hotDiggityBlog

Tired dog warning | I may read this tomorrow and think I’m absolutely nuts. But, it’s late and I’m putting it out there. I will edit it. Tomorrow.

There are so many positive things that come from blogging, the blog’s architecture forces you to organize. It allows you to be creative – with pages, images, text … video, audio. It’s just amazing. AND, IT’S FREE !!

organization of thoughts | material (writings, notes, links to off-site stuff, images, videos, audio files, etc.)
use it for this purpose alone, and you have a free information management tool

therapy | yeah. it’s true. the best part of this blog is it’s therapeutic value in calming my monkey mind (or my bunny butt)

entertainment| it is so much fun

accountability | if you put your weight online, daily, you will eat less ice cream

revenue | you can make money with your blog  (ad revenue, sell stuff | sponsor stuff | recommend stuff | promote stuff, etc. )

This entire process fascinates me. All those benefits, and there’s more!

We are the new TV. We are. We are all on TV now. The Internet and TV are merging. We see it before our very eyes. Use that. Put you out there. Transparency True is the name of  my first book, it’s highlights the need people have to hide so much of their lives, from friends, family, kids ! It’s not that we want to betray, but the context from one section of our lives to the next is not always aligned neatly. It’s transparency that brings us closer. Even if it’s unsightly to some. Uncomfortably transparent. Show the seedy underbelly of yourself. Of your company or product. What’s the real story? Tell it with a blog, or call it whatever you like. A journal. A diary. A TV show. Call it your information management system. The power of a blog is limited only by the imagination of it’s creator.

This is true. As you know, or maybe you don’t, I don’t use this space for revenue generation per se. While I welcome readers, and if they click on ads that interest them, I’ll take my cut of the pay per click model, but I’m not in this for that reason. Not here.

… Marco just popped online, maybe he’ll do the column for me …

Something like Marco from Bologna or Bologna from Marco, or … I don’t know, but I’d like to highlight how people can make a very good living sharing their story.

If you want to blog, you can do that yourself, by going to Wordpress.com, or Blogger.com … or use your Google account to create a blog. Or, hire a company – mine or someone else you trust to build your brand in this critically important space. The Internet is driving tv now, so let’s give it the respect it deserves. Ad dollars are emptying out of tv budgets as fast as internet broadcast profits are piling up. Whew. Thank God!

Some of my notes What’s A Blog. And, here for posts covering How To.

It’s not unlike what happened in the music industry, where Apple realized people will pay a reasonable price, and they came out ahead, the studios are still suffering bad decisions. Independents, however, have more power than ever. This is the same way tv is working … they are not all doing it wrong – Hulu is awesome ! … but, we are it. We are the new TV. Right now. Here.

I wasted a very long time trying to decide what to write about. There were so many things to comment on. I wanted to use a blog to store and share family memories. I wanted another to aggregate the best food on the Internet. I still want a blog that tracks my spending, and another that aggregates green tips and vids. I started several of these ideas, but never posted more than a time or three.

I envisioned a network of blogs, connected through various life threads. Sounds great. THAT is what held me back.

All the figuring out how it would work, how it would look … I wanted a plan – I would choose topics – design or find templates that presented each topic with the right personality … then I had to know who my audience was and what my content would be about. When I added tech issues, like how would I interact with people, with other blogs? I stewed in my own confusion … a very long time.

I was given a very good piece of advice by an absolutely wonderful writer – he told me to start. To write. Whatever comes. Don’t analyze, don’t think – you’ll go back and do that later …

I had stressed so hard over what to write about, I didn’t. I was thinking when I needed to be writing.

I think that’s true about a lot of things. I think about working out. I think about charging the battery in the Mustang, I think about all of it. Far too long.

I’m here to tell you. Today. You need to start. Do it now. Start with something small, or start with something enormous. It matters not. Only that you start. One must step out to move forward. Step out.

It’s important to develop a voice within yourself. Whatever form that takes. If you want to write, you write. If you wish to publish, you publish. Here’s how I did it … and, how you can too.

Step One | Write. Now.

Maybe you have a name for your ‘writing’, maybe you don’t (you can call it a blog, a web site, a journal, whatever you want). Or, name it later.

1. Decide on a blog platform – use blogger, Wordpress or TypePad (I love Wordpress).

2. Write. Begin gathering thoughts, photos, videos, whatever interests you. Begin doing this so you can play with the material. Your content. Write one post a day, even if you know you will dump that post later, write it. Write at least one per day. You can write more … write about anything and everything. If patterns emerge, or topics repeat, begin making categories to catalog those topics. Assign keywords to each post. Be creative. Don’t hold back. You can always post, or keep the material private, or mark posts as drafts … but, write.

3. If you still don’t know what to write about, that’s ok … it really is part of the reward. To let your brain work that out naturally … I so wish I had done that from the start.

4. As patterns form, and personality emerges, you may jot down name ideas, do this throughout the process, without getting too tied to any name. Yet.

5. Write. It gets easier, but different things need your attention now. Scheduling your writing, editing it, adding value with photos and video with each post. And, monetizing your writing. If you wish to do that.

6. If a name hasn’t slapped you in the face yet, get some help from someone that knows you, and your project/s. Brainstorming is a fantastic way to touch your creative. I do this regularly. It always produces blog fodder, along with the advantage to hear ourselves discuss it.

Step Two | Coming Soon.

My mom wants to know why I’m taking pictures. Now she’ll know.

See mom in action …

hotDiggityHowto Note | This was a great lesson. I had linked the video earlier. But, I remembered that placing the code for ‘embedding’ the video results in a nicer presentation. And, shows the image you see above as a default. Woof !