Specialized blogs

When I give lectures on how to make money from a blog, I always end up giving the example that, in Spain and Latin America, this is hardly ever the case: a person who’s an expert on something writes about his/her specialty and is hired as a result.

Usually the person has a job, lives well from it and does not need to “pay hosting”, one of the most absurd excuses in this field. I’m not referring to commercial blogs either, dedicated to the world of legal news, where you can get bored reading a post. I’m simply referring to people who blog, who talk about what they do. Unfortunately, this phenomenon only happens in excellent doses in the US, where “payment for service” is the in-thing.

Continuing with the subject, finding specialized blogs from professionals who write about their subject and don’t digress to other stories is practically impossible. It looks like people are afraid of losing clients or stoking the competition. In the first case, for example, if I write about my subject, anyone could develop it (e.g. a contract editor), which would reduce the work. In the second case, the competition would be afraid of revealing talent for the benefit of others. But I believe that, in those cases, the best thing is a master at something; it’s difficult to sit down and write a document well, such as Wayne Schiess, or create an adequate contract, such as Ken Adams. However, both show their forms, without any restrictions, so that everyone else can learn and know. I believe that they’re both making money simply because they’re telling things.

I would like to see more of this in Spain, especially in legal matters, where the general public don’t have much idea. One person or more with talent in those fields, in terms of legal matters, composition, wording and negotiation, can have their own weblogs, create their business centers based on their services, and profit terribly from this field, which I compare with a remedy: everybody gets ill, so a pharmacy will never be a loss.

Wayne has a very entertaining weblog. He focuses especially on legal writing, which is not the same as what to write in a blog or that I start writing something when I lack the knowledge even if I have manuals explaining the subject point by point. But it’s interesting to know that there are many snags in the way we write a contract, especially if it’s for something big where often an incomprehensive text or bad writing can change the situation.
You should read blogs from people who work on this, in terms of both the writing in Spanish contracts and their composition.

By Diego Lafuente
Saved in: Blogging, Entrepreneurs | No comments » | 6 July 2006

More posts in Negonation Blog