My Boring Blog, and Why it Matters to YOU!
Written by Tim Gary on March 25, 2008 – 10:57 pm -I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this blog.
My conclusion is that it’s boring. No, it’s not that the information isn’t great, it’s that there’s little or no personal connection. Even though it typically takes a couple of hours to compose a post, it comes off as dry. You don’t know me, or the reasons behind my posts. This is BAD.
It’s bad because when I take a survey of blogs I visit and look forward to, they exude the personality of the owner. Sometimes it’s through technical details, sometimes through stories and writing style. Usually there are comments left for every post, and they can go both positive or negative–but always with respect.
I have a lot of things to talk about. Some could truly set you up for success. It might be quick. It might be slow. But if the ideas are presented in a way that makes an impact, they could be the start of dramatic change in your life. If they aren’t presented in an interesting or personal way, they will likely fail spectacularly.
If you have a blog, or are “about to start one” (JUST DO IT ALREADY!), do yourself a favor and look at the blogs you frequent. Ask yourself why you visit them, and what you could do to gain the same following. Is it the personal stories? The controversy? The technical details presented in every post?
Whatever it is that makes these blogs special to you also make them special to their readers. If you don’t have this connection to your audience, you will never gain a following, and you will suffer with a few regular readers (and your mom). I love my mom, but she’s not exactly my target reader, and probably isn’t yours.
The posts which follow WILL do a lot to bring myself to the table. Some ideas I have, which you might copy, include:
- Tell personal stories, and give detailed examples.
- Stir up controversy when something is going on which you don’t belive it–or have a differnt perspective of.
- Stop filtering and editing posts - the biggest obstacle to letting yourself show through is rewriting, and over thinking posts. Stop it!
- Limit the time you take in posting. This helps you to stop over thinking a post.
- Break away from your primary topic from time to time so that people see a more fully rounded person. Talk about your trips, pets, and family. If you have a running “bit” about some personal element in your life that people can follow, it’ll do wonders for your readership.
- Stop taking things seriously. Spontaneous is usually 1000 times more interesting than calculated.
- Reframe “unrelated” information to fit your niche, and personal style. Visit blogs on music, technology and magic, if that’s what interests you. See how things might related to your blog.
- Learn from everything, good and bad. Outside the box. I’ve got over a page of notes on life lessons I’ve learned from our cat! —–I’ll share that in the future as well.
There are many others, but the point is, without the personality of the writer, who gives a sh*t!
Please let me know what you find most interesting in the blogs you visit. It will help both of us in bringing you the best possible content.
Comment below———Please.
Thanks!
| About the Author Tim Gary's Internet Business and Personal Success delivers easy to use ideas on business and personal prosperity, online and off. Visit his blog at www.timgary.com. |
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Tags: blogs, inline business, internet business, Online success, personal connection
Posted in Internet Business Resources, Online Business, Online success |
March 26th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Don’t beat yourself up — just write more. I like a lot of your articles I’ve read so far. Keep them coming!
I took the strategy of doing 1 post per day, generally keeping them to a page or so in length. I feel like I’m not filling the articles with fluff that way.
Good luck, Tim!
March 26th, 2008 at 8:21 am
My blog suffers from no personality syndrome too. Thanks for the great tips in this post. I still think we should blog without the pressure of traffic and monetization - unless you have quit your full time job and need to make money from your blog asap.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:40 am
The over thinking and over editing are the biggest two culprits of producing ‘dry’ content.
Limit your posting time and don’t throw away ideas just because you don’t think your readers are interested.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Hi Tim,
You know - when I first started blogging a few months back, I also found my posts “boring” - then I started reading other blogs and that’s when I “discovered” that I don’t have to be business like (and dry) all the time. I guess what everyone needs to do is to see what others are doing and modify their style.
What I like is the personal touch - the blog owners stories and experiences instead of business all the time.
March 30th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Thanks everyone for your comments!
I appreciate the feedback. In case you think I was being overly hard on myself, I really wasn’t. I just noticed that I don’t feel that enough of my personality is showing through, and that I intend to change that.
I find it a thousand times easier to communicate interactively (email, etc), than I do as a “writer”. Mostly this is due to my perfectionist tendencies. You should see the list of blog post idea’s I’ve gathered.
James Lee has a great twist on this, related to USP’s over at his site:
http://onlinebusinessfreedom.com/the-death-of-the-unique-selling-proposition-in-our-blogosphere/
Steven: Yes, limiting time is a great way to do this. I wonder if we could also use Joe Vitale’s idea (or whoever first came up with it) of turning off the monitor while typing something so that you can’t edit yourself until after the thought is gone. He applied it to copy writing, but why not blog posts?!
Kendra: I think your blog has a personality, and wouldn’t take my post too seriously. The main point was to think outside the box, and let your personality shine through. Keep up the great work!
Luke: Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it. For what I may lack in frequency, I do try and keep things interesting, and get people thinking–which is the first baby step towards doing!
Mohamed: Jeeze… You’re doing great.. Don’t go changing your name! Oh, and get your picture back on the site! Oh, and… why listen to me, keep up the great work. Only problem I have with your name is trying to remeber how to spell it correctly since I’ve seen at least 3 veriations–including different one’s by you! (like your MyBlogLog profile name differing from the blog/email). Oh, and did you get my email? Take it easy.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Keeping it interesting is good. Professionalism is also a good idea — just don’t let it stop you from letting your human side through. Who wants to buy from a machine? Okay, bad analogy since vending machines are so popular…
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Well when I started it occurred to me pretty quickly that having a blog was like feeding a family since you need to be regular and it does require some preparation. But like the daily meals it’s not always going to be exciting. But with any luck it will be considered a value to people’s lives.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Thank you for article submission to the 3rd Edition of the “Adsense Tips and Tricks” Blog Carnival.
The Edition was published today:
http://webfreebies4u.blogspot.com/2008/05/adsense-blog-carnivale.html
Have a good weekend!
May 16th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Your blog isn’t boring but yes, I know now why a boring blog should be a concern of mine. Thanks for such an informative article.