The Many Hats of a Professional Blogger

2006 March 8
by Genuine

Chris Garrett has a great post over at Performancing about the number of hats a professional blogger wears in the day-to-day operation of a blog.  His list he started is:

  • Entrepreneur - the ideas, the vision, motivation and drive
  • Salesperson - brings in the advertising, sponsorships, does the deals
  • Bookkeeper - keeps the numbers in check
  • Editor - controls the output, checks and amends for quality, final decision on topics
  • Researcher - investigates stories and information for articles, gathers facts
  • Writer - does the actual writing, possibly based on the researchers gathered materials
  • Designer - keeps the blog looking great, formats posts so they look their best
  • Organiser - admin, project management, to-do lists, calendars, diaries …
  • Tech Support – backups, fixes things when they go wrong, hosting, software upgrades, modules, ad serving …
  • Mentor - impartial wisdom and advice, been there got the t-shirt
  • Network manager - for when the enterprise grows from one blog to many, someone needs to run the farm
  • …

As a business owner, I tend wear all of these hats as well, as when I am a problogger, and  agree with Chris’ statement that:

I think it would be fair to say that it is a rarity that one person encompasses all the qualities required to an excellent degree.

He goes on to say:

This says to me that as professional blogging matures there will be more and more team blogs. Blogs will become more akin to online magazines than online diaries. Note I say “team blogs” rather than “multi-author” blogs. While these blogs might well have multiple authors, the distinction I make is there will be essential team members who do not post.

If we look at it from the opposite side of the coin, as a business owner who also has a business blog, I can tell you I need to have team bloggers as well.  I need to have the time and energy to post regularly here on my own blog.  As the hats change, so does the time it takes to wear all of those hats.  Each hat carries with it a cost in time.  We can eliminate some of the stress of having to wear the blogger hat, and can save time for you to add another couple of hats to Chris’ list:

  • Banker – Using your time to make your business money you can actually deposit.
  • Travel Agent – Spending some quality time with that hammock on the beach instead of spending all your time in front of the monitor.

Speaking of hammocks, beaches and traveling, make sure to get over to the Blogonomics site and get your reservations in to attend the conference.  If you go on the cruise and need a professional blogger to watch your business blog while you are sipping umbrella drinks, drop us a line, and we will get your business paired with the perfect professional blogger.  Yuo can then leave that hat at home.

from → Blogging and Usability, Business Blogging, Conferences and Seminars, Professional Bloggers

4 Comments leave one →
2006 June 30
Professional Bloggers Are Multi-taskers ! » TheSMSGuide Blog » Blog Archive » Professional Bloggers Are Multi-taskers ! permalink

[...] Here’s a great post on what ProBloggers actually do ! They don’t just sit around, make a few posts and then sip tea ! See the post called The Many Hats of a Professional Blogger. [...]

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2006 October 12
Bloggers For Hire » Blog Archive » What is Happening with Blogger Salaries permalink

[...] At Bloggers for Hire we offer a salary based on the negaotiation between our service , the company and the blogger.  We merely offer a way fopr smaller businesses that don;t have huge marketing budgets to enter the online world of blogging and getting exposure and buzz about their company.  I don;t know of any permanent salaried positions that would allow Indeed to come up with their figure of $39,000.00 annually, but I know bloggers that make much more than that, and I know bloggers that don’t make 10% of that figure.  This is still a new profession, and it is a little different that your everyday journalist or reporter, and it even differs from a freelance copy writer that is paid by the word.  This is a special position of people that know how to use a blog, know how to write, can engage with readers, and at the same time provide a message for the company that has contracted them.  A blogger carries many hats and is asked to a number of things that yoour everyday jopurnalist or reporter does not do.  This could explain the difference in salary, but I would venture to say that the figure given by Indeed is somewhat skewed. [...]

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2006 December 12
One By One Media » One By One Media and Google: Companies with similar problems requiring similar solutions. permalink

[...] It’s approaching 1:00 a.m. as I sit down to finally put down my thoughts about the previous day’s events.  This has been one of those whirlwind days that a small company owner dreads.  I have posted before about the many hats of a professional blogger.  A small business owner must also carry many hats.  Today I was required to pull out the PR hat that companies sometimes need to correct a wrong, to provide a company position and to be a voice of a company that is in crisis.  As a small business owner, I am confident when I say any crisis be it big or small is a difficult crisis if a plan is not made to address those issues. [...]

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2009 July 20
A Copywriter Does Not A Blogger Make | Bloggers For Hire permalink

[...] responds to your all important Yes or No question with "It depends."  Most professional bloggers wear many hats. I was reading recently over at SEOmoz.com and they discussed some of the same issues about getting [...]

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