Why Giving Up Blogging May Be Your Worst Decision

Thinking about giving up blogging? Think again.

I’ve been posting to one or more blogs regularly since 2005. That followed three years of running an online forum and several more years of belonging to one or more groups or forums. I became active online in 1995, but had at least a passing fancy with computers for years before.

Blogging Adventure

A latecomer to blogging, I still have managed to see the blogosphere change dramatically. Technorati was the driving force for many bloggers, a platform by which they got noticed, connected with other bloggers and, hopefully, monetized their sites. Technorati’s influence has gone the way of MySpace and Digg, virtual afterthoughts in all things Internet.

Blogging’s strength can be credited largely to WordPress which took the blogging model and ran with it. Early on, WordPress experienced the usual growing pains, but by the time Word Press 3.0 rolled out, those problems largely disappeared. Today, WP is a stable and broad platform, an excellent content management system whether you use it for blogging or other purposes.

Gone Dark

Lately, I’ve been visiting the blogging sites of some of my colleague writers and have found two that haven’t been kept up in at least six months. Both sites offered engaging and sometimes instructive content, but each appears to have ceased being updated. No word from the blogger that the work had stopped, just an aged post occupying the home page. They’ve gone dark, but nobody has turned out the light.

I understand what may be driving some bloggers to quit, especially writers who have a lot of other projects and perhaps personal websites to manage. Matt’s Musings faded in 2011 as I allowed a steady stream of contributors to fill in. I stopped accepting guest posts last May, realizing that this blog belongs to me and it is my voice I want out there. Besides, I have an ulterior motive for continuing this site. Read on and I’ll explain why giving up blogging may be your worst decision:

It is your site and your voice — How do people find you other than you making regular queries? Querying for work is great and needful, but I must admit that most of my current crop of clients found me. Matt’s Musings was one of several platforms where my writings brought me work. Without it, I would lose an important marketing tool.

You can express yourself — You can’t possibly express yourself to the degree that you want anywhere else including on Facebook, the site that seems to have the most impact on pulling people away from blogging. Sure, longer form writing is possible, but it just isn’t the same. Facebook may also delete your content if Mark Zuckerberg changes the rules again.

You own it — Unless your blog is hosted Blogspot or WordPress.com, you probably own the site and have arranged your own hosting. You dress up your site the way you want it to look and you backup your files automatically. Why contribute content to a site that you don’t own when you can connect with your readers at the home base you do own?

Your expertise can shine forth — People who are experts in anything always have a home site where their thoughts can be shared. Unless you have a redirect to a new website, people may assume you have quit writing. Why degrade your expert status by gradually disappearing or getting lost in a sea of Facebook users?

No blog, no income — It is no secret that bloggers make money off of their sites. Yes, paid links and paid content are no longer part of the mix, but a display ad can certainly be a money generator. Matt’s Musings is not a direct money maker, but I’ve garnered work through this site that pays for my web hosting and my time writing articles many times over.

Having Fun

My points here aren’t meant to dispense guilt on anyone. Your reasons for not blogging may have everything to do with your schedule, your interest and your workload. Still, I would venture to say that you have blogged for the fun of it, not worrying about grammar, syntax and a host of other rules we must follow when writing for our clients.

How to Get Payment From a Deadbeat Client

It is your money, so treat it as such.

In nine years of working for myself, only one client has stiffed me. But, he didn’t get away with it.

Unethical Lawyer

I’ve told this story before, how a cheesy lawyer wanted me to write multiple “lemon car” articles that I determined would take me less than an hour each produce. It soon turned out he had something else in mind and expanded the parameters of the assignment after I submitted the first article, wanting more material than what these $25 articles called for. I told him I could accommodate his request, but my rate was now $75 per article based on the expanded research required. He balked, I sent him an invoice, but after repeated attempts at getting paid, he never paid up.

Pay the writer!

Normally, I would continue to press the matter, but the amount was small and I was deeply involved in other projects. Instead, I took the article and posted it to my automotive website where it soon became my most read and most commented article ever. Several years later I finally turned off the comments, after garnering 161 responses. Sure, I never got paid, but the article turned out to be more valuable to me than what I would have received from the deadbeat client himself.

It has been said, “the hardest lessons learned are lessons learned nonetheless.” I couldn’t agree more. After that incident, I made sure that all of my future clients were working under a contract. I haven’t had a problem since.

How to Get Paid

This article is based on a conversation I had last week with one of my long term readers. I promised I wouldn’t use her name, but I did ask and received permission to share her story and my tips. The story doesn’t have a happy ending yet, but I believe that said writer’s persistence will result in a positive outcome.

Like most every writer who is self-employed, freelancer “Jane” juggles several clients and has both long- and short-term assignments that she is working on concurrently. It is one of her short-term clients who is giving her a lot of heartburn, someone who came onboard just after Thanksgiving and promised enough work to keep her busy through Christmas and into the new year. Turns out that this client wanted six 1,200- to 1,500-word articles for an online magazine, a project that would pay $150 per article. That’s a low price Jane is charging, but she said it was based on four hours of work per article including research, writing, editing and the rest. That work equals $37.50 per hour.

I asked Jane how she was to get paid and she replied, “Weekly, once each article was accepted.” Her problem wasn’t unlike the trouble I had with my cheesy lawyer client — Jane submitted her first article, the client reviewed it, sent it back for some edits, Jane made the changes and then nothing. Not a word, not a reply to an email, no phone call. Nothing.

Stopping Work

Figuring that the client was busy and that she would still get paid, Jane wrote her next two articles, but decided to wait to submit them until she heard back from her client. That was Jane’s first mistake: assuming that the job was still on and moving forward. Fortunately for her, she made a wise decision not to submit the articles. However, she wasted her time, because it soon became apparent that the client was purposefully out of touch.

On Dec. 14, Jane submitted an invoice for her first article. Three times leading up to Christmas, she sent emails and attempted to contact the client by phone. Still nothing. With the kids home from school and family arriving from out of town, Jane decided to “back burner” the job and celebrate the holidays. On Jan. 3rd with everyone returning to their routines, that is when Jane sent me a note explaining her dilemma. Several back and forth emails revealed the extent of her trouble and a day or two later I suggested a course of action to take. It went as follows:

Send a certified letter, return receipt requested — Jane had no idea whether her client received her invoice or her email follow ups. I told her to write a cover letter explaining what was due and include an invoice. Then, I instructed here to take that letter to the post office and send it out certified with a return receipt requested. This method is the only way to ensure that someone gets a letter from you without going there in person. And that option wasn’t feasible as the client was 1,500 miles away.

Small claims court — Taking a client to court can spur the deadbeat into action. However, if the contract shows that legal jurisdiction over such matters is where the client lives, then your claim must be filed there. That is why when you write a contract, you should insist that legal matters be handled in the state where you live, preferably in your country. Being that I’m in North Carolina, I don’t want my California, Illinois and Florida clients to think I’ll show up there to see them in court. For larger claims, a collection agency may be your best recourse. You’ll lose about half of what you are owed in exchange for getting the collector to help your client “make good” on his debt.

Move on — Some battles you’ll win and some you will lose. What you’ll need to do is move on as quickly as possible whether you win or lose. In my situation, I turned a loss into a very personal gain. Jane may find that it isn’t worth the pursuit to keep pressing the issue. An alternative would be to try to sell the article elsewhere, particularly if it remains unpublished.

I’m sure Jane will find a way to make this situation work out for herself. She already knows that it is important to be emotionally detached when dealing with clients and also to not spend too much time with any client that might adversely impact her other gigs. Deadbeat clients are a drag and if you do lose money you may be able to show that loss on your income taxes. Consult with your financial advisor or tax preparer to find out how to do that.

See Also — Pay the Writer, or Else

Related articles

• When The Project Is Over – Billing and Actually Getting Paid (freelanceswitch.com)
• What Do I Do When My Client Will Not Pay Up? (freelanceswitch.com)
• Billing and Invoicing for Bloggers and Freelancer Writers (bloggingtips.com)