How to Blog? Smart Blog for Smart Audience

Alright, this was the second day Keynote at Izeafest 2008 by one of the best speakers that I have sat in presence of. It was no other but the guy behind 43folders.com, Merlin Mann. This speech was very cool, and inspiring at the same time. Reason why? Because he had a voice. Having that said let me jump onto the details of the keynote.

The title of the keynote was: How to Build a Smart Blog for Smart Audience

What to Blog?

• Find an Obsession – something that you can’t stop thinking about. Something you can’t stop talking about. Something that your friends want you to not mention again because you say it so freaking much.
• Something unique – “Hit them where they ain’t”, so in a niche where no one is doing anything, so you can be the first one such as “Lesbians who love croquet”.

When to Blog?

• You either have something to say, share, and contribute to the community.
• When you have ORIGINAL Content which is RARE.
• Do you have a Voice? Well if you do then blog the shit out of it, and stop apologizing for what you say.

What should a Blogger Want?

• You want Respect: status, influence, fame, recognition.
• You want people to recognize you, whether they like you or not is their choice, but recognition matters.
• You want to make money, some money, a lot of money…
• You want to build participation on your blog.
• You want to get better.

How to Blog?

• Write Everyday, but Don’t necessarily post Everyday. “It’s not how many years you play, but its how many hours”. You don’t need to post everything you think about it at the instant second. Sit on it for a while, and see if your thought changes.
• Have five or six posts going on at one time. You can’t write your master piece all at once. You have to work on it step by step with a clear mind. How many of you think that you can write a 2000 word post, by just sitting at one place? I know I can’t because I get frustrated, so I walk around, take a break, or work at something else. Hence why you have 5 other posts.
• Have a Voice – If Content is King, then Voice is queen. Boring content (weak king) can be found dead at the corner of every street, but good content can be only found through the queen’s bedroom (voice). For example, you can find a wordpress tutorial at Balkhis, or at another site, but you liked Balkhis tutorial because you liked the way it was explained. The voice of it. So explain your obsession. If your obsession is writing tutorials, then do it well.
• Edit Everything – I need to do a whole heck a lot of work on this. But edit edit edit as Merlin said. Remove the parts that are crappy. Fix your errors. If your user points the error, then fix it and thank them. (I thank all of you correct my grammar because I know I make a lot of those mistakes).
• Get Better – Don’t just try hard. Try Harder because that is when you produce the best work. Work an hour or two, most people say that is enough. But that is slacking. Come back and work at an hour later, to edit. Don’t get used to of easy snacks (potato chips) because your blog will get fat and ugly.

What to sweat daily?

1. Why am I doing this today? (what good am I doing to my audience)
2. Who am I over serving today?
3. How do I know when I am done here? (Reevaluate why you are blogging every six months)

What not to sweat daily?

1. SEO – If it take times away from being good then don’t worry about it.
2. Traffic – It comes if you are good, so be good.
3. Ads, Design – refine and reflect later.
4. Fame – There is no relationship between talent and fame. “To be famous as a blogger among the bloggers is probably the saddest thing.”

Things to stay away from when blogging?

• Making a blog to make money – It is like “learning ventriloquism to meet girls” it happens but it is rare.
• SEO people who just want to trade links
• Being arrogant, or as Merlin says, Being a Dick.
• Shortcuts, they are just like Potato chips. I don’t want to be fat, do you?

Merlin’s Advice

Find your obsession. Every day, explain it to one person you respect. Edit everything, skip shortcuts, and try not to be a dick. Get better.

It took him 4 years to figure that out. So you have it to start with. Isn’t that awesome.

Once again, Merlin runs a blog at 43folders.com. I don’t know how you measure success, but if a guy is a keynote at a nice conference like this. Have 134,000 people reading his blog. He must know what he is talking about wouldn’t you say. Thanks Merlin for the awesome speech. It was nice knowing you. Oo and by the way, the project you inspired me to do, when it is done.. I will link you from there