Are You a Blogger or a Reblogger?

Sometimes we have to examine what we do on the web to see if we are being effective at what we do. Are we adding value to the web? Are we doing the best we can? How do others perceive us from what we are doing?

There are a lot of people who call themselves bloggers. This is not one of those I’m a better blogger than you are posts. I ask myself the same questions I posted above about my own marketing efforts and blogging.

But here is my take on blogging.

1. If all you have is a bunch of blogs that auto-post content, then you are not a blogger. Parking a few domain names with auto content is ok. It’s better than parking a domain name on a static page.

But to call yourself a blogger, you do need to have at least one blog that you actually write original and unique content on.

2. This one makes some people mad, but here goes. If all you do on your blog is post news that can be found elsewhere, then you are a reblogger, not a blogger.

It’s like being a follower instead of a leader. It’s ok to post about news or what someone else posted about, then add your own unique  comments and opinions. That is blogging. But you should mix in some original posts about something at least as much as you post news from someone else’s site or blog.

I know how frustrating it can be to come up with original posts every day. But that very thing is what separates the blogging leaders from the rest of the pack. They work hard at creating original and unique blog posts every single day to our benefit. We learn from them and ask for more.

They link to other related articles. They research their topic. They use images and screenshots. They take the time to do all of this for their readers. That makes them popular.

Sometimes we are too busy to do all it takes to make a really good blog post. We take shortcuts and post something quickly so we can get other things done. We can’t commit the time to do it right every single day.

The problem is that our readers know when we take shortcuts. That makes our blogs less appealing than those of the bloggers who take that time every day and who write original and unique content that is interesting to their readers.

So, hats off to those bloggers who really work at making every single post a great post. You are the leaders we all like to follow and the ones who set the example for the rest of us.