Alright, there aren’t really Blogger Rules of Engagement. But, there should be….kind of. ‘Rules of Engagement’ is a term used in military operations which basically means how, when and at what force you are allowed to go storming in on the enemy. But, for this post’s sake, let’s say, ‘ …go storming in on the competition.’

One of the biggest topics among bloggers is PR and that PR is King. A lot of people are more grass roots about it and say you are more than your PR (which is true for content writers), but you’re still judged by it when it comes to many areas of the commercial blogging world. So please don’t be offended and assume I’m lumping all types of bloggers together – I’m not. I’m just not as content with only writing, hence I delve into the commercial aspects more so than the personal writing. Some would say that means I’m not a ‘real’ blogger. Ok, fine. I’m not a ‘real’ blogger (I can tell I’m going to use a lot of  ’these’  in this post).  I appreciate and love writing, both creating my own and reading the blogs I follow every day for that very reason, but I thrive on the commercial aspect of blogging. I like to pull my way into the high places by nailing a great lead or other measurable item – not because that’s worth more than good writing, it’s not. It’s just how I’m made. I love promotion, marketing and, yes, competition. Healthy competition.

Back to PR before I ramble right off this page…
So the way it works is that many commercial aspects of blogging require you to be in a certain PR bracket. If you aren’t in that bracket – if you only miss it by a half an inch – you’re out of luck. To the back of the line. And you know what? I’m FINE with that. There SHOULD be a reward for working your butt off and providing a site that people love so much they link and share and return day after day, year after year.

“So what’s your issue? Out with it already!”
Yeah, I hear you. So I’ll get to the point…

I’m pulling out a (very rare) gripe today because I think there should be some limits to working backwards when you’re one of the big dogs on the block.  When you get older and move up to first grade, you don’t get to hang out with the kindergarten class because you just love the juice so much. The benefit of being a big kid means you also have to let go of some of the privileges afforded the little kids. All I’m saying is that commercial blogging should have some of the same unspoken courtesies. Fledgling sites only have so much opportunity. When a power site swoops in and starts gobbling up those low paying or low reward opportunities …well… it’s lame (Eloquent, I know. I’m a regular scholar when I’m annoyed). Most of the time I don’t understand why they swoop in because there’s nothing to be gained that they haven’t gained already. I guess that’s the part that has me perplexed. It’s like entering a contest to win a vacation to Florida when you already live there.

I’m sure a bunch of people will agree….and a bunch of people will not agree…and then other people will say I’m just jealous… then there might be the random “Suck it up. That’s life.” Yeah…I know. But I’m human and my feathers are ruffled when the rules of engagement are unbalanced. My husband hears it all the time, “I don’t mind following rules. I mind when there is an unfair enforcement of those rules.”

I’m shrugging right now, FYI. Because my gripe has run out of steam and I know it. Maybe it’s a bunch of malarkey… maybe I have a point….and maybe, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter because this is what I signed up for and I love it too much to give up.

So what’s the answer?
Work Harder. Move Faster. Get Better.

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