racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I’ve had it. It’s time to throw in the towel. I’m through with being a problogger.

Okay, that’s just a matter of nomenclature. To tell you the truth, I still very much love what I’m doing now. I love the freedom. I love the independence. I love the money (though I could really really use more dough right now). It’s just the problogger name that I sometimes don’t appreciate. I mean after about a year of calling myself a problogger I’ve come to the conclusion that being a problogger can be no fun.

For one, people don’t really get what it is I do. When clients, old classmates, relatives, or acquaintances ask me what I do, I have a hard time explaining.

And then there’s this issue of whether being a problogger makes one better than the rest.

Ask yourself this. Does being a “pro” necessarily make you better at what you do?

Are pro basketball players better than amateurs? Are professional photographers better than hobbyists?

Or let’s have a better example. By having a “professional” driver’s license, does that mean you drive better than one with a non-professional driver’s license?

Not really. By definition, being a professional entails that you earn from the activity you choose to undertake. So being a problogger would mean earning from blogging. We’ve defined that before.

Sometimes, having to think of your business model and income sources can be a big headache!

Here’s what I want to do. I want to shift away from calling myself a problogger, and instead simply call myself a writer. Or a content developer. After all, that’s what I do. I write for a living. I create stuff for a living.

I do use various forms of new media as my, well, media. So that doesn’t take away blogging from the picture. Blogging is still a part of that.

I don’t necessarily have to write on blogs to earn. And I don’t necessarily have to earn to blog.

That brings back the excitement in blogging, doesn’t it? That brings back the passion. Imagine blogging solely for the purpose of getting your thoughts published online—for sharing to the world.

The income? That comes in as a secondary concern. At least for blogging, that is.

So I’m a writer. I’m a content developer. Do I write for a living? Yes. Do I blog for a living? Well, I write for a living, and blogs are my medium. So in a way, yes, but not strictly so. Keeping with my desire to remain passionate with blogging, I should not necessarily think of blogs as solely sources of income.

I guess that’s how artists remain true to their craft. Once you think about money first, you end up focusing on commercial stuff and just produce crap.

Now I’m off to sharpen my dozen pencils as I go back doing my magic with weaving words.