How many of you reading this blog post actually write your own blog? How many of you only comment on other blogs? How many of you are really Awesome and both write your own blog and comment on other blogs?
Why do I ask all these questions? Because I think for most people, blogging is not a natural thing. Yes, we can compose an email and write a few paragraphs to our colleagues, but to sit and write about something that we then share with the world is quite an overwhelming experience.
When I started Blogging, I was committed to 3 times a week. Why? Because that is what the experts told me. The avid Bloggers. The guys who make money blogging. I can do this I thought. I started off well. I blogged twice in one week. I missed that third one. The next week I did two. Then after that, I just did one a week. This went on for awhile and then I just stopped.
When I reflect back on my short blogging experience I wondered why I didn't blog more? I definitely read tons of blogs. I got to thinking about how someone could come up with the content for a blog. How do you figure out every day what to write? Sometimes bloggers do a couple of blogs a day. How are they so inspired. I was overwhelmed and didn't feel that I had anything to contribute. My blogs consisted of content from other blogs that I felt I could do a better job at writing. I figured the experts were already writing the good stuff. Seriously, how many "10 ways" of anything can you have of one subject?
After about a month of no blogging, I decided to check our google analytics... Man, that was a depressing image. Our stats went from about 200 + visits a day to 0. Yep, that's right, a big goose egg.
So what do you do when you have hit the bottom? The only thing you can do and that is pick yourself up, brush off the cobwebs and start again.
I can successfully report that I have blogged for three days (Friday, Sunday, and Monday). Hey it's a start. This time I have made it a priority.
How do I find content and the time for my blog? I have decided that my thoughts may not be as profound as others, but that someone out there feels or felt like I did or do. I think what I have to say can help someone either by inspiring them or making them feel like they are not alone. Now the time part, I get up every morning and do the same thing. Feed my cats, grab a cup of coffee and head to my computer for Emails, Facebook, and sign onto HootSuite. I have added blogging to my morning ritual. So far so good!
Although blogging hasn't felt real natural to me, what does feel natural is my writing style. Everyone has one. My style of writing is as if I am talking to my best friend. I write like I speak. Why is this important? Authenticity is one of the most important factors when blogging. If you aren't sincere, the reader will pick up on that and probably won't be back.
I like to be funny in my writing. Sometimes, and I shouldn't say this, but I make myself laugh! I have found a few authors of some great books who write like they speak. It makes for an engaging read. Believe me, I have to really be engaged. My attention span is shorter than one of those curly shoestring laces.
I hope this has helped someone. I would really like to know the answer to the very first questions. Think of it as a poll.
How many of you write your own blog?
How many of you only comment on other blogs?
How many of you are really Awesome and both write your own blog and comment on other blogs?
Ever wonder what to use to track ALL the Social Media channels out there? When I first started with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Blogging, I really was overwhelmed by having to log into each of them as I needed to post something. It was very time consuming to log in to each system, copy & paste, each post. Sometimes you had to shorten or lengthen the post because there are different character limits for all the channels.