exchange some article time with other blog authors in the up-coming future :).
6 Rich Lowe - Sep 6, 2007 at 10:17 pm
at first i thought you were talking about me and my “tagged” blog… well hell, you may have been, but anyway let me get to the point….
Dont apologize for writing this blog!! say what’s on your mind!! because we all know it happens.. people get a little bit of money and they let it get to their heads.. the rap industry is proof that money can change the quality of work…
7 JennyHow - Oct 17, 2007 at 9:11 am
Perhaps after blogging for some time, they can’t find anything worthy to mention anymore?
8 Deron Sizemore - Nov 6, 2007 at 12:47 am
Shew! At first I thought my blog was one of the ones you were talking about since I haven’t seen you around my blog for a while (maybe you’re lurking in the shadows?), but then when you started talking about high traffic sites and people ranting and raving about the sites, I knew mine was out! hahaha.
Seriously though, I agree. There are so many people out there talking about making only online and doing posts about what they made last week/month and so many blogs following John Chow’s lead by placing cars in the header image. It’s just a phase and like every other phase, it will pass.
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