Opportunity Knocks You Out
October 25th, 2007 | by Mitchell Allen |Imagine that you are a blogger. You have the power to influence people.
Your words can sooth or provoke. Your essays can enlighten, encourage and entertain.
However . . .
You don’t really know much about attracting readers.
Sure, you understand the idea of search engines, keywords and relevancy.
But you just want to write and let that stuff take care of itself.
Well, suppose it could? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
How much energy would you have for the real writing that you want to do?
Why not focus entirely on crafting the perfect post?
Well, I have a secret.
Just do it.
Go ahead and spend your time doing the real writing.
Stop trying to figure this blog thing out.
You’re looking at it right now.
I used to spend hours on WritingUp.com, weaving wondrous literary tapestries.
Commenting became the evening’s pastime.
Inspiration came from reading all the great writers on that website.
I never ran out of things to say.
Then the site crashed and burned.
When I decided to keep writing, I put up this blog under my business website.
Suddenly, I felt that I had to become “serious”.
After all, this is a business blog, right?
Yet, I didn’t feel like writing, anymore.
You see, somewhere along the way, I stopped having fun with my blog.
Somehow, it seemed uncool to have the world’s first chess-by-blog.
Or share silly stories.
And poetry? Feh! This isn’t some vanity blog! I’m a marketer, dammit!
Well, if you look at the skimpy archive, you’ll see that what actually happened was . . .
Nothing.
The writer in me is upset. I wonder how many of you feel the same way.
As if the blog controls you. Imagine being a marionette with a keyboard.
Restricted to relevancy. Stymied by SEO. Killed with keywords.
This sucks.
Today, I cut the puppet strings.
Today, I declare my freedom from the strictures of the blog priesthood.
From now on, I will use my blog to actually communicate.
If there is something I want to say, then I’ll say it!
Why do I do this? Why not?
Have you experienced the thrill of spontaneity? It feels great, doesn’t it?
I had so much fun writing on WritingUp.com, that I didn’t care if I made a cent.
Yes, I am a marketer. I love experimenting. I threw BlogRush up to see what would happen.
You may see some other changes, as well. I can still have fun. Don’t you agree?
I love sharing new ideas, reading the feedback and refining, reshaping or discarding concepts.
When we share ideas, we grow. When we explore together, we soar.
You will begin to experiment with me. We will discover great things about each other.
If you feel tangled in the strings, we’ll cut them off – freeing you forever.
Very soon, there will be several new ideas for you to consider.
Whether you blog for money or not.
Even if you don’t write every day.
You will have fun on this blog.
Hugs,
Mitch
Recent Comments
7 Responses to “Opportunity Knocks You Out”
By Crystal Pina on Oct 29, 2007 | Reply
You know, the same thing happened to me. I was blogging on a site where my target market reads. I think my posts are bland, to say the least. I am so worried about my posts being professional - and relevant - that I left myself out of it.
When I started my own blog I really didn’t know who was going to be reading it. I found myself writing things that “I” wanted to share. Things that I thought were interesting.
By Shelly on Jan 19, 2008 | Reply
Great article, Mitch. You are so right that blogging really should be about writing what you need/want to write, rather than allowing the blog to pull the strings.
Enjoyed the post.
Shelly (believin, back in the days of WritingUp)
By Mitchell Allen on Jan 20, 2008 | Reply
Hi Shelly!
Great to see you here.
As an opportunist, I keep feeling the tug of the marketer’s crack pipe…but I’ve resisted. I do have some projects in the pipeline (there’s that word again) for which the blog will be instrumental in publicizing.
Plus, I do use the Amazon affiliate links on a separate page. All for the family, you know
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Mitch