Posts tagged "darren rowse"

Advice

Lesson #7: Dealing with Writers Block

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“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Nathaniel Hawthorne

I frequently find myself sitting at my laptop with a ton of posts to write, yet, I can put nothing down on paper. It is one of the most frustrating feelings one can experience. Many a time you begin to wonder whether all the effort you put into writing your blog is worth it and whether anyone would notice if you stopped writing from tomorrow. Other times even though you are motivated to write,  the words just do not seem to come to you. I have sat at my desk umpteen times with a topic and all the information I need for the post and have been unable to put it together. I twittered about this a while back and the response I got from the community was quite amazing. It seems  writers block is something that each and everyone of us bloggers has to deal with on a regular basis. It was interesting to learn about the different ways writers deal with it. There are a few things I do whenever I experience one of these blocks:

1. Go out for a short walk: There is something about moving and a change of scenery that gets me thinking, it also gets the creative juices working. Most of the time there are just so many things happening concurrently at your desk or office that it blocks all ability to focus on the task at hand.

2. Brain Dumping: When I get back from my short walk I take a blank sheet of paper and just begin to offload every thought that comes into my head. It is a way of clearing up all the thoughts in my head. This exercise is also greatly theraputic for those times when I am stressed or frustrated with something.

3. Mind Mapping: After clearing my head I begin to focus on the task at hand again and use mind mapping as a way to get my thoughts organized. I recommend most of Tony Buzan’s books on mind mapping.

Writing on a regular basis is a challenging feat. One which is bound to frustrate and irritate you at times,  it is also one of the most satisfying and rewarding things to be able to integrate into one’s life.

Related Posts:

– Bathtubs, Lightning Bolts, and The Myth of Writer’s Block

Advice

Lesson #6: Importance of Reading

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“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.“ Dr. Seuss

I was an avid reader before I started this blog. I have however had to drastically increase the amount that I read since I started writing on a daily basis. Many of the topics I wrote about required substantial research, I also required to stay on top of things to see what other bloggers in my niche were writing about. If you are planning on writing a new blog in 2009 then reading is something that I highly recommend integrating into your daily schedule. This will not only increase your knowledge base it will also help you get a better command over how you write as well. My daily reading schedule involves:

1. Blogs: There are a couple of blogs that I read on a daily basis. Some of my favorite’s include Seth Godin, Fred Wilson, Brad Feld, Darren Rowse & Leo Babauta. Apart from these blogs I subscribe to over 50+ additional feeds that provide news on everything from current news to technology advances. Blogs provide a great source of up-to-date information on a range of topics and one can use resource sites such as Technorati or Alltop to find some great blogs.

2. News Sites: Ever since I joined Twitter I have relied on sites such as BBC and CNN a lot less. However there are still a couple of news and aggregation website sthat I visit everyday. Some of them include CNN Money, WSJ, FT, Fast Company and TechCrunch.

3. Magazines: I subscribe to a couple of magazines that I enjoy reading on a regular basis. Some of them include HBR, Fortune and Forbes Global.

4. Books: I average around 2-3 books a week. Some recent books that I have read are: 4-Hour Week by Tim Ferris, Top Grading by Brad Smart, 50 ways to be persuasive by Robert Cialdini. From next year onwards I plan for my blog to include book reviews on a regular basis. If you have any books that you want reviewed please let me know.

I am very interested to learn what readers of this blog are reading. Please provide blog links, web links or even book names. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Advice

Lesson #4: Commitment

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“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” Anonymous

There is something about the last week of December that forces us to reflect on the year that has passed and to make resolutions for the new year ahead. In the heat of the moment we make all sorts of large commitments to ourselves only to find ourselves losing steam very quickly when the new year begins and we find ourselves back in the same routines. The fact of the matter is that making major life changes is not the simplest of things to do. To make things worse we tend to make large and bold resolutions without putting enough thought into what that actually entails.

Something prompted me to start blogging last December. I made a bold resolution and commitment to blog everyday. I wish someone had given me a reality check at that point in time and told me that blogging daily was going to be very challenging. However, a factor that differentiated this resolution from many others was that I made this commitment publicly on my blog. That  made me feel accountable to my readers as well as to myself, and hence propelled me to keep on writing.

This lesson applies not only to your blog but should have a broad application on one’s life as a whole. Before committing to something or someone, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Do your homework  before, it is much easier that way. Once a commitment is made, one needs to live up to your end of the deal. To tell you the truth, there were many times during the course of the year when the thought of discontinuing this blog actually did pass through my mind. I am really happy I kept my end of the deal though,  this entire experience has been tremendously defining and beneficial for me.

If you are planning on starting your blog next year, I suggest you give serious time and thought  to evaluate how much time you can actually spare in your day to blog. How long does it take you on average to write a blog post ? What other factors will help you keep your commitment when you do start? Lastly, make an open commitment to the blogosphere about your aspirations and goals for the year of 2009.I wish you the very best of success.

Advice

Lesson #3: Have a Goal

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“Try not.  Do or do not.  There is no try.” Yoda

A few years back in one of my mastermind groups, one of my mentors mentioned that I should do whatever it took to take the word “try” out of my dictionary. I believe that advice has had a defining impact on my outlook on life. Shades of gray leave us with too much room to wiggle in and out of. Making decisions based on absolute outcomes is what makes life for us and for those around us a whole lot easier. There will be instances where  absolute outcomes are not known at the onset, we must however do whatever we can to ensure that we limit the permutations. When I started writing I had two primary goals:

1. To write something of some value everyday.

2. To develop a substantial content base to leverage off in Year 2 of my blog.

I left out two aspects, design and monetization, that are usually given the most attention. The truth of the matter is that to adequately monetize your blog, it needs to be backed by great content. When you have that settled, monetization becomes easier.  Hence I advise every new blogger to focus primarily on creating great content for their blog. Eventually one must strive to become an authoritative figure in one’s particular niche. When I look at stories of successful bloggers, this is usually the path that was taken. It does undoubtedly take a lot of hardwork and dedication. However to achieve any substantial goal there is no substitute for hardwork.

I would strongly suggest developing specific goals for your blog in 2009. This helps to put things in perspective as well giving you achievable targets. Some  metrics to track progress by are, number of posts, number of blog hits, number of comments etc. Set specific goals that can be measured and tracked. By doing this simple goal setting exercise ,you have a far greater chance of success.

Advice

Lesson #2: Passion

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“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Harold Whitman

Passion is a subject I have written about extensively on my blog. Doing anything without passion more often than not leads to dissapointment and loss of interest, very quickly. To be able to write everyday, or on a regular schedule about a particular niche is mandatory if you want to make your blog stand out from the rest. There are numerous blogs that I  followed regularly, when they stopped updating themselves with new content I eventually removed them from my RSS feeds. This is usually because either the writer lost the initial vigor that prompted them to setup the blog, lost steam half way through or simply lost interest in the topic. These are problems that individuals with true passion rarely run into when they blog. There will undoubtedly be times when their blogs will not be updated for a while, but they always come back with great content that keeps their readers wanting more.

If one were to study individuals who have achieved noteworthy success in what they do, passion is usually the one constant which comes up time and time again. When an individual has that inner desire to learn more and give more, it has this positive effect on their work. Everything becomes richer, more meaningful and work is no longer viewed as just “work”. Re-reading these last couple of sentences I am amazed at the number of people I know well personally who have abandoned their passions and just settled for something that helps them get by. I guess following your passions is something that requires one to actually discover what they are passionate about and then take that leap of faith to follow it. I can tell you from personal experience that when you do actually follow your true passions, life becomes a lot more fulfilling and satisfying.

Therefore if you plan on blogging for the long term,  make sure that you have a true passion for what you will be writing about. More importantly your blog could be the first step in starting to pursue your true passion. By writing, reading and continuously researching topics, one can unconver opportunities and possible avenues on how to make that leap of faith a lot easier.

Advice

Lesson #1: Selecting a Niche

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“That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much, who has gained the respect of the intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.” Robert Louis Stevenson

I set myself a relatively vague goal of blogging everyday in 2008. The first week went off with relative ease, there were many things I always wanted to write about and I got off to a pretty good start. It was around the middle of the first month that I asked myself the important question: where did I want to take my blog for the rest of the year? That was a tough period as I struggled with the direction I should take. Eventually I decided that writing about my experiences as an entrepreneur was what I would write about. I am really fortunate that I decided to choose a niche when I did. Later on I realized that when a blog does not serve any specific niche the probability of it growing reduces significantly.

Therefore if you are planning on setting up a new blog and plan to blog regularly in 2009 pay careful attention to the niche that you want to serve. Do ample research on who the thought leaders in your particular niche are. Find ways to differentiate your content and still provide value to your readers. Some  posts I read that helped me in my decision are listed below:

1. How to Choose the Right Blog Niche: A Simple Three-Step Method – DoshDosh

2. How to Choose a Niche Topic for your Blog – Darren Rowse

Both these bloggers are noted authorities on blogging and run highly successful blogs themselves. I would highly recommend that you subscribe to their feeds to keep yourself updated on the latest from the blogosphere.