Archives for January 2011

In Social Media, a lot of people look for markers. We strive for x number of followers. We aim for x number of subscribers. We want to get x many comments on our posts. We want x many fans on our Facebook pages. But there is a secret that you don’t always get a hint of when you’re just starting out.

Social Media is a place that never stops. It never waits. It never pauses.

You wrote a post that soared like an eagle? You’re not done. Get off those laurels. On to the next one.

You wrote a post that sank like a rock? There’s no time for moping in this space. Pick yourself up. On to the next one.

You got mentioned by a super big name and traffic on your site hit record highs? Set a new record and get ready to beat it.

On to the next one. On to the next one.

Your triumphs in Social Media never mark the end, nor do your failures. If you had a bad day, move on to the next one. If you had a great day – still move on to the next one. It begins fresh with every post, with every status update, with every tweet.

Is that scary? Yep. Sure is.

Is it also invigorating and a fun challenge? I think so.

You’re never done proving yourself here. You’re never done perfecting your craft. You’re never done picking yourself up. You’re never done picking other people up.

On to the next one. On to the next one.

And nobody can stop you but you.

PS, thanks for the inspiration, Jay-Z.

My Blog BFF kicks off the “Your Social Media Journey” series today with an awesome post about traveling from failure to success. Stanford Smith obsesses about how to get passionate people’s blogs noticed and promoted at Pushing Social except when he’s chasing large mouth bass. Check out his new Blogging Bootcamp to learn how to whip your blog posts into shape.

It’s a strange feeling at first.  It’s kind of like dunking a basketball for the first time or catching a monster largemouth bass.  You can’t believe it just happened but the evidence is staring back at you.

This is how I felt when PushingSocial.com got it’s first mention by Brian Clark at Copyblogger.  Instantly my blog  was on the fingertips of hundreds of people.  I watched the Tweetmeme button in shock as it climbed north of 100 in one day.

At that moment, I realized that this blogging “thing” could be fun.

That happened late June 2010 for my “Lady Gaga” post. I’ve had a blast ever since.

Margie asked me to kick-off her series on “Your Social Media Journey” and I had to agree.  You see, Margie and I have talked a lot about the journey and I have been fortunate to learn from her.  So I thought I would return the favor by writing this post to you.

What I Learned from 3 Blogging Failures

PushingSocial isn’t my first blog.  It’s just my first successful blog.  I failed at blogging for 3 years before I got it right.

The first time I spent tons of money on fancy designers and themes but couldn’t write a lick.  My posts were generic and hollow.  I hated writing them and it showed.

The second time I tried to outsmart my readers.  I needed to make money and thought I can wow them with fancy copywriting.  I was wrong.  I learned that readers have a sixth sense for authenticity.  I was a con-artist and they knew it.

The third-time I wrote from the heart.  My posts were deeply personal diatribes that plumbed the depths of my soul.  I enjoyed those posts.  My readers felt they were a third-wheel.  That was failure #3.

I should have given up but when I looked back I learned 3 key lessons:

1.    You can’t fake authenticity

2.    You can’t con your readers.  They always know if you are the real deal

3.    Posts must solve reader problems

Pushing Social is Born

In May 2010 I tried blogging again.  This time, PushingSocial would be focused on helping new bloggers get noticed.  It was an experiment to see if I could be authentic, helpful, and relevant to a tough crowd of business people and writers.

I resolved to keep writing no matter what for one complete year.  Every week I would publish a post even if I was on my death bed.  I would ooze passion and be ferociously optimistic.

My topic wasn’t unique – but I was.

9 months later, PushingSocial is doing “alright”.

If you want to succeed in blogging you have to decide to not quit.  You can evolve.  You can fail.  You can rant and shake with homicidal rage.  But you can’t quit.

I’m convinced that our best bloggers quit one post away from greatness.

Think about it.

What Makes My Journey Fun

PushingSocial taught me how to be human.

I have over 1,000 subscribers who rely on me to deliver inspiration and practical information every week.

I have 3,000 Twitter followers who trust me to filter the world through my lens of passion and Midwest honesty.

I co-run a greasy digital after hours joint called #Tweetdiner that is home to misfits, dreamers, intellectuals, and artists.

I’m an introvert so all of this attention and commitment makes me nervous.

Fortunately, I reached out to people who understand what I face everyday and are quick to offer encouragement.   These blogging buddies keep me genuine and make the journey fun – even on the bad days.

Margie has helped keep me sane on bad days and made me better on good days.  You need a Margie too, So, find them sooner rather than later.

What Lies Ahead.

I am a strategist.  I have 2011 planned out in excruciating detail. But it’s just a plan. My readers are my real compass.  I will go where their problems take me.

How about you?  What does your 2011 journey look like?

Image by Kaylie Horch. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/klie17

For awhile now, I’ve been telling you my tale about how I finally got comfortable using Social Media sites. Well, for the most part. Along the way, I’ve passed on things that worked and things that didn’t.

However, I’m not the only one who has gone through these trials, tribulations, and successes. So, for the next several Mondays, you’re going to see a series called Your Social Media Journey. People from my community will be sharing their own stories of how they got used to Twitter, how they bore the frustrations of blogging, and what they learned along the way.

Hopefully, if you are struggling right now, these stories will stand as proof positive that we ALL have been there and it does get better.

The series kicks off tomorrow with my friend Stanford Smith from Pushing Social. Stay tuned! And if you want to offer your own tale to the series, let me know!

Image by Chris Coglietti. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Marsau

Have you noticed that Lady Gaga’s name is constantly paired with Madonna’s in the news? In fact, if you Google the two names together you get a funny range of results, from “Madonna says she’s very flattered” to “Madonna says Lady Gaga is a copycat.” You have people who claim that Lady Gaga is too original to be imitating anyone, and you have people who claim that Gaga’ s hit Alexjandro is a mix of Madonna’s Vogue and Like A Prayer.

Is imitation really the finest form of flattery?

This whole Madonna/Lady Gaga dynamic got me thinking about this crazy Social Media world. One perpetual fear that haunts bloggers is, “Oh man, someone has probably blogged about this all before.” And yet, a lot of bloggers spend a lot of time offering insights on how they blog, how they get inspiration, how they approach their craft, and how they do a lot of other things successfully. Is it really any wonder that a lot of the same material pops up here and there? Is that a bad thing? Then again, the line between “being inspired by” and “stealing from” can get just as blurry online as it can in the music world.

What’s a blogger to do?

Put on your meat dress and get to gettin’

It’s entirely possible that Lady Gaga purposefully incorporated Madonna-esque elements into her work. The comparisons were already there. Madonna was successful. And hey, there are only so many riffs out there. So what? The fact is that while Lady Gaga may borrow things from Madonna, not to mention other musicians, she is her own entity, and she has put her own twist on pop culture icon.

You can do the same thing in the blogosophere.

I have written on topics directly inspired by other people who blogged on the same topic from a different angle. I’ve linked to peoples’ posts. I’ve even argued with peoples’ posts in my own blog posts. But in the end, the resulting post was mine. My voice, my spin. You can show your influence without being a carbon copy. Heck, that’s how the whole music industry grew and evolved. You think Mick Jagger was accused of being a copycat when he emulated Muddy Waters?

I think not.

Bow to Madonna, remain Lady Gaga

How can you show your influences in your blog posts without worrying about seeming like a copycat? Here are some ideas.

• If you are responding directly to a post or are inspired by a post, include a link within your post to that person’s part of the conversation. This shows your readers that you are purposefully riffing on something that has been riffed on before.

• Absorb advice in this space the same way you learn the alphabet. Everyone learns their ABCs, but boy do we end up doing different things with those letters.

• Don’t cover topics that don’t fit with your mission, even if the topic seems to be doing well for another blogger. Be true to your identity and objectives. Abandoning your purpose for a few more tweets is a sure way to get people mad at you.

• Give credit where credit is due. If you find that you’re having luck with a certain approach or topic that someone else trail-blazed before you, say so. Call that person your muse. Call them your inspiration. Again, let people know that you’re aware of what is influencing you. This allows you to highlight how you are making it your own.

• For more ideas on how to channel Lady Gaga, check out my pal Stanford’s post called Lady Gaga’s 8-point guide to larger than life blogging. It’s an amazing chain of thoughts he has in there.

Are you in touch with your inner Lady Gaga?

Are you building on the resources around you while holding true to your own unique personality, voice, and mission? Are you worried that you might be straying too much towards those who have gone before?

Would Madonna be flattered or would she call you a copycat?

And most importantly, how can I help?

Over the last few days, there has been a lot of hubub (technical term) about Ricky Gervais and his hosting of the 2011 Golden Globes. Among the responses I’ve heard:

“Career ending performance”

“Went overboard”

“Inappropriate”

Now, I love me my Ricky Gervais. I just do. But when I heard that he was being asked to host the Golden Globes for the second year in a row, I was kind of surprised. I still remember him hosting the 2010 Golden Globes, and even I shifted uncomfortably in my seat on a few jokes he told. They must have known that he wasn’t going to go easy on people this time around. Still, I wanted to see what the ruckus was about, so I found his opening monologue on YouTube and watched it. All 5 minutes of it.

It was a big dose of truth more than anything else.

The problem is that sometimes people don’t like hearing the truth, especially when it is passed on in a comedic way with the intent of making people laugh. But let’s face it – Charlie Sheen did completely trash a hotel, on a Monday, with a prostitute locked in his room. Hugh Heffner is marrying a 24-year-old and he is 84. The women in Sex and the City are no longer 17. These are just plain facts of life.

The truth online

The Ricky Gervais controversy is interesting when viewed through a Social Media prism. In the online world, it seems easy to call a duck a duck. After all, unlike Gervais, we do not have to see looks of horror as we act out. We do not have to hear the gasps, nor do we often have to see criticisms of our behavior wherein our careers are consigned to the nether-regions. We can tout our desire to tell the truth and to call a duck a duck, but we don’t have to bear the ramifications of that kind of shocking truth-telling.

Humans are squishy, even if you don’t see them

Do you think Ricky Gervais would be under so much fire if he had done his act in a small night club? If it was played on HBO? If it was somehow worked into a television show? I highly doubt it. In fact, I’d wager that a lot of people would be proclaiming him “bitterly hilarious” or something like that. So what is it that people find so bothersome about Gervais’ Golden Globes performance? You want to know the truth?

I think people are envious of his bravery. And I think they’re a little freaked out.

After all, who doesn’t make fun of Hollywood stars and Hollywood movies? We just don’t do it to anyone’s face. In their faces.

It’s something to think about before you hit “publish” on a post that is aiming to spill some “truth” about a person. Would you walk up to him and say it to his face? Would you say what you’re about to send out into the world to that person’s mom or dad, or their spouse, or their kids? If you wouldn’t, should you send out those nuggets of truth while crossing your fingers that nobody involved actually reads them? What if someone you’re targeting does read your post? You won’t have to see their reaction. You won’t have to hear it. In this way, blogs and online communication platforms can be compared to atomic bombs. You push the button and you move on with your day. The results are not on your radar. But they are there.

Is that a better way to go?

What do you think?

What’s your take on this whole Ricky Gervais thing? What’s your take on the online truth-teller? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Image by Gölin Doorneweerd – Swijnenburg. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/babykrul