panel post-mortem

For those of you that were unable to attend last Wednesday's "Blog Out Loud", I'm happy report I didn't completely embarrassed myself, or at least I don't think i did. Believing I semi-dodged that bullet, I ended up having a good time. I ran into some old friends, made a couple new ones and learned a few things. 

The most telling moment of the night was when Rebecca Orlov asked how many people blog. About one third of the audience raised their hands. As I said on the panel, blogging is a real pain in the ass. It takes a huge commitment and a tremendous ego. Who knew there was such a large number of disciplined narcissists with a masochistic streak. That's some of what I learned. This is what else.

There is an infinite number of reasons people want to blog other than the deep human need to express ourselves. To promote a business. To create an additional revenue source. To maintain relevance. To share your views. To amass an audience. To communicate internally. To stir debate. To build a brand, individual or corporate. All of these reasons and more were represented. I never really thought about it all that much until Wednesday night. 

I don't know if I communicated it very well on Wednesday, and for those of you not in attendance, these are my three rules of blogging.

• Know your audience. 
• Provide something of value. 
• And then, give it to them often.

Being a wily veteran of nearly 8 blogging months, I have found if you can be consistent in your niche with a strong point of view, you'll capture an audience and most importantly achieve the goals you set. 

The other element I feel is critical is transparency. People go the blogs to avoid the corporate dominated messaging that overpowers our society. Blogs are not based in fact. They are based in opinion. But, at least you can tell the difference. I can't say that with any confidence about the mainstream media. So at the risk of sounding cliche, keep it real. Your agenda must be pure and overt otherwise the readership will instinctively see right through it.

The last thing I'll say about blogging, it isn't for everyone. As noted, it's time consuming and generally a pain in the ass. If you have a day job, it's in essence moonlighting. The rewards can be incredibly fulfilling. However, if you decide it's not for you that does not mean you can't participate. 

Become a regular commentor on the blogs you frequent. if you find the topic interesting, post the links on your Facebook updates, re-tweet on Twitter, send it to a friend via email or pass it along on whatever is your preferred social media outlet. If you want to be more proactive without actually committing to the daily regime, ask your favorite blogger if you can guest post. 

For those that want to participate I widely encourage comments. Also I respond to most to help spur on the conversation. And to reiterate something I've written in the past, there is an open invitation to guest blog. I love to get a different point of view on here. Plus, even my ego needs a break now and again.