In a recent newsletter, publishing and strategy consultant Janet Goldstein wrote about the concept of getting “lovingly bossy” with your book. Janet has given me her permission to share some of the article here, and explore how we can apply it to business blogging as well.
Janet writes:
So many writers and experts I work with (myself included) feel intimidated by their work. But you’re the boss. We can get our ideas and writing to work (and we can get the help we need if we have the clarity and the bossy-ness to move forward).
If the book and ideas aren’t coming, you can give yourself and your pages a talking-to. There’s the stern, “I can figure this out and I can write 2 paragraphs or 2 pages or 20. I can get this concept down on paper right now and I can go back and revise, add, disagree, improve.”
I loved this idea, especially in conjunction with the Barrie Business Blogathon event that I presented on Saturday, April 14th, 2012 (the first of many!).
One of my goals for the event was to inspire confidence in the bloggers to move forward with their blogs – whether they were just starting out with blogging, or they had started blogging and then stopped.
I hear from many beginner bloggers that they’re intimidated by the process, whether they’re recovering academic writers, brand new to the blogosphere or they’re just plain stuck about what to write.
Here are five simple ways to boost your blogging confidence and show your blog who’s the boss:
- Am I blogging about the right thing? Come up with one frequently asked question and answer it in your blog. You can be sure that if a few people have asked, there are many others who are wondering the same thing.
- Is my writing any good? Ask someone whose opinion you value to listen as you read your blog post out loud (this is also a great way to catch typos – see #3).
- Have I made any embarrassing typos or writing errors? Have your work professionally edited by a blogging expert (hey, we do that!). At the very least, proofread before publishing and review your post again after you’ve taken a break.
- Is blogging worth my time? You may have some preconceived notions about blogging that have convinced you it’s not possible to make money from blogging. Browse these articles about the benefits of blogging or read this study about one company that discovered just how much of a difference blogging can make.
- How do I ________ (insert technical blogging task here)? If the mechanics of blogging are holding you back, search online for tutorials. I do this all the time for cooking and other household tasks. It’s amazing what you’ll find just by typing “how do I ___?” You can also hire someone to manage your blog for you (hey, we do that!).
Like any other task, your blogging skills and confidence will grow with time and practice. Until then, even if you don’t feel like it, you’re going to have to pull rank on your blog – because you’re the boss!
