What’s the Future of Blogging After AI? (Dead or Alive in 2024)

Let’s first look at how AI impacts blogging and consider these questions:

In my experience, there’s a lot that AI can do in the world of blogging.

For example, using AI to come up with article outlines is an excellent use of this technology. Another use of AI is ensuring your articles are SEO-optimized and target the right NLP keywords.

Note: NLP = natural language processing.

This term refers to words that are commonly used in search engines or by users while searching for content online. For example, in this article dealing with the ‘AI blogging’, some NLP keywords include ‘Automated Editing’, ‘Sentiment Analysis’, and ‘Content Generation’.

Let’s consider another aspect of blogging – storytelling.

Imagine I start a blog post as follows:

“It was the middle of the night and the rain was pouring down. As I huddled under my umbrella, I couldn’t help but feel terrified. I had just received a call from my best friend’s wife, informing me that he had been in a car accident and was now fighting for his life in the hospital. And that is exactly how I started my journey into becoming a life coach.”

Now, compare that to starting a blog post with:

“Hi everyone, in this blog post I will be discussing the benefits of hiring a life coach and how it can improve your overall well-being.”

Which one captures your attention more?

The first one draws you into the story and creates an emotional connection. People are naturally drawn to personal stories because they can relate to them. They also become invested in what happens next.

And this is exactly what a great blog post should do.

I feel that the right AI usage will help bloggers tell better stories. Stories are at the heart of everything humans do. They’re the way knowledge was passed on in old times. Now, it’s a way to stop people scrolling and get them to listen up.

In a world where attention spans are at an all-time low, the right story will resonate with people and help them understand the value you offer.

As a blogger, using AI to develop storylines, hooks, and compelling content is crucial.

While you could sit down and brainstorm ideas and storylines to use, doing so alone takes too much time. You’ll be at a disadvantage compared to the writer who uses AI to help brainstorm the right stories to tell.

Examples of brands that have built up great businesses around their story include:

A big part of blogging is the business aspect. If you’re not making money from your content, you don’t have a business – you have a writing hobby.

So, how does AI impact this blogging aspect? With AI, you facilitate the process of making money – beyond traditional ads in multiple ways.

Here are some ideas.

As you publish more content with the help of AI, you can either:

• Reach out to brands and ask if they’re interested in sponsoring your blog/specific posts
• (Even better) Brands will reach out to you and make the ask themselves

The bigger you get, the less you’ll have to do of the first. Also, more of the second will happen.

Said differently, you increase the chances of finding blog sponsorships with higher-quality content.

If we discover our target audience can benefit from specific types of information, AI can also help create an outline for a new digital product.

We then use our expertise to create these products and market them to our audience.

Again, notice that we’re working with AI to make the magic happen.

Whether creating content for blogs, digital products, or online courses, this collaborative work is crucial.

Let’s again address the elephant in the room. You might be thinking that the future of blogging isn’t looking too bright. Does it even make sense to start or keep going with your blog?

The answer is a big definitive yes – but ONLY if you know what you’re doing.

There’s never been a better time for a blogger to leverage AI to make the most of the current opportunities.

If you focus on your human strengths there are more opportunities than ever before.

Strengths like:

• personal touch
• community building and
• speaking about your own experiences

…are crucial.

Let’s explore two important concepts (that directly tie in with blogging opportunities) and then I’ll get into the opportunities themselves.

There’s never been a better time to lean into these two qualities that allow you to be yourself.

In a world that’s full of social media filters and people trying only to show their best side, it pays to be authentic.

Being authentic and transparent with the good and the bad while adding your own expertise to any topic is not only a good idea. It’s the only way to stand out.

Let’s say you run a blog about self-development. Speaking about your story and the (potentially negative) aspects that made you start your blog is not something any AI can take from you.

People in the same (or similar) situation can easily become your #1 fans because they resonate with what you say. And that’s where your authenticity will help you shine through.

A big opportunity I see for bloggers in this AI-filled world is the ability to build up their social media, YouTube, and blogging presence.

Now, I understand that some people are more comfortable behind a keyboard. That might be the main reason why having a blog is enticing. Some people’s introverted nature makes them more inclined to write stuff – rather than switch on their cameras and show their faces.

I get that… because I was that person for many years.

However, just hear me out for a second.

When you overcome your initial fear of being on camera and start producing online videos (and to an extent, social media posts), you probably won’t be great at it.

Again, I speak about this based on my own experience.

I didn’t like the way I looked and sounded on camera. It took a lot of effort (and recording videos) to overcome the initial resistance.

One of the best ways to start making money as a blogger is to sell online services.

Your blog can serve as the best portfolio you can create, showing potential clients proof of service through actually doing the work.

You can then find clients that you can help.

For example, creating a blog post for a client versus creating one for your blog is pretty much the same process.

You can do the same with email newsletters, website copy, etc.

The same applies to selling services like:

• SEO optimization
• keyword research
• keyword planning
• content calendar building.

You can apply the same ideas to social media management, YouTube video creation, and more.

There’s even better news.

You can use AI to your advantage to work with more clients while providing higher-quality work.

As you improve at what you do, you can also consult and coach clients needing specific advice. In other words, doing the manual work yourself is not always required.

Think about it this way.

Offering your services means you’ll start making an income faster than you would by creating your own blog posts. It takes time to rank these articles and monetize them.

By speeding up the money-making process, you’ll have the funds to invest in your blog, hire team members, and more.

Let’s now turn practical and discuss the tools you can use to make blogging easier. Note that these tools are what I use. I encourage you to do your research before investing in any of them.

Before starting to write blog posts, you need to develop a plan.

This is where the human element is most important.

We value the writing voice we use, the tone, writing style and much more

Within my team, we don’t use AI content tools at this stage. This is where “the human brain” takes over and creates the best articles possible.

My team writes, proofreads, adds links, and more.

This is where polishing the blog post article is important.

Here are some final tips to become a thriving blogger (you can use these now and in the future).

Using AI tools to research your ideas is great. This process ensures it makes sense to dive deeper into specific ones.

Using the right tools also helps with research, outline creation, and data analysis.

At the same time, be aware of what AI can and cannot do. Right now (and in the near future) I don’t think AI can do a better job than someone who has ‘lived the experience’ and is writing about it.

If/when that happens, there would be no use for human writers. This would spell bad news for all of us.

The world of AI blogging moves fast.

Stay on top of things and learn about new developments. This can make your blogging journey easier.

I also suggest not only keeping an eye out for what’s happening in the blogging industry. Sometimes, ideas in other sectors can quickly transfer to blogging with some adjustment.

However, you can only figure this out if you don’t close off these possibilities.

It’s easy to experiment with different content formats. The upside is that you learn something new about your audience. If things don’t work out, you won’t have wasted too much time anyway.

What does this look like in practice?

If you’ve only created long-form content focused on transactional keywords before, why not try more informational posts? These posts could include more infographics, how-to guides, or listicles.

Unless you try, you won’t know if your audience might resonate with something different.

Speaking of trying new things, I also asked you to keep an open mind regarding formats like video marketing.

Using AI, you can add multiple dimensions to your business. These dimensions weren’t possible before so I encourage you to explore them.

Fully building relationships using AI tools isn’t something that you can do.

You don’t want to create robotic-sounding content when reaching out to people.

However, AI can also help add substance to anything you produce. If you want to respond to another blogger’s call for help on social media, you can ‘discuss’ potential solutions with an AI chatbot as a way of brainstorming.

You can then use your expertise to focus on the best ideas and offer these as suggestions.

Again, the message is clear: use AI as your assistant, but never entirely rely on it. Take it for what it is and utilize it to help you create better content.

AI doesn’t have to spell the end of the blogging landscape.

It’s more about collaborating and using its strengths to get better at the content you produce.

For those willing to learn, adapt and innovate, the future looks bright. After all, the essence of blogging and sharing our human experiences remains the same.

While the “pen might be in the hand of the machine”, it’s still guided by the human mind.