Today makes a year to the day I launched my very first blog post here. Learning to function in a space as public as the internet is a challenge in its own right. The trend on the internet during this era of its development is to be authentic, transparent and human. This sounds pretty straight forward but there is a difficulty factor attached to just being yourself. Especially on the internet where all eyes are potentially watching.
During the last year I’ve experienced moments of stagnation coupled with moments of exponential growth in terms of learning new methods and approaches to developing my online presence. Mostly I’ve been searching for my “voice” all year. This element to existing “out there” for the world to see is arguably the most important element to developing a successful blog. Chris Brogan shared a few tips on finding your voice recently. Check it out, he posted them via video.
In addition to searching for my voice another constant in the realm of blogging is sharing content that’s in some way relevant, exciting, fresh and new. This one is very tricky considering the number of blogs in existence coupled with the new ones launching daily. Is it really enough to just have a unique opinion on the same subject matter thousands of others are already commenting on? It’s important to have a unique opinion, but is it enough?
“There’s nothing new under the sun except organic produce, that means its free range…” as stated by Talib Kweli about a decade ago on Reflection Eternal, but he’s still at it. How do you manage to keep your creative juices flowing? Possibly by changing the way you look at life and realizing that no matter what you are doing you are an artist who is constantly creating.
With this post officially marking one full year of existence I had a feeling something special was going to happen and it did. I bumped into an old friend and mentor from my past who happens to be working on a guide to blogging. Winnie the Pooh.
As a youngin my Moms tells me I always wanted to change my name to Winnie the Pooh. After the reading The Winnie the Pooh guide to blogging over at Copyblogger it’s hard for me to imagine having a better role model than Winnie the Pooh during my younger days.
Sometimes success on the internet doesn’t come as fast or in the form you think it should come in, but as long as you are helping your friends by being a friend everything will work itself out. How much time are you spending caring about those who care about you?
