2011: The Blogger Revolution

Can you hear that sound? It’s the sound of a blogger revolution ya’ll! That’s right the blogging world is changing and I predict that this year we will see some things really come to surface. From money to marketing, bloggers are savvier than ever before and we all need to get with the program.

I spend quite a bit of time reading tweets, blog posts, etc. which are all about the blogger/public relations dynamic. After covering this territory for years, here’s what I think will go down in 20-11:

Blogger Bombardment Stealing from my own comment that I left on our very own Danny Brown’s blog, he suggested I coin the phrase “blogger bombardment.” So, consider it coined. The truth of the matter is that now traditional media is downsizing at a rapid rate, and PR pros are scrambling looking for new places to get their clients visibility. That’s their job. The result: blogger bombardment. Bloggers are getting just slammed, and sometimes too much of something is not always a good thing.

Goodbye Reviews, Hello Viewpoints – It takes a good hour plus to write an excellent product review. That is a heck of a lot of time. What I’m noticing is that a lot of bloggers are scaling back on “reviews” and focusing more on unique content that dives into trends, their personal lives, issues and so forth. Does this mean product reviews will disappear? Not by any means. However I do see bloggers becoming choosier about what they review vs. what they won’t review.

All about the “niche”An overriding theme that I’m sensing in the blogging community is all about discovering your niche. Is it regional blogging? Is it politics? Is it parenting?  More and more bloggers are going to try and define their slots in the blogger universe.

Show Me the Money – This topic has been beaten to death with a very large stick, so I’ll spare you all of the long-winded details. Essentially, there are some bloggers that want to get paid, there are some that don’t. The definition of “payment” varies so it will be up to the blogger and the marketer/publicist to define that term. However, you will see more bloggers asking “I know what’s in it for you. What’s in it for me?”

Less is More I think companies are going to slowly move toward blogger outreach with the “less is more” approach. This means that companies will focus on working with just a select number of bloggers rather than trying to strive for the masses.

Content Provider – What do bloggers do best? Provide content. I predict that you will see more and more bloggers providing content for company’s web sites and communities; not just for their own sites. Oh, and they will more than likely get paid for it too.

Blogger Marketer and Marketer BloggerYes, I’ve blogged about this topic before and every day I see more and more bloggers defining themselves as “marketers.” They are creating businesses and promoting themselves as a voice-for-hire. Whether it’s Twitter parties or brand ambassadorships, they are dipping their hands in the marketing pot. And vice versa. I think you will see an upswing of publicists and marketers taking a stab at becoming bloggers. As I always say the quickest way to understand a blogger is to become one.

Downsizing of Blogger Sponsorships – Last year I got the feeling that bloggers struggled with finding “sponsorships” for conferences and events. Sure there were those that had no problem securing payment to attend these happenings in exchange for promotional support. However, brands will start scaling back on these types of opportunities because they are having a hard time getting an answer to: What’s in it for them? Instead I see companies sponsoring the actual conferences rather than individual bloggers.

Do you have any other predictions for the Blogger Revolution of 2011?

[reus id=”6″][recent posts]