Hyperlocal Blogging and Time Commitment

Making decisions are sometimes hard for all of us. Especially since it’s not always easy to predict the outcome. Most of us fear failure. All of us dream of success. Making the decision to leap into hyperlocal blogging was not an easy decision for me and I doubt it will be an easy decision for you. I can honestly say however, I’m so happy that I made the decision and my life has been better for it.

Lets talk about the time commitment to become a hyperlocal blogger. I’ll be upfront with you right now. It can be a huge time commitment. If you are like me, I have a hard time taking on something without being obsessive compulsive. It’s my nature. If I enjoy something, it generally becomes part of me and I spend crazy amounts of time doing it. It also seems to be my nature that after I learn all I can and feel comfortable with something after gaining knowledge, I sometimes move on to the next project. For example, a few years ago I got into offshore king mackerel fishing. I bought a boat with my best friend and joined a local fishing club. I learned all I could. I became friends with guys on the Pro-Circuit. I fished with the professionals. I entered tournaments. I had a blast. After I became somewhat proficient, my desire tailed off. It certainly didn’t help that it was a very expensive hobby as gas prices got ridiculous. No one depended on me to catch a fish. Becoming a hyperlocal blogger could mean that your community of readers and organizations will come to depend on you. It’s not a commitment to take lightly.

What did I mean by saying the local community may come to depend on you? It’s not a life or death situation but as your community site grows, many organizations will ask you to post news about their organizations on your site. You will find yourself on the e-mail lists for your community’s press releases. You will find that your hyperlocal community is starving for publicity and they have no resources or very limited resources for getting the word out about their charity, business, causes or organizations. They will depend on you for the boost in exposure. Most local newspapers will not cover such mundane items. What your local media considers mundane, may be near and dear to the heart of hundreds of citizens in your community. Knowing that they can depend on you to get the word out will endear you to your community. They will come to depend on you and you will start to feel a sense of commitment and responsibility.

It doesn’t take long until your hyperlocal blog becomes an extension of you. You treat it like your baby, your child. Your blog needs you. Your community needs you. All of a sudden, you are spending a tremendous amount of time in front of a computer monitor. Can you handle this? Can you make the commitment? Can you not do this half-ass and build something that you and your community will be proud of? I say “yes you can”. I know that you have it in you to build something great. Once you clear this hurdle in your mind, you are ready to actually start the actual work of launching a hyperlocal community site and becoming a citizen journalist.

Visit my hyperlocal site: monroescoop.com

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