Blogging began as a fun pastime that allowed friends to stay involved in each other's lives and see what the others were doing. Adding pictures, messages and a few graphics made it a creative art form that was part web design and part diary. Unfortunately, it soon became institutionalized as a business/networking opportunity that all bloggers were supposed to be interested in.
With every discernible business now writing a blog, the blog has become an advertising and network marketing tool. The personal blogs for friends and random strangers is looked down on because it doesn't get enough pageviews and pingbacks.
Any guide to blogs insists that your blog must subscribe to as many blogging networks as possible, insert codes to get pingbacks, link to other blogs in blogging networks and generally make a full-time job of networking. The blog isn't fun anymore for people trying to follow all of that advice. It's work, and it's supposed to pay. Monetizing a blog with text link ads, affiliate links and AdSense have made even the personal blog big business.
To make the blog fun again, ignore the big bloggers. Ignore the advice, the ebooks and the online courses that exploit new bloggers into believing that their lives have to revolve around their blogs. Write about what you like, even if no one sees it. Write something grand and wait for people to find you. If you're more concerned with getting views than designing your blog and writing the posts, you're missing out on a wonderful creative activity that could actually enhance your life rather than take it over.
