Working in a Blogging Sweat Shop

The NYTimes is running a post on how three of the bigger names in blogging have suffered heart attacks and medical issues since they started building out their blogging empires. They compare the work that bloggers do as a “sweat shop mentality”, in that the pressures to be 24X7 eventually lead to the demise of ones health.

I have been blogging now for 3 years, and I have lost 50 pounds, cut back on cigarettes, and am generally in better health now than I was when I started blogging. If you are working in a sweat shop, then you are doing it wrong.

“I haven’t died yet,” said Michael Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. The site has brought in millions in advertising revenue, but there has been a hefty cost. Mr. Arrington says he has gained 30 pounds in the last three years, developed a severe sleeping disorder and turned his home into an office for him and four employees. “At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen.” “This is not sustainable,” he said. Source: NY Times

There are some real down sides when trying to build out a major media empire, and depending on why you blog, what your goals are, knowing these downsides are pretty important to you personally. There are many a-type personalities out there, this does not mean you need to work for one.

When I looked at pro-bloggers job board, and did one as an experiment, that was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in blogging. I am very careful about facts, but was told that what I wrote was materially incorrect. What the blog manager didn’t note was that (and this was clearly spelled out) I had used Firefox for the example. It was materially correct for that particular browser, and it even had screen caps.

Time to walk away from people who want bloggers, but can not deal with the work that is being put out, nor understand the material being pushed by the blogger. If the job poster does not get it, time to walk away and work with people who do get it. As a blogger, if the other end of the conversation does not get it, it is not worth writing and rewriting just to make them happy. There are other things to do, other people to see, and better places to make a couple of dollars.

Depending on where you want to go with your blogging career, it is important that you take care of yourself first. Blogging is supposed to be fun even if you are building out a multi-million dollar empire. The minute it stops being fun, or has adverse effects on your health, it is probably time to move on and do something else.

Keywords: death by blogging, blogging accident, health, heart attack, techcrunch, Michael Arrington, technology, blog, blogger, blogging, a-type, personality