Subscribe
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
Introduction: Why you (still) can’t ignore blogs today?
Twitter, Facebook and other social networks seem like they have taken the world by storm. Take any social network and you will find some form of “status update” option. You can keep sharing and listening to what others are sharing.
It seems like the age for the real-time web has come.
In this world, are blogs still relevant?
You bet, they are.
You still need a home base to establish your thought leadership. Unless you are a social media consultant (even most of them have a blog), you cannot escape from having a home base. A blog provides that home base.
One thing that has NOT changed is the velocity of change within this world . We always knew that change itself was the only constant. This was before the world of computers. With computers and globalization, the statement concerning change needs to be changed.
May be the statement has to be something like:
“Change at a breathtaking speed is the only constant.”
We must adapt to this new world order. The questions, therefore, are:
1. How do we learn the new rules of the game?
2. How can we adapt to these new rules?
We could become eternal students and constantly upgrade our knowledge. Yet, traditional education formats have a significant disadvantage. Most course curricula will lag behind at least by months, if not years!
It is the same case with experts sharing their knowledge. When they share it only via books, they get dated very soon.
This is where blogs come in to play. Blogs have a distinct advantage. When we follow thought-leaders in the blogosphere, we tap into the daily insights of the world’s best minds. For most fields, you can stay current by following a hundred or so people—people specific to your professional fields as well as thought leaders such as Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, and Doc Searls.
These thought leaders discuss ideas that are very relevant to the current times. Over a period of time, following these blogs can:
(a) Bring you closer to the realities of the new world;
(b) Prepare you for the massive changes that are happening;
(c) Help you adapt to the new rules;
(d) Make you smarter (almost on a daily basis); and
(e) Offer huge leverage.
Many of these thought leaders will charge a fortune if you want them to consult for you. Through their blogs, you will receive almost the same insights. You get all the above advantages for free!
People rely on blogs to get information, to make decisions, and to keep up-to-date with what is happening. Blogs increasingly create a powerful impact on our lives.
In the short-term, starting a blog seems like a good strategy. Many people already seem to know that. Just look at the number of new blogs that are created every single minute.
But, if you look deeper, there is a blogging crisis slowly brewing. Sadly, what never gets talked about is the number of blogs that die prematurely. Young blogs, ones that are not even a year old, enter the blogging graveyard almost everyday. My friend Alan who advises CEOs on Strategy and Implementation started a blog and was at it for more than six months. Of course, then he got busy with his projects and between projects and family the blog took a back seat. I hear stories like this all the time. There is nothing write or wrong it is just the way it is.
How do you ensure that your blog is not a victim of premature death?
Tomorrow, we will look at the most frequent reason why blogs enter the blogging graveyard
Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow