I’m not really sure why I am here any more. Once upon a time, as Lauren’s stories might begin, I started this blog to fill the space between the words I was being asked to write – and the ones I wanted to find time to write. That position has somewhat changed now. People aren’t exactly knocking down my door with commissions these days. There has also been a massive change of focus at work. No longer am I frustratingly writing in an attempt to add more creativity; more control to my life. I get that at work – with the ability to write, business writing, but it is still the skill of using words to convince. So why am I still here? Well, because of
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I’m sat at a table. It is a table big enough to sit six large chairs around. My hair is tidy; if a little long. My eyes are heavy – blue, but bloodshot. My features both puffy and sharp; stubble of two days is scratchy and loud to touch. I sit like a burst couch, slumped midway between chair back and table. I’m wearing worn clothes. Not worn as in draped over, more worn as in fraying. The cuffs on my hoodie are going. The collar on my shirt has gone – the ends of my jeans both grey and tattered. I am a man who clearly does not care for shopping. The room’s lights have been dimmed to the point I’m tempted to turn
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Quick pop quiz time – where does that line appear in the bible? No checking through google. Come on class. Hurry up. Yes you, Fetherstonhaugh. Come on, boy. Speak up. Yes, that’s right. Matthew 4:19. I don’t expect many to get that. Nor to know that it is from the King James Bible. The reason I’ve put it at the top of this post is to highlight a reason why someone may choose to follow another. To decide that what that person is saying, is worth paying attention to. I must inform the reader that the idea of this post was formulated, as most are, under the influence of alcohol.
“Right chaps. The battles lines have been drawn. Blog A. I want you to come round the rear flank of the profit making organisations that use bloggers without paying, and tweet them hard. Blog B. It’s your job to facebook status the life out of those websites that use our content without asking, and don’t link to our sites in the way we expect them to. What’s that Blog A – you’re happy to hand over your content for free, even though there is no guarantee it will lead to anything else? What about you Blog B. I take it your think any exposure is good and you simply feel honoured that a popular website is using your content without adhering to our agreed protocol?
I note with some interest that it is only a week to go until the European arm of the 2011 Beer Bloggers Conference. I’m not a beer blogger – such a specialism doesn’t really interest me – but buying, drinking and talking about beer; in public or on twitter does make for a good hour or two well spent each week. What does interest me about the event, is that there is a section on the agenda for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to discuss the finer points of beer blogging – under the notion that there are dos and don’ts involved. The reason this interests me is that, as a blogger myself, I’d be wary of anyone suggesting that what I do is right or