Most mornings I check discussions on a few of my favorite groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Today the discussion of blogging was posted on one of my writer’ groups.
“Do you blog? On what?” were two questions posted on a Facebook Group. The woman who posted wasn’t sure what to write about.
The beauty of blogging is that we can write on just about anything we want. That’s also the downside. And here’s why.
Lots of people who never had a voice in times past can now blog on anything they want to speak out about. No holds barred.
There are three main areas to consider:
• Should you blog?
• About what?
• Who cares?
Should you blog?
If you have something you want to give a voice to... yes, you should blog. In the past, it was not always easy to find a platform for what we wanted to talk about or write about. With blogging you have a platform. You can write on virtually anything you want. That’s the good news. And that’s the bad news.
There are a lot of people who don’t put much thought at all in to what they write. Yet, our insights, opinions and beliefs can change lives, move mountains and start movements.
About what?
On what to blog about... you can write about anything you want. My topics often cover business, writing and product creation. Ironically, the ones that often “spill out of me” and the most commented on are those where I write on something that pisses me off. Yep, when I see an injustice or I notice something that is so flipping dumb or I simply can’t believe what someone, or a group of people are doing, I often write about this.
I have very strong opinions. There are times I just have to express my thoughts about things that make me say, “Hmmmm. Really?!?!?” The head scratching areas of life.
The beauty of blogging is we can write on anything we want. And yet, as mentioned, that's the downside. Once it's written, well...
I love blogging because in years past things could be censored. Now, nothing can prevent us from writing what is near and dear to our heart and what we are passionate about.
Who cares?
Face it, most people will care less about what we write. And yet, there are plenty of people who will be interested in what we have to say.
Whether it’s about health, mental illness, traditional marriage, same-sex marriage, gardening, pet care, animal abuses, child rearing, authorship, boating, vacationing, or GMOs, there are people who are interested in what you have to say. But first, you have to be willing to say it.
Blogging is actually very simple. You just do it.
Here are a few guidelines I follow with my own blogging.
1. Blog on what is important to me.
2. Blog on a consistent basis. I blog at least once a week, more if possible.
3. Blog in my voice. In other words, let my personality come out and don’t try to write to please everyone.
4. Let it flow. Initially, I just write without editing. Once I get my thoughts down, I then go back and check for sentence structure and misspelled words. Granted, my posts are not perfect, but if I wait for perfection nothing would ever get written.
5. Stand by what I write. There are those who will not agree with my perspective and point of view. That’s fine. What matters is having the willingness to have a voice.
Boost the potential for visibility.
To get more traction from what you write you can help boost visibility. Here are a few things to you can do.
1. If you have a subscriber list, send a short message to your readers with the permalink of the posting. For example with this post I would send them the first couple paragraphs to my readers with the link to the full post.
If the first part of your post is interesting many people will click the link to read the full post.
2. Post the direct link on my Facebook wall, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and other social network locations.
3. If you have an ezine add something about your blog in the ezine.
The bottom-line is this.... be willing to have an opinion and write about what you believe in. The only thing that can prevent you from having a voice in today’s world of online opportunities to speak your truth is you.
Kathleen Gage is the author of: Power Up for Profits - The Smart Woman's Guide to Online Marketing. Get a sneak peek of the book with two FREE chapters at http://www.kathleengagetrains.com/freechapter
Kathleen works with consciously focused speakers, authors, coaches and consultants helping them to build six figure businesses by packaging their knowledge so they can reach more of their market, impact positive change and create multiple streams of revenue.