It seems, that blogging is getting bigger and bigger buzzworthiness.
In fact, a Pew Internet & American Life Project of 7,102 people says that it is a big part of Americans lives.
- Thirty-nine percent of U.S. Internet users, or about 57 million Americans, read blogs; 8 percent, or about 12 million Americans, write a blog; and more than half of bloggers are under the age of 30.
- Pew found that 37 percent of bloggers cite "my life and experiences" as what they blog about, while only 11 percent cited public issues as typical topics. Sixty percent of bloggers are white, while 74 percent of the country's Web users are, according to the data. Fifty-five percent of bloggers write under a pseudonym.
- Fifty-four percent of bloggers say that they have never published their writing or media creations anywhere else; 44 percent say they have published elsewhere.
- Women represent 46 percent of bloggers and men 54 percent.
- Seventy-six percent of bloggers say a reason they blog is to document their personal experiences and share them with others. Sixty-four percent of bloggers say a reason they blog is to share practical knowledge or skills with others.
- Seventy-seven percent of bloggers have shared something online that they created themselves, such as their own artwork, photos, stories, or videos. By comparison, 26 percent of Internet users as a whole have done this.
Now the Dirty Secret about blogs. If you have not read the above with some sort of scrutiny you should. Check the bolded words.
Half are under 30. Almost 40% talk about life experiences. 57 Million people read blogs?
We are running a business right? Ok then. Where is the money in this?
Can we be honest? Most people don't know the diferrence between Internet Explorer and Earthlink. Most people don't care for that matter weather or not they are using AOL or Road Runner.
Are you with me here?
So I have a hard time believing any stats about blog use.
I have people call me all the time that say they are calling off my website. "Oh cool", I say. "Which one my blog or my spiderworkz.com", or one of my many others?
9 times of 10 they will say, "What is a blog". Or, "I am not sure".
People Don't Care About Your Blog!
Your prospect cares about what your information can do for them. They can care less if it is a blog or a website. Because in the end there is not much difference to the viewer.
I have a belief:
The only people that knowingly read blogs are geeks and kids
There is a group of us that look for web logs about not only real estate issues, but political and local ones too. That is cool. But that isn't my client and it is not probably yours.
If you know how much Ram your machine has, and you know your Hardrive speed and size, then you probably fit into our special group.
But realize, this is not the vast marketplace. They won't spend hours upon hours on information hunts. Unlike myself or probably you, the public is watching CSI or Seinfeld re-runs. They aren't looking up the fifth reference to the "long tail", or "real estate seo".
Here is another hint. If you value how smart you are and enjoy making yourself feeling smart. You fit into this group. You probably have Amazon or Barnes and Noble bookmarked right on your desktop. Yah me too.
Now, certainly some of your blog readers will latch onto your "smart writing". And they too may be into blogs. But the vast majority, don't "get" this whole blogging movement, and frankly don't care.
They come to your main page, or your permalink page because they found it from a search on Google, MSN, Yahoo or somewhere else.
Whats In It For Me?
WIIFM. You remember that in sales class right? Your reader only cares about is determining how what you say is going to help them. They are the vast majority. So, with all due respect. I must say that I believe blog readers are larger than stated above, they just don't know it.
So I come back to, Where is the Money?
How do you make money in this blogging thing? My Real Estate Guerilla's will know. Will you be there?
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