Visionary Blogging » blogging tips

Social Media Strategy Tips From Bloggers Unite

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:34:38 +0000

I recently asked Richard Becker, a consultant for Bloggers Unite, to share some insights on how he and the BU team have used social media to recruit members and encourage participation in their efforts. Here’s what he had to say.

What was your strategy for spreading the word online about Bloggers Unite when you first launched it?

The initial Bloggers Unite challenge was distributed in the discussion section of BlogCatalog, which is how my company was first introduced to Antony Berkman’s idea.

Since I was managing an experimental nonprofit blog, which highlighted business giving, I thought the initial BlogCatalog challenge — for bloggers to all post about the same social awareness issue on the same day and raise money for DonorsChoose.org — fit in well as a best practice. (The purpose of the blog is to stimulate business giving by providing examples from companies of different sizes.)

I contacted Tony to see if he had a news release about the event, but he didn’t. Instead, he gave me a call and asked if I would be willing to write a release, which I could then use for the blog. Since I have a long history of supporting nonprofit events, the release was relatively easy to write. In addition to the blog and our own distribution, Tony sent the release out on the wire and to some tech writers he knew. It received a surprising amount of attention, which reinvigorated the discussion for bloggers.

How has your promotion strategy changed or evolved since launch?

In terms of coordinating main events for Bloggers Unite, we’ve since developed a flexible campaign outline with several stages of a strategic communication plan within BlogCatalog and beyond BlogCatalog, which includes mainstream media and social media.

Once BlogCatalog members discuss and pick an underserved social awareness issue, we seek (or sometimes they find us) a primary benefactor such as Amnesty International, AIDS.gov, or Heifer International. Working with those benefactors, we are able to provide an outline of possibilities that bloggers can choose to write about on a designated day. BlogCatalog develops the badges and our company writes an abstract that highlights various topics. We always stress that they can write about anything they want within the context of the topic.

We release news and information about Bloggers Unite events using traditional and social media outlets, specifically publications, media outlets, and bloggers that have an interest in the topic. We also augment release distribution with announcements on BlogCatalog and other social networks as appropriate. With a base of 190,000 bloggers, BlogCatalog members are the real heroes in helping us announce these main events. And, we place a priority on recognizing these bloggers whenever and wherever possible.

BloggersUnite.org will operate a little differently because the vast majority of events will be driven and managed by bloggers or BloggersUnite.org members on their own.

What has been the single greatest motivator for bloggers to join your community?

The initial BloggersUnite.org community is currently being driven by BlogCatalog members who have always supported the Bloggers Unite initiative. Many of them asked us to host more events, which is why Antony Berkman, Angelica Alaniz, Daniel Tijerina, and Oscar Tijerina made launching BloggersUnite.org a priority.

BloggersUnite.org provides anyone the opportunity to launch an event, but we’ll still coordinate three official events every year. In terms of what motivates bloggers to join BloggersUnite.org, the primary motivation seems to be that most bloggers want to make the world a better place. While we encourage bloggers and recognize them the best we can, a high percentage of them appreciate that they can collectively change the world by raising awareness and providing example.

What has been the greatest obstacle to getting people involved in Bloggers Unite?

The greatest obstacle was determining how many events were too little and how many were too much. Originally, Antony had hope to launch an event every other month, but several BlogCatalog members felt it was too much. Since, we’ve found that best events require about 90 days of planning and promotion, from conception to completion.

Occasionally, some people criticize the campaigns for either not doing enough. However, after receiving some feedback from the benefactors and reading thousands of posts, I’ve found that the results are solid. Beyond increasing the level of awareness, many benefactors report they gain lifelong supporters and members who take tangible action on their behalf. But even more remarkable are what readers share after the bloggers post. I’ve seen hundreds of comments that thank them for the inspiration to take action and/or sometimes seek help. It’s amazing to see the sheer size of the impact, even when that impact might not be measurable on a scalable method.

What advice would you have for those who are trying to develop a long-term social media marketing/promotion strategy for an online community like Bloggers Unite?

Everyone involved with Bloggers Unite would agree that the most important element in developing any type of online network is to listen to what the members of your community are saying. That doesn’t mean you accept or implement every idea, but developers have to listen to those ideas that have real merit.

For example, after the initial challenge, Bloggers Unite became much more sensitive to the needs of international bloggers, and adjusted accordingly. Given that a high percentage of BlogCatalog members do not reside in the United States, it made sense that they might not be supportive of an event that was tied exclusively to the United States. For this reason, we’ve always worked hard to find international alternatives to whatever organization might benefit in the United States.

Please keep in mind that this approach is different from some definitions of crowdsourcing. We look at the merit of each idea rather than the total number of comments surrounding an idea. The very best ideas — whether recommended by one or one million bloggers — are those that become implemented. In fact, I cannot remember a single campaign that hasn’t been made better by the bloggers who participate. Their feedback means everything to sponsoring a successful program.

Thanks so much to Richard Becker (Twitter: @richbecker) for these insights on how to use social media to spread awareness about a non-profit website.

See case studies of my social media work for more ideas.

Any questions for Richard or me?

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25 Ways to Mix Your Blog and Facebook

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:57:09 +0000

Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking website, can combine with your blog to produce powerful results. I’ve been able to help clients such as Kapalua Resort to mix their blog and Facebook worlds. Here are 25 ways to help your Facebook presence and your blog work together to help your business or organization be more successful.

Import your blog into Facebook.
Start or join a Facebook group that is about the same topic as your blog (but that is not necessarily about your blog).
Create or become a fan of a Facebook page that is relevant to your blog.
Make sure your Facebook profile includes a link to your blog.
On your Facebook Wall, make an update that mentions an article at your blog and invites people to discuss and share it via Facebook and other media.
If you’re up for it, create a Facebook app that has to do with your blog’s subject.
When a person leaves a comment at your blog, look them up in Facebook and add them as a friend. If they’re already a friend, send them a public or private message of appreciation in Facebook.
When someone becomes your friend on Facebook or becomes a supporter of any Facebook groups or pages in your charge, visit their Facebook profile and try to find out if they have a blog elsewhere. Visit any blogs you find and leave thoughtful comments.
Watch your blog’s traffic carefully to see how who is finding it via Facebook.
Consider creating a special welcome page at your blog just for Facebook users. You could include the link to this “welcome Facebookers” page at your Facebook profile page.
Host a special event at your blog (such as a contest or a virtual conference) and invite Facebookers to attend.
Create a Facebook event and invite your blog followers to attend, support and spread it.
Once in a while, publicly ask your Facebook friends and supporters to interact in some way with your blog – give you feedback on how to improve it, answer a question you’ve posed at your blog, leave a comment at your blog, etc.
At your blog, include a link to your Facebook profile and any related pages or groups in your About and/or Contact pages as well as at your homepage (for example, in your sidebar).
Stealth mixing: Given that you have the ability to privately contact Facebook friends and to privately email any commentators at your blog who have left email addresses along with their comments, take some time on a regular basis to just say hi and mention the other half of your blog/Facebook universe.
Consider paying for some Facebook ads that drive traffic to your blog.
Integrate Facebook Connect with your blog.
Add a widget or plugin to your blog that displays some recent updates from your Facebook wall, a Facebook group/page you’re involved with, etc.
Once in a while at your blog, publish an article that talks about Facebook and shares some of your personal progress at FB.
Once in a while at Facebook, post about your blog’s progress.
Remember the power of static pages, which live outside of the regular stream of blog posts. You could, for instance, create a set of several static pages at your blog’s domain that refer to your Facebook efforts. Which leads us to …
Strategy. Ponder the relationship between your Facebook and blogging efforts. How much time are you spending on each? How much time are you spending on your quest to meld your blogging and Facebook thrusts? How much time and energy should you be spending?
Metrics. Track everything you can, particularly those items that relate directly to the combination of Facebook and your blog. The traffic that passes between the two … the links that appear on the Web to each subset … the amount of funds raised or business generated through each subset … etc.
Read and re-read articles like this. And keep looking for them. There are quite a few out there – many more than I’ve linked to here. Make it a point to study relentlessly the ways in which you can leverage Facebook-and-your-blog much better than “Facebook, and, um, your blog.”
Ask for help. You don’t have to do all the mixing on your own. Making Facebook and blog combinations and campaigns work more effectively than the sum of their parts can be extremely challenging.

Along with blog and Facebook mixture, try blog/Twitter mixing, Visionary Blogging-style.

By the way, here’s my Facebook profile. Would love to connect with you there!

How else can you mix your blog with Facebook?

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What’s in a Word? Or, Why Blogs Wield Scary Power for Businesses

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:22:07 +0000

Barack Obama.

Quick! Say the first word that comes to mind.

…

Was it “change?”

“The change we need.”

“Change we can believe in.”

Obama owned that word in 2008. His masterful social media campaign gets a lot of the credit for that.

Do you love the power of words? Do you relish them?

Most blogs consist entirely, or almost entirely, of words.

Words can create. Words can destroy.

Words wield scary power for businesses.

Your blog is going to help or hurt your business in 2009.

How careful are you about the words you use or avoid on your business blog?

What are you going to do this week to become more so?

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Blog/Social Media Strategy Links: Week 3

Easton Ellsworth — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:21:10 +0000

Welcome to Week 3 of the Visionary Blogging Links series!

Every Friday at Visionary Blogging, I share the best URLs I’ve discovered over the past week that have to do with business blogging or professional blogging in general and blogging/social media strategy in particular (for non-profit organizations, for-profit corporations, entrepreneurs, etc.).

Over time, I’ll add some of the very best links from my Links series to the Resources page (still a bit messy, but I’m working on it!). Bookmark that page and my ever-growing Blog Improvement Tips page for future reference.

You’re welcome to suggest links for this series. Just leave a comment here or contact me directly.

Week 3 Links

How do you tell if your social media consultant is the real deal? by Drew McLellan (@DrewMcLellan) at Drew’s Marketing Minute – Drew shares some great caveats on how to make sure you’re not getting advice from someone who’s clueless about the way social media actually works.
7 Tips on How to Write Sticky, Memorable Blog Posts by Glenn Murray at Problogger – Excellent tips to remember every time you’re about to hit publish – and even when you’re just starting to write.
Perfect Blogs, 404 Errors, and Humanity by Liz Strauss at Successful Blog – Liz points out that a blog, like a person, isn’t supposed to be flawless. You’ll accomplish far more in blogging when you give up insisting on creating only complete, error-free posts.
The 6 Goals of SEO: Choosing the Right Ones for Your Business by Rand Fishkin at SEOMoz – Amazing primer on why you might perform SEO for business reasons and how to choose the right emphasis for your SEO campaign.

Thanks for everyone who created these fantastic articles. Stay tuned for next Friday’s VB Links!

Which link do you like the most?

photo by slideshow bob

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The 10 Worst Business Blog Mistakes

Easton Ellsworth — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:32:05 +0000

I hope this list saves you some grief in your professional blogging.

10. Publish sporadically.

9. Spend too much time consuming content.

8. Spend too little time creating content.

7. Fail to plan effectively or not at all.

6. Expect the world to adore your blog without any marketing effort on your part.

5. Fail to pay close attention to numbers that indicate blog growth rate.

4. Fail to produce content that serves your intended audience.

3. Fail to serve the right audience.

2. Fail to love your audience to bits.

1. Give up.

Take the opposite of this list and you’ll have a pretty good sense of my top 10 business blog success tips.

8 Ways to Unify Your Blog Community

Easton Ellsworth — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:43:22 +0000

Yesterday I answered the question, “Where is your blog community?”

It’s in the mind.

But minds scatter online attention across vast fields of URLs.

Which is why, for example, it’s not uncommon for your Twitter account to sparkle while your blog gathers dust or vice versa.

It’s not enough to just get more “friends” or “followers” or commenters in a dozen different places.

You’ve gotta unify the fragments and make each community member aware of each of them. You’ve gotta bring together the logs so your bonfire can be much bigger and brighter and hotter than any smaller fire could be.

With that in mind, here are 8 ways to unify your blog community so that your blog and social media profiles work together (not just apart) for your business.

For further reading, please see my free guide on How to Improve Your Blog Community.

Let us count the ways:

Monitor the Web
Cross-Fire
Cut Social Dross
Touch People More
Make People Touch Each Other
Create Adorable-Anywhere Objects
Invite People to Church
Reward Unifying Deeds

1. Monitor the Web

The more you know (and the faster you find out) about what people are saying that could relate to your blog community, the easier it is to respond in ways that make your community grow.

Set up search feeds or email alerts that tell you when social media users and bloggers alike are talking about you, your blog or your niche.

For example, for Visionary Blogging, I subscribe to feeds available at search results pages for the following queries:

http://search.twitter.com/ – “visionary blogging” OR visionaryblogging
http://search.twitter.com/ – “easton ellsworth”
http://search.twitter.com/ – “blog consulting” OR “blog consultant” OR “blog consultants”
http://search.twitter.com/ – “blog improvement” OR “improve your blog”
http://search.twitter.com/ – “blogging tips” OR “blog tips” OR “blogging advice” OR “blog advice”
http://blogsearch.google.com/ – all of the above queries (sort by date at top right, then subscribe via link at lower left)
http://blogsearch.google.com/ – link:visionaryblogging.com (sort by date at top right, then subscribe via link at lower left)

2. Cross-Fire

The more you fire links between the different websites you use, the easier it is for people to follow you, befriend you and identify with your community. So, you could:

Link to your blog posts sometimes in your Twitter/Digg/YouTube/etc. (social media) updates.
Link to your social media accounts in some of your blog posts.
Link to your social media accounts in your post footer.
Link to your social media accounts in your blog’s header, navigation bar (the menu you may have across the top) or sidebar.
Link each social media account to all the others. (e.g. my activity feed on BlogCatalog)
Link to your blog and your social media profiles in your email and forum signatures.

Don’t go haywire, of course. Less is often more. A little goes a long way, but a lot may not go much farther – if fact, a lot may even set you back. So maybe just link to 2-3 of your most active or relevant social media accounts in each case.

3. Cut Social Dross

Repeat after me: It’s okay to abandon social media accounts.

When is it okay to leave your StumbleUpon or Mixx or whatever account gathering dust?

Answer: When actively updating that account means failing to update your blog or another social media account that would be more likely to strengthen your community.

I have a Digg account, but I don’t use it much. That might change in the future, so I’m not about to delete the account forever. But I let it sit there because I’ve found that Digg isn’t a very effective place for me to market my blog consulting services compared to, say, Twitter.

The corollary to this, however, is also critical: It’s NOT okay to starve social media accounts (or your blog, for that matter) when doing so means letting fertile soil sit there without planting seeds in it.

4. Touch People More

No, I’m not talking about making them reach for the hanky as you tell that story about Great Aunt Bertha’s bunions. (Ever wonder why they’re actually crying?)

I’m talking about increasing the number of touch points that you have with people.

A touch point is a place where you can reach out and touch someone. Anything with a comment box, an email form or a chat window.

So when someone leaves a comment at your blog, visit their URL if they leave one. And maybe:

Leave a comment at their blog.
Say hi via their contact form.
Search for them on every social media and social networking website you use and add them to your friend lists.
Start a meaningful conversation with them through each of those touch points.

So touch people more, and touch more people.

5. Make People Touch Each Other

This is a natural extension of point #4. Suppose Mickey links to your blog post from his blog, and suppose Goofy does, too. But suppose they don’t link to each other’s posts.

Here’s your chance to make a great little love triangle – er, touch triangle – between you and Mickey and Goofy.

It’s pretty easy. Just ask Mickey what he thinks of Goofy’s ideas and ask Goofy what he thinks of Mickey’s. And maybe go the extra mile by finding their contact information and introducing them to each other.

Another easy way to do this is on Twitter. You can @ two or more people at once and ask them to talk to each other.

6. Create Adorable-Anywhere Objects

In my blog community improvement guide, I talk about objects of adoration. These are the first things you need in order for people to be able to join your community. They have to have something to talk about that’s yours.

The problem with these objects is that they’re sometimes one- or two-dimensional, so they can’t be easily seen from all angles. (Remember Flatland, anyone?) And those who can’t see them, can’t easily talk about them.

So create objects people can adore from wherever they are.

Say you have a great new product. You’ve just made a great text-only blog post about it. Everyone who subscribes to your blog will (probably) see it. That’s one dimension.

Now say you make a video related to your product and stick it in the post and on YouTube. YouTube users who have never heard of your blog will see it and some of them will come to the blog, and some of your blog readers who didn’t know you had a YouTube account will mosey on over to YouTube and the twain shall meet. Two dimensions plus some extra touch points.

Not only shall the twain meet, but both audiences will see and be able to adore your object.

Add a few photos to the blog post and share them on Flickr. Boom, three dimensions.

7. Invite People to Church

Your community is your church. It’s your flock. You’ve got adorable objects (pun intended) that people can discuss and cherish. You’ve got church meetings, so to speak, in the form of blog posts and tweets and new content all over your social media streams.

But unless you want to hear crickets chirping, you need to warmly invite your adherents and prospective adherents to those meetings. You need to tell people about the next thing you’re doing and ask them to come be a part of the experience.

Doesn’t mean knocking doors down. Just means knocking doors. Hi, I’m Easton, I have this thing, won’t you come see it and let’s talk about it. You get the idea.

8. Reward Unifying Deeds

Often, this just means saying a public “Thank You” to the person who does something to help unify your blog community. Maybe they’ve left a comment that sparked a conversation at your latest blog post. Maybe they’ve invited some friends to participate in your contest or conference. Or maybe they’ve just started a fan club for your product.

Of course, if you can surprise that person with a reward that’s bigger, more thoughtful and more useful than they could have expected, all the better. That’s what drives people nuts (in a good way) and turns them into rabid, bursting-at-the-seams fanatics.

Blog Community Unification Resources

Ensure your community has a brand by Martin Reed at Community Spark – In a way, your blog community is your brand. Martin shares some excellent tips on how to strengthen your brand identity for your online community.
25 Ways to Build Your Community by Chris Brogan at ChrisBrogan.com – Building a community and unifying it are two different things, but these building tips by Chris will help you get the people together and help you on the road to unifying them around you.
7 Tips to Build a Blog Community by Pachacutec at Firedoglake – Classic advice on how to start and strengthen a community around your blog.

Coming Next Week: A community-unifying project right here at Visionary Blogging. You and your friends are, of course, cordially invited.

How else can you unify your blog community?

Images by Rojer, Melle_Oh, littledan77, dameetch, lumaxart, Kapungo

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Elements of Visionary Blogging, Part 5: Strengthen Your Diligence

Easton Ellsworth — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:50:23 +0000

Welcome to Part 5 of a 5-part series on the elements of visionary blogging. This article will help you become a more diligent blogger so you can increase your blogging success.

Part 1: Increase Your Awareness (the ability to see)
Part 2: Sharpen Your Focus (the ability to look)
Part 3: Hone Your Discernment (the ability to evaluate)
Part 4: Excite Your Imagination (the ability to create)
Part 5: Strengthen Your Diligence (the ability to endure)

Recognize this mountain?

Look closely at the colossal peak in the photo above. Can you name it?

Hint: It’s bigger and taller than Mount Everest.
Hint: It can be seen from two cities that are more than 350 miles (560 kilometers) apart by car.
Hint: Its name in Athabaskan means “the Great One.”

You’ll find the answer at the end of this article.

What’s with the mountain shot anyway?

I showed you the mountain photo to help you ponder two things.

First, the incredible diligence required for a mountain to rise up from the earth over millions of years.

Second, the incredible diligence required for a human to climb it in a matter of days.

What is diligence?

Diligence is zealous, intense, sustained effort. It’s refusing to give up no matter what. It means never forgetting or laying aside your vision for your blog.

Why does diligence matter to business blogging?

A lack of diligence has killed more business blogs and ruined more bloggers’ efforts than anything else, with the possible exception of self-doubt.

I’ve seen hundreds of professional blogs start out well, like hikers setting out for a summit on a clear summer day.

But then the weather begins to rage. One by one the mountaineers turn back, exhausted or afraid.

Only the bravest and stubbornest of souls can conquer the highest, loneliest peaks on earth.

So it is with blogging.

If you haven’t wept over your blogging, maybe you are not diligent enough.

If it hasn’t physically hurt, you might not be working hard enough.

Do you know what it’s like to clench your teeth in frustration because your blog is not making the difference you had hoped?

Or what it’s like to bite your lip and push forward, whatever the consequences and no matter the obstacles?

Without diligence, none of the other visionary blogging elements can guarantee your blog’s success.

It is diligence alone that seals the deal, making sure that your blogging vision finally becomes reality.

How can you strengthen your blogging diligence?

It’s simple. It’s hard, but it’s simple.

1. Look in the mirror. Becoming a harder worker is impossible until you examine yourself carefully. When are your least productive times? Your most productive times? What do you waste the most time doing? What causes you to work harder? What leads you away from blogging diligently?

2. Decide. Set an ultra-specific goal that tests your utmost limits as a blogger. If it don’t make you hurt from the strain, it ain’t gonna make you more diligent.

3. Work like a burro. Or work like a banshee. Take your pick. Either way, make up your mind to put one foot in front of the other nonstop until you stand on the summit – the roof of the world.

If you do these three things on a daily basis, I promise you that you will always be a little more diligent than you were before. And your blog (and your blog visitors) will thank you for it.

Remember These Words

I once sang them in front of a crowd. They mean everything.

I can climb up to the mountaintop
Touch the stars out in the sky
And I can change this cold world to a better place
Brother, you can bet I’m gonna try
Just watch me fly

Thank You

You have now learned the fifth element of the Visionary Blogging method for blogger self-improvement.

And whatever makes you a better blogger will also make your blog better.

I know that awareness, focus, discernment, imagination and diligence are vital to long-term blog success.

I challenge you to set a goal right now to work to become a better blogger in one of these five areas over the next seven days.

If you stubbornly strive to achieve that goal, you will make yourself a more skilled, more successful blogger. I promise.

I invite you to subscribe to Visionary Blogging so you don’t miss future updates on how to speed up the blog improvement process and make it more effective.

If you’re serious about improving your blog, I also urge you to try my Iris blog consulting service. Your blog will never be the same.

Thank you so much for reading and responding to me. I appreciate your support, your questions and insights.

My next post will reveal the ultimate secret to easy blogging success. Unless you already know it, of course.

I wish you the best as you strive to become a more diligent, perseverant blogger.

Enjoy this inspiring video.

Photo by Unhindered by Talent

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The 3 Most Murderous and 2 Most Marvelous Words A Blogger Can Say

Easton Ellsworth — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:06:16 +0000

I don’t matter.

Those are the three most despicable words you could ever say as a blogger. Or as a professional.

Or as a human being.

I don’t matter murders your faith, your hope, your courage.

I don’t matter exalts your despair, your doubt, your fear, your failure.

I don’t matter may be why you stopped when your blog stuttered. Why you looked back when it got hard. Why you remain silent.

Why so many bloggers will skip Blog Action Day. Why one more person will die alone.

I don’t matter is a lie. A damnable lie.

I don’t matter shoved me mercilessly to the very brink of doom one dark night in 1998. Those three words would have murdered me had a dear friend not rescued me from the abyss with an embrace I shall never forget.

If you never listen to anything I say ever again, listen to these two gloriously true words:

You matter.

And so your blog matters.

You will never know in this life how great a difference you will make and how many lives you will bless through your devoted service.

Remember these words. They saved me 10 years ago. They may save you or someone through you someday.

Please show this to a friend who needs it.

Thanks to Darren for the inspiration.

Photo by junku-newcleus

—

Note: This blog is all about blog improvement. It’s what I do for a living. And I believe the best way to improve your blog is to sharpen your sense of vision and purpose – for yourself as well as for your blog. The rest becomes so much simpler after that.

Thank you for coming. I hope we can get to know each other.

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Business Blog Tips: My 3 All-Time Favorites

Easton Ellsworth — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:50:01 +0000

On this fine Blogtipping Day, I’d like to blogtip the whole world of business blogs for a minute.

If I had 60 seconds left before my blogging voice was silenced forever, I would leave you with these three classic business blogging tips.

They are near and dear to me above all others.

And they are crucial to visionary blogging.

1. Listen.

Stop talking.

Be still. Observe. Pay attention. Seek awareness before anything else.

Listening enables deep conversation – the kind that builds relationships of trust.

And trust is the single most valuable thing you can cultivate through your professional blog.

A business blog works best when it listens more than it talks.

2. Learn.

Never stop learning.

Learn what your blog visitors want. Learn what tools work best. Learn what content strikes the most pleasant chords. Learn what else you can do to improve your blog. Learn from every interation, every conversation, every meditation, every setback.

3. Lose.

Stop trying so hard to win.

Lose your pride. Lose your fear. Lose your doubt. Lose yourself in the service of your blog readers.

You will win more customers and fans this way than by any other approach.

Your Turn

Thanks to Deb Puchalla for daring me to do this.

If you had 60 seconds left to share your best business blogging advice with the world, what would it be?

Photo by Zed.Cat

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How to Overcome Business Blogging Despair

Easton Ellsworth — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:48:07 +0000

Welcome to Part 5 of a 24-part series on how to use the Visionary Blogging method to overcome business blog problems and develop good business blogging habits. This series covers all the virtues and vices you need to know about in order to maintain a clear vision for your blog.

See Parts 1 through 4:

How to overcome fear and develop courage
How to overcome doubt and develop faith

Now let’s talk about how to overcome despair, one of the worst enemies of visionary business blogging.

What is despair?

Despair is the opposite of hope (which we’ll discuss in the next post). It’s a feeling or state of hopelessness. You might believe you nothing to live for and that nothing’s gonna come your way (name that song).

Despair is ugly.

Oh, and Despair has an ugly stepsister named Self-Pity. Together they can blind even the brightest visionary blogger.

Why do business bloggers experience despair?

The blog fails to make money
The blog takes too much time/energy
No one seems to notice/care about the blog
Competing blogs/websites appear to be doing much better

What can you do to overcome blogging despair?

Figure out where your blog stands. You can’t get anywhere until you know where you are and what direction you’re pointing. Evaluate your blog. Or have me inspect your blog. Turn on the floodlights.
Stop tying success to what people say. Start tying it to what they do. So what if a heckling comment bashes your latest blog post? As long as your key metrics are stable, all is well.
Learn how to rise from your rut. No need to remain hopelessly ignorant. Knowledge is power. Get it. Find the solutions to blog problems or find someone who can.
Move. The classic picture of despair is not a runner, but a benchwarmer. Get up and get busy. The bulk of inspiration comes when you’re on the move. The longer you sit and worry, the less time you’ll have for doing important blogging work.
Decide to be sometimes disappointed but never discouraged. The difference lies not in whether you fall, but in whether you spring back up when you fall. Every blogger makes mistakes. Every day brings bad news to somebody in the world. But keep your head up – you decide how to respond to blogging failure.
Celebrate even the smallest success. One lead via the blog is better than none. 17 blog visitors a day is better than none. Think “glass half full” and believe in your blog’s incredible potential.
Grab a buddy. Despair hits hardest when you’re alone – or when you just think you are. Find a cheerful soul you can trust – bonus if she’s a blogger too – and lean on her when times get rough.

Have You Ever Tasted Blogger Despair?

I have. It’s a dark, bitter thing. If you haven’t, you probably will someday. But tasting it and gorging on it are two totally separate things. I’ve done my share of gorging. It never helps.

You can overcome despair when it attacks. You don’t have to treat every blogging difficulty like it’s the end of the world. You’ve overcome worse. Case in point: being born.

Thank you for helping me overcome blogging despair time and time again. I may never be able to fully repay your kindness. If you’re ever up Despair Creek without a hopeful paddle, you know what to do.

photo credit: lavenderlou

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