Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The One Thing Keeping You from Being a Blogging Master

Ahh, grasshopper.

Blogging master, you already are.

You just need to release your inner truth.

Have you noticed that most big time bloggers aren’t much better writers than you are?

The difference between you and them is not how they string words together, but it’s in their ability to connect to your emotional side. They know what they want to say and how to connect to their people’s hearts. They do this so well because of their intrapersonal relationship.

They’ve taken time to reflect on what excites them, so when they write, their readers are excited.

I know that I look forward to a new Daily Blog Tips article in my RSS feed.

How do they do it?

Most people will tell you that they love to write, share, build a business, etc. But that’s just a part of it.

Fear

Probloggers such as Daniel aren’t afraid to let their true selves out. They embrace the fear of writing something that people might disagree with. They put themselves in uncomfortable positions because they want to stand out from the crowd.

Many of you hold back from saying what is truly in your heart. You’re afraid of the reaction that might occur. This is completely understandable, but the only way you will break through and create a blog that people keep coming back to is to create something that people can’t get anywhere else.

You have to create connections with people that allow for deep connections.

Building Relationships

The only way your blog will be read by a stadium sized tribe is if you build great relationships.

If you want to influence, you must have people who believe in you.

I teach people how to build better relationships because it’s the best way to increase happiness in a career. When you work with happy people, it’s easier to be happy yourself. When you have an audience who loves what you create, it’s easier to create great content.

It’s hard to create these emotional connections, whether you are a blogger or just trying to build your career. Daniel is good at it. Leo is good at it. Brian is good at it.

Their people trust them and keep coming back for more.

Get Good at Pulling on the Heart Strings

You have to connect with your audience through their emotions. That means being so well connected with yourself that you believe and love every word you type, talk, and sing.

If you don’t know what you believe, no one will follow and share with their friends what you have to say. You say you believe in yourself, but do you really?

That’s the key to creating your tribe: believing so intensely in what you write that people listen. That means knowing yourself so well that it sometimes hurts. You have to ask yourself the tough questions. You know you do this when you ask yourself questions that push you outside of your comfort zone.

By pushing past your limits, you’ll discover the best way to create that emotional connection.

5 Whys

The “5 Whys” method to help them get to the heart of a problem. There was an inclination for their workers to solve the symptoms instead of getting to the root cause of a problem. If you want to be a blogger who has a lot of influence then you must dig deep.

I like to think of this as a chance to do a little meditation. My “5 Whys Meditation” has been instrumental in my happiness and success.

Give it a try. Kick up your feet, close your laptop and just calmly breathe in and out as you go through the 5 whys. You’ll love the results.

For example, if I’m having trouble writing an article about sex in the workplace I ask myself “why” 5 times.

  1. Why: Because I’m not in the mood.
  2. Why: Because I’m not sure that people would be interested.
  3. Why: Because it’s a delicate topic.
  4. Why: Because I would have to interview people about this sensitive topic.
  5. Why: Because it’s not easy to write about something I’ve never done.

It’s at this point that I need to either pick a new topic that I know about or interview people who have had intimate relationships with co-workers.

Then grasshopper you are ready…

Only when you have solid intrapersonal skills can you develop interpersonal skills that keep people wanting more.

If you want to build these skills, remember these three letters: S, H and V.

Story

You must tell a story every time you write. I don’t care if you are writing about human genetics. Tell a gripping story and people will want more.

Heart

Before you press post, make sure that you believe with all your being in what you wrote. If it doesn’t feel 100% to you, it sure as heck won’t feel 100% to your readers.

Value

Are you giving your readers something they can use when they are done reading? If you make them laugh, you did your job. If you make them want more, you did your job. If you open their eyes to a new perspective, you did your job.

Now grasshopper, you don’t need me any longer.

You actually never needed me. You just need to listen to that little voice in your heart that knows what the world needs to hear.

You know that you have what it takes. Let go of that fear and build the relationships so your tribe sings your praises to all their friends.

About the Author: Karl Staib of Work Happy Now created an e-course called Fear to Fuel to help people face their arch nemesis and do work that they love.

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