When a Blog Becomes a Slog

So I read this article, When Blogging Becomes a Slog, over on The New York Times today (thanks for sharing, Gregory!) and I wasn't sure what to think other than bless writer Steven Kurutz for shedding light on the topic to the outside world. Yet for those of us blogging (who number into the thousands), well we have battled with all of what he speaks of and more for years. Yet when you read about it in The Times it suddenly feels like it's hot-off-the-presses brand new. But again, it's not. Blogger burn out, sponsored content love/hate, feeling overwhelmed, post performance, stats, reader expectations, maintaining our pace... These have always been major blogger concerns. Attend any blogger conference or listen in on what bloggers talk about when they gather for lunch. It's always on our minds.

And yet so many questions are on the table today after reading that article, for many bloggers. Because I think it raised a lot of interesting questions that, though didn't get raised by Mr. Kurutz, seemed to come to mind after I read his take on blogger burn out. Here are questions that popped into my head:

• As advertising dollars slip away for those "annoying blinking boxes" so does the income that bloggers relied upon to keep producing 5 star content full-time. Many have moved on to sponsored in-post content. But lots of readers hate it and says it affects "our voice". So what's next?
• Are your readers really the ones pushing you so hard or is it voice inside of your own head along with fame, money, etc.?
• Should our readers be all that matter because at some point, shouldn't we as bloggers care about finding pleasure in our work? For instance, Are teachers, vets, cafe owners, doctors heading off to work each day to only please their customers or do they genuinely enjoy what they do? Isn't that the bigger part of it all?
• Are some bloggers simply too ambitious and it's causing them to lose balance?
• Is the future of blogging in paid content - in other words, if readers don't like ads, sponsored content or anything that they feel makes us less "authentic" or trustworthy, then should we have some of our blog content be stuff they pay to see? And the less intense-to-produce posts can remain free?
• And in all fairness, doesn't everyone in every profession battle with burn out and fear and everything else - why is it that when bloggers do it becomes a NYTimes article?

My blogging mantra has always been to use blogging as a catalyst to live your best life. To let blogging drive you to do great things so that you have interesting content to share. I also think you have to think ahead and always expect that nothing today will be this way tomorrow. Especially online. Blogging (or any profession) cannot suck our souls or make us feel like losers when we miss a few days or when our last DIY post didn't generate as many shares or comments. When that happens you have to step back and wonder what the hell is happening to us, right?

What are your thoughts on all of this?

(image: design for mankind who was one blogger featured in The Times article and had a few interesting things to say.)