Apr09

How Do You Bring Yourself and Other People to Your Blog?

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It’s about People and Experiences

This week in a lovely conversation with the Community Roundtable, I had the opportunity to ask questions about blogging and how blogs still fit into a serious social web presence. The question that came up often and in many ways was …

How do I get ideas to write about on my blog?
It used to be hard for me too. Then I realized that I was taking my own writing more seriously than I need to. A blog is a chance to share our expertise and our thinking, but it’s also an opportunity to show what we’re learning and exploring and that’s often easier that putting out there what we already “know.”

So when I’m looking for new ideas, I …

  1. have conversations and really listen for other points of view. New points of view often get me thinking and pose ideas that I want to explore further … on my blog.
  2. step outside the group of people I usually talk with to see what folks in other industries and verticals are doing. Looking at their best practices gives me a new way to look at what we’re doing. Often I walk away with a new view of where we’re going and how to solve a problem or how to rearrange an issue that I might want to share.
  3. read my archives for things I’ve talked about in the past. Often I’ll find I still care about those subjects, but that my understanding has grown. I’ll bring out those ideas again and talk about what makes the difference now.
  4. look for the heroes around me. So many people are doing great things I admire. I’ll write about them and what makes them worth raising up as a model of where I want to go.
  5. write about a question that has been bothering me, take a stab at an answer then, reach out for folks who might be reading to help me out toward a stronger view.

These are just five ways that “blog my experience.” Writing gets tedious, if I just put information out there, because I know that information exists elsewhere and is probably packaged better. If I bring myself, other people and our experiences to my blog, I can involve my brain, my heart, and my vision of the world. The result is a unique combination and connection to the information that no one else can offer. And the folks who like it come back to see how I do it next.

How do you bring yourself and other people to your blog?

Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.

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  • http://www.theunexperiencedmom.com The (Un)Experienced Mom

    How do I bring myself and other people to my blog? By being myself. Honest, truthful, open, and willing to put myself out there. Not every post is popular, but every post doesn’t have to be. Over time, people get to know me, know what I can offer, and know that sometimes my posts will make them laugh, cry, or think.

    I offer routine on my blog, but not too much. I am predictable on my blog, but not boring. But most of all, it’s about the connection for me. Whether it’s on Twitter or blogs, I am the same on all avenues. I’m real.

    And I wrote a blog post about “How Do I Come Up With Things To Write About” a few months ago when a reader asked that question. My answer? Write about life…like you said, use conversations, exploration, and even reader questions to blog about.

    Have a great day!

    Tamara

  • http://www.theunexperiencedmom.com The (Un)Experienced Mom

    How do I bring myself and other people to my blog? By being myself. Honest, truthful, open, and willing to put myself out there. Not every post is popular, but every post doesn’t have to be. Over time, people get to know me, know what I can offer, and know that sometimes my posts will make them laugh, cry, or think.

    I offer routine on my blog, but not too much. I am predictable on my blog, but not boring. But most of all, it’s about the connection for me. Whether it’s on Twitter or blogs, I am the same on all avenues. I’m real.

    And I wrote a blog post about “How Do I Come Up With Things To Write About” a few months ago when a reader asked that question. My answer? Write about life…like you said, use conversations, exploration, and even reader questions to blog about.

    Have a great day!

    Tamara

  • http://advice.cio.com/blogs/cio_job_search_a_real_life_chronicle Mark Cummuta

    Liz,

    What wonderful advice! I’ve been re-examining my own blogging efforts recently, and your post hit the nail on the head! My style has been to blog in depth, with a great deal of thought, lots of links to supporting information, and even a certain amount of “perfectionism”, all of which have been blocking my blogging efforts. Add in some discomfort in how to handle a persistently negative reader, and I find myself not blogging for weeks, sometimes months at a time. Not good.

    But I love your take on how to just get started again – focus on simpler, more experential posts. Not only will these be easier for me to write, but I think they may help with some of the other issues I’ve encountered.

    Thanks, Liz!

    Sincerely,

    Mark

    Mark Cummuta

    BLOG: CIO Job Search: A Real Life Chronicle, CIO Magazine

    LINKEDIN: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/MarkCummuta

    TWITTER: http://www.Twitter.com/TriumphCIO/

  • http://advice.cio.com/blogs/cio_job_search_a_real_life_chronicle Mark Cummuta

    Liz,

    What wonderful advice! I’ve been re-examining my own blogging efforts recently, and your post hit the nail on the head! My style has been to blog in depth, with a great deal of thought, lots of links to supporting information, and even a certain amount of “perfectionism”, all of which have been blocking my blogging efforts. Add in some discomfort in how to handle a persistently negative reader, and I find myself not blogging for weeks, sometimes months at a time. Not good.

    But I love your take on how to just get started again – focus on simpler, more experential posts. Not only will these be easier for me to write, but I think they may help with some of the other issues I’ve encountered.

    Thanks, Liz!

    Sincerely,

    Mark

    Mark Cummuta

    BLOG: CIO Job Search: A Real Life Chronicle, CIO Magazine

    LINKEDIN: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/MarkCummuta

    TWITTER: http://www.Twitter.com/TriumphCIO/

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Hi Tamara!
    That’s really a key, isn’t it? One of the most charming parts about a blog is that you can’t fake it for very long. People who keep coming back get to know who you are and what seems less important just brings them closer and gives a clear picture.

    Life is anything but boring. It’s all in how we talk about it. One thing I like about your blog is that there is so much YOU in it. :)

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Hi Tamara!
    That’s really a key, isn’t it? One of the most charming parts about a blog is that you can’t fake it for very long. People who keep coming back get to know who you are and what seems less important just brings them closer and gives a clear picture.

    Life is anything but boring. It’s all in how we talk about it. One thing I like about your blog is that there is so much YOU in it. :)

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Hi Mark,
    It’s a rise and fall thing for some of us that we get into a groove of just doing one sort of blog post … sort of like getting into a rut. We forget how exciting what we’re doing might be to other people.

    If you have a negative person in your life — on your blog or other — do what you can to ignore that person and if you can’t invite that one to find the door. You won’t believe how freeing it can be to decide who gets to share your time space and who doesn’t

    And you’re right, it’s hard for folks to argue with YOUR experience. :)

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Hi Mark,
    It’s a rise and fall thing for some of us that we get into a groove of just doing one sort of blog post … sort of like getting into a rut. We forget how exciting what we’re doing might be to other people.

    If you have a negative person in your life — on your blog or other — do what you can to ignore that person and if you can’t invite that one to find the door. You won’t believe how freeing it can be to decide who gets to share your time space and who doesn’t

    And you’re right, it’s hard for folks to argue with YOUR experience. :)

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