On the OPEN Forum
This Blogging Stuff is Harder Than it Looks
Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends | June 16th, 2008 - 03:22 PM
(28) found this useful. Do you? 
So the Associated Press (AP) kicked up a little kerfuffle last week when it started threatening bloggers who quote AP stories. 
It seems that the AP sent a takedown notice to an independent blog site called the Drudge Retort, demanding that they stop quoting AP stories and linking back to them.
The news media and bloggers are having a field day with it. Things did NOT die down over the weekend. In fact, if anything many people are just winding up to have their say.
Michael Arrington of TechCrunch responded to the AP’s actions by noting that the AP is wrong — and banning AP stories. Mathew Ingram, technology writer with Toronto’s Globe and Mail is just one of the chorus of veteran journalists and editors opining that the AP needs to get a clue. Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine goes further and says, “For shame, AP.”
What’s at issue is the interpretation of copyright law and what constitutes “fair use.” If the quoting of the AP articles is fair use, then it’s protected under copyright law. If it isn’t fair use, then it’s not protected.
There’s even a handy 4-part test of what constitutes fair use.
Sounds like an easy issue, right? Just look it up and see what’s fair use, right?
Wish that it were so ….
Not only is the law notoriously open to interpretation, but the AP now wants to make up its own rules. The New York Times reports this morning: “The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs.”
As fascinating as this whole debate is, let me get to the point of my article:
This blogging stuff is harder than it looks, y’all!
Sakes alive! And here you thought there was nuttin’ to it.
Instead of sitting in your living room and blogging in your jammies, it turns out that you actually have to know stuff, such as copyright law. Yep. And it’s not just for quoting news articles. Use of images is subject to copyright, so you have to know where to purchase royalty-free images, at places like iStockphoto. Or else be a talented photographer and create your own images.
On top of that, you have to have some basic graphics skills so you can resize and crop images. A little photoshopping never hurt, either.
And you have to know how to write. Oh yes indeed. It actually takes the ability to put some sentences together.
And you have to have something to write about, so you’ve got to know where to find information, too. You either have to be a news journalist or you have to have strong opinions and be a columnist who writes about news that other people dig up.
You have to understand technology, so you can fix little stuff, like when your entire blog gets accidentally deleted or your WiFi access goes down.
You have to be good at promotion and marketing of your blog online. Knowing some social media marketing also helps. After all, it would be helpful if someone other than your mom actually reads your blog.
So, let me see. If you want to be a blogger, you have to be a:
- copyright lawyer
- graphics designer
- Internet enthusiast
- writer
- investigative reporter or opinion columnist or both
- programmer
- network administrator
- Internet marketer
- social media maven
And you’ve got to do all that to even think about making money from a blog — i.e., be an entrepreneur.
Hmmm, think about that before you decide to chuck your existing job and take up blogging as a business.
![[ Digg it ]](http://blogs.openforum.com/wp-content/themes/amex/images/icon_digg.gif){kind=icon}
![[ Facebook share ]](http://blogs.openforum.com/wp-content/themes/amex/images/icon_facebook.gif){kind=icon}
Discussion Boards
Diane | June 16th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
…and it doesn’t hurt be a psychic either, so you can foresee the Next Big Thing.
Nice post!
Ivana Taylor | June 17th, 2008 at 4:55 am
You would think that being around marketing and business law for years you would know some things like the back of your hand. but copywrite is one of those squirlly things that you always have to look up and confirm that what you are using is good and allowed. Thanks for sharing the test Anita - I’m bookmarking that one.
Karen Putz / /DeafMom | June 17th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Wow, all that talent packed into a blogger– now if only the money would follow!
wilson ng | June 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am
i remember reading a blog that says you have to be skilled in at least 10 disciplines to be a mother.
seems it is even harder to be a blogger…
James | June 17th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Multitasker = Blogger and a closet full of different “hats” to wear!
Amanda | June 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Interesting read. Nothing innocent stays that way for long. I definitely think it’s wrong for someone to link to something and then bad mouth it. But if it’s something positive and it’s providing a free link, I just don’t see the harm. I guess I still have lots to learn though.
Steve | June 17th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
My experience is that blogging is very easy, but doing it well is extremely hard.
Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends | June 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Diane, so true!
Now if we could just pick the lottery winners and the stock market, too ….
Anita
Staci | June 18th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I don’t see the harm in free alinks that are positive in nature, either. And I think that linking to something just to bash it is in poor taste. However, there is such a thing as free speech and if someone’s opinion differs, then so be it. Maybe it would be better etiquette to simply name them rather than link, though. Probably wiser to do, too.
Jayme | June 18th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Amen! I see articles all the time about how easy blogging is. Just do x,y, and z, and even make money “in your pajamas.” Yeah sure, if you don’t mind getting nasty-grams from the author. Ihave a garden blog and finding nice pictures other than my own backyard is really difficult to find, and asking for permission takes for freakin’ ever! So, I’ve become a photographer, designer, and copywriter. All while keeping my day job. Oh, and I’m applying to law school, no not really. I definitely get frustrated in trying to blog original material! Great article
VR | June 19th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Blogs are meant to disseminate information and opinions- sometimes it involves commenting on a story, (hopefully with some original thought) and linking back to it otherwise when stories get blogged or reposted without any original thought it just becomes a feed… I myself have been accused of this, as writing original copy can be at times quite challenging…but I have seen the error of my ways (no I wasn’t served by the AP) and now live by the credo of if you don’t have anything to say don’t regurgitate someone else’s story just for the sake of linking… A well written blog post, should stimulate discussion not just be another medium to read yesterday’s stories-m2c
Blogging Just Got More Complex | Small Business Trends | June 19th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
[…] my latest article over at the OPEN Forum, I humorously point out that blogging is harder than it might appear. Reason: among other things, it’s like you’ve got to be a copyright lawyer to blog […]
Martin Lindeskog | June 20th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
How about talking with EFF? http://w2.eff.org/bloggers/
Carmen007 | June 22nd, 2008 at 7:10 am
Je sicher ihr euch zeigt, desto mehr werde ich um meine Friehiet kämpfen.
Nie werde ich eich korrupte Amis auch noch das Recht geben.
Eure Dämlichlichkeit glaubt wohl mehr ersten mehr als nur spontanes Staunen, ihrem überflüssig Ehrgeiz
zu verdanken.
Was ihr erst langweilig finden müßt, was für mich so widerlich nie eine Sache des geldes wäre.
Ich dürfte die Duimmheit der Jugend auch euch zu verdanken habne, aber es langweilt … mich wird immer der Mensch interessierne … die USA weit sie noch geht.
Anita Campbell | June 23rd, 2008 at 8:45 am
Steve, your point is right on. Throwing up a blog is pretty easy on one level, but if you want to do it well, it’s extremely tough.
Plus, I want to add that when a blog is small, you can get away with a lot of things, such as copying images from other sources (not that I’m recommending it, but I see small blogs do it all the time and get away with it). That’s only because you’re small enough you’re still flying under the radar. Eventually that kind of activity will come back to haunt you, as your blog grows.
And when a blog is small, you don’t have nearly the problems as when a blog gets larger, such as being repeatedly attacked by hackers in more ways than you can dream up; marketing trolls who come around solely to trash the companies you write about and leave links to competitors, because they are being paid to promote the competitor; spam trackbacks/comments by the hundreds or thousands each day; hosting companies that shut down your blog if they think you are using too much bandwidth and resources; and the list goes on.
Plus, the more content and the more advanced features you add to a blog, the more challenging the technical and marketing issues.
The challenges become exponentially greater the bigger and more visible your blog grows. I know quite a few entrepreneurs who make a living from blogging (including myself) and the challenges compound once you make a blog big enough for your livelihood to depend on it.
No that I’m complaining — every business has challenges. If you don’t like challenge you shouldn’t be in business.
I’m just saying ….
Anita
Links Roundup - June 24th 2008 | June 24th, 2008 at 4:08 am
[…] This Blogging Stuff is Harder Than it Looks […]
Mushfiqur Rahman | June 24th, 2008 at 6:59 am
A fun take on the world of blogging.
Should Business Bloggers Be Restricted In Their Use of Quotes? | June 26th, 2008 at 8:53 am
[…] Fom Anita Campbell at Open Forum, This Blogging Stuff is Harder Than it Looks […]
June Links Roundup | June 30th, 2008 at 3:53 am
[…] This Blogging Stuff is Harder Than it Looks […]