Do you read blogs?

[SpidersAreShitheads]

I've been working as a copywriter for around 15 years and until recently, have always had a queue of clients.

Enter AI.

My industry has been utterly decimated by AI. No one really cares if the content is correct as long as it looks OK. I still have one big client where I earn enough to pay the bills but honestly, it's squeaky bum time. If they vanish, I'll be off to Only Fans (joking....unless there's a market for chubby 49-year-olds who like reading and being left alone).

To save the world from that, I'm trying to create other ways to earn a living. I have spotted what I think is a gap in the market, and I'd like to set up a blog. I won't bore you with details but it's craft-related. And fun. So even if it earns fuck all, I'll enjoy doing it.

I've asked DP to help with the technical aspects because he's good at that kind of thing. We've just had a conversation where he's said that no one reads blogs any more, it's just about video content.

I know videos are popular and I don't mind some videos on my blog, but he thinks a blog is pointless and I should do a video blog instead.

I hate watching videos, I like reading a proper blog so I can go back over what's been said, look at the photos etc. DP said no one will read it but me, and that no one else is like that.

Thing is, I hate audio books and I know they're really popular so maybe it's just me that belongs in the last century....

What do you say MN? Would you read a blog that interests you? Or would you only watch videos on either YouTube or TikTok?

As a point of note, my blog content will be way better than what I've just banged out here. Honestly.

YABU: Written blogs are boring even if they're about something I love
YANBU: You are definitely right and written blogs still have their place

I love reading blogs. Hate video and audio content and avoid things like that where possible - very difficult to avoid at work where a lot of the training is now videos!

The internet is utterly saturated with craft blogs, if you do good tutorials with videos & good photos too you may get some traffic, but I think it’s definitely more about video content now.

No I don’t, ever, and I used to write a few, and read a lot. I think it’s a dead area tbh, and only really used now for SEO purposes.

Craft blog especially? I can’t see it generating any traffic or income tbh.

I never read blogs anymore and the few I used to are just too ad saturated, I basically just watch YouTube, I have a bias though as I work in the video sphere.

I used to read loads of blogs but these days the only ones I read are travel blogs, usually posts about a particular destination I'm interested in. I generally won't watch videos, I really dislike them.
I think Medium and Substack are where people go to read and write longer form written content now.

I think a lot of influencers now also have Substack. But you’d need to drive traffic to the site via socials.

Like print journalism and even websites blogs are a dying breed. I still like to read print magazines but most people I know don’t. There’ll still be people that like to read blogs but there are millions of blogs out there and it’ll hard to make your blog the one that people want to read. I would do it as a hobby only.

I used to read Down To Earth Blog by a lovely lady from Australia called Rhonda Hetzel. She's just stopped writing it , but the blog is still available to read it's so good, she had a couple of books published off the back of it as it was very popular too. I have the first one called a simple home. It's a simple life blog about everyday home life really, cooking gardening etc.. I loved it used to start my day with a cuppa and read her blog first thing every morning. It's the only blog I've stuck with for years as she writes well and includes lots of photos and recipes. I haven't found another blog that capture my attention as well as this one did .

Don’t think I’ve ever read a blog and can’t say I’d be overly interested but I do watch YouTube videos on crafting techniques as it’s easier to follow them than reading instructions in a book.

I also don’t like Instagram as I don’t really understand how to use it properly. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've blogged for nearly my entire adult life, on one topic or another, starting in the early 2000s. I still blog, in fact, and it's also primarily a crafts-related blog. However, my current blog is entirely for my own enjoyment and is not monetised. I've turned off comments because even positive comments can make me feel a little anxious, and my blog is really just an easily accessible record for my own use.

Despite enjoying writing a blog for more than 20 years, I rarely read anyone else's blog these days. There's one I still read every day. For the rest of it, I prefer YouTube. When I come across blogs in my googling, it seems that most of them have been abandoned, though obviously there are still many people blogging. It does feel like the world has mostly shifted to video and social media, instead.

What I'm thinking of isn't tutorials, but something else.

You're completely right about the saturation of craft blogs, hence why I'm thinking about something that's a bit different, but closely related.

I've been running a big online craft group for around 14-15 years so I feel like I've got a fairly reasonable handle on what there is, what subjects people might be interested in, what's trending etc.

What I don't know is whether people still read blogs....

I definitely don't have the voice for a YouTube channel 😂🫣

There's so much historical free content out there now I do wonder whether in hindsight we as consumers should have been primed to pay at least something for it initially.

I hate the videos. I find too many are self indulgent and cringey. I'm not interested in "shout outs" for people who have supported them, I'm not interested in whatever "cute" thing their cat or child just did and I'm really not interested in the sponsor...

If it's craft related I much prefer written instructions that I can follow at my own pace. However I want them to be to the point. The recipe blogs drive me mad when you have to scroll through a load of drivel to find the actual instructions

@ConfusedAnxiousMum This is me too! I'm glad it's not just me that thinks like this 😂

@chattyness - that blog sounds lovely, really uplifting. I just went and had a look and I can see why you enjoyed it so much, it's really wholesome. Such a shame she's stopped, although understandable. I would kill for her garden!!

@TheWytch amen to all of that! For previous clients, I'd sometimes get asked to write recipes/cooking instructions and they'd specify they wanted 500-600 words BEFORE the bloody recipe. Nothing would budge them. Maddening.

I don't think people read blogs anymore, at least not the traditional kind (and thank god most recipe blogs now have a "jump to recipe" link, so I don't have to wade through 5,000 words of total guff).

Good writing is still valued, and Substack is growing, but I think it's only really people who already had a profile who are making money there.

For anything involving recipes, or tutorials of any kind, like a pp I do prefer written instructions rather than videos, but I don't want your life story. That type of blogging is dead.

@SpidersAreShitheads
For previous clients, I'd sometimes get asked to write recipes/cooking instructions and they'd specify they wanted 500-600 words BEFORE the bloody recipe. Nothing would budge them. Maddening.

This is because ten, fifteen years ago, you needed lots of copy for the SEO. I used to write recipe and DIY blogs for a retailer in those days. The internet is different now, and AI can easily do that kind of writing, as you've discovered. There will probably be no call for the copy at all soon, as no-one wants to read AI content.

I personally like reading blogs and really dislike video content but I am aware I am in the minority. Good luck OP, I totally understand your frustration at the competition from and awful quality of AI generated content.

@TheOtherAgentJohnson Believe it or not, I'm talking about as recently as 2-3 years ago... I think those clients had learnt about SEO right at the start but then never updated their strategy.

The main income I have left is a big agency (US-based) and they have quite a large number of clients who are absolutely adamant they don't want anything touched by AI. So they are out there, there's just not many of them.

Other jobs want copywriters to take AI shite and clean it up for pennies. They know it's inaccurate nonsense so they want someone to improve it, but they don't want to pay for their time properly. Soul-destroying really.

The blog I have in mind isn't the type that winds its way around or provides a big backstory. I think keeping to the point would be vital to have any hope of someone - anyone! - reading it!

No. Dull as ditch water

😂😂

On any subject?

Can I ask, are you a reader in general ie/books?

Because I wonder if there’s a correlation between people who still like blogs and those who enjoy reading, as opposed to audio books.

I would love to get on with audio books but I struggle to keep my concentration.

I'm definitely a reader.

I don't have a TV and I've never listened to an audio book. I'm pretty sure my brain would relegate it to background noise and not take any of it in.

I just listened to the podcast called ‘niche pursuits’ and a travel blogger has done just that. open.spotify.com/episode/0V6FmuCLvbG5DEByYbwiji?si=C9YzdihAQUqouTW51U4Odg

Actually I do receive blog posts from substack weekly for a couple of authors, but as a pp said you have to generate traffic to them from socials, I followed them and had read their books.

Sorry op, I stopped reading blogs around 2010. However that's not to say you shouldn't try, just make sure you are relevant, connect with people and are true to you. Wishing you lots of luck

I used to love blogs and had one myself. I like lots of nice pictures, not so keen on loads of ramblings, just get straight to the point. So yes I'd definitely read a blog.