Just like Doug Karr, I get ribbed about blogging. My friends don’t get it. Most of the marketing coaches/consultants I know don’t understand it. Even my wife thinks it’s a bit odd (though she’s begun asking me if I would put a blog up for her).
My experience is that people simply have a tough time accepting things they either don’t understand or they misunderstand. Blogging fits into both. I mean, just the name itself – blog – seems like this big unknown to most people.
But like Doug, I love my blog. Why? Because I love to help people – and my blog is helping people. I love to share what I know – and my blog lets me share what I know. I love what I do for a living – and my blog lets me do it more effectively, with a broader reach. I love relationships I’ve made with other bloggers – something much more difficult to do with a static website. For these reasons, and many others, I love blogging and I tend to enjoy bloggers.
Doug lists a number of reasons why he enjoys blogging – all of which are reasons I enjoy blogging as well…
- Bloggers share knowledge freely.
- Bloggers challenge conventional thinking.
- Bloggers seek knowledge.
- Bloggers are courageous, opening themselves to great and rapid criticism.
- Bloggers connect people in need with those that have the solution.
- Bloggers aggressively pursue the truth.
- Bloggers care about their audience.
Since beginning my blog, I am enjoying the internet in a way I haven’t in years. I’ve met some incredible people. And everyday I get to look forward to sharing something that will help people. AND…my blog had a positive affect on every aspect of my business – from greatly increased traffic, newsletter signups and search engine rankings to more work inquiries, possible partnerships and increased income. Everything about blogging has been great.
Tell me how/why you love your blog.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Dawud! I’m a fan of your blog as well!
Warmest Regards,
Doug
Not sure at this point. I’m a Product Manager and we’re having a major release right at the time of SOBCon – I may be unable to.
I hope so, though!
Mark,
You’re welcome, my friend.
For anyone reading this comment, Mark is one of the marketing gurus I wrote about in a post a few weeks back. Great to see you coming on board. Mark, as you get this blogging thing, I think it’ll be another big push for your already successful business.
Doug,
I totally get it. Be great if you do. I’d love to get some face time with you. If not then, another time, I’m sure.
Doug,
Certainly. You’re in Indy, right? Are you going to SOBCon?
Well, I WILL love my blog, as soon as you integrate it into my website this coming week. 😉
Seriously, Dawud, you’ve turned me around 180 degrees on blogging, and I’m looking forward to jumping in. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned and what you are doing so passionately and understandably.
Dawud, wonderful observations. I get excited about mutual sharing through blogging in a way that is unique for me. It is powerful stuff, and often really full of heart.
Mark Silver, so nice to see you here and flipped by Dawud.
Will there be chapters of Blogaholics Anonymous opening up?
Thanks.
Stuart Baker
http://www.consciouscooperation.com
Good job, Karin H.. You got it.
Stuart
Great post Dawud. All of the above reasons plus it’s great to create something over time – adding a little bit every week, it gradually builds into a resource for my readers (plus an extension of my memory!).
Whenever I have a group of people to train on a technical subject I always ask each member of the group to prepare a presentation and training session on one aspect of the training for the others. I find that reading for a purpose is so much more productive than reading for interest.
That is pretty much the way I see my blog; as an opportunity to read and think about a subject with a purpose. This makes me more productive and more informed generally.
David,
I saw your new design. I really love it. I still owe you a SOAPing – which I’ll get to early this week. Last week was just a bear.
Let me know if the new comment signature makes a difference.
Morning all
(Doug, enjoyed your post, tried to leave a comment, but got nowhere?)
I know so many people (good story tellers) who would benefit so much from blogging that I get carried away sometimes in my passion about it. Think I better find a good story myself to get the message across to them. 😉
Mark,
Thanks. I think the important thing you’ve highlighted is being reader focused. Liz Strauss wrote a nice piece on this recently.
Andrew,
Great point. Had really considered it that way before. But now that you’ve said it, I can clearly see that’s my intention as well. I want to write content that has a purpose for my readers, adds value to their life/business and encourages conversation.
Karin H.,
Interesting. I, too, have seen so much benefit wth blogging that I get a bit passionate about it as well. Sometimes that works to my advantage. Other times, I just overwhelm the people I talk with.
Stuart, shouldn’t that be:
Blogholics Nonymous? (don’t forget to ‘brand’ !)
😉
Stuart,
Oh, I think BA already exists in full force in the blogosphere. And, it sounds like a fun post to write.
Char,
I certainly agree, Char. As hard as I can work, there are few things sweeter in my life than my 3-year-old daughter knocking on my door 22-times each day to ask me if I’m off work yet.
And, she’s a great teacher.
You pretty much cover my reasons, Dawud.
I’ve recently made some changes to my blog design and would appreciate your comments if you have any spare time.
Also, I’m going to test out a new comment signature (as in your post a while back) to see if my traffic from comments changes any.
Thanks Dawud. 🙂
I just went to leave a comment on a wordpress.com blog, but found that my new comment sig held too many characters. Most seem fine but perhaps I’ll find this happen more often.
Don’t worry about the SOAPing. I know how it is getting around to writing a critique.
Blogging is like 24/7 professional development for me. I feel that because of all the reading, research and interaction I get through blogging, I am more valuable to my clients and am more comfortable with all the latest techniques in my field.
I have met so many great bloggers who are ready to share advice, help you out of technology jam, and give you a virtual pat on the back regularly.
David,
Huh…hadn’t thought about a signature being too long. Guess I haven’t run into that yet. Thanks for the heads up though.
And thanks for your patience on being SOAPed.
Char
I hear you. I feel the same way. I love being married and having two young children – wouldn’t trade it for anything. Yet, at times, I wonder how much more I could be ‘getting’ in the blogosphere if I could work more – like I did when I was single. Yet, balance is also important to a full life.
It is probably better that you can’t. I like the forced balance that comes with being a mom (of 3) and a wife. It makes me better all around.
Charming story Dawud and oh so true in regards of what is really important.
And that brings me to what both you and Char are saying, wishing and not wishing at the same time: blogging is great, blogging is fun, blogging is educational, blogging is conneting, blogging is worhtwhile conversation, but….
at times we really most remember why we started blogging for. For me it was to create an interactive ‘platform’ for our customers (FAQ blog), followed by the easy ‘learning’ and ‘teaching/sharing’ opportunities (Kiss2), followed again by my hobby-pondering outlet (Stop/Start).
Time to get back to the first reason and focus on my ‘customers’ 😉
Have a great Sunday.
Karin H.,
You’re right. Keeping our focus is quite important. If we don’t…it’s likely our business suffers. And perhaps our clients too.
Hi Dawud,
Your statement:
“My experience is that people simply have a tough time accepting things they either don’t understand or they misunderstand.”
is totally true for me. I am starting to see the value and feel the creative energy that a blog can release. I can parallel this to being afraid of a wiki after I had invested so much learning into the other setup. After a week of allowing myself to have some angst about it, I slid right into the wiki. Until then though it was tough.
thanks though for your input, I just bought a wordpress book and am going to jump into the research phase of what kind of blog to start.
John,
Yeah, often that’s the case. People have trepidations about learning something new – then they learn it and find out how easy it is or how much value it adds to their life. I fall into that category too from time to time.
Yep, you pegged the reasons I’m looking forward to my blog, too… with an emphasis on the relationship aspect.
I’ve felt too “behind the 8-ball” of traditional marketing, in the way it’s commonly described in the blogosphere as a “one-way conversation” — I speak, they listen (hopefully). Frankly, I’m tired of that.
My best moments in business are the ones when I’m interacting, sharing, and celebrating with people. I enrich them, and they enrich me. Sometimes I think it may be true that I learn as much from my clients as they learn from me… and other times, I know it’s true.
So, like Mark said, as soon as my blog is ready, I’m ready!
Adam,
Things will really change for you, your business and your website once you start blogging. The web becomes alive. It’s incredible, really. And the openness of other bloggers to sharing, giving and helping is truly remarkable. Reminds me constantly that people’s true nature is to care about and help each other.
Dawud,
My desire for blogging is to strike up a conversation with people that share my obsession about how to make businesses better places to work. My management consulting experiences, reading the hundreds of books on my bookshelf, and perusing the blogosphere fill me with ideas. There is validation that comes from contributing to a conversation with smart people about something I feel is important. Without my blog, I lack the opportunity to share my ideas or get rapid feedback.
At this point, I have not yet experienced the interaction with people I hope to create.
Perhaps, I come across as lecturing and not conversational. I have also received feedback that I am too colloquial in my tone. I have yet to find the mix of content and style to get people to participate with me.
From a traffic standpoint, my blog is moving up in Technorati, traffic to my website is up, and my e-zine now has over 100 subscribers. My site has been found and linked to from some unexpected places. My customers have found my blog and it makes them feel good about how substantial my knowledge is. So, blogging is good for business, but my reason for blogging is to build a community I would enjoy being part of.
Dennis,
My suggestion about your voice is think of how you interact with your buddies when you’re out on the weekend. I don’t mean all the casual ways you communicate. What I mean is your relaxed, casual voice that knows what you know. You’re a professional, but you’re a person first. And you create relationships with other people – even in your business.
Blogging is for me a contribution to the community. Like free software. Share your knowledge and everybody will earn some profit. Just my 0.02$
I see that we share the same view on the matter. 🙂 Blogging is one of the best communication tool that we have on the internet today. Not only can you share information through it, you can build relationships as well, quality ones I might add. Through blogging I have met a lot of important people and all have contributed to my road to success.