Why now is the right time for a blogging association

This is a guest post from Tim Liew, blogger at Slouching Towards Thatcham, about the need for a blog association. Have your own opinions about this? Want to write a guest post? Email Jake O’Neill or tweet us @Vuelio.

At a time of massive growth and increasing complexity, now more than ever blogging needs its own trade association.

The world of blogging has changed immeasurably – and mostly for the better – since I published my first post 11 years ago. Improved technology. The rise of social media. The explosion in influencer marketing and paid opportunities.

All of this has driven a much more professional approach to blogging. It is no longer the domain of hobbyists sharing information and opinions. It is now a booming industry in its own right, with thousands of practitioners earning a full or part-time salary from content creation.

The most successful bloggers and vloggers are now brands in their own right. Louise Pentland’s beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel Sprinkleofglitter has 2.6 million subscribers. That’s about the same number of people who tune in to watch University Challenge on TV every week. Sarah Turner (The Unmumsy Mum), Katie Kirby (Hurrah for Gin) and Matt Coyne (Man vs. Baby) lead a vanguard of parent bloggers whose books have topped the Sunday Times bestseller charts. From sports to gaming and food to politics, there is a blog – make that hundreds of blogs – for every niche.

Blogging and bloggers have gone truly professional, influencing people far beyond their loyal readerships and being rewarded by brands desperate to reach these audiences as traditional broadcast media continues to decline. It’s no surprise that a growing number of aspiring influencers want a piece of the action.

As investment in bloggers and influencers explodes, so does scrutiny and regulation. Bloggers have long wrestled with how best to disclose their relationship with brands who want sponsored posts or to place pre-written content or web links. More recently, the arrival of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has caused considerable confusion about ensuring compliant collection and use of personal data. With further ePrivacy legislation still to come, the regulatory environment is only going to become more complex.

Now most bloggers are sole traders who don’t have access to expert legal resources in the way that big companies do. So, when it comes to GDPR compliance or chasing a brand for late payment, bloggers are generally reliant on the knowledge and expertise of other bloggers to point them in the right direction. Google ‘GDPR for bloggers’ and you will discover hundreds of posts and articles from bloggers and marketing experts. Some are very good; some are ill-informed; many contradict one another. And there is frequently no correlation between a blogger being well-known and their factual accuracy.

So, who do you trust?

In a world that is changing rapidly and becoming ever more complex, the need for a single, impartial and trusted source of advice and best practice is greater than ever. For bloggers to be respected as professionals, it is vital that we know how to operate professionally. There are too many negative consequences in terms of bad publicity and financial penalties for us not to do so.

I work on both sides of the blogging fence. I’m an experienced blogger but by day I’m also a social media manager working with brand marketers and PR agencies on influencer programmes. I see lots of good practice but also some that is distinctly unprofessional, if not illegal. The individual interests of bloggers, brands and agencies alike would benefit from a body whose role it is to look after our collective interests, raise professional standards and support new entrants.

For our industry to survive and thrive, we cannot continue to rely on our informal, inexpert half-truths. Proper help and support is critical. And that’s why we need a blogging association, now more than ever.