Bloggers looking for inspiration:
Avoid the “Who Cares What I Have to Say?” syndrome
I recently read a blog entitled The Misconception that is Inspired Writing and Blogging by Marcus Sheridan. Marcus is the proprietor of a fine blog called The Sales Lion that is well worth everybody’s attention. It got me to thinking. In fact, it motivated me to post a comment to his blog that subsequently inspired this post.
The “What Should I Write About Today” Syndrome.
When one sets out to participate in the blogosphere or social media universe, they are immediately faced with what I call the “what should I write about today” syndrome. I’m quite certain that I’m not alone on this. It’s quite difficult to come up with remarkable, earth-shattering insight on a daily basis. For that matter, it’s hard to come up with it on a weekly, monthly or annual basis!
So that brings us back to the question. What should you write about today?
Just what is it that the world wants to hear from you? I am totally bored with people who keep me informed on facts like: “I just spent the weekend on my dune buggy in the desert,” or “I really got wasted last night at Dino’s,” or whatever. I’m sure they wouldn’t be the least bit interested if I’d reported on the same.
Here’s how I approach it:
It’s more that I have an opinion or perspective on something that might become kindling for further thought and participation by others. It didn’t take me long to realize that the best result from blogging and social media is not to post a diatribe as a so-called “expert,” but to partake in a conversation. A blog’s comments are as much a part of the whole experience as is the original post.
We’ve all been to cocktail parties where a guest self-appoints himself as the “expert” on a subject. He rants on and on, dominating the conversation, while the rest of us simply listen. It gets old real fast. Successful party conversations should be just that… conversations. Joe speaks, Linda adds something (maybe even disagrees), I chime in, Mary responds… and the conversation blossoms. Successful blogging should do the very same thing.
If I fell victim to the “who cares what I have to say” syndrome, never would a word be uttered by me. I’ve been in marketing and advertising for nearly 40 years—that should count for something from me as PART of the conversation. Not a claim of expert status, but perhaps I might have an interesting take on something to add to the conversation.
So inspirations for blogs don’t necessarily need to be “lightning in a bottle.” They can simply be a point-of-view based on some experience or insight. I might suggest to bloggers struggling for content that they back off a bit on their “duty” to create stunningly original content. Observe, comment, share.
Could it be as simple as that? I welcome comments and responses.