Blogging For A Living And The Global Microbrand
99% Sex-Free Post:
In my recent interview at Sunni’s Salon, I had this to say about the merits of sex blogging instead of having a job:
The job culture is as big a threat to human freedom as anything governments ever dreamed up. How can you be free and happy when you spend most of your waking hours in a place dictated by someone else, pursuing their priorities rather than your own, and living by their petty rules? With no time or energy to pursue your own priorities by the time you get home after a long unpaid commute? I lived that life for years, until I finally realized that I had to control my own working conditions to be truly free. Nobody but me deciding whether to set my alarm clock, or when to set it for; nobody but me deciding what my project will be on a given day, or whether I’ll choose to take that day off. Nobody but me deciding whether my head cold is bad enough I should just go back to bed.
About three days out of five, I take naps in the afternoon now. Why? Because I get sleepy. A twenty-minute snooze in the mid-afternoon cuts two hours off the amount of sleep I need at night. Right there, my life got seven percent longer by escaping the job culture.
I was therefore intrigued to discover that Hugh from Gaping Void (the blogger and blog famous for those funny cartoons drawn on the backs of business cards) had written something similar (but far more eloquent) in an essay called “The Global Microbrand Rant“:
It seems to me a lot of people of my generation are locked into this high-priced corporate, urban treadmill. Sure, they get paid a lot, but their overheads are also off the scale. The minute they stop tapdancing as fast as they can is the minute they are crushed under the wheels of commerce.
You know what? It’s not sustainable.
However, the Global Microbrand is sustainable. With it you are not beholden to one boss, one company, one customer, one local economy or even one industry. Your brand develops relationships in enough different places to where your permanent address becomes almost irrelavant.
…
Frankly, it beats the hell out of commuting every morning to the corporate glass box in the big city, something I did for many years. Just so I could make enough money to help me forget that I have to commute every morning to the corporate glass box in the big city.There are thousands of reasons why people write blogs. But it seems to me the biggest reason that drives the bloggers I read the most is, we’re all looking for our own personal global microbrand. That is the prize. That is the ticket off the treadmill. And I don’t think it’s a bad one to aim for.
Similar Sex Blogging:
Shorter URL for sharing: http://www.erosblog.com/?p=1608
I agree with both of you. I’d read your interview, or most of the interview since it seems you’re quite talkative, heh, and definitely zeroed in on that passage as well.
Having just axed my job this week in the attempts to kind of pursue my own arts (writing, photography, et al) and having to now try and think of a manner in which to self-brand on a global scale, I can tell you I’m finding the whole thing an interesting process. The questions one needs to ask about motivations are certainly revealing.
I think there’s more to it than just getting off the treadmill. I think our corporate lives are like magnets that pull you away from your own magnetic north. You lose yourself and your place in the world, and you feel compelled to fit your round peg in that square hole, all the while sort of losing sight of what you were after in the first place because safety, security, shelter, and complacency just gain importance as time passes.
There are those who love their careers, and all the power to them, but I don’t know how or when I signed the contract saying my life was only worth X-amount per hour, with a few meagre benefits on the side. Having known more than a few folks who’ve died too young, I can tell you they’d probably state that $20 per hour of their truncated lives was far too good a bargain for those doing the paying.
Blogging’s a way to assert your place in time and space, even when the means of not leaving that treadmill don’t avail themselves to you. Blogging’s a way of staking an identity in a world of image and imitation.
Mordecai Richler, a Canadian dead writer dude, stated that writing was the quest for immortality, a legacy left behind. Maybe bloggers are not quite in that realm, but maybe they’re on a quest for importance, for relevance.
A slightly more cynical blogworldview, perhaps, but there it is.
Mm. Damned fallibility. “Even when the means of LEAVING that treadmill,” is what I meant to say.
great blog
kiss
I think what distinguishes the Global Microbrand from the old-school cult of personality happens on two levels.
One, a GMB is not that different from any other kind of celebrity except where it comes down to personal control. Anyone can be made into a celebrity with the proper application of a huge PR and marketing campaign (really, would most politicians make it alone?) The trade off is becoming a managed commodity… the more controlling interests there are backing you, the less authentic the personality part of the cult of personality can be. The GMB approach allows a greater investment of authenticity to pay off in more personal control.
The other aspect of the GMB that is somewhat new is the idea that for a small investment (say, blogging) you can reach a much larger audience (or a small but extremely focused audience) more easily than was true in the past. You used to need late-night TV to launch a small product line. Now, a blog, a few emails and a product that actually turns people on can start paying for itself almost immediately.
I’ve been reading Hugh for a long time and applying his ideas. Not every attempt I’ve made has been equally successful, but on the whole, the Global Micro Brand *is* working for me. Two thirds of my sales come in from either the web or extended networks that I could never reach just by hanging a shingle in my own neighborhood. I’ve been off the job train for five years, and though the first couple were a bit sketchy, I’m now almost comfortable despite my high expectations. I think this is likely the best way to go for individuals who want to make it in the adult biz.
I’m going to be posting a few more thoughts on this, with some examples, at my own blog over the next couple weeks, if anyone’s interested.
Spot on, Bacchus. When you’re dependent on the corporate 800 lb gorilla for all your income, well, they’ve got your ass over a barrel. Investors are taught to diversify their risk, even cabbies here in NYC learn to sock money away and invest in their own small businesses; why shouldn’t we professionals treat our careers the same way?
And Tina, WTF? When I was working for GloboCorp I was *way* more concerned about winding up under that bridge looking for handouts. I can’t even count the number of smart, educated people I know who found themselves without work or even marketable skills relevant to whatever downsizing industry they were in. Adam Smith was right — the increasing specialization of corporate work makes pinheads out of us all.
Superb entry Bacchus.
Wait a minute! Do you need an excuse for being your own boss? I guess I forgot to excuse myself: I started my own business (as a freelance writer) because I WANTED to. It’s simply one way of making a living.
Other ways include working for a large corporation. Nothing wrong with that, either. Especially if you want to get rich, manage the work of others, accomplish things you can’t do by yourself.
Unfortunately, many of the people who left the treadmill are now standing under the highway bridge waving a sign that says “will work for food.” only they won’t because they want a handout.
Get on the treadmill or get off it, as you please. Just be sure you don’t try to make society support you.
Wow, Tina, where did *that* come from? How did you get to “standing under the highway bridge” from my post?
I was talking about people liberating themselves from corporate servitude by finding alternative means of being individually productive. I can’t imagine why you brought welfare cases into this discussion.
Bacchus, the comment about people under the bridge was a stretch, no doubt. But I see too many of them who are capable of earning a living but prefer to beg.
Lex, the question of being downsized is another subject. I get very upset about jobs –not just manufacturing, but much higher level jobs– going overseas. And about illegal aliens taking (lower level) jobs that Americans ought to be doing.
I was talking about choice. If you prefer the corporate environment… have at it! If you don’t like the corporate environment… that’s fine too. Neither choice needs an excuse.
:O :O
catherine agrees
‘Especially if you want to get rich, manage the work of others, accomplish things you can’t do by yourself…’?
‘…too many of them who are capable of earning a living but prefer to beg’?
‘…illegal aliens taking (lower level) jobs that Americans ought to be doing’?
*mutters under her breath about global capitalism, the surplus labour force, poverty and the widening gap between rich and poor*
*walks off in a huff and wonders why people support a blame culture where the poor are at fault for being poor*
Yeah, TG. Nice. I wanted to say something, but wasn’t feeling articulate.
A couple times in the last year I’ve been thrown into situations where I’ve found myself on the verge of not making rent, eating noodles, and doing anything it took to get by.
I’m an industrious person and until now have worked solidly (no more than three weeks off paid/unpaid with job/without since I was 13).
And yet, I found myself with no safety net, no one to whom I could turn in an hour of need, and no means of credit or emergency cash.
Life happens, and for some, not always in the most convenient fashion. Just because one is capable of finding work doesn’t mean the situation is working out for them, and doesn’t mean it’s practical.
Yes, *some* people use the system, *some* people beg because they’re too frickin’ lazy to contribute to the world. But not all, and not even most. Bad luck’s out there, and if you’ve been fortunate enough to avoid it, good on you, but if not, wake up and smell the reality check.
As for quitting the system to be self-employed et al, well, not everyone has that option.
(I also sometimes wonder on the irony of slavery being illegal, but you’re forced into a situation where you’re required to pay taxes, required to buy into a system that isn’t your design, etc.)
Ah, you got me started, TG, but you’re right about Tina’s comments, no matter how benign she might’ve meant her statements to be.
Steff, I want to pull out one sentence of yours, in order to expand on it. You wrote: “As for quitting the system to be self-employed et al, well, not everyone has that option.”
Literally speaking, you are of course correct; almost nobody in the rat race “has” that option, available by serendipity or good fortune as they forge ahead in our corporatized world. The structures and incentives (especially the housing and vehicle sales channels) are in fact set up to eliminate that sort of options, to keep folks chained to the treadmill.
No, in order for almost anyone to “have” that option, they have to *make* it. By act of will, by dramatic change of lifestyle, by creative repurposing of existing skills, by willingness to relocate or renegotiate or whatever it takes.
My belief, though, is that almost anyone in a position to be reading this blog is in a position to *make* that option for themselves. The global microbrand is only one potential approach; selling porn, or bespoke suits, on the internet is just another microstrategy. What’s important is to understand that the thing is possible. And that’s why I’m disputing your sentence. Almost nobody “has” that option, but almost anybody can *take* it.
I would also like to point out that self-employment, alone, is not sufficient for getting off the treadmill. It tends to help — often rather a lot — but depending on your business, sometimes not so much. I’ve known consultants and other independent professionals who tend to be compensated by the hour; and, though it beats life in a cubicle far, you’re still on the treadmill. I read somewhere (somewhere else on Gaping Void I believe) of such people: “Once you stop tapdancing, you sink.” No, it’s important to find a strategy that leaves you in genuine control of your life, hourly, daily and over the longer term. It’s not easy, but it’s *vital*.
I certainly don’t wish to denigrate the concept of the microbrand but a treadmill by any other name … I’m sure Hugh makes fine suits but if he doesn’t make a suit there is no income. I am presently shifting focus to establish revenue streams that are not dependent on regular labor. Having had royalty income I can assure passive income beats active income hands down.
Bacchus, I think its awesome that you were able to leave the corporate grind and make your own income by blogging. However, before anyone decides to set up a blog to quit their job and make money, they need to ask themselves these questions:
Why do they want to blog in the first place?
Are they doing this strictly for money or do they do this because they love to express themselves?
Do they have anything of substance to offer the rest of the world?
From you own experience, it’s obvious that you can make a good living by blogging, but you are also offering something of great value to all those people who read your blog. Those people who just do it for the money without any substance behind it will be clearly seen as fakes, and they will be disappointed with their results.
I hope I haven’t been misunderstood as suggesting that anybody quit their jobs in search of financial independence via blogging.
My point is that the internet offers a broad wealth of opportunities for people to monetize their creativity and productivity in ways that are easier to live with, and better for them, than the traditional corporate job. The old “don’t quit your day job” advice applies, until such time as you’re pretty sure you’ve nailed down a better alternative for you.
Hugh @ Gaping Void was certainly NOT more eloquent. Take credit where credit is due!