How do you overcome your mountains? The challenges you face both in business and personally – are you dealing with the small mountains to overcome the big?
There’s a fairly well-known phrase that goes, “Stop making mountains out of molehills.”
[Read more…] about Why We Should Make Mountains Out of MolehillsAs bloggers, we all have different goals. Some may be to monetize your blog; some may be to get a book deal; some may be to become recognized as an expert in your field; others may be to share company news and updates.
Some may even just be to have a personal outlet where you can let your creativity go and see what works, and what doesn?t.
[Read more…] about The Three Core Tenets Every Successful Blogger Needs to Have
For the last two days, I?ve been sitting at my computer itching to write something epic.
Looking at the blank screen, thinking of words I can write to convey the feeling I have inside that I need to share something epic and life-changing.
And I come up blank.
I have an inkling of what I?m about to say, and then I ask myself how it will end.
How the words that precede the final sentence will be strong enough to hook the reader to guide them to the last sentence that will, undoubtedly, change their lives.
And I come up blank.
I imagine the story I?ll tell to convey a lesson, personal or business. I imagine the memories I?ll revisit to open up demons, to help others fight their own and make it to the other side.
I imagine the emotion I?ll invoke to make readers think this is one of the most amazing blog posts they?ve ever read, and ever will.
And I come up blank.
And that?s okay ? because we?re only fooling ourselves that everything needs to be epic.
[clickToTweet tweet=”When we produce #content, we tell ourselves it needs to be epic every time. But does it?” quote=”When we produce content, we tell ourselves it needs to be epic every time. But does it?”]
Everything we put out for others to consume is already epic, because we?re opening ourselves up to critique, belittlement, and crushing disappointment if others don?t like it.
And we continue to do so, even when harsh voices tell us not to ? because all we really need is our own validation that we did the best we could, every time we hit Publish.
So embrace the blank screen. Embrace the empty mind. Embrace the still keyboard.
Because sooner or later, the next epic chapter of that which is uniquely you will be live for everyone to see.
And that, my friends, is truly epic.
As the end of 2015 waves its face in front of us, it’s usually the sign for times of reminiscence, both in our personal lives as well as professional.
The same can be applied to pretty much everything we do, with blogging being one of them.
If I were to look back on where this blog has taken turns since starting it back in September 2008, there have been a lot of directional changes in that time.
There’s one, though, that stands out for me as the best decision I made about this blog’s direction – when I stopped writing primarily about social media and marketing.
For the first five years or so of this blog’s life, the topics were mostly based around marketing, social media, content, and the various tools and technology that joined them all together.
This was all well and good, and helped build the blog a pretty decent following among readers looking for these kind of topics.
But there’s only so much you can say – or want to say – about marketing, or social media, or content, that isn’t being repeated ad infinitum elsewhere.
When you begin to not look forward to publishing another post, because your heart isn’t really in it, you know it’s time to either change things up, or quit.
Since I enjoy writing so much, the decision was made for me – quitting wasn’t an option, but changing direction was.
So, out went the business-specific posts, and in came the more personal ones that looked at life in the bigger picture.
Topics ranged from misogyny to ignorance;??life lessons to hopes; messed up priorities to racism; and more.
As a result, I lost many subscribers – and that’s okay, because as I mentioned in a post detailing the move, the new direction wouldn’t have been for them anyway.
However, in their place remained (and came) those looking for more personal conversations, and topics.
The level of comments, and the depth behind these comments, showed me I was right to make the move to the type of blogging that was important to me.
An interesting side effect was an increase in readers of the Millennial age group.
Given that so many social media wonks advise you to “write for the Millennials!”, I can’t help but smile at the irony of writing for myself, and attracting a new audience made up of ones that we’re meant to be targeting.
Plus ca change.
For you, the readers who have stayed with me on the personal journey, I sincerely thank you. I’m glad you choose this little part of the web to hang out on, and I’ll try not to disappoint.
This blog will continue to travel down that path, and have some guest writers who I feel are a good fit for that direction.
I’m going to be experimenting in post formats next year, with some ideas I want to try with regards visual presentation – so that should be fun.
I also look forward to growing the Pure Blogging site, as more readers discover that in 2016. We have a great team of writers there now, with more to follow in 2016, so check it out.
It’s been a fun 7+ years so far – here’s to what comes next.
Cheers!
As 2015 draws to a close, I thought it’d be nice to look back at where Pure Blogging has come since launching back in August this year.
Additionally, as everyone starts to wind down for the next few days in readiness for 2016, I wanted to share some words from the Pure Blogging Team, both in personal hopes and Pure Blogging ones.
I’ve broken the questions down into three areas:
So, without further ado, here we go!
This question brought in a variety of responses, although the overriding message is one that was the core reason for Pure Blogging coming into being. From our team:
Krithika Rangarajan: I enjoy the content on this site…it’s eclectic, uninhibited, and passionate. I wouldn’t change anything (and this is what I’d like to see more of in 2016).
Judy Dunn:?I struggle with this one. In an effort not to offend others, my initial ideas for blogging topics get watered down. Especially in this election year, even the simplest of posts can be viewed as “political.” I would definitely like to see more stories in 2016 and a continuation of posts that provoke my thinking and widen my perspectives. I also like the mix of business and personal I’ve been seeing.
Mark-John Clifford:?I think what was accomplished this past year on Pure Blogging was perfect. We brought a great group of writers who were very diverse in topics together to build an influence on blogging. I don’t see how anyone could not notice what we accomplished. I’d like to see that kind of content growing.
Nancy Davis: Personally, I want to post more often, to remain myself, and care even less about pleasing the masses. Content that takes that approach is the kind I hope to see more of in 2016.
Mickey Gomez:?Continue to share content that challenges people to think. I don?t mean this in the ?get-all-up-in-someone?s-face-to-make-them-react? way (which seems all too abundant elsewhere, these days), but rather in the ?presenting-ideas-and-perspectives-in-unique-ways? way. If that even makes sense. How am I a writer, again?
Danny Brown: Personally, I’m tired of all the “too much content” mantra that many bloggers seem to be pushing. The problem isn’t too much content, it’s too much content that people are just pushing out for social shares and empty metrics. Get back to writing content that matters, and stop chasing the Buzzfeed economy.
While this site is only four months old, I’m incredibly proud of the writers on here so far (with more to come in 2016), as well as the diversity and openness of topics discussed.
To continue pushing this quality, here’s some of the things our team has in mind.
Krithika Rangarajan: My goal is to start contributing in 2016. This year flew by, but I am going to take the last three days of 2015 to plan my various endeavors to better manage my priorities (and time).
Judy Dunn:?I?definitely want to be more active in 2016. But I also like it that, with the nice-sized, prolific team of bloggers you have assembled, I don’t need to feel the pressure to be on any kind of deadline. (However, for me, that works both ways. I also know that if I don’t have deadlines, it’s easy to push things ahead.)
I also want to read and respond to posts on a more frequent basis. Lastly, I want to gather my courage to write with abandon.
Mark-John Clifford:?For 2016 I would love to see us grow with more bloggers and also bring in some rookie bloggers who are looking to get read. I don’t think there is a better platform out there for this. What?Danny?has put together is tremendous and we all can take some credit for making it happen.
Whether you wrote one post or many, we all had something to do with the success of Pure Blogging. Even if all you did was promote the posts, you were part of something big and fantastic that will keep going in 2016.
Nancy Davis: I think the blog has a a great direction and no change is needed.
Mickey Gomez: To write more honestly and without worrying about what others think. All too often I censor myself before hitting submit (on my blog as well) for a variety of reasons. My goal isn?t to change anyone?s mind, it?s to engage in a respectful conversation in which new ideas are shared.
In today?s online climate, though, simple disagreements often go from zero to Armageddon within two comments. But I?ve found that by NOT writing honestly, I?ve automatically let those types of commenters win AND I?ve missed out on a chance to learn from other people.
I?m also an intensely private person. I don?t see that changing, but I do think it?s a reasonable goal to share at least a little more.
Danny Brown:?My goals are simple – to grow awareness of the Pure Blogging “movement”, and attract the kind of readers and bloggers that are passionate about blogging in its purest form – raw, honest, thought-provoking. And continuing to show comments aren’t dead! 😉
To round up this collection of thoughts, I asked our team what they’d like to share for the holidays with you. Here they are!
Krithika Rangarajan: Don’t apologize for being kind to others and – in many ways, more importantly – to yourself.
Judy Dunn: May we expand our perspectives in 2016. May we cherish humanity?all of it?and may we rediscover the innocence and honesty of children. And drink more wine. Wine is good.
Mark-John Clifford: My holiday wish to one and all is peace. Peace for you and your fmaily. Peace within and throughout the world. Love and harmony no matter what strife you run up against. And, finally, just be you!
Nancy Davis:?I want to wish everyone a beautiful and peaceful holiday no matter what holiday you do or don’t celebrate. Let’s not be defined by our differences, but rather bond over our similarities.
Mickey Gomez:?Be good to yourself. Be kind to others. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Celebrate what you have instead of what you don?t. Laugh often. Embrace wonder. Have fun.
Danny Brown:?A wise friend once told me, ?People bring their autobiography with them to every conversation.??The trick is in making sure people want to read it. My hope is for people to write the kind of autobiographies that inspire hope and love in others as well as themselves.
Oh, and a huge thanks for being here with us so far – we’re incredibly grateful, and we hope to see more of you (and bring a friend or two!) next year. Until then, laugh, love, be merry, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday period.
So that’s the Pure Blogging holiday message for this year.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the various thoughts, and they’ve inspired you some way or other to look at what you’d like to see in 2016 when it comes to content, either yours or the content you consume.
However, we’d love to her your thoughts, so don’t be shy – drop them in the comments below, and let’s work together on making them happen.
Thanks for a wonderful 2015, and for welcoming us into your blogging feed, whether that’s RSS or email. We hope we’ve kept you entertained so far, and we look forward to continuing to publishing content that matters in 2016 and beyond.
Cheers!
To read more from the team, visit our archives page where you’ll find each author and more.
