So reader, what is going on here? A few of you, well two people have asked “Hey Bernie how is the blog challenge going?”
Honestly some days it is a curse, a curse in the way that small children who are alive and full of energy are. You want them to be that way and love them dearly but sometimes you are not in the mood and have to play anyway.
On the flip side I have learnt a lot about choice from both #babybernie and my blog. For Years I have ‘dreamed of being a blogger’ I have dissected every book on blogging and on our London Bloggers Podcast Andy and I have interviewed some of the strongest bloggers in our industry – and Ann Hawkins.
We paused our podcast, partly because of time and budget but also because everyone we spoke to said “you just have to do it!” In response to our regular question “What is your biggest tip for new bloggers?”
We had to stop, mainly because I could not take hearing this answer again and again when I was not really blogging – I was online and I was making content but I was poking sites with a stick.
Why was that?
I don’t know. So here is what I did and it is really scary – I made one site (this one you are reading) there are 577 posts on here that date my first blog post in 2007 on blogspot (AKA Blogger by Google) and I just started writing. I had been writing for AGES for example in 750words.com I have cleared over 180,000 words and I am still going strong.
It was the hitting publish that hurt and got in the way. What happens? I post and a couple of people read and then one day someone goes ‘I read your blog’ I go white, these days I go less white because I am genuinely interested what and why people have read.
I am gagging to get to the end of these 30 days now as I have a stack of questions to answer that have come up about Sharing Economy, Inbound Marketing, Podcasting and Coworking.
Part of the point of this 30 day exercise is to work out what sticks and it is coming into those four things above – inbound, podcasting and coworking – sharing economy is WIDE and of course could just mean business – in this context.
So why do you bother blogging?
My close person friend Seth said joyfully ‘I’d blog even if no one read it’ when we were playing golf once. Well actually we were podcasting and I am glad I recorded it as I can’t remember anything. I knew what he meant then and I really know what he means now, too often we are ‘only meant to do something for an outcome’ so we miss the reward of the process and journey.
If you have run a marathon you will know that the real reward is in the training, not just the race. You can’t ‘cram’ training just like you can’t ‘cram’ the harvest. When you put something in the microwave for a minute and it is ready it is not the same as slow cooking or baking something. I have reached a point where I am writing to find out what I think and where I am going both in my profession and my head, having an open enquiry here and connecting with people is rewarding and explosive.
What I am thinking about in 10 posts time is to chat about how people connect before, during and after an event. Mainly in relation to OuiShare Summit and OuiShare Fest also in more industrial settings like the New Media Europe by Mike and Izabella who run UK Podcasters.
Why these? The ‘newest’ thing I have been to was this years UK Podcasters event in Birmingham – it was the first time I had been somewhere where I did not know anyone. Well I knew my co-host Jon and also Alexia other than that – ZILTCH – my head nearly fell off as my super-introvert-ness kicked in! When I got there it was great, what a brilliant bunch of people and the connection has grown since, I am sure more connections could have been made and I was KICKING myself for not connecting with people sooner.
There is more but I need to rush! #Babybernie is sick today ;-(
Sent from my mobile device!
