How Blogging is Like Going to McDonald's

Okay so back to content for a minute.

I did a good bit of blog hopping over the weekend and I wanted to clarify one thing. Different blogs have different purposes and as such different blogs will have different kinds of content. But for every blog that builds a following (and builds income if that’s your desire), there is a product being offered.

For many of you,  But for every blog that builds a following (and builds income if that’s your desire), there is a product being offered. Think of content as the way you deliver that product to people. 

For many of you, YOU are the product. Especially in fitness and inspirational blogs, your experience is your product. People follow you because they can relate to you. They watch you as you do whatever it is you are doing and they root you on, give you advice, follow your advice and so on.

For others, perhaps your schtick is your product. Such is the case for me. Bariatric Foodie is about playing with your food. I would like to liken my blog as being the Alton Brown of the weight-loss surgery world. I made the choice in the beginning that I didn’t want to be the product (mostly because I am far too fallible to be anybody’s hero!).

So let’s talk about how content differs for these two approaches to blogging. Remember I said content is the good stuff people cometo your blog for. And I also said that blog posts contain content but aren’t (necessarily) content in and of themselves.

“What the heck does that mean?”

You ever been to the drive-through at McDonald’s (don’t lie). Maybe you like Big Macs. But maybe you also like the extra value meal because then you get a Big Mac and some other stuff conveniently packaged for one low price (stop chuckling).

Well blog posts are the extra value meal. Content is the Big Mac. Get it?

So for those of you who are the product of your blog, your experiences are what you are packaging. If you’re a running blogger, for instance, the first time you ran a 5k, half marathon, full marathon, did an Iron Man/Woman. Those posts contain content that you’ll likely refer to again and again. Those are your Big Macs!

For those of us whose products are our schticks, content can look the same or different. My Big Macs are posts like my tutorial on how tomake a triple thick protein shake and the most popular recipe on my blog.

“Why is this distinction even important?”

Because blog posts come and go. Blogs are set up to keep things moving. And even on sites like Wordpress, good posts can get lost in the darkness! But content rarely does. Why? Because you keep referring back to it! I link people to that tutorial and that recipe at least a few times a week.

Content also can take on a life of its own. In my case with the recipe, folks shared it and shared it and other folks made variations of it. When this happens, you know you are writing more than just good blog posts but good content.

Once we get more into monetization (I’m getting there but I am so NOT the ultimate expert so I am fact checking to make sure I give you all good info!) good content becomes the platform upon which you can build good, steady income on your blog.

But for now wrap your head around the concept of content and figure this out: what’s your Big Mac?