Time for a cuppa: Photo by: DerrickT
So you’ve figured out what WordPress is, wasted days of your life figuring out how to change the blue wiggly line on your header into a green wiggly line, and you’ve re-written your ‘About’ page 17 times so you don’t sound like a complete twat (although you probably still do).
Your blog is finally launched – break out the bubbles, it’s party time!
Since finally starting this blog earlier this year – there have been many interesting occurrences. Some of them as predictable as a bowl of cornflakes, yet some of them as strange and unexpected as a Pop-Tart smeared in peanut butter.
In this post I’ll share some of these unexpected benefits to blogging. They happened to me – and they’ll probably happen to you. Although if you’re reading this they shouldn’t be as unexpected anymore – so sorry for spoiling the surprise:
1. You get to feed you’re A.D.D.
If you read my blog, chances are you’re an entrepreneur or one in the making. Truth is, we all suffer from a bit of entrepreneurial A.D.D. (remember that time you’re having a conversation with an old friend about how you should meet for coffee more often – next thing you’re mind is a million miles away………
‘What if there was an app that knew what friends you hadn’t seen in a while and suggested you bake them brownies etc etc – you know what I’m talking about…..’
Well for business this kind of thinking can be distracting as you can never follow all these ideas = lack of focus.
But with blogging you actually welcome these ideas, as they’re fuel for your next blog post – just keep your trusty Moleskine handy and next time you see someone fall over in the street – instead of helping them up, you’ll be furiously scribbling your blog post idea about how falling on your face is a lot like business etc etc
Once you begin blogging, almost everything in life becomes fuel for a blog post – it’s quite cool.
2. You’ll get business offers
Yep – quite unexpectedly, now that you’re blogging, you’ll get tons of offers to go into business with people. These aren’t the type that goes:
Dear Respected One, I am Wumi Abdul; the only Daughter of late Mr and Mrs George Abdul. My father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan…
Nope – These are real people wanting to start cool businesses who will want you to be involved (note: I do accept I may get more than other blog types as I write about entrepreneurship – this may be different if your blog is about stamp collecting or teapots)
Some of these business offers include:
The good: Cool new travel site, a few different web startups, information products
The bad: Network marketers
And the little bit crazy: A new type of new internet site where people earn money from visiting (hmmm – what’s that my mother said about if something’s too good to be true?) and even completely new form of city infrastructure transport.
(Note: haven’t been able to accept any of these offers to date due to too many other commitments but perhaps someday)
3. No one cares (well, not right away)
Slightly paradoxically to many of my other points– when you launch your blog you expect thousands of readers straight off the bat…..
But no one comes, and your Google analytics graph looks more like a hockey pitch than a hockey stick!
But if you stick at it they do come. When you spend more time writing and producing great content, and less time worrying about how many people are reading it – that’s when you’ll find people turning up.
I recently read Launch, a great book about building a brand through social media and educational content and Michael Stelzner gives a great analogy called ‘The Elevation Principle’ that explains it best. He says:
Your blog is like a spaceship, and content (blog posts, videos etc) is the fuel – the more you put, the higher your rocket ship can fly.
So if you’ve recently started a blog – just keep at it. It might take a few weeks/months but when people start turning up and digging your stuff it’ll be worth it.
4. You Enjoy Writing
A few months ago the thought of writing regularly made me break out with cold sweats – but now, even though the proof-reading police would still have me arrested if they ever caught me, I feel myself looking forward to writing.
More importantly: I actually really enjoy it.
I remember reading a post by Corbett Barr when I was just starting out, where he said he used to fear writing but now, as a full time blogger, he enjoys it and is a seriously good writer.
Don’t fear writing – just stick with it – A surprise awaits.
5. You meet cool people
I think it was Darren Rowse from Copyblogger that said when someone asked him ‘Why you blog’, he responded:
The reason I blog is to meet interesting people
I’d totally agree with this.
For me, the greatest thing about blogging is that people with the same interests as you will start to draw towards you and will contact you – ok some of them will turn out to be a bit crazy but you’ll meet some very cool people as you do it.
And you won’t just meet them online – I’ve met dozens of people in real life that, once they come check out this blog, they get I’m serious about wanting to do great stuff.
I’m convinced I wouldn’t be working on such awesome startup projects as I am now if it wasn’t for this blog. I wasn’t before I started it!
