The blogs here are dreadful

[Ian J]

I don't often read the blogs section but must have been more bored than normal this morning as I popped in there to see if there was anything worth reading and found that with just one or two exceptions the blogs were a load of self serving banal drivel.

There seem to be two main bloggers who blog regularly ( too regularly) and the first posts a couple of paragraphs then links to her own site where you have to go to read the rest and the second blogger posts so many inaccuracies that it could be dangerous to follow her advice.

One of the gems that I came across is a blog about bankruptcy saying that one of the disadvantages about being bankrupt is that you could struggle to obtain credit whilst you are bankrupt and another disadvantage is that "you won't get any jobs whilst bankrupt"

Another blog by the same person is entitled "What to do if You Can’t Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill" and contains 548 words of irrelevancy with just one relevant sentence that suggests that you contact HMRC and discuss it with them.

I feel sorry for the one or two people that do post the occasional blog of interest as with so much self promoting rubbish in that section I doubt whether many people will make the effort to search out anything of genuine interest

 

[Kat Haylock]

Thanks for the feedback Ian - I completely agree with you. It's an area of the site that we'll be trying to improve when we look at the Full Membership proposition this year.

 

[g]

Although reluctant to add to an old thread, and definitely not doing so for self-promo... on the little I've thus far seen, Ian has a constructively worthwhile point, which I'm surprised didn't get more response.

Good/bad blogs are an asset/detriment to all, and a useful way to raise points in a format other than forum questions/answers.

Good content helps build relationships, and poor stuff (particularly if in 'recent entries') likely leads to not revisiting.

Years ago, I used to add stuff to Ecademy, and (so the owner told me), within a week or two I was apparently 4th in popularity and 15th in page views (those numbers are approximate, and may be reversed... all I remember is single-digit for one and double-digit for t'other).

I mention this not to boast, but to note the potential value.

 

[Ann watson]

Thanks for the feedback Ian - I completely agree with you. It's an area of the site that we'll be trying to improve when we look at the Full Membership proposition this year.

Please do not enforce too many rules, as I have found the 30point rule restrictive as it is, today I tried to recommend a url that people visit to find influential bloggers in a variety of fields, however I was stopped from doing this because I do not yet have 30 points, yes i understsnd why you are doing this, more rules will begin to feel quite repressive actually rather than helpful! So let those people good, bad ugly blog away to their little hearts content, we are not obliged to read it!

I also understand that you want quality content I get it, at the same time people can only provide advice based on their own knowledge and level of experience....please don't try to police too much as you might in practice end up gagging unnecessarily, I hope you can see my point of view

 

[Ian J]

I have found the 30point rule restrictive as it is, today I tried to recommend a url that people visit to find influential bloggers in a variety of fields, however I was stopped from doing this because I do not yet have 30 points,

It is easy enough to direct people to the correct site without posting a hyperlink and personally I would rather slightly inconvenience one or two people than suffer the deluge of spam that would result in allowing everyone to post links

 

[Ann watson]

It is easy enough to direct people to the correct site without posting a hyperlink and personally I would rather slightly inconvenience one or two people than suffer the deluge of spam that would result in allowing everyone to post links

How do I do that Ian?

 

[Ann watson]

It is easy enough to direct people to the correct site without posting a hyperlink and personally I would rather slightly inconvenience one or two people than suffer the deluge of spam that would result in allowing everyone to post links

And to be honest I have found it aggravating.....the post was less helpful because I was not allowed to be helpful

 

[Kat Haylock]

Thank you for your feedback @Ann watson. I understand the 30 post rule is annoying, but to be honest, without it there wouldn't be a forum! It's just something we have to have in place to ensure the users we get here are posting for the right reasons.

Also, since you're a Full Member, I've bumped your post count up to 30 so you can get started making the most of your benefits

 

[Ian J]

How do I do that Ian?

Here's a non link to my site factoringsolutions.co.uk

 

[GraemeL]

I don't often read the blogs section but must have been more bored than normal this morning as I popped in there to see if there was anything worth reading and found that with just one or two exceptions the blogs were a load of self serving banal drivel.

Thanks @Ian J , I have never read the Blogs but had a quick look after seeing your post. You are right.
But why would I want to look at a Blogs section ever again - whats the point of a Blog?

 

[Ian J]

whats the point of a Blog?

Some people who write blogs are called influencers as they have thousands of followers and can harm or promote products by writing about them although the vast majority of blogs seem to be aimed at Google bots rather than real people and that includes the blogs on UKBF.

I write a blog about the world of factoring which will be infinitely boring to the vast majority of people but seems to be well read within the industry as I give my views on things within the industry that I am unhappy about

 

[Ian J]

I've just my first look at the blogs here for months and there is one person / company who is a real scammers delight with 35 blog posts so far, some of which look reasonable but boring and a few get rich quick schemes that look highly iffy

 

[The Byre]

I used to run a news agency and we specialised in providing trade magazines in the UK and the US with trade news in just about every subject and for all those goofy trade mags that most of us have never heard of, such as European Plastics News, Broadcast Magazine, Flight International, Computer Graphics, Hydraulics World, Radio International, TV-Broadcast, Mobile Europe and on and on and on . . .

We also picked up a fair bit of market research and analysis work, as well as much PR work, creating press packs and company newsletters. So when it comes to creating articles, blogs, press releases, call them what you will, I hope you will forgive me for saying that I know what I am talking about!

With that in mind, let me make a few salient observations -

1. Most people cannot write. When I started out as a part-time trade journalist, I couldn't write either. Everything I produced had to be laboriously rewritten by a professional writer. I studied what had happened to my copy carefully and learned what I was doing wrong. It took about two years, maybe more, to actually learn how to bang-out copy at 90mph and at the same time, make it engaging, witty and above all - informative!

2. Those people who can write (i.e. trained hacks) do not know what they are talking about! They may be able to turn a phrase, but if you give a trained hack the task of writing an in-depth feature of 3,000 words on telecine-scanners, making special mention of wet-gate scanning and digital wet-gate scanning, with an overview of the European market, he or she will spend a long time staring open-mouthed at their computer screen, looking like a gaffed salmon.

3. Most people have nothing to say. They are more worried about their mortgages, or the bad school report that little Jimmy brought home last week, than about the democratisation of technology, or the growing gap between rich and poor and the forces that drive those processes. This means that what they do write, lacks intellectual and moral content and depth.

So if we take points 1, 2 & 3 above, we discover -

Most people on Planet Earth cannot write, don't know what they are talking about and have nothing to say!

These then are the people that write blogs!

 

[Ann watson]

I've just my first look at the blogs here for months and there is one person / company who is a real scammers delight with 35 blog posts so far, some of which look reasonable but boring and a few get rich quick schemes that look highly iffy

Trouble is Ian, some people think that multi level marketing companies are scam and some don't, and your "boring" might be interesting to others. That said there are obviously Some scams And these do hurt people!

 

[Ann watson]

I used to run a news agency and we specialised in providing trade magazines in the UK and the US with trade news in just about every subject and for all those goofy trade mags that most of us have never heard of, such as European Plastics News, Broadcast Magazine, Flight International, Computer Graphics, Hydraulics World, Radio International, TV-Broadcast, Mobile Europe and on and on and on . . .

We also picked up a fair bit of market research and analysis work, as well as much PR work, creating press packs and company newsletters. So when it comes to creating articles, blogs, press releases, call them what you will, I hope you will forgive me for saying that I know what I am talking about!

With that in mind, let me make a few salient observations -

1. Most people cannot write. When I started out as a part-time trade journalist, I couldn't write either. Everything I produced had to be laboriously rewritten by a professional writer. I studied what had happened to my copy carefully and learned what I was doing wrong. It took about two years, maybe more, to actually learn how to bang-out copy at 90mph and at the same time, make it engaging, witty and above all - informative!

2. Those people who can write (i.e. trained hacks) do not know what they are talking about! They may be able to turn a phrase, but if you give a trained hack the task of writing an in-depth feature of 3,000 words on telecine-scanners, making special mention of wet-gate scanning and digital wet-gate scanning, with an overview of the European market, he or she will spend a long time staring open-mouthed at their computer screen, looking like a gaffed salmon.

3. Most people have nothing to say. They are more worried about their mortgages, or the bad school report that little Jimmy brought home last week, than about the democratisation of technology, or the growing gap between rich and poor and the forces that drive those processes. This means that what they do write, lacks intellectual and moral content and depth.

So if we take points 1, 2 & 3 above, we discover -

Most people on Planet Earth cannot write, don't know what they are talking about and have nothing to say!

These then are the people that write blogs!

Haha yes lol, in other words, who am i to judge your content, it begins to get a little arrogant when we start to try and judge another person's work, thank you for the post

 

[GraemeL]

Some people who write blogs are called influencers as they have thousands of followers and can harm or promote products by writing about them although the vast majority of blogs seem to be aimed at Google bots rather than real people and that includes the blogs on UKBF.

I write a blog about the world of factoring which will be infinitely boring to the vast majority of people but seems to be well read within the industry as I give my views on things within the industry that I am unhappy about

So is it helpful in some way to write a blog on UKBF? Is this "the vast majority of blogs seem to be aimed at Google bots rather than real people and that includes the blogs on UKBF" true - that blogs on UKBF can help SEO in some way?

 

[Ian J]

So is it helpful in some way to write a blog on UKBF?

I can't answer that honestly without incurring the wrath of Kat

If you want a blog to be useful for SEO purposes you should include it on your own website

 

[GraemeL]

No no, I hate blogs! I was just curious why people did it.

 

[fisicx]

No no, I hate blogs! I was just curious why people did it.

Because they mistakenly think it will improve ranking or get visits to their websites.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Any thread with a post in it containing a simile to a gaffed salmon gets my vote