My blog is my baby. I mean that in an almost-but-obviously-not-quite literal sense. I care for my blog, nurture my blog, and am sad when no one wants to play with my blog. Below you'll find 5 ways how having a blog is like having a child, and what you can do to grow the little fella.
1. You’ve got to feed him or he’ll die
You are your child’s sole provider. Without you, he’ll die. Sure, maybe he’ll eventually be able to figure out where the Cheerio stash is, but that will only last so long. Junior’s got to have his meals every day. You don’t just feed him once, call it good for a couple weeks, and leave him. No. You’ve got to feed him regularly. Do you see where this is going? You can’t just update your blog once in a while and expect it to grow and thrive. Consistency is key! Feed your blog often.
2. Feed him good food or he will die
You can’t feed your kid ice cream and Twinkies and expect him to be healthy. Likewise, you can’t put lousy content on your blog and expect it to poop out a diamond. Quality time and effort goes in, rewards come out.
3. Your kid needs to interact with other kids
Research has shown that children are more intelligent if they have better social skills. Well, I imagine research has shown that. I haven’t looked it up, but it makes sense, right? Children need other children around to play with. So does your blog. Except that it needs other blogs. Not children. Comment on other blogs and frequent forums. Be social! Make friends! Be on various social media sites. Your blog will grow faster that way.
4. Raising a kid is hard work
Make no mistake, being a parent is rough. (I assume. I’m not a parent, but again, I think this is just a commonly accepted truism.) Changing diapers, waking up at all sorts of horrific hours of the night and wee hours of the morning, playing peek-a-boo… The list goes on. Though the hardships are different (if you’re changing blog diapers, something is seriously wrong), blogging is indeed hard work. It’s hard to write content. It’s hard to find people to read the content. It’s hard to find people to like the content. It’s hard to make money from said content. You get the idea. If you’re not ready for parenthood, consider getting a pet rock or something. If you’re not ready for the time, energy and commitment that blogging requires, get a real job.
5. It’s always worth it in the end
I’m a pretty great kid. I’m definitely worth whatever trials, pains, and headaches I subjected my parents to. It wasn’t always the smoothest road, but I somehow made it to adulthood and I’m doing pretty well, thank you very much. No matter how many times you want to just abandon your blog on a stranger’s doorstep, just remember that when it matures, it will all be worth it.
It would be great to hear from some of the actual parents out there! If you've got more ideas of how blogs are like children, leave them in a comment below. And if you're single, has all the work of growing your blog made you not want to have kids? 🙂
Tristan Higbee just launched Blogging Bookshelf, where he mixes his own experience with nuggets of wisdom from the best books about blogging, personal development, and Internet business. He's also on Twitter: @TristanHigbee.
