Monday, March 3, 2014

4 Blog Types You Shouldn't Let Your Blog Become

There are always popular genres in any medium that will eventually be successful. Successful, but also unoriginal and pretty redundant. Like the Spiderman movies. Sure, it's sort of different, with new actors and maybe a different story arc, but in the end, it's the same old story. Don't let your blog turn into just another bad sequel, by avoiding these blog genres like the plague.

1.) Mommy Blogs
Now, before you start raining down brimstone and hellfire, hear me out.


See those numbers? See just how many Mommy centric blogs there are on the internet? I'm going to be blunt here, but what makes your special snowflake any different than the snowflakes of another blogger? Writing a blog solely about the topic of your child and how difficult/easy/fun/exciting it is to rear them, is one of the best ways to not only stigmatize your blog, but also alienate new readers.

A person who might come upon your blog in one of a hundred ways will suddenly be bombarded with:  LOOK AT MY OFFSPRING. LOOK AT IT. IT'S THE BEST OFFSPRING ANYONE HAS EVER CREATED. THE FRUIT OF MY LOINS IS PERFECTION IN EVERY WAY AND FORM AND YOU SHOULD AGREE WITH ME.

Well, if that person is a mother, I'm sure they share your mindset, but what about those who don't have or want children? Or  those women who desire children more than anything, but are having difficulties getting pregnant? That kind of constant LOOK AT MY BABY content can get pretty tiring, and even annoying. Nothing turns off readers like a constant stream of baby news, with nothing else to alleviate the topic.

Now, I'm not going to tell you to never post about your kids, because every human on this planet has moments they would like to boast about. But don't make your blog just about the kids.

2.) Giveaway/Deal/Coupon/Freebie Blogs
I used to run a segment on my blog about once a week where I would gather up some of the better giveaways and freebies I could find around the web. Let me just say, that even for a simple once a week post, I was spending hours scouring all kinds of spammy websites, crappy mailing lists, and worse. Now imagine dedicating an entire blog to coupons, or freebies, or giveaways, and wave goodbye to your life.

Not only will your social calendar in real life suffer, but your online life won't get much better. Because even though you might have 10,000 people reading your blog, how many of them are actually sticking around to comment and interact with you? If the interaction will be anything like on other freebie blogs I have seen, it's going to be cringe worthy.

3.) Overly Religious Blogs
Like with everything else on this list, things in moderation can be great. I'm a religious person, I try to be a good Pagan and treat others like I would like to be treated, and sure...I might write the occasional post about my faith. However, I have come across a recent surge in blogs dedicated only to the writers religion, and how awesome it is, and how everyone should be (insert religion here).

Well for one thing, you just pissed off the rest of the internet population who isn't the specific religion you're touting, for another, we aren't getting any real information about you. I for one like to know things about the blogger whose posts I'm spending time to read. If all you ever post is sermon after sermon, well, I could just go to church for that.

4.) Recipe Blogs
I have literally millions of websites at my disposal that will give me recipes for anything and everything. What makes your blog about Grandma's super secret pumpkin pie any different? There is enough repetitious content on the internet without yet another food blog clogging my feed.

In the end, all I'm trying to say is don't let your blog become just a genre. You're unique, and your readers want to know more about you, not just one specific aspect of your life. Be more than just another throwaway blog in the blogosphere.

Love and Lightning Bugs,
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