Which creates rather a catch-22 – a boring blog no one reads, or an interesting blog which could lose them their edge over their competition.

I do pretty well on adsense from the bounce but I need people to actually stay for my other monetized ads to work.. I can shorten up my tutorial and make it an easier read but the subject demands an in-depth explanation … any suggestions?

True – on all accounts.

Business is definitely about relationships. I say again and again that people do business with people not with businesses. So it’s the relationship that makes all the difference.

And I think of relationships as what connects people and how, through that connection, they behave toward each other. The best of relationships are mutually beneficial.

Great stuff here, and of course another great lesson to learn from Dawud:

We are not just responding to a question, we are conversing… like at a coffee shop .

I heard from a friend recently:

Business is about building Relationships.

Relationships are about being in service to others.

Therefore Business is about being in service to others.

People often forget, or dont know this..

Dawud and LaurenMarie,

Thanks for commenting at my blog

Exactly. Your readers want to know you. And how can they get to know you if you’re not the one writing the content? Well said.

LaurenMarie & Jean,

Mark’s a pretty good writer himself. Both Marks actually (Mark Silver and Mark Goodyear). Mark Silver’s article is a nice example. I’m glad you both read it.

Jean,

True. I am asking you – everyone – to think a bit more about what motivates them to action. It’s an important thing to do in all parts of life – personal as well as business.

I think I understand what you mean with Ferriss. Yet remember, he’s trying to create buzz around a book that’s now #1 on NY Best Sellers List. So he’s purposefully being sensational. I don’t want to be sensational, but I do want to be remarkable; I want to be remarked about, on and with. Conversation, sharing ideas, that’s what leads to knowledge – and relationships.

It’s lovely that you’ve created the life you love. I certainly agree that his book isn’t for everyone. But it is for a huge number of people who struggle with their workflow or the pull of the office. What I ultimately see Ferriss’ book as isn’t about time as much as about control – who’s controlling you in your work and how to get out of that dynamic. Is it your boss, technology, the inbox or just information as a whole. That’s what I see Tim Ferriss addressing. And it’s and important thing for most business people.

And…thank you for always joining the conversation here.

Dawud,
Your blogs are definitely remarkable, judging by all the comments you receive. But I don’t think you’re polarizing or are eliciting rebukes and attacks. That was the part of Ferriss that bothered me. I think you’re encouraging people to think more deeply about some issues and share their thoughts and experiences with others. You’re promoting conversation rather than debate. That’s why I keep coming back.

So far I’m not inclined to buy Ferriss’ book, mainly because it doesn’t seem to apply to me. It seems to me he’s telling people how they can create a life they love. I’ve already done that. So instead I’m rereading Edward de Bono’s I Am Right and You Are Wrong. One of the points he makes is “We need to shift from argument to genuine exploration of a subject.” I keep visiting this site because that seems to be what you’re doing, too.

Mark, that was an awesome article. I liked everything you said. “What they did do was combine platforms, and express them in a unique way. And impacted millions of people.” What an inspiring line! I’m going to go define my platforms. Thanks!!

As an editor and sometime ghostwriter, I’d say you you can’t buy good content. You can hire someone to finesse the content. You can hire someone to help pull the good content out of you through interviews and other processes. You can even hire a research editor to gather related pieces of content, but someone has to assemble those pieces into something new.

But if you want that content to present your perspective, if you want that content to be your content somehow, then you have to add your two cents. Or two dollars. Or two hundred dollars.

You’ve got to add your voice to the conversation in a way that does more than just summarize what’s been said.

Ownership is a big issue for many small businesses. That’s why it’s important for people to recognize that what they’ve learned has been digested, at least to some degree, and then regurgitate (sorry) out through their perspective.

Though I’m not fond of absolutes, there’s really no other way. Everything we experience is subjective so it has to be filtered through us.

Original content does get in the way. And so do all the issues people seem to have with writing in general.

That’s why I’m such a fan of conversation. People have much less fear around sitting in a coffee shop talking to someone about their business than they do creating a marketing message that will go out to the masses.

Yet, their marketing message – regardless of how big – is not for the masses. Ultimately it’s not even for their target audience. Rather, it’s for the individual they can help – one-by-one. That’s where the conversation happens.

Several people have said something along the lines of “It goes without saying that you get ideas from outside you.”

Here’s the thing: I don’t think it does go without saying. At this point I’ve worked with thousands of small business owners over the last 9 years, and this ownership issue is a big one.

And one of the biggest misunderstandings I run into is the concept of ‘original content.’ Business owners of all sorts read stuff they really like and admire and learn from, but then they think they can’t touch it- that they’ve got to somehow come up with their own ideas.

Or, if they do use someone else’s content, that they have to forever be a ‘wannabe.’

I wrote an article (sorry, I was an article writer long before blogging came around):
Cookie Grandma’s Secrets to a Unique and Powerful Business.

That’s why I like to emphasize this point of both the inner and the outer aspects of having a unique voice- so folks don’t end up either sounding like a parrot, or a navel-gazer.