I’ve been in this game for 5 years now. This blog has evolved from a part-time hobby alongside a boring recruitment job, to a full-time distraction during my maternity leave, to bringing in a little extra pocket money to treat the kids. Although it is monetised, I don’t compete with my peers in terms of awards, nor do I aggressively seek big contracts or review opportunities. Rather, over time, I’ve built a rapport with a few select PR agencies who will regularly contact me for sponsored posts or review work, or else I stumble across something interesting that I’ll go on to apply for.
This allows me to write about what I want, rather than focusing solely on my little people and (let’s face it) the bore that is parenting. Sometimes I genuinely need a break from motherhood, and fancy writing about my true crime obsession, or my mental health, or the never-ending project that is our family home. As such this blog is a truly eclectic collection of rants, interests and distractions. You are just as likely to hear me tearing Theresa May a new one, as you are reviewing the latest toy for the 3 year old that has everything.
For me, a good blog doesn’t necessarily look like mine. I can reel off dozens of blogs that do things differently, and far better than I. Many of these will stick to a niche and really blog the hell out of it, or else they’ll maintain a tone and refuse to compromise on it, even if this means turning down a post for upwards of £200 that just “doesn’t fit”. These are the influencers that brands will clamber over themselves to partner with, and the blogs that pick us up when we’re feeling particularly shitty and need a few hours out from the endless piles of ironing - you always know what you are going to get - whether that’s a good laugh, an engaging debate, or the very latest happenings within a niche you’re invested in.
Yet the blogging world is currently experiencing its most notable period of innovation since I joined it. Gone are the days where a new blogger’s biggest decision is whether to publish their work on WordPress or Blogger, the constant evolution of social media has now pushed the traditional format of “blogging” into a much broader one.
If I were to ask a fellow parent at the school gate what a blog is, they’ll usually cobble a sentence or two together that vaguely resembles this blog - that’s to say “a sort of website formed by regular posts, sort of like a diary but not” (thanks Danny’s Dad!) - but to the initiated (and a handful of Millennials, and the vast majority of Generation Z) a blog is not confined to the written word - rather it spans across a heady media mix including (but not limited to) video and podcasting.
So will the traditional online blog get left behind?
It’s hard to say. When I began my parent blog, there were a good 1500 blogs of its ilk here in the UK, within 3 years, this number was 8000 and counting, I’ve now lost track. Although many of these blogs have since diversified to include new topics, drifting into the ever-ambiguous “lifestyle blog” category, there is always a new mother or father around the corner to fill the void x2.
Although there will always be a need for written word blogs for SEO purposes (commercial sites will pay for links on well performing blogs to manipulate Google listings and get a boost up the page for specific search terms), in terms of customer engagement I do foresee brands both big and small fighting for a mention or product placement within the vlog instead.
In fact partnering with the right vlogger can make or break a product. We’ve seen this marketing model in action within the beauty sector, and judging by the amazing quality of parenting and lifestyle vlogs around at the moment, it’s somewhat inevitable that brands aimed at parents will soon follow suit. It’s one thing me waxing lyrical about the latest stroller, it’s quite another to see someone using it on the street.
So where does podcasting fit in?
Despite my own obsession with them, podcasts are the great unknown as far as blogging goes. Although some see them as confined to set niches (sport, film, politics and crime) there’s no denying this is a growth industry. Much of this (as with vlogging) is owing to convenience and how we now consume media. Now none of us leave the house without our Smartphone we have access to media on a unprecedented scale. If we’re bored waiting for a train, we can check out a vlog and transport ourselves away from the grey crowded platform, even if just for a few minutes. If we’re out jogging, check in with our favourite podcasts streamed via our iTunes or Stitcher. In short, each of these media types can be consumed whilst actively doing other things - the same can not be said of the traditional written blog.
For me blogging will go the way of the book. Just as the printed book gave way to the e-reader, which is now supported by the audiobook - it’s logical that blogs will shimmy along a similar virtual path. Written blogs will continue and the best will survive, but we’ll see a huge growth in vlogs and podcasts over the next few years, until eventually live broadcast blogs will become the norm (making virtual celebrities of those whose faces fit).
So what do you think? Do you see a gradual move towards the “multi-platform” blog, or will one platform prevail and deafen out the others? What does the future of blogging look like to you?
I’ve written this as part of Innovation Company’s study on what bloggers see as the future of blogging - http://innovationcompany.co.uk
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