After a relatively busy “personal day” I sat down in front of my computer anxious to blog about something. I had done a lot of blog reading before I had to go run some errands and it seems to me that I had a few ideas come to mind that I thought I could expand upon. Unfortunately when I sat down in front of my computer and actually pulled up my blog, I lost EVERYTHING that I had been thinking about earlier.
First of all, this made me realize the importance of having something with me at all times to record my ideas so that I don’t forget about them later. As I get older (and I’m still young!) I learn more and more that I should rely on just my memory less and less!
Secondly, I wasted an unbelievable amount of time just sitting here trying to come up with something that, again, could be meaningful and beneficial to my blog and to future bloggers who might happen upon my site. Finally, I made a decision. I decided not to blog.
I know that sounds odd now because I’m writing a blog post, but hear me out.
So I decided not to blog anything. I decided that I was going to close my laptop for now and just stop thinking about it for a bit. If something came to mind, then maybe I’d open up my laptop and start writing, but for now, I needed not to force something that wasn’t coming. I needed to avoid trying to make something from nothing.
That’s when it hit me. In making that decision, I realized my decision could once again be useful advice to other newbies getting started. Trying to force creativity can be just as frustrating as forcing yourself to do some work when you really just need a break. Not only that, but if you’re just manufacturing something for the sake of having something to post, it could very well turn out being content that works against you instead of for you. The key here is to post useful and meaningful content, right?
Before I close, I will pose a question to the more experienced bloggers and Internet Marketers that are reading my blog. Is my following conclusion worthwhile or is it something that could prove to be counter-productive to other newbies? Be brutally honest! It’s part of the learning experience.
Having asked that, I guess that makes two pieces of advice that I would say are coming out of today’s post. First, make sure to record your ideas in SOME way when you have them. Write them down, type them up, use a voice recorder, heck, call yourself and leave yourself a voicemail, but keep track of your ideas! Secondly, don’t force content and end up with something substandard that could result in disappointment not only for your readers, but more importantly for yourself. What’s the use in posting if it’s not going to be fruitful?
It’s truly amazing when something really does come from nothing…but in my newbie and humble opinion, it should not be forced!
Tags: Advice, Internet Marketing, Newbie, Updates
Tags: Advice, Internet Marketing, Newbie, Updates
October 5th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Dustin, I find your ’stream of consciousness’ blogging very refreshing. It is definitely worth blogging about the journey and the process of learning that you’re going through.
I personally find it more difficult to blog unless I’ve got something specific to say, but I’m getting better at finding topics to blog about, or at least finding an angle that tie in with my blog theme. Take a look at the short Dogfight post. While it was initially just me mentioning what I was doing yesterday, there was a valid internet marketing angle to it. The 40 post was more content driven, planned and set up as a scheduled post a couple of days in advance.
-Mark.
Mark Wilson´s last blog post..40 ways to drive traffic to your website
October 5th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Hey Mark! I appreciate the compliment! It is one of my (yet unwritten?) goals that people will find some kind of refreshing or renewal in the very real and very real-time experiences I blog about.
As I typed out this post, there was one thing nagging at the back of my mind, which was one of the reasons I posed the question I posed – and that was that in a way, I was promoting procrastination or laziness. I did NOT want that to be the voice of my post. I say that because there was something that rang kind of deep with me in part of your comment.
The part where you said “I personally find it more difficult to blog unless I’ve got something specific to say, but I’m getting better at finding topics to blog about…”
I want everyone to understand (in case somehow I failed to make it clear) that my aim was about avoiding “garbage” content. But if there is something to be said about being able to creatively integrating the things that are going on in your day and/or in your life. Great response, Mark! Thanks for helping me clarify my point.
Oh – and Mark…Happy Birthday!
October 7th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Yeah man! You hit it on the head! If you don’t got nothing to say…..don’t say nothin! Many bloggers get caught up in ‘IGOTTAPOSTSOMETHINGONMYBLOGEVERYDAYORTHE
BLOGFAIRIESWILLNOTSHOWMEANYLOVINGANDIWONTGETANYMORESAMMICHES”
syndrome, when the truth is…forcing something just to say you posted will do more harm than good. I post when I have something to say, if not…I don’t post, that’s it! lol.
Your conclusion is a good one and I’m glad you’ve made it so early in your career.
Normal Joe´s last blog post..Optimize Your Time Online By Using A Schedule
October 7th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Thanks for the encouragement Joe! You have such a unique way of putting things that always cracks me up!
And…I think that’s the first time someone has referred to my IM Journey as a career…has a nice ring to it
October 19th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
i agreed with author. thanks
October 20th, 2008 at 4:37 am
Thanks, Masahira! I appreciate the comment!