Content to bury blogging?

by Carl Natale on December 24, 2010

Is blogging dead?

Is blogging dead? Or does it just smell that way?

This is going to be a quick post since blogging is dead. At least that’s what Brian Clark over at CopyBlogger.com says.

Or is he? He’s got a point about content marketing that I’m not sure I get. And I don’t think he wants me to get it – yet. This seems to be the attention getter to a bigger point. At least that’s the way I see it. Let’s give it some time to see if I’m wrong.

In the meantime, let’s consider the thought that the problem with blogging is the name. That I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. I just shouldn’t be running around town calling myself a blogger.

Why not?

For one thing, it’s not very accurate. If want to build a house, would you hire a hammerer? Or a nailer? Or a screwer? (And I’m going to stop with the dirty sounding names.) No you want a carpenter who uses hammers, nails, screws and saws.

So I should think of myself a content marketer not a blogger. Because that’s what I do. Use content as a marketing tool.

What’s in a name?

Well a lot actually. It’s part of branding. I’m supposed to know that.

And I’m supposed to know that it’s not what I say but what people hear.

In other words; I say “blogger,” and people hear “uninformed malcontent who just links to original work.” And that’s if I’m lucky.

Too bad. I like blogger as a job title. No one else has the guts to do it. Wonder why?

So what am I?

Go back to Brian’s assertion that we’re content marketers. He’s saying that blogging is just part of the picture. A blog is the tool that publishes some of the words we use to tell a business’ story. There are other tools we should be using (Twitter, Facebook, PR, networking, etc.).

But when we write content marketer, people hear think we’re happy. Really. That’s because they’re not in publishing. They don’t use that word in that context. They see shows, ads, movies, books, magazines, newspapers and even blogs. So they think happy thoughts when they see the word.

Why does this matter?

Because content marketer doesn’t explain what we do any better than blogging does. Content is jargon. It has a specific meaning to people in publishing. It doesn’t mean anything to someone who’s trying to figure out what all this means.

So am I a writer?

To put it simply, yes. I’m good with that word simply because I define writing as putting words together. The words may go into a blog, article, speech, tweet or video. But writing is all about the words.

My only problem is that when I tell people I’m a writer, they want me to write things I don’t want to write.

What do I want to write?

I want to write the things that you find useful. I want to write what you need to know to improve your business. I want to explain.

I guess that’s what I am – an explainer.

And why does this matter again?

You know what they say about hammers? If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

If all you are is a blogger, everything marketing campaign looks like a blog. The same goes for Twitter or Facebook.

If we’re going to help businesses, we need to be able to work with the words in the correct medium. Maybe not everyone needs a blog. Or a Twitter campaign. Or a Facebook Page. We need to use the right tools.

So blogging isn’t actually dead. Maybe its 15 minutes of fame are up. It will be around for  awhile. Who knows what we’re going to call it.

I hope this explains everything.

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