A blogger’s conundrum: to be broke or to write about f*ckery. That is the question.
This post is blogger inside baseball. I use the word f*ckery a lot so if you are interested in the thoughts of a blogger check this post out. If you are offended or not interested in blogger stuff, that is cool. Do me a huge favor and share this post or many of my other awesome posts here with your friends.
I struggle as a blogger. Not with writing, even though I could use some help. Hey! I am a product of the Rudy Giuliani New York City Board of Education School System. I struggle with choosing content. I am the type of person who wants to improve the lives of my readers. Service and helping others has always been a thing for me. Both explain my white hot, and mad passionate love and my searing, put Vaseline on my face, take the earrings off, put my scarf on and cut a mofo hate relationship with politics. It also explains my childhood dream of eventually joining the world’s most finest Navy. Hoorah!
You see I am also a capitalist. I grew up poor so I love making money. I am like Scrooge McDuck. I am showing my age. I love the security of it. It smells like sunshine and roses. I love buying things and having living a nice life. Most importantly, I love providing for my family. I am building a legacy and I hope to pass on multi-generational wealth to my kids and grand kids.
Time to lay down some facts. When I write about improving our lives I get a good two to three thousand hits on one post per day. Honestly, for a blog that’s three years old, and my size that receives zero private funding and no promotion from organizations and corporations, I can’t complain.
Blogger inside baseball: some of our favorite bloggers receive funding and promotion from the super-rich and private organizations. There is nothing wrong with it as long as they disclose it. You see blogging is a big business. Why? For one thing, bloggers are assumed to be honest. I think it is because of our size. A blog gives the appearance of an organic, homegrown and salt of the earth product while people believe private organizations and corporations are calculating with secret hidden agendas. Little do regular folks know that some lucky and well paid bloggers are funded by private organizations and corporations. But you ain’t hear that from me.
Again, I know shouldn’t complain because I am doing pretty darn good. For that, I am so grateful. Thank you readers. I love y’all!
OK back to my conundrum. In blogging, most bloggers are rewarded for their most outrageous posts or what I call, excuse the word, f*ckery. What is f*ckery? Mindless crap that triggers the ancient sections of our brain. Kind of like Kim K’s selfie book. You get appearances on TV, radio and other forms of media. Heck, you get free things too. Feel free to send me free things at [email protected]. I had to do a shameless plug because I got loans. These things help you grow your blog. The thing is when I write about f*ckery I get tens of thousands of hits for one post, and the post continues to generate hits as long as I have it up. Let’s keep it real. For the few hours it takes for me to research and write a f*ckery post, I made more than my old cubicle hating and dream killing 9 to 5 in one day.
Blogger inside baseball: In case you don’t know bloggers income comes from the eyeballs that see our post (on our website) and the times they click on ads.
Here is the problem. Like I said, I am stuck. Do I write what I am passionate about, limit both my income and subject matter or do I join the well-paid masses who promote and dissect f*ckery? Dag nab it. I wish I believed in deities. I would call upon the great chocolate goddess Oshun to help me with my problem. YES to Black woman goddesses!!
My husband says go with f*ckery. LOL! Of course he’d say that. We love making money, and we have kids. I asked mom; she said to pray on it and then asked, “what’s blogging?” The prayer part was mom’s way of trying to convert me to Jesus. I love her! I would take my hubby’s advice, but I have a conscious too. When I do write about f*ckery or the latest outrage de jour it goes viral, and I never want to see that post again. I cringe when I see it on my timeline because I ask myself did post this help my readers? Did it improve their lives? Finally, I ask myself did it solve a problem? I try to tell myself maybe when the truth is nope. So I feel awful. Then I look at the income it generated on my website and realized it helped me provide for my family. Am I mad about folks loving f*ckery? Nah! That is what people want. They want to escape from their everyday lives, and f*ckery is where it is at.
So what am I supposed to do? We bloggers have choices. Some might say “get rich or die trying!” We need change and adapt to the needs of our readers. They are our customers and it is how we make a living. Others might say don’t sell out, stay broke, smell incense, eat air, live in a commune, grow body hair and write for ourselves. Throws a fist up with a student loan deferment plan in it. Or maybe the best thing is to do both. We all need some seriousness with a touch of f*ckery in our lives.
Honestly, who the heck knows? There are no right answers. My advice is to do what is right for you. I am still trying to figure this thing out. If you like what you see and donate. I got loans! Passes the collection plate.
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Enjoyed your blog post! As artists in a capitalist society we are often asked to choose between doing the things we love and the things that we can be paid well for doing. But here’s a question for you - what if you were so awesome at doing what you love that eventually over time a way opened for you to make money with it? I bet you do your best writing when you write about the things that really matter to you. Keep on keepin’ on & eventually a door will open.
That is a great question Ms. Carolyn. I really do my best when I write about Black women. I hope it does.
There’s room for just about everyone. If going with your conscience is what suits you most, go with it. Best wishes now and with your future endeavors.
Thank you!!!
You surely had me at the title! And I feel you! But we can’t succumb to the f*ckrie pull, mainly because we’re writers, not just bloggers. For me, I see my writing as part of my ongoing body of work (that same legacy-building mojo you mentioned), so as tough as it can be to find f*ckrie-free work sometimes, we’ve gotta find the spaces. And some of us will even end up creating the spaces as well. What I do to try and manage the ebbs in good-writing income is to create ebooks and courses that sell on platforms that are larger than mine (i.e. kindle and udemy). When folks find me on those platforms, they come in through authentic funnels that lead them to more of my work (print books, workbooks, coaching, etc.). Don’t know if any of that will be helpful, but I thought I’d add it to the mix. If nothing else, I’m sending madd gratitude your way for such a beautifully authentic post. Stay up!
THANK YOU!!!
I was told once “Do what you love and the money will come”. Well, that works…. some of the time depending on the time, who you are , who you know etc…etc..
I give my donation with gratitude and a prayer that you keep going.
WOW. THANK YOU!!!
I believe in this day and age it’s about balance. I really enjoy your post on self-help and education for black women. I purchased you killer blog presentation and donated $5. I know it’s not much but my money is a little funny and that’s the most I can do. Sad things is fuckery attracts but for me I like to have a balance. Yes I may read blogs about the antics of celebrities at times but I also enjoy reading blogs about entrepreneurship and technology. Keep up the good work, you have a fan in me!
THANK YOU!!! You are right.
Hi girlie,
I read a lot of your posts and always forget to comment. Well this time I will not. You have great content and provide a great platform for Black women and I love that. I say keep a balance. Write great content and make your money from affiliate marketing…its not like your robbing people blind or tricking them. It’s advertising and it makes big bucks ???? Sometimes fuckery provides a good laugh. Keep making that money, honey, and work that Black Girl Magic in your writing. *Throws confetti*
Thank you
My comment probably does not mean much, since I am not a writer and never could be one. Work is, however, work; that is to say that it is sometimes gratifying and sometimes maddening, but hopefully it brings in a few nickles and dimes. That’s why it isn’t called vacation.
If writing about f*ckery gives everyone something to tsk-tsk about, then there is some value in that. After all, not all discourse has to be elevating. Sometimes it is just for fun. If all conversation is only about weighty topics, well, where’s the fun in that? Find a balance and have a good time with it. You can share your vision, uplift your sisters of color and be silly or even venal as well sometimes. Switch it up. It’s OK.