What are You Against?
The world doesn't need any more lukewarm bloggers!
We all have certain things that we are “for” – things, people, ideas that we are passionate about and will defend vigorously (and sometimes dogmatically).
And as you develop your personal blogging brand you’ll find that you naturally write about these topics and share your personal opinion about them; this is good and all but what I’ve found is that those bloggers who explicitly stand against something are ones that I tend to gravitate towards more often than not.
The reasons are varied but I’ve discovered that those bloggers that not only “stick their neck out” and are courageous enough to pick a side of the fence and sit confidently but also speak up against those things that are contrary to their point of view (seasoned with grace, of course!) are ones that I really rally behind.
So I ask you:
What are you against?
Here’s one thing that I’m definitely fighting:
There are those who implicitly (or explicitly) suggest that starting a blog is “hard”. I don’t believe this to be true in any way, shape, or form!
There are enough resources out there to help even the biggest newbie with starting a blog and those that can’t pull their own weight to do a little of the research really required to start a blog probably shouldn’t be blogging anyway!
This particular business has created a business out of this idea: Blogging is hard and so you should pay me (us) to help you set one up.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being enterprising and assisting others with setting up blogs (it’s one of my goals here on TentBlogger!) but I believe in doing it the “right” way, if you know what I mean. No coercion, no tricks – just a little encouragement and a push (here and there) to get you to execute.
Both Sides of the Coin:
Remember that your online brand and the brand ideas around your blog are both what you are for and what you are against. The more explicitly you can share these the better you will be in the long-run.
But the strategy is not only for you to be explicit but also exceptionally clear with them since you’re long-term goal is for others to not only understand them but to also promote them.
I hope that the values that I’m known for are easily communicated to others as well as the the things that I’m passionately against. Be courageous and choose a side because fence-sitters never changed the world.
So, what are you against? Share in the comments and then go blog about it!
I think it’s safe to say that we all know your passion John, and it’s refreshing to know that you “have our backs” when it comes to thinking and knowing that this “blogging thing” doesn’t have to be hard. Tentblogger.com is such a rad resource, and we love you for that. Thank you.
With that being said, I’m against orange skittles ’cause they taste like medicine.
pauahahah!
clutter.
p.s. great to see you this weekend.
are you against stubble? cause that’s all i saw on your face yesterday.
Hi John,
I always learn something when I come to your blog. I have wondered about this subject and am glad you have addressed it. I knew nothing about blogging when I started last June, but I am continually learning. I take many hours a week to learn how to make my site better and how to learn more about WordPress, HTML, PHP, CSS. Thanks for the info. Now, what I’m against is people who show half-naked men on there site and no way to get in contact with these individuals. LOL
Actually, I’m against abuse of any kind; abuse of children, women, men, politics, animals, our planet. It’s time that we speak up and discuss what is the right way to treat things/people and ourselves.
love it sally. i’m against those too!
Truly wish everyone that has the internet would also have a gravatar…
Really against people not using at least their first name and only their name when making comments. Why promote or spam?! Do you realize you are promoting yourself by not doing that?
haha. that’s funny. gravatars!
I visited their site to see what they were doing.
They offered Basic, Advanced, and Professional. I was looking for their Lazy Kick Start plan. You know, “The lazy plan is aimed at bloggers who want everything set up and content added by us on a weekly basis, so that they can have more time to find other ways to throw away their money.”
Along this same idea, a person could start another business and call it TV Kick Start. For $220 we will send you a special box that you can attach to your TV. We will show you how to get ABC, NBC, and CBS. Extra charge for PBS. We will also send you a TV guide that will only be good for one week. For $50 more a month we will update your TV guide every week via the internet.
If I was WOO themes, I would ask them to remove my name from their blog.
doh!
Wow, guys, I think you’re being a little too harsh on those “blogging is hard” guys. I don’t think they’re lying, blogging can be really hard or incredibly easy depending on each person you ask.
A couple of years ago (maybe a year and a half), a friend of mine asked me to make a website for a corporate client he had. It turned out they wanted a “news” site, so I said “let’s make it on WP”. I grabbed a premium “newsy” theme, changed the colors to match their identity, and included their logo. The whole thing took me like 3 hours, including installation, etc.
They paid quite some money for it, and I fell a little ashamed for a while. After all, I would have done it for free! Maybe for a coffee from my friend as a thank-you. But both he and his client were very happy; they loved the resulting site, and they were more than happy to pay me that money for something which was as easy for me as 1-2-3. They even hired me for a 7 days seminar about managing the site for their employees.
I’m sure you get my point. Plumbing, most of the time, is incredibly easy; I bet most of the typical incidences can be resolved by an average plumber in less than 20 min., and it’s not rocket science either. However, I gladly pay the plumber when he fixes something at home because I need it done and I don’t know how to do it. I’d say the same goes to setting up a WP blog for some people.
Thanks for bearing with my rant!
David, I agree with what you said and I have no problem with a business setting up wordpress blogs for people.
Yes, to me it is easy to set up a blog and I do my own plumbing, so at first I am surprised when people pay for a service I think is simple. I also know that there are other simple things in life that I do not know and I will gladly pay those who have taken the time to learn how to do that thing.
The problem I have is in their pricing. In my opinion they are charging so much more than the service they are offering. So much so that it falls into the area of taking advantage of someone. Auto mechanics are expensive, but when a woman walks in and the price doubles or a problem is mentioned that really doesn’t exist, then I really get upset knowing they are taking advantage of her.
It is one thing to pay for someone’s knowledge, but another to pay for their greed.
Hopefully they will reduce their pricing structure.
Mutant Minds,
The auto mechanics case is disgusting, and I’ve heard plenty of similar cases.
I don’t think it’s applicable here though, because those Kickstart guys charge everybody the same (high) price; they don’t try to trick you to pay more when they find out you know nothing about WP!
bro, i definitely agree. and by calling them out i’ve decided not to sit on the fence, which means i’ll get called out (like you did) by others on the other side!
not a problem to me!
my goal here though is to provide as simple of a way to get involved in blogging. it’s not perfect and not everyone will “get” it but I hope the vast majority!
some people will pay for this kind of service and that’s cool!
John,
Calling you out wasn’t my intention at all!
Your post is a good one since or follows the blog’s tone and focus. I think you’re doing a great job making the whole blogging process more newbie friendly.
Given that, I believe it takes a special kind of person to read all this stuff and put it to work. Probably most of us TentBlogger readers are at least a bit of the “Internet handymen” type; we like to do things on our own and, even though we need a little help sometimes (like the one you offer here!), we enjoy the process and triumphantly manage to launch a neat little WP blog.
But for many other people out there, setting up a blog is hard, despite all the free info out there to help them. Actually, all that info can make it even harder (ask me about information overload!); as my business partner usually says, “anything is easy when you already know how to do it!” Guess what? We both know how to write and how to set up a blog, but he actually takes care of the former, because he does it better than me, and I take care of the latter, since he struggles with WP while it has become second nature to me. One day he’ll realize that the whole thing is actually easy as cake and kick me out of the business!
I am against a lot of things. I hope this doesn’t have an overly negative sound to it, but it’s true. I am only against a lot of things because I am so passionate about ONE thing. God’s Word.
I am against biblical illiteracy. I am against living a life void of eternal purpose. I am against the Devil and all is works.
I’m also against social media illiteracy (but that blog hasn’t been revealed yet… hehe!)
sometimes we’re defined more by what we’re against… sometimes!
John,
I couldn’t believe the WP Kickstart website when I took a look, $70 to install WordPress with virtually zero widgets or any tweaks!!! Now, this looks like a good way to make money … how many sites an hour?
I am writing the last page of my first 100 page ebook, which is a guide to buying a domain, hosting and setting up WordPress, it’s completely detailed with step by step instructions and screenshots … the cost $5! Apart from saving $65, the advantage being you then know how to do another one.
By the way, this isn’t a spammy attempt to sell this guide, because I’m guessing that all your readers are way past the stage of needing to know these kind of things!
I actually think it is quite a good by WP Kickstart, in fact a good name, but the sell should be “It’s easy to set up a blog, but if you really can’t be bothered and want to head down the coffee shop and write your first post, then we can do it for you”. They actually have a few video tutorials, with a softer sell below, if these included all the initial steps, then that would make a far more convincing website.
neat. lvoe to see it when it’s done.!
I’m against people NOT paying me lots of money to do very little work….
I’m also against California charging me tax on the full value of a cell phone that I get at a discounted price.
hah!
I’m against editors that willingly post lackluster guest posts to their blogs from companies in irrelevant niches … it’s one thing to publish guest posts from interesting angles, but it’s another to post whatever free content you can get your hands on.
I’m also against intolerance.
i like that. i like that a lot.
There’s one thing for sure: if WP Kickstart price is too high (as it seems), they won’t get any customers, and either they lower their price and adapt, or they get out of business!
i don’t pray for their demise… that’s the thing. i hope they do well….. and if the market says “no” then they’ll revise!
I love it, but mostly for the Fight Club pic.
fight club is awesome!
What am I against? Hmmmm…the many things that Truth tells me is a lie or stands against the Truth…that’s too obvious, though.
I’m against the militant purveyors of hate in the name of God.
It’s interesting that, when asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus said to love God supremely and others as yourself. He said all the other commandments (including the things to be against) would hang on those two.
Hope that doesn’t sound like a “Jesus Juke!”
Oh…and I’m against bad coffee!!!
bad coffee. yes! … and the other stuff too.
Wow John I’m finding this to be so true. I’ve started a series on my blog about things I want to go away in 2011. They are becoming my most viewed and most commented on posts. So interesting.
interesting….