For over a year now I thought I had been an aspiring professional blogger: I would dearly love to be able to write full-time and receive enough money to be able to live and support my family.

I had the mindset that a professional blogger was simply anyone who could be a totally independent online content producer. In most cases, this meant that they had some way of either directly or indirectly making money from their online presence.

Now I’m not so sure.

Whilst the word ‘professional’ is most frequently used to describe someone qualified and receiving remuneration for an occupation, it can also be used to describe anyone who conducts themselves in a ‘competent and skillful way’.

The more I hang around “Pro Blogging” circles the more I am wondering just how professional they really are?

Honestly, I’d rather spend time with one amateur ‘newbie’ blogger than one-hundred of the ‘elite’.

There are recent examples of posts that paint a picture of negativity, content theft and fraud.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

The tip of an iceberg that points to an imploding blogosphere?

No…

The tip of an iceberg of the so-called professionals that seem to thrive and survive on hyping controversy, mob rule, and public ridicule.

I know in many other niches of the blog world this just isn’t so. Maybe it’s the mentality of meta-bloggers (people who blog about blogging) and the people who hang around them, and another circle of geeks, nerds and power-hungry businesspeople, who frequently intermingle…

I don’t know.

It’s not fun to be around though.

One of the posts I linked to had two members of a well-known network arguing with each other in quite a disrespectful manner. This is when debate becomes personal abuse. Regardless of how they get on privately, it’s an interesting public reflection.

My point is this: I believe there are a good many professional bloggers way down beneath the radar. They’re ordinary people that treat one another with respect, don’t gang up on one another, don’t link incestuously…

They’re probably holding down a myriad of commitments: employment, family, chores… Yet as far as I’m concerned they’re blogging professionally.

For one thing, they have a passion and write about it, but don’t have time to involve themselves in arguments about irrelevancies.

For another, they’re just decent people who have their egos in check.

Being a professional blogger is not about how much you earn, or whether you’re exclusively your own boss. It’s about how you treat people and how you react to, and interact with, what’s going on around you.

Sometimes I think we all need to just get over ourselves a bit (a lot), focus on what is really important in this life, and move forward positively and professionally.