You have probably noticed the explosion in blogging over the last couple of years. You may also be thinking about starting a blog and wondering “what can I bring to blogging?” I feel the answer is you and your unique life perspective on the topics you chose to write about.
It’s all about you. Yes, you will be blogging for your audience but you will be doing so from the perspective that is uniquely you. One value of a blog is the life experience that is brought to each post by the blogger. No two people experience the same event in the exact same way. For example, there is a reason FoxNews Channel and talk radio have become so popular. They present the “news” from an entirely different perspective than the rest of the mainstream media. Should you not like their perspective, that’s OK, tune them out and watch the other guys.
Tell your story. Some days many blogs (including this one) end up blogging about the same topic. There are no coincidences and since most bloggers work at least a day or two ahead it’s likely the topic is resonating with lots of folks. The idea is to bring your perspective to the topic. The life you have lived gives you a unique ability to add analysis and commentary to a topic that no one else can duplicate. Almost anyone can report a story with proper training and decent writing skills. You, on the other hand, can tell your story and share how the topic impacts you.
For example, when I’m blogging about marketing I do so from the perspective of a small company not a fortune 100 company. For some of you that’s exactly how you want to hear about marketing and that’s great. For others, you work for or with the big guys and maybe my perspective doesn’t resonate with you. That’s OK as well, I can’t write for everyone so I try and write for me first. By that I mean I write the posts as reminders to myself that can I can come back and reference later.
How about you? Do you read blogs for the unique perspective the blogger brings to the topic?
Nice post Jim!
I finally just pulled the trigger and started my blog, after struggling with the idea for quite some time. The questions I kept coming back to: “What do I have to say that anyone would actually want to read?” and ” What do I have to say that will be different than anyone else?” Same old questions every blogger has asked them-self.
After several conversations with people I trust, the boost I needed came down to this: I have a voice, a voice that is different than anyone else's out there, a voice that others in & out of my circle of trust want to hear. My voice may inspire others to stand up and let THEIR voices be heard. I'm proud to say, to date this has happened.
Do I read blogs for the blogger's perspective? Yep. Do I also read blogs just for the topic, or the catchy headline? Sure do. It's how I continue to learn, and help spread great content to online communities that may never have come across the blog on their own.
Katie
You Ms. Katie, Get it!
I'll keep working on the catchy headlines part. That's almost an art form and Mark Fairbanks seems to have taken me under his wing and is helping me with that.
Great post, Jim. Both you and Katie bring very unique voices to the mix, IMHO, and that is why I love your blogs. I come here, it's truly like having a conversation with you even when I can't be in the same room. I literally need a Raffel fix every so often (which is why I am here right now), and am dying for Katie's next post. Me, I never really questioned whether anyone wanted to hear my voice; I just started blogging out of the urgent need to express myself and join in all of the amazing conversation, and hopefully be useful and interesting for people in the process. But, I have a couple of clients who I have urged to blog who would be naturals but who think “Why would anyone care what I have to say?” Getting them over that is a challenge. If they don't think their stories are interesting, there's not much I can say to persuade them to write. True, the blog world is saturated with so many voices that it is perhaps much harder to get people's attention these days. But people will always need to connect with other people, and the voices that are most relevant to each individual will stand out.
Now you have me thinking that when I read blogs of people I have met face to face or heard in audio programs I read the blog in their voice. And yes, it's like having a conversation with them.
You nailed the other key, we just have to keep telling our stories. No one can duplicate your work or my work. We could write about the exact same event and have two entirely different and thought provoking posts. (we should try that sometime).