I’ve been thinking a bit today about blogging styles, and what my style might be.
One way to differentiate between bloggers is on whether they seem to ask more questions, or answer more questions; that is, whether they are askers or answerers.
When I look out at many of the big bloggers out there, many of them seem to answerers. They will tell you how to get rich, Or how to get in shape. Or how to get girls to date you. Or, how to run a startup.
Being an answerer means that you provide thereader with actionable advice. People are searching the web looking for solutions to their problems. If an answerer can provide a solution, they can gain quite a large following.
Being an answerer allows you to become an expert on something. Professionally, it is always good to be known as an expert; it is good personal branding.
The most followed answerers seem to write in a confident, self-assured tone. They know the answers, and will tell you that you should read on. Not only should you read on, you should make sure to go back. They will have even better answers for you next week. Is this disingenuous? I don’t know, but it seems to work extremely well.
If a blogger is looking to game huge following, it seems advantageous to pick an area and become an answerer.
Being an answerer sounds great. The problem is that it isn’t me.
I’m fairly sure I am an asker.
I view the world as a big gray area. Why do I want to give you advice? These posts can be fun to write, but am I right? Is any advice online right? Most likely, sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t.
I’d rather ask some questions that seem interesting without claiming to have the answer. I’d rather discuss the shape of a problem without claiming to completely understand it. I’d rather provide a food for thought, instead of a solution for your problem. I want to think with you, but them let each of us go our own ways and come to our own conclusions.
What does this mean? I’m not totally sure: I just know that I prefer to be an asker, and over time, I’ll probably have less solutions and more questions.
What is your take on this styles? Do you have any favorite bloggers that are askers?
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P.S. This is post number #77 in a 100 day blogging challenge. See you tomorrow!
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