Posts tagged blog community building
Yes, You Were Born to Blog.
Feb 17th
I’ve written a lot about the importance of blogging and the amazing personal and business opportunities of developing your own source of rich, original content. And yet, blogging remains enigmatic to many, a seemingly insurmountable wall.
I’ve had many requests to create a simple, human book on blogging that is similar in tone to The Tao of Twitter — something you can read in under two hours and feel uplifted, inspired, and confident about diving into new social media territory. And so that is what I have done in a new book, with the help of my friend Stanford Smith, the genius behind Pushing Social.
I regard Stanford as the best writer on the web and we share a passion (obsession?) to help people unleash their potential through blogging. Stanford and I have collaborated for several years now, and have become close friends. Through many personal discussions, we came to realize how similar our perspectives were … and how frustrated we were that some of our friends and colleagues could not make the leap and start their blog, or take their writing to the next level.
The human side of blogging
Stanford Smith
We decided to write a small, Tao-like book that focused on the human potential of blogging. There are literally hundreds of ideas jammed into this book for bloggers of any level, but at its core we have created a work that re-frames the act of creating a blog in very accessible, human terms. We believe you were born to blog. Really.
In many ways, this is a logical follow-up to Return On Influence. In that book, I focus on “the seventh weapon of influence,” the ability to create content that moves through the web. This book shows you how.
Born to Blog: Building Your Blog for Personal and Business Success One Post at a Time
When the manuscript was delivered to our publisher, McGraw-Hill, we knew we had created something special but didn’t realize how extraordinary the partnership was until the first feedback came in from the editors — there were literally NO recommended changes to the book. We hit it out of the park in one swing and we were both amazed!
Get on board
Born to Blog
There is nothing about this book that is theoretical. We’ve lived it, breathed it, and sweated it and now present it to you in a quick and fun read. I hope you’ll add this book to your collection of essential social media guides and help us spread the word that we are all Born to Blog!
One thousand posts. No navel gazing.
Feb 12th
This is my 1,000th post on {grow}.
So I wondered … what should I do to commemorate this? Should I give away presents like Oprah? Should I honor my community in some way? Should I just ignore it and carry on?
I asked some of my friends on Facebook and the general consensus was that they wanted me to write a reflective piece on what I have learned, my expectations when I wrote post number one, and the challenges of success.
I started answering these questions a dozen times but it just seemed like a bunch of self-centered navel gazing so I quit. Maybe I’ll get to these subjects another time but I think the focus today needs to be placed on the {grow} community. You see, it takes a lot of work to create that many blog posts, but it would not be successful without you.
In my brief period of {grow} nostalgia (about an hour!), I looked down the list of subscribers and wanted to find the people who have subscribed to my blog for the longest period of time. Who was here first? Who has stuck with me the longest?
This was a revealing exercise and a lesson in building a blog community. The people who were there at the beginning are still there today. In fact. we’re all good friends! We were “baby bloggers” together and went out of our way to support each other when the rest of the world did not seem to be listening.
I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate 1,000 blog posts by honoring the people who encouraged me and supported me from the very beginning. Here are the original 10 {grow} readers, and here are their stories. And at the end … yes … I will give away some prizes : )
John Bottom — John is a director at the Base One Marketing Agency in London. When I was just starting out, he was already a big deal with a huge, lively following and wonderfully insightful blog posts. I clung to John as an example of how I needed to operate on the social web — in a caring, classy, and responsive way. He was the first social media celebrity to begin tweeting my blog posts and I am forever grateful for that. I had the chance to meet John in London in 2012, which was quite a thrill.
Jayme Soulati — Jayme is a PR and communications dynamo from Ohio and one of my first Twitter friends. I will take credit for being the one to beg Jayme to begin her blog and once she started she found her great love. I remember her telling me that blogging was now the favorite part of her job. She stood by me in the early days and I had tears in my eyes when I met her for the first time at Social Slam in 2010. In fact, the day before the event a speaker cancelled and she graciously filled in!
Jenn Whinnem — Jenn is a passionate young woman and her firey posts caught my attention back in 2009. We collaborated on a couple of projects and she taught me a lesson that resulted in one of the the most humbling and emotional blog posts I’ve ever written: “Social Media and the Big Conversation Fail.” She has been a wonderful supporter and has contributed many amazing comments to the community!
Jon Buscall — An intellect with the heart of an artist, Jon and I are social media soul mates. We have similar backgrounds and hold many of the same values when it comes to teaching and working on the web. I think he holds the record for the most guest posts on {grow} (aside from the paid regular bloggers). When I visited Stockholm, I spent a cafe day with Jon. And that, my friends is the best part of social media.
Kristen Daukas – One of the most fun and big-hearted professionals I know. Mom, entrepreneur, ass-kicker. We have collaborated in a number of ways but the most fun was speaking at her awesome Converge South conference in North Carolina. It was one of my very first keynote speeches. If you look really closely, Kristen’s picture is in the Tao of Twitter.
Steve Dodd – Nobody has commented more often that Steve. He has been the rock of this community since day one. I really think he was the first one to see the potential of what was happening on {grow} and I am so indebted to him for his continuous encouragement. He is the only person among “the originals” I have not met, but not for lack of trying!
Amy Howell – When I started exploring Twitter, it was hard to miss Amy since most tweets ended with !!!!!!! This became known as the Exclamy style of tweeting. She has been a tireless and and passionate supporter of the blog … and really everything I do. Amy has been a trusted adviser and friend from the beginning. She is a super-connector who has been featured in two of my books, and introduced me to so many wonderful colleagues like Anne Gallaher, Glen Gilmore, and Kent Huffman. And she is going to be the emcee for Social Slam this year!
Billy Mitchell – A few years ago, Billy had a strange strategy for getting attention. His avatar featured him posing with this huge fish. He kept popping up everywhere and you couldn’t help but notice this guy with the fish. We started connecting over Twitter and the blog and soon became close friends. We have collaborated on many projects and his ability to spin a tale and the fact that he understands my jokes makes him my favorite business partner. His B2B Agency MLT Creative is simply an inspiration.
Kimmo Linkama – How cool is it that, through Twitter, I have a great friend in Estonia? Kimmo Linkama is the first person I ever interviewed on {grow} and the only person I have interviewed twice, primarily because he has a such a musical name. Estonia is an awesome place with a progressive economy and Kimmo is leading the B2B marketing charge in the region. In this photo, I am visiting with Kimmo in Estonia’s capital of Talinn.
Michelle Chmielewski – Of all the people I have met, the story of how I connected with Michelle is probably my favorite, and a highlight of the The Tao of Twitter and many of my classes. I recognized Michelle’s simply brilliant talent when she was a grad student and she has gone on to be a bright star on the European marketing scene. Some of her videos have had more than a million YouTube views. I know talent when I see it! I met Michelle in real life in Paris in 2011 and we continue to support each other whenever we can.
Here’s the lesson threaded through all these little stories. Many beginning bloggers think they will hit it big by getting noticed by an A-Lister. They long for that one tweet of a blog post that will propel them to the big time. It does not work like that, and in fact there are no shortcuts to social media success.
Don’t wait for lightning to strike. Build your own tribe. Find your own little group of people who love you for who you are, support each other, and build from there. It’s hard to say how big my tribe is today but it all started with these 10 people. And no matter what happens to me or the blog, I know those folks — and now dozens of others I have met along the way — will still be my friends. Perhaps this is the year you and I will meet, too!
Thank you, thank you, thank you one and all for reading my blog.
Now, on to the prizes!
I would like to give everyone a chance to celebrate and participate in this 1,000 post milestone, so I’m giving away:
- Five copies of Return On Influence (one copy x five winners)
- Five copies of The Tao of Twitter (one copy x five winners)
- Five copies of Born to Blog (a new book I have not even announced yet!)
- A chance to write your own guest post on {grow}.
- A free one-hour phone consulting session on any marketing topic of your choice (or we can just hang out!)
- Five free subscriptions to my social media tutorial video series “Social Media from Scratch.”
- Five free tickets to Social Slam (America’s finest social media conference April 5 in Knoxville – one ticket x five winners)
Here’s how the drawing works. Send me ONE email at info at businessesGROW.com. Include the ONE prize you want to try to win in the subject line and your physical mailing address in the body of the email. At the end of February, I will have an independent CPA randomly select from the submissions and award the prizes to the winners. There will be a lot of submissions so I can’t let everybody know if you lose, but I will let you know March 01, 2012 if you win.
The train is leaving the station again. Next stop … 2,000 posts!
Five ways to be a more confident blogger
Feb 5th
I have coached and counseled a lot of people on their blogging efforts and there are some common themes I hear …
How do I find the time?
What do I write about?
How do I attract an audience?
But when I start digging, I find that none of these are usually the root cause of blogging problems. It’s something much more subtle — confidence.
That’s right. The biggest problem of all is not time, or ideas, or even organizational support. It’s having the courage to just do it.
This is a BIG DEAL. It takes guts to put yourself out there to the world. It’s scary to think that somebody might think that you’re dumb or wrong or mis-informed. For many, blogging can be a terrifying proposition, even though the passionate desire is there.
So I’ve been thinking about this. How can you overcome this trepidation and become a more confident blogger? Here are five ideas to help!
1. Limit the time you work on a post
Repeat after me: “It’s not going to be perfect, and that’s OK.”
I have never, ever pushed the “publish” button and been 100% happy with anything I have written. If I waited around for that I still would not have published my first post. Being an effective blogger means having the courage to be imperfect. In fact, I would argue that is a STRENGTH because it shows you’re human! Hurray for that.
One way to get around this (and also be a better time manager) is to set a limit. Just tell yourself that after two hours (or whatever timeframe you choose), it is what it is. Ideal blog posts for most people are between 500 and 1,000 words. So once you get to that length, you’ve made your point and you’ve run the spell-check … why not hit the publish button?
2. Re-frame the assignment
A lot of people get spooked about the word “blogger” like it is a special designation you need to earn or something. Let’s think of it another way. Can you write one 500-word essay on a topic you are passionate about just once a month? If you can do that, you can blog.
In analog terms, 500 words is one page double-spaced. Heck, you could probably do that 10 minutes before class in your school days. See, it’s not that hard, is it?
3. Write for yourself
I am getting a little fed up with this whole idea of “personas.” For many, it is a best practice to develop detailed profiles of target customers for our content and then write carefully-crafted pieces that are supposed to appeal to that personality. Seems like a lot of pressure to me.
Let’s just get over that,shall we? Your customers want to know YOU and your ideas, not what you think they want to hear. Tell YOUR story, don’t write a script. If you’re going to stand out, you need to be orginal. The only way to be original is to be yourself. Relax, have fun and your readers will find you!
4. Take advantage of personal coaching
You can read, and read, and read about blogging but I find sometimes you still need to just talk to somebody to get that little push to get over the hump. I’m not sure of the psychology behind this, but when I TALK to people about blogging, it seems to have a bigger impact, perhaps a more personal impact, than when they are just reading a post.
You can get a ton of great advice and a boost of confidence in just one hour with a blogging coach. There are tons of people willing to help out there. Look at some of your favorite blogs and consider: “Is this the type of blog I would like to aspire to” and see if they will help you. They probably will and it could be an excellent investment of your time and a little bit of money.
5. Put fear of the negative in context
I’m working on an entire post about strategies to deal with negativity but first, let’s be realistic. It is highly unlikely that you are going to get hate mail over your blog post.
In four years of blogging, I have received more than 25,000 comments from readers. Here is how many I have deleted because they were inappropriate: SIX. That is two hundredths of a percent.
That is not to say I don’t have dissenters, or even some hot debates, but that’s part of the fun, right? The point is, overall your social media connections are going to be helpful, supportive, and kind. Don’t create embarrassments in your mind that are simply never going to materialize. Focus on the overwhelmingly positive potential ahead of you — the chance to meet new friends, learn, hone a new skill, have fun, and perhaps create new business opportunities.
Blogging has changed my life and this is a magical time when ANYBODY can grab this opportunity and publish so your voice has a place in the world. Don’t let fear stop you.
How are you finding the courage to take that big step?
Image courtesy DC Comics. And I can’t wait for the new Superman movie!
The challenge of creating a blog that sings
Jan 28th
As I write these words, it is 5:36 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
Am I crazy?
No, I’m excited. After spending a week focused on consulting, teaching, and speaking projects, I finally have time to devote to this marvelous creative outlet, this opportunity to connect with you, through my blog. When I finally have that quiet time to write, I am ready to LEAP to that keyboard and create.
This is also the enigma, and perhaps greatest challenge of blogging … at least for me, and I suspect for most of you. How do you stay fresh and allow time for a creative process when you still have bills to pay? How do you hold down a job and create a blog that sings?
I attended a fascinating lecture this week that really pinpointed this problem for me. I spent about two hours listening to a person who is on the opposite end of the creative spectrum.
Creative immersion
Jena Serbu is creative for a living. She works on dark, surreal paintings. Jena sculpts. She writes plays and movie scripts. She directs, produces and edits films. She combines all of these talents in stunning music videos. Her latest art project is mailing 365 post cards to friends and strangers she plucks from the phone book.
Jena has the rich and rare opportunity of being completely immersed in her creative journey every minute, every day. She leaps from project to project and idea to idea in this seamless frenzy of activity. I’m not sure where the money comes from to support all this, but I know that in part, wealthy patrons provide grants and residency programs that allow her to live in the journey, instead of aiming at a financial destination.
I felt jealous. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a chance to simply create without concern … even for a few weeks?
You and I do not have the luxury of submerging ourselves in a constant creative journey. To create my “art” on this blog, I have to work from point to point, grabbing time whenever I can (even before dawn on a Saturday!) if I am to unleash my ideas on the world.
To block out the extended time necessary to write a book, I have to take a serious short-term financial hit to my business.
Creating is a luxury
Creating art is a luxury. It’s way up at the top on that Maslow Hierarchy of Needs chart you studied in school. First you have to find a way to eat, take care of your family, and pay the bills before you can dabble in a creative process.
And while blogging is important to my business (and yours!) it is, in fact, a highly creative endeavor that is not unlike composing a little song or making a video. My son is in the music business and we often compare notes on the very similar creative processes we experience.
The problem is, it’s pretty darn challenging to be creative on demand, to be limited by a “point to point” creative process. We have to squeeze our art into the edges of the frenzied demands of life … after that last customer phone call, after mowing the yard, after putting the kids to bed,
So to all you weekend bloggers out there, I want to thank you, encourage you, and give you a virtual round of applause. This is hard work, isn’t it?
But I am also realizing that even if I cannot be a continuous creative buzzsaw like Jena, I still have to find time for random inspiration, playfulness, and new conversations that lead to creative insight. Short of finding a wealthy patron for my blog, I am going to have to actually “schedule” creative exploration as a business activity! This is the entry fee for a seat at the blogging table these days, I’m afraid.
Can I pull this off, or will I be drawn back into the daily hurricane every time I try? Time will tell. But I would be really interested in hearing about how you are handling this. My fellow bloggers and artists … how do you run a business, run a life, and still find time to create your beautiful song?
Top illustration: Still frame from the music video “Whether.” Song by Julia Othmer, video directed by Jena Serbu.
Side illustration: Artwork from Ippise Jones book series by Jena Serbu.
Welcome to {grow}
You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow.
Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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