The Death of Blogging

Blogging. Like all things, it will eventually die. Not totally, but we are witnessing the beginning of it right now. Why? People are growing tired of reading articles from so called “experts” who really have no credentials.

We are beginning to see way too many people attempt to write when they have absolutely no business writing. There ARE great bloggers out there. They DO know what they are talking about. Unfortunately, those authors are far and in between. The great ones will survive, the others will fade.

Blogging isn’t for everybody. Too many people are in blogging for all the wrong reasons. Reading many blogs, I am drawn to certain authors because of their authenticity, genuine nature and because they offer real life examples and advice that will help others learn.

Blogging to promote your company is one of the main reasons people grow sick of reading blogs. Blogs are beginning to be seen as spam. Industry experts are suggesting people write to help show their knowledge and expertise in the industry. My advice? If you can write and add value, then please do. If you can’t, then PLEASE don’t.

Let’s talk briefly about personal brand. I agree and disagree that it is important. I DO NOT believe it is essential for you to succeed in your field. Show up, do your job, do everything that is asked and more. If you do that, then you will be successful. Your BRAND is your SUCCESS.

Some of the best recruiters I know DO NOT blog, DO NOT tweet. They have their heads down and are busy doing their jobs. They aren’t busy trying to build their “personal brand”, but more interested in doing the job at hand.

Blogging does give you credentials. You do become more recognizable in the workplace. People will trust you can and will gain more customers and you build up more credibility. It may help you take you to the next level in your career. IF you are bad at it though, it could KILL your career. Speak up if you know what you are talking about. I encourage you. If not, stay away.

Information overload is where we are right now. If we continue down the path we are on, we will see the death of blogging and the idea of a personal brand. Stay tuned, but we are all witnessing the end. Want to help prevent it? Do the right thing- write if you have something to add and don't if you can't.

Comment by Will Thomson on September 24, 2013 at 2:52pm: Thanks Jeanne. The people I mentioned that "make it" do just that. Check out @ChristopherinHR- no one does it better than him. His blogs are terrific.

Comment by Brian K. Johnston on September 27, 2013 at 2:47pm: Good Points... The Death Of Blogging For Me, Will Happen When My Firm Stops Organically Being Placed On the First Page Of Google, Bing, etc.... Would You Like Some Proof? Search: "Data Storage Recruiter" or "Inbound Recruiter"... I Do It Because It Makes My Corporation Money.... When You Own Your Own Company, Have And Have A Limited Marketing Budget, It Makes Perfect Sense, But You Are An Employee It Makes No Sense... Apple And Oranges Conversation Regarding Motivation To Blog.... Have A Great Weekend ALL, Your Inbound Recruiter-

Comment by Brian K. Johnston on September 27, 2013 at 2:52pm: Also Have An Amazon Published Book That Covers This Topic: (Sorry For Shameless Plug. but it provides relevence to the discussion) http://www.amazon.com/Headhunter-Headhunted-Product-Service-ebook/d... OR If You Want A Free PDF Copy Shoot Me An Email To brian AT johnstonsearch DOT com

Comment by Will Thomson on September 27, 2013 at 4:14pm: Hey Brian- always enjoyed your insight and your videos. Pretty powerful. Glad to know you.

Comment by Sylvia Dahlby on September 27, 2013 at 8:44pm: Brian you're an inspiration!

Comment by Brian K. Johnston on October 1, 2013 at 10:34am: Thanks @will and @slyvia Keep Pressing!!!

Comment by Ellen Clark on October 7, 2013 at 11:05am: Excellent points made, but I wouldn't go so far to say it is the end of blogging.There are some really good writers out there that I learn a lot from. I too wrote about my experience blogging and why I thought the overall social media/blogging game hurts a recruiter's bottom line: http://clarksearch.com/how-social-media-hurt-my-executive-search-bu... I have cut way back on my posts and only blog when I have something really important to offer or something that my readers can learn from my 20 years in the business. I get calls and email from people all the time telling my they just read a post and how it helped them. For this reason alone I will keep writing. But again, overall I agree there is too much junk out there and it would be great to see less. Like someone pointed out, though, Google likes all this content; so until Google can tell what is truly good writing and what is not, then much of the junk writing will continue.

Comment by Paul Alfred on October 7, 2013 at 11:27am: Thanks for making my point @Ellen Google loves content ... Infact if you don't have a blog as apart of your SEO strat you won't rank as high. Until Google says otherwise the death of Blogs is a long way off ...

Comment by Will Thomson on October 7, 2013 at 12:47pm: Ellen, that article you wrote was terrific. There are great writers out there. Terrific actually. They won't go away. I think people are realizing that the world will keep spinning and we are spending far too much time on social media.