I have had numerous discussions recently with a number of “future” bloggers who are trying to prepare themselves to begin the blogging journey and who are trying to align everything in preparation for the “best start” possible.
I smile at them and after listening for a bit of time I ask them this question:
So what’s really stopping you from starting your blog?
There’s typically a puzzled look and perhaps even a re-hashing of what they had just shared with me but most of the time they know what I’m driving at: I’m trying to help them knock down all of the excuses that are present that are keeping them from hitting that Publish button!
Here’s the thing – if you’re going to want to be absolutely certain that your blog is in perfect shape the first time you hit that Publish button then you’ll never actually start blogging!
There’s nothing you can do to have everything figured out and the truth of the matter is that you won’t know half of what you need to figure out until you actually see your writing published and in front of a live audience!
I have come to realize that this is one of the biggest gifts and pieces of advice that I can give to hesitant publishers – the little push of the proverbial cliff accelerating them towards being a digital author.
I’m not tired of hearing the excuses – I know they are heartfelt and can be extremely powerful roadblocks for many people. And I’m not tired of repeating myself either! It needs to be repeated often because there’s always one more person that needs to hear it and there are a bunch of us who haven’t hit that Publish button in a while but know that they need to jump back on that horse!
And especially if you’re a small business owner or you’re trying to build your personal brand you have to start today. Not tomorrow, today! Your success, at least from an online perspective, is counting on you to hit that Publish button!
Don’t wait until you’ve got all your t’s crossed and your i’s dotted – it’s never going to happen!
I totally agree! Blogging is not something you can perfect in isolation. You have to dive in, possibly make a few mistakes, and learn as you go. Your audience will grow with you.
i agree. the learn as you go is very valuable.
This post couldn’t have been more appropriate for my wife’s blog. She has been working on the development of it for about 4 months. I am helping her as much as i can reading all the great content on tentblogger. We are about to launch her site tomorrow, and seemed to have put it off the past few weeks trying to learn more. Well you are right John, there is no better time than now. So, tomorrow we will hit the publish button. 1,2,3.. into the deep end!
go for it mike!
That’s so true. I thought I had most of it figured out when I started. I had a good theme, a subject matter that I was interested in and which I thought others would be also, and it went fine for a few months.
Then I started learning so many of the in’s and out’s and the little things that help, assist, and drive you in the right direction. So I then began to tweak stuff. A little here, a little there.
Then I rebranded my site. Then I switched (narrowed) the topic of my content even more. Then I realized that part of the fun is the learning curve itself. If it never changed, if I never learned anything new…how boring would that be?
And then I realized that the blogging guru’s don’t have it all figured out yet either, and that gave me more confidence to keep plugging away.
none of us have it figured out. that’s why we need to experiment and keep shipping!
I remember (maybe 10 years ago) hearing the word “blog” and trying to figure out what it meant! I even googled it to little or no avail! I finally discovered a friend or two who were blogging and they explained it to me. And then one day, about 5 years ago, in a moment of utter boredom, it occurred to me that I too could create a blog! It’s been an awesome journey and I haven’t regretted for a moment leaping before I looked! The ONLY things I would have changed are 1.) start on self-hosted WordPress and 2.) back up my content (more than 1 way)! Some lessons we only learn the hard way though!
have to learn the hard way! that’s the process!
John, right on!
Don’t wait… do it now!
It boggles my mind when I hear statements like, “I am going to save up 3-4 months of blog posts and THEN launch my blog.” It doesn’t work that way.
Start today… post! And then do it again, tomorrow. And after that.
loved hanging out with you yesterday man!
I’ve heard both methods of starting a blog, & I have also attempted both methods with little to no success in either method.
The build up of a collection of blog posts then a launch saw me ending up writing only a few new posts after the launch before getting bored and giving up on the blog. Throwing myself in there, I managed to write a few posts after the launch, and again I got bored and gave up on the blog. Maybe that just means that blogging isn’t for me.
I’ve tried lots of post generation ideas, from the likes of John and Darren and others to try and keep on a roll with blogging, but I just can’t seem to get past the 6 months stage.
I feel there is something more than just writing, and obviously I haven’t stumbled across it.
perhaps you’re not meant to be blogging right now? that’s ok. take a break. come back to it when you’re ready.
How true, how true, how true! I am teaching a class to encourage blogging at a conference next and will pass the link to this post along!
wow! that’s fantastic! what’s the link?
I think this fact is present in almost everything we do, although I haven’t thought of it much in reference to blogging (Its amazing how it usually takes someone else to point out the obvious to us…).
Haven’t we all heard the ever-popular and long-lived phrase, “Don’t wait ’til you have money to have children; you’ll never do it.”?
I believe that this is yet another form of “writer’s procrastination”, and boils down to mostly fear. ‘Just do it’ will have to be the new motto!
some would definitely call it procrastination!
Exactly John! I know I was that person making excuses at one point. It finally came down to whether or not I wanted to do it. When I decided it was myself holding back, it became an easy decision.
rock it out joseph!
I agree, I thought about Launching my blog many times before I actually launched. Finally I decided to just do it about 2 years ago. It’s been awesome. Thanks for the reminder to just do it already.
well done man!
I lunched imperfectly
http://www.mikezserdin.com
Thanks John. You’ve been a bigger part of this process than you probably realize.
Mike
lunched!
I waited a month before launching my blog.
Actually, it was a re-launch. I’d toyed around half-heartedly with blogging for a few years before, but had no theme, posted irregularly and had no idea how to get and keep readers.
But then I thought that if I was going to do this thing, I might as well do it right. So I decided to get serious. I picked a date out of the air and spent one month to prepare. I researched how the greats did things, read various blogs, came up with a theme, and studied blog designs and post structures. (By the way, I was hanging on every word you guys posted during that time!)
I also worked on blog posts, getting several written before my launch; the last thing I wanted was to launch my blog and then have something happen so I couldn’t post on the new schedule that I’d created.
I used Twitter and Facebook to drum up interest, made connections and asked questions.
Finally, I hit publish.
I knew my blog wasn’t going to be perfect and that’s not what I was going for. I realize that it’s going to take time to get things figured out and that sometimes the best lessons are learned through mistakes. I had just wanted to be prepared and I was being proactive about it by setting up a plan so I wouldn’t fail right out the gate.
Already, I’m seeing some of that success that I had planned for.
I’m not arguing against going for it and just getting started, but I do think there’s relevance in putting together a plan before you just dive into things.
Thanks for this great post! You guys always do an awesome job
sure, i suggest giving it some plan if you like to manage it better that way and if you’re building momentum towards launch… then great! do just that!
but launch.
The best way to start anything is to simply jump in it without preparation because most of the time “sometimes” becomes “never” for people who are too lazy to act on behalf of their dreams. I’d rather start something a year ahead of time when I’m not-so-good at it, rather than start something a year later with it all planned out.
just jump in, for sure!
I must respectfully disagree. Yes, you shouldn’t just keep saying “someday I’ll launch a blog.” That applies to any aspiration in life. I think you’re confusing the issue by addressing the crippling issue of perfection, and dismissing the importance of practice in private. Craig (above), who so dismissively mocks the idea of writing a few months of posts first, suggests I’m not the only one who is reading your post this way.
I’ve been blogging since the mid ’90s, before the term “blog” existed. And in the blogging class I teach at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland, I recommend six months of writing before launch. I feel, if you haven’t blogged before, that this is a critical opportunity to 1) find your voice, 2) develop your style, 3) learn what types of posts bring out your passion.
New bloggers also find it hard sometimes to keep to a schedule as well. This “practice” blogging helps them develop that discipline/muscle memory while also building up a backlog of posts for those times when life makes it difficult to generate.
Yes, of course a blog evolves. Yes, of course a blogger should explore new directions and continue to grow. But I no more think you should tell an aspiring blogger who has never done it before to just jump in and learn while doing, in front of the world, then you should tell someone to dive off an ocean peer and just learn to swim. As a teacher, I believe in teaching, not encouraging people to risk drowning.
EXACTLY! Thank you for stating this so explicitly Patrick! I think this is much closer to what I was trying to explain in my comment earlier.
I had blogged for a few years before my re-launch, and had already developed much of my style and voice. One of the things I’m still working on is finding what I type of posts I like to write and trying to get away from the “me-me-me” and actually offer something valuable to my readers.
Until now, I’ve never written posts a head of time, but felt that if I were going to do this right, then I couldn’t chance missing a post. I didn’t quite get six months’ worth saved up, but still a good plenty – as it is, I’m still writing extra posts a head. Doing this is teaching me to write faster and be more efficient with the little time I’ve got.
I like the last line you have too, “…I believe in teaching, not encouraging people to risk drowning.”
Cheers!
Patrick,
I respect your position but I am from the camp and perspective of experimenting and trying it out on the fly, learning from your mistakes, and getting first-hand experience. In addition, there’s something that happens when you go public with your attempts and writing online is vastly different than writing for books or other offline media.
In addition, I am a teacher myself and my blog is evidence of this. To use the metaphor of drowning is unfair since my blog is evidence that I’m not interested and haven’t suggested this strategy in any regard (it’s chalk full of resources to get the best start) and it’s not nearly as dramatic as drowning as no one’s losing a life here.
I even mentioned a number of times how I understand the fear of trying something new and recognize it as real thing – but i challenge them to overcome it through action.
appreciate your differing perspective and appreciate you!
Hi John,
I read your post recently, and it acted as a steel-toe boot to the butt to get moving and start that blog.
Well, you’ll be pleased to discover that I’ve just published my third post in four days. And, it is getting a bit easier, too. Still, one has to set aside some thinking and writing time. (These aren’t always done concurrently.)
Thanks for your inspiration! If you check out today’s post, you may find it interesting. :^)
I’ve been thinking of this little nugget for quite some time. Thanks so much for the inspiration to push forward regardless of the outcome. Much appreciated.
You can’t learn to swim without ever jumping into the water… That doesn’t mean you have to jump into the ocean first though
The same applies for any endeavor. No matter how much you practice, you will never experience true growth and learning until you jump in!
If you practice practicing, you will only ever get good at practicing.
Love your blog, thanks for the focused helpful content!