What part of this thing do you want in on? Do you want to be just another blogger? One of the 900 “whatever comes after a bazillion” blogs that are currently littering up the Internet?
Or do you actually have something to say? Because, here’s the thing…
There are only a few hundred of those out there. And if you want to be one of them, you are going to have to do something much bigger than what you’re currently doing right now. And whatever that something is, I can promise you that it doesn’t reside in the warm fuzzy place that exists between your fleece sheets and the new puppy.
It exists in a place that is uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. But if you want your readers to pay attention and even take action you are going to have to grab them by the shirt collar and shake them up a bit. Push them beyond conventional boundaries. Challenge them. Rub them the wrong way. And even piss them off.
In other words, you are going to have to stop playing it safe and start taking some risks. Because as one of your readers, you can’t expect me to stretch beyond my limits if you aren’t willing to stretch beyond yours.
Ultimately, this is the sort of thing that needs to come from you, but let me give you a little kick in the ass and show you a few ways to get you started…
Tough Love
We’re taught as bloggers to write for our audience. To know who we are writing for and alter our message in order to accommodate what we think our readers want to hear. But what they want to hear isn’t always what they need to hear. And therein lies the problem.
Your readers have already read what they want to hear hundreds of times. Even your “new” take on it is just another version of something they have read over and over again. And I’m sorry to break it to you, but even your brilliant regurgitation is not likely to get someone to move if they haven’t already taken action the first 10 times they heard it. Instead, all you are doing is confirming that whatever it is they have been doing all along is what they should continue doing.
It’s not. And they know that it’s not. But there are few people out there willing to put their ass on the line and challenge them to do it differently. To go against conventional wisdom. To charge into the storm.
Well, now is your chance.
Be the person we need you to be. Not the one we want you to be. The Mommy blogger that doesn’t talk about being a stay at home Mom as all sunshine, rainbows and lollipops. The financial blogger than doesn’t blame the economy but points the finger right back at you, the source of your financial woes. The “get rich quick” blogger that defines “quick” as a year or more because that’s how long it takes to build a sustainable business with a quality product.
We as your readers want to be challenged. We want to see things differently. We want to be pushed outside of our comfort zone. We want to dust off our brains and start putting them to use again. And we’re looking for someone to challenge us to do just that. Are you that person in your industry?
Get Naked
I don’t mean that you should be writing naked, although far be it from me to tell you what you should or should not be wearing while you are writing. I mean that you should be honest. Vulnerable. Cut out the “strong as an ox” routine and let people see who you really are.
Be human.
If you are writing about the solution to a particular problem, don’t leave out the part about how you struggled with that same issue. Not as a side note either. Give all of the gory details. Paint the picture. Let us know that we’re not alone in our struggles. Write a post about your history. Where you came from. Not the fluffy one that you want everyone to hear. I mean the one that really happened. The one where you almost gave up. The one that had you curled up in the fetal position for weeks. The one that still makes you shaky when you think about it.
Sure, it’s scary. Some people are going to judge you. Others will see you as weak. Some will even lose faith in you because of it. But the majority of your readers, the ones that are actually worth a damn, will support you. They will respect you for it. And they will build a deeper connection with you because of it.
They may even stop being your readers and start being your friends.
Be Unpopular
Just because everyone else is busy writing about Pinterest being the second coming of the Atari 2600, doesn’t mean that you have to also. Especially if you don’t believe it. Speak up. You don’t have to keep your opinions to yourself just because they are unpopular. In fact, you need to scream louder when they are unpopular. It’s not about getting people to join your movement. It’s about starting the conversation.
In July 2012 a 25 year old woman named Cathryn Sloane woke up a chunk of the internet when she wrote a piece for NextGen Journal entitled Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25. It was wildly unpopular. Over 600 comments were made on the post within days. Dozens of rebuttals were written in response. NextGen Journal even published a post in order to somewhat distance themselves from the opinions of the piece.
To put it lightly, people did not agree. The opinion in that post made them irate. But whether or not you agree with her position in the article is irrelevant. It started a conversation. It forced people to rethink their approach. Take a second look at what they do and how they do it. Defend who they were.
It evoked emotion and with that it was noticed.
Had the piece been titled “Why it Doesn’t Matter What Age You Are to Be a Social Media Manager” no one would have cared. It wouldn’t have heated up the debate and forced people to stand up and pay attention. It just would have been another blog post taking up more space online. Instead, it stood out amongst a lot of other noise.
My only criticism with it is that Ms. Sloane left the conversation. She didn’t respond to any of the comments or Tweets. She dropped the proverbial bag of poo on the front porch and ran. If you are going to stir the pot and write something that is unpopular you’d better be willing to stay put and defend your position.
Now It’s Your Turn…
This is the point where I pat you on the head, assure you that it’s going to be OK and then tell you to go get ‘em tiger. But I’m not going to. It’s up to you whether or not you take the leap. If you don’t, you’ll have plenty of company. If you do, you may very well wake up to a mob of people outside your front door with torches in hand. Or maybe you will be reveled as a hero. Is that a risk you are willing to take?
Featured image courtesy of nicsuzor licensed via Creative Commons.
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