How Personal is Too Personal when Blogging?
Posted by Holly in Blogging, Blunt Honesty
How personal is too personal when you’re blogging about Internet Marketing?
I’ve been researching my past blog posts, along with posts made by pro-bloggers and have noticed that the more personal things get = the more popular. When blogging, it can at times become difficult to come up with fresh new content. Some people don’t write the posts themselves, but link directly out to new articles. The Lifehacker blog is an example of a popular blog making lots of money, off of a lot of non-original content. Personally, I don’t mind linking to useful articles that I have discovered online, but I prefer to write more original content.In a recent article, I wrote about the Secret to Becoming a Popular Blogger – the main message was that to be a popular blogger, you must be interesting and personal.
So how personal is too personal? And how can a blogger be tactfully personal, while writing articles about Internet Marketing? I noticed that my most popular blog posts from Honest Holly were about - Personal Situations and Struggles: for example: the Break-Ins I had In Thailand & real-life situation I was going through. The other popular posts I wrote about were personal in nature, or dealing with real-life situations that others can relate to or have also experienced. Often-times I have attempted to tie in the personal stuff with the internet marketing-related topics.
At times I find myself wanting to write about personal topics as well – about life in Las Vegas – but much of it has nothing to do with Internet Marketing. I am trying to keep things focused on the topic the blog is about. But I’ll still throw some of that into the mix of the blog – to keep it more interesting and to share what’s going on in my life. Sorry if this is kind of a rant or my rambling – but I thought I’d share my thoughts this morning. If you have any tips or would like to share any thoughts you have on this, please leave a comment below. If you have any “post requests” or topics you want covered, also feel free to share that below. I have a friend who wants me to write about how to podcast with wordpress for free – so that will be one of the next posts I write about. If you have a request, I’d be happy to help write about it. Thanks.
27 Responses to “How Personal is Too Personal when Blogging?”
Leave a Reply
Lester e.a.Wilson
16. Jun, 2009
Hi Holly,go girl,this is one of the most refreshing and real blog posts i’ve read.
It just shows that you arae human and not just some robot doing a sales pitch.
I believe if more bloggers would get personal they would build more rapport with people,therefore building a much larger network of friends and contacts,not just customers.
Holly
16. Jun, 2009
Thanks Lester you have just inspired me to continue being *real and sharing more personal posts. Thank YOU!!!
Lester e.a.Wilson
16. Jun, 2009
continued,i accidentally hit send
Please feel free to email me anytime.
Lester e.a.Wilson
Sunny England u.k.
Michelle
16. Jun, 2009
This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot too! How to decide on just one topic to blog on, and stick to it. I used to have a blog but gave it up ages ago. Wanting to start one up again, but it’s difficult to know whether personal things we find interesting would also be of interest, or ”on topic’ for readers. I think a good mixture of personal posts and internet marketing posts is the best idea, as it’s only pushy promotional blog posts that people are really turned off by (not that I’ve ever seen that here).
I would be interested to read anything about how you manage to balance parenting and your own life as a single parent with an online marketing career as that’s something I struggle to find a balance with at times – but possibly not relevant for most people!
I’d also be interested to know how to make a decent personalised Twitter background, how you create ebook cover graphics and headers like yours and also any tips you have to do with affiliate marketing on a large scale. Mine is going well, but struggling to scale it up to the level I’d like.
Thanks!
Michelle
Michelles last blog post..How to Create a Forum for Your Website (for Bluehost Users)
Holly
16. Jun, 2009
Awesome Michelle – thank you!!! You’ve given me a lot of good advice and tips. The twitter background tutorial is something I wanted to make a post about. I will definitely write about that and the ebook cover creation. Thank you so much for this great feedback Michelle – it is always so wonderful to hear from you.
Dave Doolin
16. Jun, 2009
Your title in your RSS feed is broken.
I took a screenshot. I’ll upload it somewhere if you want to see how it looks. Anonymous drop would be fine, I don’t care. But you need to fix it.
Personal posts: I think a lot about it. In the end it comes down to monetizing one’s emotional experiences. Not sure how I feel about that.
Dave Jackson
17. Jun, 2009
I had an issue with this, I was trying to be edgy and while people did (occasionally) find it funny. When my girlfriend (no fiance’s) daughter googles me, well naturally the ONE episode you don’t want them to find was the first one at the top of google. You can hear about this whole fiasco at
http://betterdave.com/2006/12/24/18-2/
Dave Jacksons last blog post..Connecting Your Podcast Equipment
Bill Vlasak
17. Jun, 2009
The last post by Dave is interesting but there is a problem with his computer or feedburner.
The link: [broke it to prevent damage] hppt//betterdave.com/2006/12/24/18-2/ leads to a “gz”flle attachment hyperlink that Avast anti-virus considers a worm.Any hyperlink with a file as part of the link is scanned since downloads are frequently transferred that way.
I doubt malicious intent is meant by Dave.
Holly
18. Jun, 2009
Hi Bill. If the issues with feedburner aren’t resolved still – if you think it might be your computer that could be the problem – you may want to try Firefox as a browser if you’re not using it already. I’m not sure if that could resolve the issues or if they are fixed yet.
Bill Vlasak
17. Jun, 2009
How do I enable ‘CommentLuv ,if I click on it and it takes
me to another page but doesn’t return me? Going back to your blog is easy enough but there is no indicated change.I use comment love on my blog and leave it enabled via the plug-ins control panel on the administrator page.
Just wondering.
Besides all that ,your personal touch to writing is what keeps me interested in your blog and in you as a person. If that is what it takes to make money on the internet ,whether that is the intention or not by some authors,then maybe more of us should try it.Loving lfe and leading an interesting life makes it easier and also writing about trials and tribulations or everyday happenings can work.
Constantly giving sales pitches which I get via thousands of e-mails a month would not keep me at a blog.Getting to learn something new to me or reading product reviews gets boring after a while so your soft approach is refreshing.
PS: keep encouraging the expansion of the Honest Marketing Movement.
PPS: one of its members has links to pornography,so please moderate a bit more by checking into all hyperlinks presented..I should have reported it immediately but had family duties to attend to at the time and don’t know who it was anymore.
Bill Vlasaks last blog post..http://automoto.goodnanoav.com/
Holly
17. Jun, 2009
Hi Bill – thank you so much for the advice, honest opinion and heads up. Is a member of the Honest Marketing movement with links to a pornograpy? If so,I will head over to check on it or do something about it. Thank you so much again.
About Commentluv – you don’t need to click on any link. I believe when you fill out your website address when submitting a comment, it will automatically detect the latest post and add it into your comment below it. I hope that makes sense.
Bill Vlasak
17. Jun, 2009
My posts disappeared.Hopefully for moderating purposes only.
Bill Vlasak
17. Jun, 2009
Thank you.That answers all my questions for the day.
Bill Vlasak
17. Jun, 2009
Dave’s site loaded now without problems so I am a little confused and embarrassed.His blog and his ‘School of Podcasting’ sites are fine.Perhaps my own IP server is not linking properly and tried to link to a contaminated file on feedburner.I know I sometimes get e-mail addressed to someone else.Sorry Dave,if that is what happened.
That link though ,still indicates “i-frame info inside a gzip file’,A false alarm probably ,but a connection succeeds even after an abort command is issued 3 times by my computer.
Holly
18. Jun, 2009
Hi Dave – thanks for the RSS tip. I just checked and the title was not broken.I will ask others to take a look – not sure what is going on with it. Thank you for the heads up though.
About sharing my personal thoughts on the blog – and monetizing my emotional experiences…that’s an interesting way to put it. Your wording made me think. So much of my life experiences are online already – because I have shared personal struggles on this blog here but I’ve kept it to a minimum. I’m hardly profiting from this blog as it is – I really just want to create a very useful site that can help people make money online (and of course I am promoting my book on here – but not heavily). Maybe in the future this site will be more of a go-to resource center and I will be profiting – but I don’t feel bad about monetizing my emotional experiences. If they can help or inspire others – I will share it!
That’s just me.
Anna
19. Jun, 2009
I left a comment meant for this post but put it on the next post. Oops.
Anyway I’m sorry but I think its silly – what’s wrong with making money with personal experiences? How harmless is that? Who cares? Some people make money by making people sick, destroying the environment, and worse. The last thing I’m worried about is people sharing their experiences! If no one made money on their personal experiences we would have no writers! And very few books!
Annas last blog post..5 Simple and Powerful Ways to Use Google Analytics
Irish Tom
19. Jun, 2009
Hi Holly,
Just a bit of advise from a wise old irish Grandfather..don’t change!!
I have been working on the internet here is CA for past few years and believe me it is very refreshing and “honest” to get to know you and share your experiences both good and bad. Makes you HUMAN…
When I started on line here it really ticked me off with the no name gurus/con merchants/liars/cheats etc..etc..who just wanted to rob you of your hard earned money.
I was referred to your Honest Riches book by what I consider one of the very few genuine marketers I was dealing with and when I seen your site and realized you were a “real person”, I felt happy buying and now the book is my Internet Bible.
Stupid thing, when you Google some of these con merchants you get to find out about them. (Planning an ebook on these experiences).
I enjoy your site and also the people you have who support you and this is refreshing. Maybe you need to be a little more “marketing aggressive”, but don’t lose the personal touch.
I have been over 40 years in Sales and Marketing Management in Ireland and Europe and believe me i never had to use the “hard sell”.
I am putting together a blog covering “The Ten Steps to The Sale” which is known more in the New car Sales Business, but applies everywhere.
Just a tip..First Step: ATTITUDE.
Anyhow, drifted on a bit but hopefully these comments may be of value.
Tell Josh the Irishman said HI….
Kind regards
Tom
Holly
19. Jun, 2009
Hi Tom! Thanks for your wonderful advice and I look forward to learning a few things from your website. Your are completely right that I need to be more marketing aggressive. Over the past few years I’ve become less and less like that – and to stay in the game – it must be a part of the sales process.
Thanks again for your advice! It’s always nice to hear from you.
Holly Mann
19. Jun, 2009
Hey Anna – thank YOU miss. Very good point that I agree with fully. The last part of what you said really summed it up for me – “If no one made money on their personal experiences we would have no writers! And very few books!” And, like you, I love writing Anna.
The more real the better!
Holly Manns last blog post..80 Summers – Poem
Davin-The Viral Sanctuary
20. Jun, 2009
Hi Holly,
Actually, I’d have to agree with Tom on that. That’s the part of your blog that makes you somewhat unique, and why people like reading your blog.
I actually wrote much the same thing the other day on one of my blog posts. I was outlining who my favorite 5 top bloggers were. You were on my list of top 5, for that very reason.
I think it gives you and your blog a lot of appeal letting them into a little bit of who you really are as a person.
Thanx Holly….take care
Dav
Davin-The Viral Sanctuarys last blog post..My Top 5 Favorite Bloggers
Deneil Merritt
22. Jun, 2009
Great post. I find that applying everyday life to internet marketing into a post really works. For example, like watching a movie. You can write title “What I learned from (movie)” Try to write about what you learned from the movie that you can apply to internet marketing.
That way the post is both personal and on topic.
Dustin
23. Jun, 2009
Holly, I know I’m a bit late to this party, but I HAVE to agree with the others. One of the greatest things about your blog is that we (your readers) get to know you because you put yourself in your writing. I find it much more entertaining and fulfilling to read a blog that has a bunch of personal flair than something that JUST states the facts like a news broadcast.
Holly
23. Jun, 2009
Thank you so much Dustin – that is very kind of you and I appreciate the comment. I wanted to understand what people like about the blog or how I can improve it!
louie jerome
02. Jul, 2009
I enjoy blogs with a personal touch although I don’t tend to write much of that kind of material myself.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap
03. Jul, 2009
If you’re creative you can weave any subject into a post about Internet Marketing. You could use your favorite business in Las Vegas as an example of how to use Local Listing Directories or do a screen capture of their reviews in Yahoo! Local to write about the importance of reviews for businesses or include some favorite blogs in a post about free ways to drive traffic.
I must just be a boring quasi-geek as I much prefer how-to and strategy to scandal, controversy and what the famous people are doing.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap
03. Jul, 2009
Your Comment Luv plugin may not be the latest version. I use it all the time and it didn’t work for me just now. The new CommentLuv lets us select from our last ten posts and we can see that it is working before we submit our comments. Their site has recently moved to comluv.
Personality marketing
19. Aug, 2009
I say write about whatever you want and agree the more “regular” you are the better.
Sharing tips and advice is good, but if you can let people get in and get to “know” you…things will go much further.