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This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:
ActiveGarage: BLOGTASTIC project
Previous article: A visit to the blogging graveyard
Not everyone who should blog actually blogs
Just like anything else in life, blogging is not for everyone.
There is such a low barrier to entry to blogging (or for that matter any social media initiative) that you rarely become special just because you are blogging.
I have met bloggers who think they are special people because they are blogging. Some of them are in love with themselves. Some of them treat their most mundane experiences and worn-out insights with reverence. For some, blogging gives a sense of self-fulfillment. I can honestly say that these bloggers live in a fantasy world.
Blogging is not for everyone. In fact, I’m sure that you and I can list dozens of incredibly smart and insightful people who have never written a single blog post. Some of these people are respected thought-leaders in their field, and yet they’d still never consider writing their own blog. It’s not their style.
We could spend years encouraging these individuals to start a blog, and they’d still not adopt the technology and enter the blogosphere. Some bloggers then say “well, non-bloggers aren’t important or cutting edge. They don’t get it.”
Einstein and Gandhi never posted daily blogs, but they still managed to get their messages out to the world. You might say that blogs didn’t exist in their times. We can also list equally smart and equally powerful people today who don’t have a blog and who don’t need to have a blog to get their message across.
When you join a community, it’s tempting to look down upon people who aren’t part of the group. This pattern manifests itself offline as well as in the blogosphere.
Let’s say you have invested time earning your MBA. You’re in a meeting with an entrepreneur who has earned only an undergraduate degree, and you discount their ideas. You might assume that you know more than the entrepreneur and miss an opportunity. If you get suckered into this mindset, you’ll overrate yourself and lose your grounded perspective.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter whether you have a blog or not. You should strive to make an impact on the world. If someone can make a bigger difference without blogging, then they’ve found a different vehicle to make that impact.
Blogging Tip: Check your fantasies at the gate
You are not cool just because you blog. Someone is not less cool because they choose not to blog.
It is easy to self-validate your actions, and it’s also easy to assume that others who are not taking those actions as clueless or behind the curve.
Now, assuming you are someone who has determined that blogging is right for you, how do you ensure that you succeed in blogging? We will look at the secret recipe for blogging success.
Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow
