I just watched Scott Stratten’s (@unmarketing) keynote at Blogworld. It’s darn good. During the talk he makes the point that “Awesome Spreads.”
If you’re awesome, then your stuff spreads and If you can’t write awesome then your ideas will stagnate.
Ok, I get it.
I even agree. But…um…it scares the living crap out of me. I bet it’s making you a little skittish too.
You might be thinking. What the hell is awesome? How do I create it? Who is the certifier of all things awesome? It’s enough to put almost anybody into a catatonic state..
Where does that leave you if your posts aren’t all that spectacular? What should you do? Well don’t you worry – I’ve got your back -
Here’s Some Awesome 911
Help Someone
Start writing posts that help your readers get real stuff done in their lives. Stop commenting on the world and start solving some problems. That’s a sure path to Awesomeness.
Take a break
You might be getting stale. Throw your twice-a-week blogging schedule out the window and just write when you have something to say. Call it a blog vacation. Just keep your moleskin handy for when inspiration hits.
Get Better Blogging and Twitter Friends
Your content gets old when you’re stuck in the echo chamber. Take a day to find a few new people to follow. Soak in the new voices and perspectives.
Learn the Mechanics of Great Writing
I’ll be frank with you here; your ideas are probably pretty good, it’s probably your writing that sucks. The good news is that you can correct that. Here are a few posts that helped me…
A Secret Black Belt Technique for Writing Knock-out Posts
How to Grow A Blog Post in 7 Easy Steps
Capturing Readers with Creative Leads
Pull the Stick Out Of Your Butt
Sometimes writing for the public makes you do strange things. You try to sound authoritative. You sprinkle in buzzwords. You rein in your true-self and become some mediocre corporate stiff.
Stop it. Awesome = Authentic. Just be yourself.
Stop Shooting from the hip
It’s counter-intuitive but you can plan Awesome. I rely heavily on an editorial calendar to keep my content quality high. I’ve found that an editorial schedule gives can spark new ideas by giving you an overhead view of your topics.
The Simple Version
Do your Absolute Best – and that’s enough. The key is to keep getting better at your craft. Don’t give up and the Awesome will come. (How’s that for some good old fashioned kumbaya!)
Hey there – are your post’s awesome? Do you feel like they could be better? Or have you nailed it? Talk to me and I’ll talk right back!
About Stanford
“You” are awesome! I don’t remember how I came a cross your blog, but I’m glad to have met you. Your message is always clear and your suggestions are achievable. Thanks for showing me what awesome content looks like.
I think the most valuable sentence in your post was this: “Take a day to find a few new people to follow.” So true. The echo chamber tends to produce just more echo.
I really liked this post Stan very true and honest in what you are saying here. I really liked it.
GREAT stuff- one thing I’ve struggled with/noticed- in some ways, we need to do some “me” stuff to find the awesome. Over and over I’ve noticed folks saying that a post that they may not have slaved over or didn’t think much of themselves was insanely popular.
Meh and/or awesome is sometimes in the eye of the beholder.
Stanford,
The step by step, chunked down path to awesome is freeing and gives me room to breathe vs. how the hell do I get to awesome??
Great post, Stanford. It IS awesome. And, thanks for the practical tips on how to achieve said awesomeness.
So, with this post, are you backing off of your idea that you should blog X number of times a week? I know you are a big proponent of posting regularly, while also maintaining quality. While others, such as Scott Stratten, tend to push the “post when you’ve got something to say” mentality. I’m of the mindset that it has to be a good balance of both. While regular posting is important to drive traffic and readership, it will be useless if your posts are crap. So, how do you strike the balance? While there’s no definitive answer, I think a lot of people get stuck on either side of this debate. Thoughts?
You know, I believe that posting frequency has to do with your blog strategy. If you want to be a Social Media Examiner, Copyblogger, or Problogger, then you need to post daily. I don’t really see a way around that. If you are content with a small readership then posting once a week is probably adequate. Like I said, it depends on your strategy.
In this post I’m giving you permission to take a break if your stuff is starting to suck. I took a break a week ago and it did wonders for recharging my batteries.
On another note, I know how hard it is to get in the habit of blogging. For first-time bloggers it’s important to establish a rhythm. Blogging when you feel like it doesn’t really help that process
Excellent advice, Stanford. Good point – it’s definitely about the strategy. I think people get too hung up about what the blog next door instead of focusing on what makes sense for their business. Thanks for giving people to take a break…I may need one of those sometime!
Great post, Stanford! I’ve been reading a lot of “how to be great!” posts lately, and this is definitely one of the best.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Hey Stan,
I could not help but add one more item to your AWESOME 911 list…DEBUNK SOMETHING!
I can imagine that helping someone could be considered by some as debunking a preconceived belief, idea, practice or notion.
But when you read so many blog post headlines, i.e. How to, What to, Where to, etc… it seems a lot of content just gets recycled by a lot of bloggers.
While I know you can’t base a blog entirely on this approach, the occasional “expose” blog post is fertile ground for incredibly valuable content (and a great way to make a name for yourself
)
I like your addition. Debunk away!
Two thoughts though:
1. “How to” What to, Where to headlines are being recycles because they work. It doesn’t always mean that the content is being recycled. If it is…then “BAD blogger!”
2. There are a lot more new bloggers than there are experienced pros. The new folks need to hear the basic stuff repeatedly from different perspectives. Sometimes I forget that the blogger isn’t writing exclusively for me.
Thanks for that perspective. I honestly didn’t look at it that way. I can now stop disdaining those posts now because the audience their writing for might be introduced to those topics with the what, where, how headlines for the first time.
I think that you should write everyday, but you shouldn’t publish every day. Even if what you write is complete crap (which it will be in the beginning), by getting into the swing of writing every single day you’ll build momentum. There will then come a point where your content is awesome. Of course use what Stan has talked about here as a framework to guide you.
Agreed. I stole this bit of advice from Chris Brogan. He also reiterated that writing and publishing are two different things
It’s been a while since I’ve commented, but I had to come by and say that this post was Awesome. I have already shared it to prove your point.
It’s great to say, “Be awesome” (I do it a lot) but the truly great writers out there help the people around them learn how to be awesome. That’s why I’m glad we’ve gotten to know each other. My favorite tip of yours is “Pull the Stick Out of Your Butt” because of the issue you hit on in that one. Awesome = Authentic. You could write a whole post just about that.
So many people think “Oh, I have to sound like ___________” or “__________writes better than me” when it really only comes down to writing for yourself. Your true readers will find you.
Thanks for being awesome.
Hi Joey – waving from across town! We just keep bumping into each other all across the web! I promise I’ll stop following you!
Nice comment, by the way.
Ok, your awesome=authentic post is coming right up!