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So You Wanna Be a Dad Blogger, Part I PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Jim Lin   
Well then pull up a stool, there’s plenty of room at the bar! I’ll get this round and let’s have a little chat. First, let me congratulate you on choosing one of the few blogging frontiers that’s still relatively uncharted. Sure, there are a few well-known dad bloggers out there, but as far as sheer numbers go, ours is still an intimate little group. I may be talking out my ass (but then again, isn’t that what blogging is all about?), but I’ll bet for every one of us, there’s probably 10 or so moms doing the blogging thing. What does this mean? A lot more opportunity.

Opportunity for what? For starters:

Traffic: We don’t have to claw for traffic like other bloggers (especially those annoying “make money online” ones!). Get out there, make friends with other dad and mom bloggers and you have yourself a steady, growing stream of traffic (more on traffic and network building in an upcoming post).

Recognition: Any fish can get noticed in a small pond, and it’s certainly not hard to make a splash as a dad blogger because you are not lost among thousands. If you have something interesting to say, chances are you’ll be heard. Hell, chances are your dad blogging peers will even help you get that recognition, which leads me to the next item...

Friendships: Even in this day and age, it still takes a special breed of dad to put himself out there as a dad before anything else that may define him (e.g. his job, his political affiliation, his sports allegiances). This affinity for fatherhood for fatherhood’s sake makes for a strong bond between dad bloggers.

Respect: This one’s pretty unfair, considering our mom counterparts do the same thing we do, but the fact of the matter is dad bloggers get mad respect out there. Again, it’s because we’re embracing the fact that we’re parents ahead of anything else. I guess society hasn’t really expected that of us. Ever.

Notice something conspicuously missing from this list? Yup. Money. Starting a dad blog to make money is like moving to Los Angeles to become an actor. I hope you derive intrinsic joy from waiting tables. So for step one, get that out of your head. It’ll make your journey all the more enjoyable. This is not to say you can’t make any money at all, but chances are an entry level job will pull in more money than you could ever make dad blogging. And this time I’m actually speaking from experience. I’ve been in the online ad biz since 1998. Unless you’re pulling in at least 250,000 unique visitors a month, your ad revenue will maybe fund a grocery trip per month or so. And dad blogs are still too niche to pull in that kind of traffic. Someday maybe, but definitely not yet.

What’s the take away here? Do it for the love of it, do it for the fun of it, do it for the friendships. That way if you don’t get that book deal, at least the journey itself was a blast.

Comments
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OCanaDad  - Canadian Dad Blogger   |68.150.57.xxx |2008-07-11 07:33:05
Great post, as for the money issue, you hit the nail on the head. I too have
been online for about 10 yrs and I'm lucky that the work I did before I started
blogging is recurring and easily pays all my bills.

I just started a dad blog
last month and couldn't be happier with the recognition, friends and respect I
have received so far. I have recently been approached by a local business to
sponsor a weekly post about their business which I will start in
September.

Blogging changes the way you look at life and I am really having a
blast so far.

Nice to meet you Jim, I look forward to reading more from you in
the future.
C Kent  - Very Practical   |Author |2008-07-24 15:46:00
avatar Jim,

I've been blogging for just over a year and seriously as a Daddy-blogger
for nearly five months. In that time I've seen/read a great deal on the in's and
out's of blogging, and I have to say this is the first post I've come across
with practical advice directly on Daddy Blogging.

I'm with OCanaDad on the
money topic. Given my slightly unique parenting situation, blogging and writing
has been the thing giving me greater understanding and closeness to my kids and
step-kids.

I'll be looking for part 2. Thanks again.
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