The lovely Dinah Liversidge writes great blogs and always makes me think – so I invited her to write one for me and she’s come up trumps. Get a coffee, sit back and enjoy her thoughts about blogging.
When I first thought about writing a blog, I was concerned that I would find it a real challenge to come up with ideas worth writing about. There were, it seemed to me, only a limited number of ways we could express a point on any given topic. Did I really have anything to say that had not already been said? In truth, probably not; what mattered was how I said it and it took me some time to realise this. Once I was ready to share my story of experience in a way that helped others, I found coming up with ideas for blogs worth writing much simpler.
The first time someone left a comment on my blog, I was blown-away. They believed I had added value and made something clear for them. Something that had previously held them back and that, thanks to my blog, was now in their grasp to change. I was thrilled to see that the way I had voiced my experience of the situation he found himself in, had allowed him to look at it from a new perspective, with clarity. Had I come up with the meaning of life? Far from it; I had said something that others had said before, just in a different way. My way.
As you sit to compose a blog, the tools you have in your “bloggers bag” require careful assessment. What do you bring to your blog that nobody else does? Your personality, your experience, your view of life, your relationships with others – these are all unique. Nobody else has these like you do. Even the simplest of daily routines are completed in a multitude of ways because of the experiences of the people completing them. Each of these can be explained as though we have a unique perspective on them, because we do. Our life experiences influence how we see, hear and interpret everything around us.
I am not suggesting you share every aspect of your life on your blog (unless this is your thing of course!) I am asking you to consider that you can share your perspectives and experiences of situations and challenges in a unique way that others will connect with. Sharing our stories can be empowering for our readers and ourselves. It is liberating to admit the challenges you have overcome with others and hear their feedback. It is also important you are ready to take this step and do it in a way that is comfortable for you.
When you are busy living your life it can be easy to miss opportunities that arise every day for great blogs. I carry a Blog Book with me and note ideas for blogs as they come along – everything from observing people in a coffee shop and how they communicate, to learning from a challenge in my work. Every Friday I look at my Blog Book and think about which ones to write. I find myself going back to it regularly for inspiration.
Sharing our stories in our blogs allows others to do the same, it gives them permission to “make it personal” something I believe makes a real impact in business. People, as they say, buy from people and getting to know someone though their blog is a great place to start. Share a bit of your story in your next blog and see where it leads you.
Dinah Liversidge, Mentor and Motivational Speaker
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