Bloggers Who Fake It
I’m having a tough time feeling good about the blogger mentality lately.
I’ve stopped reading my feeds. Nothing grabs my attention. All the topics are the same (that’s nothing new). It’s all about how to do this or that in seven or ten steps. There are ways to improve your productivity, your business or yourself.
I’m tired of reading about crap that people don’t put into practice. I know too much about what goes on behind the blogging scene.
Bloggers don’t often practice what they preach.
They’re fast to jump on the bandwagon with the latest and greatest product, service or topic. They beat into the ground until it’s dead. The Internet is so saturated that it’s nearly worthless.
Bloggers are fast on the get-go, slow on the follow-through. They rarely answer emails in a timely manner, they often have poor customer service skills and they commonly blow deadlines.
But they call themselves professionals and clamor for more work.
These bloggers also seem to be under the illusion that blogging will make them money. They start to cry when work doesn’t come in quickly or when they land a job and it actually involves – gasp! – work.
Blogging doesn’t make money. Only hard work brings in the cash and puts food on tables.
So pay attention. Make sure not to spew advice when you don’t intent to follow your own advice. If you’re faking that you’re a professional, sooner or later someone is going to call you out on it.
Not too long ago, James brought me up short. I had been going through a slump, feeling sorry for myself (if you must know), and wallowing in my misery. I tend to do that.
James mentioned that I’m good at writing about time management and staying productive. Yet there I was, doing the exact opposite of what I preached.
That pissed me off. How dare he?
Know what, though? He was right. I felt like a fraud. He’d call my bluff. If I was going to talk the talk, I had to walk the walk.
So why doesn’t everyone else?
188 Responses to “Bloggers Who Fake It”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
Go ahead. Leave a Comment!
-
Affiliate Program
-
James Is Reading…
-
Social Hookups
As Seen In…
Overheard on the Web
MwP is Powered by…
@Brett, No silly. I’m on the pink unicorn. Harry and James are riding a tricked out batmobile and brandishing gargantuan samuari sword-shaped pens. It’s the rise of the internet superheroes. And here you come on the Pursuit Special from Mad Max waving a sawed off shotgun and trying to take over the Web with your winning number prediction machine…
@James, You like pegasus or batmobile better? White batmobile with gold wings maybe?
@Harry, I don’t even know what a VTX is but I’m guessing some kind of motorcycle…
I’m feeling a very creative blog post coming on…. Forget the A-listers. What the Web needs is superbloggers (to the rescue).
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..When Freedom Rang – A Story of Startup Failure
@ Melissa,
(blush) I guess I needed my coffee more than I thought…
BTW your latest post was incredible – and James, your comment seemed right out of the ranks of my company. I see these atomic powered zombies every day. Unhappy. Complaining. Without hope.
And doing nothing about it.
Like Steve Jobs said, one of the best things that happened to him was being fired from Apple.
I’d better go write the rest of this on Melissa’s blog…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
@Melissa: I’ll have to send you a picture of the VTX later on
Harry, Yes, please do!
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..When Freedom Rang – A Story of Startup Failure
@Melissa: Here you go: Lucifer
@ Harry,
That is a cool ride, and I love the name.
The second horseman of the Apocalypse – War – rides a red horse, and wields a greatsword…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
@Brett: Hmmm…I have the (steel) horse, got a Claymore hanging in the hallway…looks like I’m good to go.
@ Harry – that’s kind of what I was thinking. And James wanted the white horse, the first horseman rides a white horse…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
James isn’t Death though, he might have a pale horse, but the job description just doesn’t fit.
That’s okay, I suppose he could pretend at Halloween!
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
I refuse to be pestilence, even though SOME would claim my name is spreading through the blogosphere like a disease…
Can I be Justice? I’d make a cool Justice. On a black horse. Or a chestnut. Never could stand a grey. Can I have a sword, too?
@James: There was only War, Pestilence, Famine and Death. No Justice. Maybe we should make up our own version of the Four Horsemen?
The Four Horsemen of the Blogalypse: Transparency, Authenticity, Sincerity, and Passion.
@ James – Pestilence is sometimes called Strife.
But I like Michael’s quartet much, much better. It fits you and Harry very much.
(Thanks Michael!
)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
Aw, but Michael! That’s so BORING! What happened to Mischief, Mayhem, Mild Chaos and Muttered French Curses?
I don’t know if I’m the Christ or the Anti-Christ… I’m just here to help.
(I was also thinking of the Piers Anthony series about Time, Fate, Death, War… very good series. Didn’t he have a Justice? There really should be a Justice, you know. Or I could do Mischief… I’d be good at that…)
@ James – Do you have any idea how utterly terrifying those ideas are to most business people?
@ Michael – you have a hidden talent for stand-up, that is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. And frighteningly true, as well…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
Michael… those ideas are my playground. Life is to be embraced in all its forms and lived to the fullest, because I won’t get a second chance to enjoy myself if I screw up this one.
I can’t walk away from the computer for literally 5 seconds! In the time it took me to wander down the hall from the laptop to the desktop, there’s like half a dozen more comments. Sheesh…
I like Michael’s Blogalypse too.
I like the Muttered French Curses myself. Can I have that one?
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
We had too much Aussie coffee…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
Only if you learn how to say them PROPERLY. With the accent and all.
I’ll do my best – I took 13 years of Français so I might be able to do it. I could try a few here but don’t want to drive up the rating of the site…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
Well Harry, I think you should ride Lucifer and see if James can keep up with you on Pegasus.
@James, “SOME would claim my name is spreading through the blogosphere like a disease…” I think you mean me! I did say that. And for the record, I’m down with Mischief, Mayhem, Mild Chaos and Muttered French Curses… merde!
@Michael, “I don’t know if I’m the Christ or the Anti-Christ… I’m just here to help.”
Like James, I laughed out loud when I read that. So thanks! You get to be Humor!
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..When Freedom Rang – A Story of Startup Failure
It’s a good thing you boys don’t let things go too far off-topic….
My email inbox has stretch marks.
Kelly’s last blog post..Spectacular Failure
That’s part of the fun, isn’t it.
Hestie de câlisse de tabarnac! It’s after 11!
(How was that for a Muttered French Curse?
Trust me, the accent was there too…)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
Ben sacrement! You guys are out of control. Go to bed, all of you.
@ Brett – Thanks for expanding my French! Or at least my Canadian French… Really, I’m shocked at your language!
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 5
@ Allison – it’s my alter ego, Darth Sushi, I can’t help it!
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
@ Brett – Oh my! I’m still searching for that Alaskan Blackfish…
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 5
@ Allison – when I find one, I’ll capture it and hold it for you to keep it fresh… if I find two, maybe you can set up a farm for them!
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
@ Brett – Haha it’s a deal!
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 5
I think it’s funny that last month James was trying to get 100 comments on his Copyblogger guest post and now you guys have almost 150 comments right here at your own blog. It makes me want to cackle a wicked laugh, for reasons I’m not entirely sure about.
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..When Freedom Rang – A Story of Startup Failure
@Melissa: Damn, you’re right…Actually, I think James may have found a commenting apprentice in Brett.
@ Harry – I was going to say it, but my fingers were too sore from typing comments
(adjusts the bandages on his fingers)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
@ Brett – Sacrement… check out the cursing. Dude, are you my long lost brother?
@ Kelly – Why are you not on RSS feed yet?
@ Melissa – That is very, very, very cool. Thank you for pointing it out *beams*
@ James – I started to think that myself when we were talking about farmhouses… yeah, it’s something I picked up in my youth, I spent faaaar too much time over the border in Chapeau (at Fred’s, for anyone who knows where that is), I figured you’d get a kick out of that, accents and all…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..butterfly effect.
Can’t stand RSS.
Kelly’s last blog post..How to Stick Out Like an Aging Seattle Grunge Band
Sorry, I don’t mean to bring the party down, but I do have a comment. In answer to the original question, “Why don’t people walk the walk as well as talk the talk,” I’d say it’s pretty much common sense: for the most part, humans are lazy and narcissistic. I’m not trying to be offensive here, but come on. The internet makes is so easy for us to be anonymous that image is all that matters anymore. If no one is holding you accountable for your actions (or content) then why put in the effort to care about the worthless pap you smear in other people’s faces as long as it gets you press? We live in an age of aggressive advertising and content always seems to run about a lap and a half behind everything else.
Another problem with low quality blogs is that many people don’t honestly think about their audience. They add content to their blogs like they’re writing in their diaries (leaving out the all the good stuff, of course) and who besides your mother wants to read your diary? People want to be entertained and/or informed- what good is hearing about YOUR traumatic fear of clowns going to do for US? Unless you’ve discovered a way to vaporize clowns on sight or something equally as helpful… I could be washing my hair, maybe even cleaning the litter box. Don’t waste my time; it’s a betrayal.
I’m new to this whole blogging scene, but from what I’ve seen pickings are pretty darn slim. I think integrity is the word we’re looking for in a good blog, though personality certainly doesn’t hurt.
I hope things continue to go well for you guys; passion and intelligence are in far too short of supply these days.
@ Chris – Well, the question was somewhat rhetorical. At both Harry’s and my age, we pretty much know why people don’t walk the walk they talk.
I don’t think it’s completely Internet related. We work with a multitude of people on the Internet, and only bloggers (or certain people in the group) have this attitude. They want fast fame, fast money, and nothing else matters. Many get caught up in the “fun” of blogging and forget the business aspect of it. Common manners, too.
Pickings are slim these days, but there’s a wealth of cheap out there, if you’re into that. I’m glad you feel that we’re not in that group of cheap fakers, and we appreciate your kind words and well-wishing.
Trust me, we ain’t goin’ anywhere
Chris,
I agree with you on the anonymity thing, although sometimes the lazy ugly side of people shows up in real life too. Just yesterday I had a doozy… nevermind, too off-topic!
Anyway, my interest is piqued by the clowns problem and I think I have a solution: “Make Money Online By Conquering Your Fear of Clowns.” Now I know What’s In It For Me!
Lots of blogs ARE basically online diaries. I don’t think that’s such a problem. Low readership or clowns in the commentary are the author’s choice, after all. Even lazy narcissism is okay in that context. When blogs which claim to be business-focused can’t tell me WIIFM, then I gotta go.
BTW, you have a nice start to your own site there. I hope the novel goes well, and Harry and James may be able to give a tip or two on that front, here at MWP… if they don’t get too sleepy and self-involved.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..How to Stick Out Like a Toupee on a Bowling Ball
Enjoyed this article after getting a teaser on the Remarkablogger
– I find the same thing I have a real estate blog and it seems like a group – almost blogging paparazzi running from one hot new topic to the next and then all seem to be posting the same thing. It’s had to find “originality” – I do agree when done right readers do lurk and hang out until comfortable taking the relationship to the next level.
Although what you are saying is valid for a certain type of blog, I don’t think that it is representative of blogging as a whole, which is how you are pitching the piece. No everyone is blogging for money. Some people do it for fun. Many people are using the blogging forum as an outlet for their creativity. So many interests are covered in so many different ways. For me it is 100% hobby. That means I really can do my own thing. Having readers, making money, all of these things may be nice to have, but removing your dependency on them from the mix, allows blogging to be more of an experimental art form, or, at the very least, expression of creativity. That’s the way I like it.
sam’s last blog post..Nods & Winks to New-Found Links
And that’s how it should be, Sam, but many, many blogs – not just business blogs – run out of creative ideas or unique voice and start to become redundant. I’m glad you choose to maintain uniqueness and enjoy blogging for what it is.
Thank you – that said – after almost 4 years I have lost my ‘blogging mojo’ for the past 2 months. I have decided not to worry. When the time is right and the inspiration returns I’ll get back to it. If I lose 1000 readers in the meantime, so be it. I think giving them nothing instead of ‘forced crap’ will be better for me, the blog and any readers in the long term.
Cheers for the reply!
Sam
sam’s last blog post..Nods & Winks to New-Found Links
@ Sam, sometimes a lost of “mojo” is a signal to change direction. I think the key to all writing is continue to be free and not simply do what is expected but do what you feel in that moment. The beauty of the written word or any creative art form is that it captures a moment in time and then we move on. I hope you get your mojo back soon.
Karen
@Karen: Well said
@Sam: We never really lose our mojo, it just goes into hibernation for a little while to recharge. Follow Karen’s advice and you’ll wake it up again.
Welp, I think this makes me comment number 160.
Just wanted to jump on the bandwagon and go for the ride. Everyone else looked like they were having so much fun. Didn’t want to miss anything exciting.
Jaden @ Screenwriting for Hollywood’s last blog post..The Sunday Picture Post – 3
Thanks so much – you are all right – my mojo is just in hibernation and to be honest I absolutely know I am not ready to wake it up yet. I realised I needed to spring clean my life. I have been working on it, dusting the cobwebs, sacks and scaks of rubbish, etc. When I have finished that (and done my taxes), I will be free to create once again. I’m in no hurry. The break is carthartic.
sam’s last blog post..Nods & Winks to New-Found Links
@ James and Harry i agree, gotta move from Blogger, and will find time to do so with your help of course this Spring!
@Sam, I look forward to your return, you’re talented and funny! I like funny.
@ Everyone this is one of the best darn blog communities in cyberspace!
I came here from http://www.getpaidtowriteonline.com
I wasn’t sure at first whether Sharon was building up this site for a reason, but it lives up to the hype. Good blog.
Suzanne James’s last blog post..Happy Earth Day
Unfortunately, but it’s true!
Shouldn’t the title of this post be, “Bloggers Who Fake It”?
It appears bloggers do indeed fake “it” in more ways than listed in your post. Sigh. Whatever happened to referring to people as who; when did people become “that” objects? Not sure why this has started to annoy me so, but once I began to notice the that-which-who confusion, everywhere from TV, sales copy, news posts, blogs–everywhere–it has become hard to ignore.
Is grammar dead?
@Kaz: *points at James* Blame the editor.
hehe same thing here. I am kind of sick when it comes to bloggers who write abt positivity but are the most negative people. And especially those that tell other’s how to earn money but haven’t seen a cheque in their life ..
Thx for bringing this up, been in my mind for a while now..
Wakas Mirs last blog post..Nioxin System – Scalp treatment
I’m sure there’s not an original witty remark I could make that isn’t somewhere in those 176 comments, so I’ll just say thanks for this post and saying what so many people need to hear. I used to feel stupid for putting hours into a single post, just because I want to make it worth reading, but not any more.
Merci!
fracass last blog post..Oddball News Stories From Around the ‘Net
A bit late to the party here, but this post definitely hit a chord with me.
I think a lot of bloggers forget to answer that age-old business question – what needs doing?
The world does need more people who are able to provide inspiring accounts of how they personally actually did put these things into practice, but it doesn’t need simple copycat information.
Even in other fields this applies. My own blog only really took off when I re-focused it to fulfilling the need of providing community legal education rather than simply writing random opinions.
Blogging has gone beyond just fun .. its a source of info! Bloggers must unite!
Blogging is always a source of info .. nothing more
A similar theme to this showed up on Copyblogger today…
The effect poor writing vs. quality writing can have on your readership.
When people read or listen to your voice and their gut dings “Giving to me†rather than “Taking from meâ€, I believe that’s what wins fans.
The self is ALWAYS COMING THROUGH.
Anyone who doesn’t provide value, i.e. wastes time, blabs only about themselves, is going to be ignored. Maybe even disdained.
For me, what great writing has in common is offering value. Value of course, is relative to the target audience. Who cares if anyone but your ideal prospect doesn’t like you?
I’ve heard it said that the more personal you think something is, the more universal it is. Comedians get laughter out of recognition all the time knowing this.
Revealing flaws or personal stories serves as a spice for your content. Experiences people can relate to transforms a ‘data dump’ into a ‘bonding event’.
When your personality shines through, when value is present and mixed with fearlessness… it can be one hell of potent mix.
Keep keeping it real and valuable, Harry and James!
Note Taking Nerd #2´s last blog ..Ryan Deiss And Perry Belcher’s 43 Proven, Brain-Dead-Simple Tweaks You Can Make To Your Site, So You Can Make More Money
Yes, I may agree that most bloggers if not all are getting selfish nowadays. What they want is to have the readers focus on their thing and get stagnant to it. But I thought of the two kinds of the coin. Perhaps bloggers are getting practical nowadays and that they just want to earn something from their blogs. It’s worthwhile I guess that we earn something from the things we spend time and effort to – creating and developing blogs.
Thanks for the post by the way. It’s really great!
There are a lot of fake bloggers out there, you know when you read the first couple of sentences of their posts. Your blogs cool, you keep it real, so, I wouldn’t even worry about being fake. We all have bad days, weeks, months, it just a part life.
Internet Business Coach´s last blog ..4 Steps To Make More Money Online in 2010
A lot of people don’t practise what they preach but that doesn’t make the message any less valid. It’s funny though that when I start writing, it does make me wake up and think I should be taking my own advice and I start living my own article – vain I know haha.
I am relative new to all of this blogging stuff. ( 4 months in the trenches) It seems that some have burned out from having to come up with new and exciting topics. I was watching a how to video on youtube, by someone who had no clue about that business. So yeah there are many ” hacks” out there.
With that said I think it will make it easier for someone with a fresh idea to shine amongst the dusty menusha of the same ole same. I have over 300 channels on my TV but I only watch say 12 -15 on a regular basis. So the same is going happen with blogging on the best of the best will survive.
I do agree with you on most bloggers are not professional, some of these folks if they had to work in a metric driven environment, they would not make it. Nothing replace hard work, not even genius.
Glendon Cameron´s last blog ..Becky Comes to Auction- I am going to take a chance!