It’s no news, bloggers have taken over New York Fashion Week, and blogs seem to be gaining ground over traditional magazines.  Everyone has a blog, from pets to grandmothers, and everyone seems to read at least one blog.  By the end of 2011, according to Nielsen, there were over 181 million blogs around the world, up from 36 million in 2006.   After talking with Heidi Nazarudin, founder of BloggerBabes.com, a blogger association, about what it takes to be a good blogger, it’s clear:  although anyone can start a blog, not everyone is a professional blogger.

To be a good blogger, you need to be a good writer.  As Heidi Nazarudin learned when she wanted to transition from being an investment banker to being a writer so she could turn her passions for fashion and beauty into a job, she first had to learn how to write.  Just because you can spot a trend or make tons of money investing for your clients, and you can read and write in English, it doesn’t make you a good writer.  She learned that quickly when she sent samples of her work to magazine editor friends in New York, who told her straight out: “You suck; you write like a retarded 12-year-old.” It was a little hard to take at first, but she got the message and started taking writing classes. It took her a few years to hone her writing skills and start getting freelance writing jobs, and a few more years of being a ghost writer for a blog before she started her own blog.

But a good blogger is more than just a good writer.  As opposed to a writer who takes an idea and writes around it, a blogger is more than that.  As Heidi explained, a professional blogger involves a lot more beyond writing:  networking with other bloggers, attracting new followers and subscribers, and mastering the art of online promotion, marketing, and self-branding.  Good bloggers have a focus, blog regularly, and think about their audience.  As she said, “Anyone can be a blogger, but not everyone is a good blogger.” Likewise, you don’t have to be a “babe” to be a member of Bloggerbabes.com, an association she created to support bloggers, provide education and useful tips, and connect bloggers and brands.  She recently published two eBooks, “An Introduction to Blogging:  Everything You Need to Know to Start Blogging Better” and “The Blogging Manual:  The Complete Book of Blogging.”

A blog is personal, an online magazine is not. Whereas a magazine article is generally impartial (or at least more impersonal), has content from multiple contributors, involves research and fact-checking, and its content fits certain editorial guidelines, a blog is generally the voice of its owner and communicates his or her personal opinion.  However, when it comes to your audience, you still have to be relevant. As Nazarudin says, even if you’re a blogger, you “can blog about yourself, provided that there’s a point to it . . .  A good blogger gives advice or gives information to their readers . . .  If someone just blogs about themselves going to an event, and that’s it, then I don’t think you will have an audience. “

It seems that there are just as many blogs out there as there are blog readers. (According to eMarketer.com, there are 122 million readers vs. 181 million blogs, per Nielsen’s estimate.)  Does this mean that there’s too much content out there?  Is blogging dead?  As long as people can share ideas and connect with like-minded individuals, blogging will continue to exist.  As Nazarudin pointed out, “Take music as an analogy—there’s so much music out there, would you tell people to stop making music because there’s already too much music?”  But if you are going to make music (or blog), make it good.