Maybe you’re thinking about blogging, and aren’t sure what it’ll take. Or you’ve got a blog, and aren’t sure what to do with it, how to stay focused, or how to face the daily grind.
For the sake of getting clarity in your business, my recommendation is, “do it!” The payoffs are huge — and, too numerous to go into in a single post.
But one thing blogging will do is force you to get clear. How? Here are five ways I’m finding blogging to be incredibly clarity-producing:
1. Blogging forces you to examine your business, see what your niche is, and your contribution.
You may say you’re about, “helping people do business better,” or “getting more clients,” or “keeping the clients you have.” But until you start exploring the basis for why you are doing that, and what you actually know about it (two things blogging is great for), you can sit in the la-la land of ignorance for a long, long time — and actually think you’re educated.
When you blog, you pound on ideas, wrestle with concepts, and autopsy topics. You get under the fingernails of your subject and scrape for dirt. You probe in places you didn’t know you could probe, all in the search for compelling material to write about.
And in that process, you get really, really clear about what you’re doing, what you’re saying, and why you’re saying it. There’s no room for namby-pambying, and no fences to sit on — not if you want an audience, that is.
2. Through writing, you find yourself and your voice.
This goes beyond clarity about what you’re writing, and into the realm of who’s doing the writing.
Blogging (not good blogging, anyway) isn’t the same as presenting a quarterly report; it demands authenticity, honesty, and presence. You have to show up in your writing, or else your writing is gonna suck.
And just as blogging will make you learn your subject, it’ll also force you to take a stand, to share your opinions, and bring your feelings and convictions out into daylight.
I think it’s a necessary part of working through my motivation to live my own life in alignment with my values. Perhaps my writing here is the “expression of my art”; since I can’t paint or write music, writing about my experiences, anxieties, and solutions to deal with them is my way of facing them.
Blogging is going to help you find that alignment for yourself, perhaps more so than anything other kind of writing, simply because it’s all public. There’s nowhere to hide (except back in the world of static websites).
And, it’s good for you to bring that level of self-awareness into your blog, too. Unless you want a droning, spineless blog that’s as disposable as yesterday’s lettuce… but you don’t want that, do you?
3. You can’t hide anymore behind platitudes.
“Vanilla” statements of purpose (like sanitized mission statements) and same-old-same-old phrases (please, no more “value-adds”!) won’t cut it anymore; you have to prove that you know what you’re talking about.
People can spot inauthenticity a mile away. If you hide, you won’t be found.
‘Nuff said.
4. Blogging is a marvelous litmus test.
You actually get feedback about what resonates with people, and what doesn’t (providing your blog has comments enabled, of course). If people are commenting, then they’re finding something of quality to sink their teeth into.
And despite what you may think, the dialogue doesn’t have to all be positive, either. Sometimes when you strike a nerve, you can engage people in conversation (of course, they may start by saying you’re full of it). Conversation leads to communication, and a greater familiarity with each other. And if you’ve got the ears to hear that, then even a heated debate can breed respect.
I’ve gotten into some great debates with people in blog comments; some pretty, some not so pretty. But the intention I carried into it was to understand their viewpoint and communicate mine, not to convert them to my way of thinking. And in that, I gained even more clarity about where I was coming from, held my beliefs a little more loosely, and sometimes even switched to liking their perspective better.
No matter which way it goes, though, I respect anyone willing to engage in the conversation with an open mind.
5. Blogging makes you succinct.
Are there more than this? Sure there are. But I’ve said enough for now…
… now, it’s your turn.
Hi Adam
Before I started (intensive) blogging I read a lot of business advice books and business novels. Although most taught me or brought me ideas, books are a ‘one-way-street’ and not interactive.
Since blogging (first reading and commenting on other blogs, then getting the ‘feel for it’ – even an irresistible urge – I started my Kiss2 blog: Keeping business simple) I’ve learned twice as much in less time
Commenting – joining the conversations – but more so writing your own post helps you become very aware of what your business stands for (or where you want it to stand for – it’s a process) and where you want to take your business.
I’m a convinced (business) blogger now, writing from and for clarity
Right on, Karin — that’s exactly what I’m talking about.
Simply brilliant!
Thanks for the encouragement and guidance.
Peace, Lyle
Thanks, Lyle. You’re welcome for the encouragement — I feel for people who get excited about blogging, and then “run out of steam,” or lose focus somehow.
There’s obviously a lot of clarity that’s needed to start blogging, and yet, even if someone isn’t 100% clear when they start, you can bet that if they keep at it, the clarity will continue to come.
This is maybe not the place for a comment of this sort, but, if not, maybe my comment will provoke a separate conversation.
I have zero interest in blogging (this note notwithstanding). This dislike for computers is partly a quirk of my personality, I know, but it’s also partly a reaction to the work that I do. I work with nonprofits, helping them to secure grant funds, and this work entails some pretty intense planning conversations and lots of time alone in front of my computer screen writing.
So the last thing I want in life is more time in front of the computer. And I suspect that my clients also are not likely to spend much of there time online. As directors of nonprofits, I think most of their time is spent in meetings.
There’s got to be a way to spur business growth for those of us who are not inclined to spend time online. Lately I’ve been going to face-to-face (gasp!) meetings of nonprofit, social activist types. It’s time-consuming sure, but ultimately much more satisfying to me.
So blog on to those of you so inclined! But can we spend a little time talking (okay, I’ll jump online for the conversation…) about how we nonbloggers begin to network.
Hi Carrie — thanks for joining in the conversation, even though it’s not your favorite thing!
I agree, in that blogging, and any kind of on-line activity, isn’t going to be the end-all, be-all method of conversation for some businesses. [And perhaps in the non-profit world, most businesses (not that I know non-profits, since my experience with them is pretty light, but what you said makes perfect sense).]
To be honest, networking off-line has never been a specialty of mine, so I’m happy to step aside and see what others come up with.
The most natural networker I know of is Jason Stein, who’s in Portland, too, by the way. That’s his blog link (for those who want it!), and his other site you might be interested in is the Working Awareness network.
Great post. For me blogging
1. Clarifies my thoughts (because thoughts have to be clear to be well communicated)
2. Expands and improves them (through others’ comments)
3. Connects, it makes connections between thoughts and makes connections between other people and myself
I notice many people who begin blogging open up to the world in a way they never would with a traditional website or even a local networking event
Hi Adam/everyone
I like the concept of blogging and at first it seems like it will be easy to do…but I find it very time consuming and consequently haven’t done any in ages. I need to rectify that. I have just let a subscription to one of my sites expire…I’m ‘pulling in the reigns’ to concentrate and focus — inspired in part by your blogs Adam
Regards
Adele
Chris: So true… I’m finding how much my orientation to my work is changing through blogging. It’s forcing me to expand how I see and relate to people.
Part of it is the development of my voice, and part of it is thinking a bit differently about everything I write. The great thing is, it’s liberating, not stultifying.
Adele: It can be time-consuming, that’s true. It also seems that, like any new skill, your time spent decreases as you get more and more efficient, and create a routine.
No one says you have to blog everyday; no one says you have to have posts a certain length, no one says you have to link out a bunch in every post… right? So, do what you can, and it’ll grow in time.
The important thing is to commit to doing it!
Adam, I find what you say to be so true.
I have been in the blog world for a few months, reading, commenting and writing as I was encouraged to do. The experience of connection with others, learning and exposure has been everything that our buddy Dawud Miracle said it would be, and then some.
Thanks for fleshing out some very good points.
Stuart Baker
http://www.consciouscooperation.com
Carrie, if I may.
I network both off-line and on-line. Both take time, but I’m happy to spend, no make that: invest that time in to it. It has and does enables me to meet wonderful (new) people, hear and learn new and better ideas, practices, experiences etc I would never have encountered otherwise (be it off or on-line) or would have taken me lots of time (and books to read. Through that networking I feel I have become a better person, better business-manager, and am creating/growing a better business.
(And to be honest, meetings never have brought me this richness, versatility networking – off line and on line – has brought me).
Just my 2p
Stuart: Right on — and, you’re welcome.
Thanks for joining in.
Karin: Thanks for that; I’m hoping that Carrie is still watching this, and can ask further clarifying questions, if she has them.
Now that we live pretty far out in the country, my chances for off-line networking are even more minimized than they have been; so I’m grateful for input from those of you who do it in your own lives.
I started a blog a few months ago, and it was extremely clarifying. I learned that I didn’t want to continue doing what I do. I created the blog to communicate with current and potential clients, thinking it would enhance my business and take it to the next level. Doing the blog showed me that I’m burned out and that I don’t want to work with the clients I’ve been working with for years! I didn’t realize that until I started blogging. (I discovered that I like to blog, though.) So now I’m in a transition period of exploring new directions.
That’s awesome, Liz… how classic. I can’t wait to hear more.
Who’s your new perfect client?