Blogging: Club Member Or Lone Ranger?

Blogging by definition is a display of web log posts, normally in reverse chronological order. It can be a company blog, personal blog or business blog. Blogs can be the work of a single individual, a small group, or (more recently) multiple authors.

Multi-author blogs (MABs) consist of posts written by a number of authors and professionally edited. The majority of high profile collaborative blogs are based around a single uniting theme, such as politics, technology, or business.

The Blogging Mindset

It seems to be a very personal thing, whether someone begins a blog on their own, or they begin within a group. When analyzed further, strategy can play a large role in this decision making process, especially of late.

# 1. The Lone Ranger

When I began blogging four years ago, my strategy was to create content for my clients and potential clients, and to create movement within the website and target key words for SEO. I have read blogs that focus on one or the other, and both scenarios can be quite successful.

Many lifestyle blogs arise from an innate interest by the blogger in the subject they write about.

• Often times they don’t expect to get a large following, and over time realize the potential of the blog, as well as connecting with others who have similar interests.
• Some blogs are self-healing (and often anonymous), yet have a huge following because they hit a nerve with the reader, and the reader comes back for more – “I am like you, you can like me!”
• The other lone ranger starts out a blog specifically to make money, and the strategy is very obvious and clear from the outset.

10 Advantages of blogging alone:

1. Ability to write exactly what you want, when, and how often you want
2. Build your own community / trusted following around areas of interest or importance for you
3. Develop your authority in specific areas (or niche areas)
4. Raise awareness and attract attention to specific issues
5. Using guest bloggers to increase topics covered, blog frequency, readership and traffic
6. Increase exposure and brand awareness
7. Build your profile in other areas – social media, other media
8. Utilise different forms of communication to share your message – podcasting, videocasting, images etc
9. Create a blog income / revenue stream
10. Help others raise their profile, provide reciprocal content and links

# 2. Club Member

Some bloggers begin within a blogging community (like Tweak Your Biz) to belong, gain support and help the exposure their blog posts get.

Certain MABs have strict criteria and rules to follow to become a member, such as minimum posts per month, exclusive content, subject, specific format and word count etc.

• These “rules” may feel restrictive, but they tend to respect the group involved and protect the blogger and the site. It’s a win/win.
• It also follows the paradigm that the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, thereby generating a synergy between the contributors, the readers and commenters.

A community is built and can grow into something quite amazing.

10 Advantages of blogging within a community:

1. Immediate community, inculding shared resources
2. More exposure, more quickly (wider audience)
3. Access to multiple distribution channels across web and mobile environments
4.  More comments and interaction
5. Meeting like-minded bloggers and peers, all in one place
6. Ability to share on more platforms, communities
7. Exposure to sites such as Huffington Post, Silicon Republic, NYT Online
8. Discovering, connecting and networking with experts
9. Collaboration opportunities (co-authoring syndicated and monster blogs, co-hosting webinars, interviews etc)
10. Opportunity to show off your personality and have your specific voice heard within a community

Which is better?

It depends on your needs, your motivation and your final outcome. Whether you are a Seth Godin or belong to a community like Tweak Your Biz or Problogger, there are pros and cons for each platform.

I am going to share my personal and professional pros and cons of writing for a blogging community, and authoring 2 separate “lone ranger” blogs.

Notwithstanding the fantastic blogs and blogging communities that are available, I specifically enjoy writing and being a part of the Tweak Your Biz community, as it really does provide, among other things, what a community should provide – a sense of belonging, support, and great banter!

What advantages can you share for either cause? Share with us below now in the comments…

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