Blogging is Personal – Julian Summerhayes

from my flickr page

The message is (all) screwed up.

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

More ‘average, Ho Hum, If I must’ does not beget more.

You have to earn attention not bug people for it.

Too often I see a gobs and gobs of banal drivel being poured forth, and so much of it is cannibalised from elsewhere. I am no expert (but who the hell is!) but all I know, from having read thousands upon thousands of blog posts, is that no one is going to hang around to read your material unless you believe in it with all your heart.

Q. Are you prepared to bleed for your Art?

[Please dial back the greed meter and adopt a GIVERS mindset and not a GETTERS mindset.]

Do you really care about your audience? If all you have at your elbow is some limp “buy my services message” then you can forget it. And as for those squeeze pages, pop-ups and sales-led videos, you have no idea how much it does to turn me against you and your brand. If there is any goodness in your offering then it is completely lost on me – ex-lawyer or human being.

I just don’t believe you when you tell me how much I need it.

> Blogging is personal.

> Very personal.

> Find a voice (I am still working on mine!).

> Write with passion.

> Believe in what you say.

> And show up, regularly.

Too many blogs die a death when people don’t get the mass following that they expect or they can’t sell enough of their stuff. Imagine an artist who says I will only paint if I get thousands of people to come and see my work and buy it. You do it because you have no choice – that bloody muse! If people show up and enjoy what you have to say then it’s a bonus but don’t let your efforts be driven (just) by the ROI.

One final point, if you don’t like to write then why are you even bothering? Of course you could try Soundcloud, Audioboo or a short video (I prefer Vimeo to YouTube).

And enjoy every moment of every day that you have the opportunity to blog.

It  is priceless.

Following your true calling

Working with me: