My friend Keith of Almighty Dad has issued a call to all of the Daddy Bloggers. Â He is working on a post in which he is going to rank all of the dad blogs so that he can come up with the top dad blogger. It is a great gimmick and something that I am sure will generate quite a bit of traffic for him. People like awards and they like notoriety so these types of posts are an easy way to garner attention.
Now before people go off half cocked about this or suggest that I am trying to wreak havoc let me clarify a few things. I think that Keith is one of the most genuine bloggers I have ever encountered. He works hard and he is authentic. Those are qualities that I don’t see in every blogger. Those are qualities that I wish I did see in more bloggers.
He has real content. He doesn’t fill his blog with endless giveaways and contests. He and I don’t see eye to eye on many things. There are more than a few posts where we have been diametrically opposed or close to it, but that never hampers our friendship. I won’t lie and say that we are anything but online friends because that is all we are. Maybe it could be more, but I don’t get paid for speculation. I just know that I appreciate his being a straight shooter and mature enough not to take disagreement personally. So I wish him much success with this.
I don’t expect to be highly ranked on his list. It is not because I just moved from Blogger to WordPress, although my stats have taken a hit. Nor is it because this isn’t a post where I try to suck up to him. Besides, that wouldn’t matter. I say this because from a honest evaluation of my blog versus others I don’t have the same numbers. I don’t have the same traffic levels, I don’t have a huge Facebook fan club or enormous Twitter numbers. Nor do I get the number of comments that some others do.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t see myself as being devoid of social media influence. I have quite a bit. I know an awful lot about how this all works and there is a lot that I could do to build things more quickly around here. I am not ignoring the value of Self Promotion or other challenges that come with blogging. There is a reason why I write about The Problems with Blogging. I like this medium. I am not blowing smoke when I say that you can Be A Better Parent Through Blogging.
There is not a day that goes by where I don’t think about ways to improve my blog. I want to do a better job of promoting my best content. My About page is constantly evolving so that it contains links to some of those posts that people love. I have a growing list of places that I guest blog for. I can also say that blogging has led to a number of paid writing gigs. I use Sponsored Tweets to earn money on Twitter.
But I do a lot of unconventional things here. I am prolific and have been known to go on posting tears producing anywhere from 3-8 posts a day. Some experts claim that people don’t have the time, inclination or patience to read more than a short post of around 500 words. I exceed that consistently. I don’t stick to just one topic. You’ll find a lot about parenting here or me talking about a favorite toy. You’ll find fiction and all sorts of other stuff floating around here.
So I suppose that some of the experts will say that I am sabotaging my efforts. They’ll be able to give you a list of things that I am not doing as effectively as I could be and that may be true. But I have no intention of changing my style, at least not without significant financial compensation and even then it is questionable. The loyal readership comes here because they identify and or enjoy this place. They know that I am particular kind of crazy. Not everyone will like or appreciate me and that is fine.
TheJackB is my online home. It is a cafe and a bar. It is a therapist’s office, an orchestra pit, a symphony and a garage. It is a zoo and a theater. It is a million different things and none. And as I repeat often, it is the platform that I am using to promote myself and my services. It is a virtual sandbox that just might serve as the training grounds for the project/job/story that makes me enormously wealthy or at least comfortable.
Whatever it is, it makes me happy and that is something that is invaluable. Where I come from that is enough to make me The Best Daddy Blogger Ever and that is pretty cool. Â Stick around for a while because the fun is just getting started.
I am not sure about being pegged as a Mommy Blogger, or a Chic blogger for that matter. This is neither here nor there, just the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the title of this post in my inbox.
It’s a cliche but it’s true: You have to do this for the love of it.
The thing is, if you love it you get so much more out of it.
I’ve been blogging for a total of about 90 days. I think that many people, men and women, get into blogging in the hopes of being found by Oprah or some other talk show host and hitting it big. And then there is the proverbial book hopes. While that may work in some genres in the father world I think it totally misses the mark. I’ve learned something very quickly in this blogosphere.
It’s nothing more than a virtual popularity contest and many bloggers will do ANYTHING to gain a following. For example, HNT. I can’t fathom being a mom/dad blogger and having this garbage on my site. Do they plan on deleting the site when their kids are old enough to start reading it?
NIce work on the post!
In many ways blogging is proof that we never outgrow high school. There are a lot of silly things that happen here. Yet it is also something that offers quite a bit of value. You can learn an awful lot and meet some really interesting people. It is sort of what you make of it.
You are right about some of the posts. I wonder sometimes if people really think about who might read their stuff and what the consequences will be.
What is HNT?
Half Naked Thursday.
Do what works for you. Keep writing. Be happy. That is what matters.
Happy is write, er right. 😉 That is the best reason to do this.
I hate when people makes lists like that – it just seems like a way to hurt peoples’ feelings. Though I don’t know Almighty Dad, so I’ll take your word that he’s a good guy. Mainly because I love the phrase “particular kind of crazy.”
Particular kind of crazy is one of my favorite expressions. There is something musical about it to me.
Hey, Jack. I agree with you that there’s really no “best” dad blogger. And, you’re totally right that this list of mine is somewhat gimmicky. The term “best” is just an opinion so I’d never say that the first person on the list is going to be necessarily best. I think I should make that a special paragraph when I run and publish the results. That best is a subjective term that is only applicable to people who like or dislike you and that isn’t based on any measurable. I’m sure a lot of people will construe the list as my attempt to rank blogs from best to worst, but that’s not my intention. The only thing I can do is run numbers. It’s like music — some bands that never get notoriety are totally awesome and some that have huge sales just stink. All I’m measuring with my list is reach, and other measurable numbers. It’s a curiosity really — nothing more. You’re blog is awesome, Jack! So are you! 🙂
I think it is great and I appreciate the inspiration for this post. You work hard so I haven’t any problem with the occasional gimmick, I do it too. If nothing else I appreciate the opportunity to meet new bloggers. Never can tell when we are going to find someone interesting.
Good post, and one that really gets to the heart of why parents blog in the first place. Is it really about social influence and following the rules? Or are these spaces personal spaces where we can reflect and remember and share with others who are going through the same things? A tool to develop a community?
I don’t mean to take anything away from Keith’s efforts, but what makes the best Daddy blogger? How can that be quantified when the reasons for blogging (at least for me) are deeply personal? I blog primarily to remember – so that in 20 years I have something to look back on and remember this blur flying by. I also blog to connect with others. I mean,we are all go through the same things. And I find that the bloggers that truly resonate with me are the ones who often go beyond that 500 word limit and colour outside the lines.
When I look back on my posts over the past 7 years, I can see that the ones that I am truly proud of are the ones that make me remember – that captured a moment in time and take me back there. They are not the ones that generated the most discussion, or went viral. They are the ones that document both mine and my families journey. And how does one begin to judge someone’s journey?
Hi Clint,
My goals are very similar to yours. It is nice to be recognized for the time and effort that we put into this and it would be even better if that translated into real money. We shall see.
I do enjoy taking some time to flip through old posts. I don’t do it all the time, but when I do it makes for a nice visit into the past. It is easy to get a snapshot of what I thought and felt about the things that were going on around me. I especially enjoy reading about the kids.
Great idea!
Check us out at http://clevedads.com
I was going to hit your blog but decided to visit the Miami dads instead. 😉
I’m interested to see Keith’s results. Don’t sell yourself short (hard for you to do being the tall SOB you are BTW…). When I have opportunity, I go back again and again to blogs with genuine and diverse content. I will be shocked if I even read 1/2 of the top 20 or so blogs…
I am very curious to see what he comes up with. I expect that we’ll probably discover some new and cool blogs to explore.
Absolutely. There will never be a true measure of who the best dad blogs are. That will always depend on whose defining it. And your definition seems as valid to me as any.
Keep the good stuff coming Jack.
It is all about the fun for me. As long as we enjoy this it will continue to be worthwhile.
Cool post. I don’t blog for fame or fortune, but like you, I am constantly thinking of ways to retain the three readers I do have. You should submit to the contest. It’s a great way to network and bring in new readers, even if you’re not crowned the greatest ever.
Networking is often what it is all about. Sometimes it is not how good we are, but who we know that matters.