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Blogging...going pro?

Active Rain has been training some interesting and prolific bloggers. Some will be interested to know that blogging has become a way of life for some folks...not here on AR, but on The Outside.

I've heard of professional bloggers before, even met one once. Dave Taylor who lives in Boulder was at a class I took on blogging a few years ago. Dave has several blogs and is a very smart guy. One of his blogs answers questions about popular IT topics or things like online games, etc. I don't know enough about that topic to talk about it, but if you want to read Dave's blogs, check him out.

In The Economist this week is a blurb on blogging about people quitting their day jobs to blog for a living. One example they give is about a blog called, Dooce. Heather Armstrong chronicles her life as a disenchanted Mormon in Salt Lake City, her former career as a high-flying web designer in Los Angeles, her pregnancy and postpartum depression, and so on.

Sound interesting? hummm

Consider this, Heather's husband no longer works at a job. They now live off the income from her blog.

Whoa! That got my attention. To tell the truth, my hubby got my attention, because he put this article under my nose...

What does it take to be a professional blogger? Besides the ability to put a sentence together, your life must be interesting. If not, you need a really good imagination. Lot's of time to craft the stories, Heather admits she works 7 hours a day, holidays included.

Heather gets 1,000,000 visitors to her site a month. Oh my! I hope they don't all leave comments!

For a great treat visit the Laughing Baby

Posted by Kristal Kraft ~Denver Real Estate~303-589-2022 on 11/22/2006 11:24 PM

Comments (29)

blogging, active rain

Originally posted at: Denver Real Estate & Relocation: Blogging...going pro?

29 Comments on Blogging...going pro?

NOV

2006

First ... I would LOVE to take a blogging class. How do I find out about them??

Second, Im afraid if I HAD to blog for a LIVING ... I would not love it as much.

Third, because of you, I now go out and take pictures and then go home and write blogs about them... :)

Hi Kristal, that is definitely food for thought, so many new opportunities from emerging technologies. In the past few days I saw a short story on CNN or ABC about people giving specialized hand massages for people suffering from "Blackberry thumb". I wonder what will be next?

There is an 'Outside'?

I'm afraid..... LOL

Happy Thanksgiving!

KK - love your reference to "The Outside"! I enjoy this blogging thing, but if I had to do them like the one you mentioned, it would then become work, and I'm not sure how much I'd like it then. Who knows though????

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!

Ann

I'd quit my day job in a minute if I could earn the same amount blogging. I'm afraid my life is probably not that interesting. My latest blog is about Pies. LOL

Linda - I wrote about ice cream... guess I am not that interesting either! Kristal you bring up a very interesting point. BLOGGING is a totally different career track that all of a sudden popped up... It is amazing to see.

That baby is tooooooo cute.

Hope you have great Thanksgiving.

year 2020-John Smith elected Secretary of Blogging Cabinet Member

That baby was adorable! He had my little Eloise laughing away in my lap. Thanks for sharing.

Loved the laughing baby. I'm just glad it wasn't my long suffering fiance who found the article about that woman's husband not working anymore. He'd be all over that!

Worth pointing out is that blogging encompasses a lot more than just "having an interesting life". If you read my AskDaveTaylor site, you'll see that it's very little about my life (three kids, permanent chaos) and instead just focuses on offering useful and valuable information to people. And they come, in droves, and it all just works. Better yet, they then tell me what questions to answer too.

If you really want to turn your blogging hobby into some sort of revenue stream, consider the mechanisms for making money and how they might apply to your interests or passions. Or just take a tangent and write about something you know others are into.

Finally, if I can slip in a link, I have a blogging class at http://www.blogsmart.com// :-)

Kristal! I read that article last night (The Economist and Rolling Stone are my two 'bed' magazines!) My thought about the 7 hours a day was, well, if it's a successful business, then it has to be full time and that all made sense to me. Not sure about the 'no Holidays off' thing though....maybe she should run a podcast on vacation days.....

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

If she does get that many comments - hope she doesn't have to respond to all of them!

Happy Thanksgiving from The Marriott Group at Keller Williams Realty Professional Partners!

Jeez, Kristal, did you invite Dave Taylor to this, or did he just find it! Cool job, Jersey Girl.

I would quit my day job to blog, but we would be living under a bridge pretty quickly!

Can you imagine blogging for 7 hours a day 7 days a week? I don't know if Erma Bombeck (ok, I'm showing my age here) or Dave Barry could come up with enough to say... I'm afraid I would soon join Maureen and Dmitry under the bridge (at least mine would be in Texas and warmer! I grew up in Michigan, wasn't too fond of the thought of living under bridges in winter!)

That is amazing! I'll have to check out the Economist article and Heather's blog to see what all the fuss is about!

From one Jersey Girl to another, I wish you and your family an extra special and Happy Thanksgiving!

Kristal - I'm sure you are happy with your current job, but you could certainly make a great living blogging because YOU ROCK! Thanks for the laughing baby treat - he is adorable.

That laughing baby was a hoot.

P.S.: Sorry about the Broncos. They didn't have much time to recover after their Sunday night game. :-(

NOV

2006

Mariana ~ Dave Taylor dropped in and left a link for a blogging class...check it out! LOL about the camera. It's really a good way to illustrate a point...or two!

Marti Garaughty ~ life certainly does change and evolve. Who knows what is in store for us next.

Ann ~ Work to me also means a profit. We must find the profit...

Colleen K ~ It's not just a career track, it's an advertising venue, we can do from anywhere.

BB ~ the baby makes me laugh, tear come to my eyes.

Joanne Brown ~ Oh man...I wanted that job! :)

Jessica ~ I showed my little grandson today. He couldn't figure out what was so funny.

Michele ~ Don't dis it...there's a point there! :)

Dave Taylor ~ OH BOY! Thanks for the visit and the link. Sorry I didn't talk more about what you do, but you left a great link. I am certainly "considering the mechanisms for making money." Turning a hobby into an income stream is the ultimate dream...

Carole Cohen ~ The Economist rocks. My hubby reads it and I get it when he's done... I'd find a way to take some time off. Blogging doesn't have to be all consuming. (did I just say that? It must be the tryptophan...maybe I've found a cure for the AR Addiction...)

Suzanne Marriott ~ responding to each like we do here would not only be insane, but impossible.

Maureen Francis ~ I mentioned Dave, he found himself. I think he invented the Internet (before Gore) and actually knows a thing or two. Check out his site...there's a layer of understanding most Realtors just don't get. Go explore, you will see what I'm talking about...

Chris Tesch ~ Michigan has Woverines they will get you if you sleep under a bridge. I think the 7 hours a day might be research...

Leanne Paynter ~ Hey Jersey girl, back at you! The site is pretty edgy. We reveal a lot of personal stuff here, but not like Heather.

Ines ~ I have a job? Thanks for the compliment. I love the laughing baby, he cracks me up and makes me cry. My Zack was like that. He thought photographers were funny, so I only have pictures of his tonsils...

Carol Williams ~ thanks for the Bronco report. They need some rest for sure... Glad you liked the baby. Go check out Dave Taylor's post, he left a link for us...very cool.

Cute kid...TLW...ROAR!

KK... where can I buy myself a professional blogger.... I still don't know how you, Broker Bryant, Mary McKnight, Maureen/Dmitry, Moo, Rich Jacobson, and so many others spit out these blogs. Now, I will say this... others that I didn't mention, I see a lot of short blogs.... very short. I guess those are the point bloggers... lol

In any case... 1,000,000 visitors a month? wow.....

Jeff ~ where is it written that blogs must be long? Must have a point?

TLW ~ hystercially funny and adorable kid...yes!

Jeff, I did used to spit out a lot of posts here. That was back in the day... Now you are more likely to see me commenting. I think I have been averaging 2 or 3 a week lately. Max. That is NOTHING compared to the past. But if you want to hire me, I am available ;-> I just don't know much about Philly or residential mortgages.

KK, I was actually just stopping by here to make sure that you are not in a tryptophan induced coma or something. No new posts since the 22nd. Somebody call 9-1-1 please.

One more thing. I have read Dave Taylor's blog before. I stumbled upon it when we had a candidate for county commissioner by the same name. Doing a bit of research before I decided how to cast my vote.

Kristal: The AskDaveTaylor site is quite interesting. I spent a little time, not a lot, on the site. Here's one of my favorite questions he received and answered. Dave did a great job of answering the question.

NOV

2006

MF ~ So which Dave did you vote for??? :)

Carol ~ He does do an amazing job on a wide variety of topics.

NOV

2006

I think that you could easily turn pro after you participate in one of those 24 hour charity blog-o-thons. By then you shoule be great at whipping up readable content.

LOL, my mind does not work that way! Besides real estate 24/7 will make Jill a dull girl...

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