Why writing a blog (and presenting yourself) is so doggone hard
I’ve been writing this blog for just under two years and have contributed 265 posts. It is a laborious task but one I know is critical for developing and expanding one’s platform. It is also a good way to consistently keep in touch with many people at once.
I think everyone should have a blog. It’s a great way to present yourself and be in conversation these days. Setting one up is the easy part (try wordpress.com). The hard part is maintaining it and expanding its outreach. Here are my reasons why writing a blog (and by extension presenting yourself) can be an agonizing endeavor, albeit a rewarding one.
1) Coming up with posts that people will find interesting. Let’s face, if you don’t have good, relevant content you won’t have readers.
2) Writing in an authentic voice. Putting your thoughts and ideas out there for the whole world to see creates insecurity and invites criticism. So we protect ourselves by writing posts in a voice and persona other than our own.
3) Allowing your blog to be the end-all-be-all barometer of success. I know people who started their blog when I did and now have hundreds of thousands of followers. Mine is nowhere near that amount. I can take that as sole evidence of my failure as a speaker and writer.
4) Putting thoughts to words is extremely difficult. To write in a style that is yours and do it in a way that makes sense is time consuming. Having a hastily or sloppily written blog is a waste of people’s time and a distraction from your message.
5) To post regularly requires discipline and time management. I’m not very good at either. So I have to be very intentional. I have partitioned a part of Monday and Wednesday mornings to write. My readership has steadily increased because I have been steadily consistent in blogging.
I love reading and learning from blogs. Everybody has something unique to offer and I for one am interested in it. I gravitate to the blogs that are relevant, well written, true to the author and are consistently delivered. Just like my best relationships. So start a blog. It’s fun. Just know what you are getting into. It will make the whole endeavor that much more enjoyable.
If you have a blog, where can we read it? If you’ve wanted to blog but haven’t started what are some reasons for not doing it? Add any other comments.
November 22, 2011 @ 8:38 am
Thanks for putting into words why it’s so hard to Blog–a great encouragement for fellow bloggers (and wannabes)!
And for doing so in your authentic voice, Jeff.
Jon Hokama
November 22, 2011 @ 11:38 pm
Here’s a great article on blogging I just glanced at and will read more closely in the coming days that looks really good. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-tips-for-creating-shareable-blog-content/
What holds me back from blogging which I love to do is I hate making my blog look pretty with pictures and posting it with the right tags. So, I have just hired someone to do this for me. Now, I have no more excuses.
November 20, 2016 @ 2:51 am
Just came back and saw these nice comments on &#fl;0282eshly” — thanks to you both! George, if you do revisit National Velvet please come back and tell us how it struck you. If we convince one person to re-see it we shall not have IM’d in vain.