Rethinking / Refocusing
I read a couple blog posts over the last few weeks that have me thinking. The first was written by a pretty successful blogger who writes on the topic of professional blogging. His point was not to look at the “A List” bloggers for inspiration or ideas on how to make money on your blog. His point was that those folks had so many resources, so much more support, etc. that you shouldn’t use them as your model as how to be successful. Instead, this blogger (whose opinions I respect) advised going deep instead of wide and tightening down your topic content to be much more focused: become an authority, write from your heart, take a stand.
Shortly after that I read a post by another blogger I follow. He was recounting a lunch he had with a friend of his. When his friend asks him what he’s been up to and he says blogging, his friend rolls his eyes and says “you’re still blogging? When are you going to give that up? Are you making ANY money?” The guy took it as a challenge and read his recent blog posts, asking the question “If I wasn’t me and just happened across this blog, would any of this stuff mean anything to me?”
His answer was no. (Kudos to that guy for the brutal self-honesty).
Well, I went through the same process and honestly – came up with the same answer.
I’ve had plenty of distractions, both personal and professional, over the last year to blame for both both the lack of quality and quantity of posts, and in some cases validly so. But a quick review of my last couple months of blogging has really convinced me that not only have I been playing it safe, but I’ve spent way too much time on topics, or at least contexts within topics, that I’m either not passionate about or knowledgeable about.
So, some things are going to change. First – I want to re-focus on what I’m truly passionate about and can speak from authority. So while that will still include plenty of business and personal topics, I’ll be mixing in a fair dose of technology articles, re-focusing most of my business writing on small to medium-sized companies, and speaking on Leadership more from the point of view of the individual, as opposed to corporate leadership. I’m also going to write a little bit more about things that may be considered off-topic, but are interesting nonetheless.
Extending the conversation
If all this post did, was recap some personal musings on this little blog, then it would be of little value to you. I think the bigger point is that if you are committed to continuous personal and professional improvement, then it helps to:
- Stick your head out of your shell once in a while and take a look around,
- Be honest with yourself about where you’re at, and
- Change course if necessary.
So what do you all think? Make sense? Is this something you do, and if so what’s the process you go through? I’m interested in how others think through what they are doing in the moment versus the path they set out on and where they want to get. How have you changed course recently and why?
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Comments
John,
Thanks for the insightful comments. Seven years? Wow!
I’ve asked myself many of the same questions, and interestingly come to many of the same conclusions. For me, at least this go ’round, I re-focused on writing about what I enjoy and like to write about, rather than things I thought I should write about. It seems so simple, yet I think sometimes it’s too easy to get off track.
Your question about the “personal riffs” is an interesting one. When I first started this blog I was going through some personally difficult times and vented online in a few posts. Luckily, only a couple friends of mine were reading at the time and the posts were quickly deleted. But while those posts were too personal, I do think it’s good to share some personal thoughts occasionally. I think it makes that community you speak of only stronger, and helps the people that visit you understand you better. One of the changes I’m making to my blog is to include a category called “Personal Passions”. The Born to Run book review was the start of filling in that category and I look forward to writing more on my passions of running (fitness in general), music and art.
People do indeed need to hear from the authentic you. Nothing else is very interesting, and readers pick up on when you’re not being yourself. You’ve actually hit on a subject that occupies many writers: this idea that it’s really a waste of time trying to figure out what people want to read about, which is like a cat chasing its tail. You never really can catch it. Eventually, it dawns on you that you should just write about what you care about, and others will too, since there’s so much of universal importance with so many of us. Readers don’t want you to take a poll about what they want; they want to read something powerful from someone who really has something to say, whatever that might be.
An interesting post, Dave. Since I’m coming up on seven years of daily blogging (next month), it’s a question I ask myself regularly, but especially at annual anniversaries. I ask myself these questions:
Should I get rid of the occasional personal riffs and stick only to my narrower subject?
Should I be making this a group blog by inviting guest writers?
Should I somehow monetize the following I’ve developed over time?
Should I simply pack it up and go on to other things?
In the end, since much of my evangelizing to other writers and aspiring writers is about persistence and the benefits that derive from that, I always decide that the thing to do is to model the behavior I suggest, and I keep at it. If you do it right–and I think you do–a good blog can do several things that I think help anyone:
It builds a community around your work
It attracts people to your ideas, and their participation in turn further hones and sharpens my ideas
It focuses your own thinking on who you are, what you’re most passionate about, and what your sustainable competitive advantages really are.
If I get all of that, and more, out of blogging, why not continue?