The other day, I realized I have a bloggy problem. I realized this while I was out shopping with my mom and we were talking about clothes. She said, “I think this would be a good look for you.” I said, “Eh, I don’t know. I don’t think that’s my style.” “Well, what is your style?” She asked.
I think the crickets answered before I did. I may have responded, “Look over there! It’s Elvis!”
Then, something even worse happened. I realized that just as I don’t have a fashion style per se (Pants and shirt pretty much cover it, errr, me), I also don’t have a blogging “thing.”
You know what I mean, right? Like, you know that if you go over to pushingsocial.com you’re going to get great blogging advice along with some advice that carried over into other social media platforms. It’ll be actionable and strong. You know that if you visit with Lisa Petrilli, you’ll get to learn about leadership. You know that if you go visit other bloggers, you’ll get, generally speaking, a certain kind of post within a range of topics. They have a “thing.”
I have no “thing.” I never have had a “thing.” From the very start, I had the word “Musings” in my blog title. That should have been a sign that I was confused. Instead, I concentrated on the alliteration. I like alliteration. Don’t you?
So I’ve been grappling with this. Do I need a thing? Cuz I mean, the thing is, I get kind of bored. I don’t like ruts. Well, in some cases I do, like I generally like to eat and sleep at the same times. I’m almost like Rain Man in that regard. But blogging? I like to write about whatever pops into my head, which could be anything from the fact that I don’t have a “thing” to the fact that women still are fighting against that ole glass ceiling to my reaction at reading a great book that has nothing to do with anything else.
Do I do this at my peril? Does one need a thing?
I think about other bloggers I read a lot like Danny Brown and Mark Schaefer and Rufus the Dogg – they seem to cover a lot of different topics and they seem okay with that.
Is this much ado about nothing, or should I be worried?
If I was on a soap opera, I’d announce that I was heading to California to find myself. I wonder what the bloggy equivalent is. I reckon it’s this – what do you think? Do you have a bloggy thing? Do I need a bloggy thing? Or is my thing just not to have a thing?
I look forward to your thoughts!
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coincoyote/18848964/ v ia Creative Commons
Oh – I think you have a thing and I’d call it heart. Your common denominator is that you come at every topic or issue with that enormous heart of yours. Don’t change that.
@DWesterberg Thanks Dawn. That’s very sweet of you!
Isn’t this along the lines of defining “your” brand? I mean, what is margieclayman.com offering to the world? What do you *want* it to offer? Maybe you can bring all of this to the table, but categorize is more generally?
@Adrian Hoppel Well, I don’t really have a brand though. I’m here as a person that works for my family’s agency. My initial goal was just to learn how to blog so that I could help our clients. Then I thought, “Well, if I find success, that might get our agency more attention.” This is all a hobby, really, though. I am aimless 🙂
I’m so with you. My blog is all over the board. Keeps me from writing sometimes.
@Sean McGinnis I used to force ideas every day. Now I just sort of let them visit me when they feel like it. It seems to work out better for all involved 🙂
You’re nuts. You differentiate yourself from everyone else by being you. You are your brand and a pretty well-positioned one at that Ms. Clayman!
@leaderswest Well you’re sweet. So there! Thanks Jim!
I think your thing is to not have a thing. I think you are the keeper of the peace sometimes and musings seem to work for you. Your posts are intelligent and thought provoking. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 🙂
@PointA_PointB Thanks Catherine. I appreciate that!
Margie,
I call myself a dad blogger because I am and because I write about my kids. But I also write about writing, politics, sports, religion, technology and whatever else I want to write about.
It is all about whatever fuels my fire. Supposedly that lack of a niche can create issues because people don’t know what to make of you, but I think it is better for us.
@TheJackB Yeah, I know what you mean. I just wonder sometimes. As I am wont to do.
@margieclayman Wondering is good. An inquiring mind is superior to one that never asks why, but I may be biased on that account.
You once wrote a blog post about wanting to be Robin. https://margieclayman.com/im-aiming-for-robin
Being Robin is a thing – a wonderful thing.
@Faryna Fair enough. Darned readers who remember my old posts 😉
LOL I know what you mean! I don’t really have a thing either, which keeps me out of the book and pundit market. Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief on that one. Since birth, everyone has been trying to push me into some doghouse or other. In grade school, they try to weed those college-bound kids out from the trade-school kids, in high school it is all about college prep, in college, it is all about a major or study, then the career.. “What do you do??” Everyone tries to force a “Joe the Plumber” title on everyone.. it makes their world understandable… unfortunately for many, it limits their own view of who they are.. which is the sad side-effect
I have long given up trying to actually find a job. What are you good at? What does your career prepare you to do? “Well, I used to sell exercise bikes to paralyzed people.” Surely that has to be good for something. Meh. You’d think, but there is so little call for that skill set out there. Who knew? Since I work with computers mostly and can sling code easily, people are shocked when they find out I have an English degree. I watch that look on their face as they are recalibrating their brains, trying to figure out why a geek has an English degree. Some get it; most don’t. I’m just too old to care.
So, I mostly let other people be comfortable with defining me to themselves in their own minds. It makes them more comfortable. They need me to be in a “role” and that is ok. For those who really know me, they know not to define me. They are the ones who matter.
Ok, and now for something completely different, but still the same: A friend of mine @chriscelek is starting up this business video business and he asked me to be one of his guinea pigs. It kinda forced me to think a bit more about what DogWalkBlog is, but mostly I got to shoot a lot of b-roll footage.. which in an odd way, is kinda what DWB is. Anyway, we put this video together — without any prompting from me — about how he saw what DWB is.. kinda cool (and short!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QnuQ6w-hoho
Sometimes it helps to have that “outside looking in” point of view. Now, buy my book 🙂
@dogwalkblog you’re right – it is all about keeping people in those nice little boxes, like those lists on Twitter. Now you’ve made me feel all rebellious!
You are your ‘thing’; you are very talented and readable, know all the right people, what more do you want? I guess it boils down to what you ‘think’ you want to accomplish and given the current parameters, what you consider success.
At the end of the day, just keep it sustainable and fun; that is my sage advice FWIW.
@bdorman264 Thanks Bill. I guess I should just know when to be satisfied, huh? 😀
I agree with the comments here Margie. I like that your “thing” is being “thing-less”. I like the variety – Your Lincoln post is still one of my favorites. You write of the world around you, and that’s what appeals to me. I enjoy your approach to topics, and I hope you stay the course. It works.
@AmyMcGibbonLang Well thanks, Amy. I definitely enjoy being able to write about anything I want. I find that I like blogging a lot less when I’m trying to do a series on just one topic. It starts to feel kind of forced and stale, and I think it shows through in my writing quality.
Oh Margie,
You are wrong wrong wrong on this one. You do have a thing. It may not be an easily defined thing or your posts may not easily fit into a box. Your thing is that you are you every day and you challenge us to think. So keep doing your “Thang” and don’t change a thing.
@Fierce_living Thanks for that Jim. Always nice to see you over here.
Oh my goodness…you have the THING of THINGS MargieClayman …it’s why I keep coming back for more. To counter your argument…I KNOW I can go to such and such a blog to find out info on FB Pages for example. That’s all fine and well but, I really don’t need to know about FB Pages on a regular basis. But YOU….YOU I come to for interesting, intelligently written, thought provoking variety. Sometimes you make me laugh…sometimes you make me stretch…sometimes you make me think….THAT’S YOUR THING!!! ( I’m sort of cyber shaking you right now, you silly girl) Your home here is one of my favorite places to go because I know that each and every time that I visit here, I will be glad that I stopped by and, usually, that much more well informed. Don’t stop what you are doing…don’t change a thing. Just keep doing what you do oh-so well….write.
xo
Claudia
@SocialMediaDDS Well alright then. Color me way off-base with my concerns 😀 I’m cool with that!
Thanks Claudia. I love when you come to visit. I just wish I could serve tea and bloggy crumpets 🙂
Au contraire, Margie! You have a thing, and that’s why we read your posts every day. You write intelligently about what’s going on around us. You cover all those other things, but from a humanistic perspective. This is a perfect example. You are writing about blogging, but you are talking about how you feel about blogging.
I read most of those people that you’ve mentioned as well. Mostly their blogs are about what the rest of us are not doing so right, or how to tweak a headline, if I should use 2 or 4 pictures, embed tweets, put the opt-in at the top or the bottom, etc. But most importantly, they write about the same stuff all the time. And that’s fine.
I have a strong interest in leadership, and I read Lisa, Lolly, Becky and many more. But again, these are focused in their niche almost all of all the time.
But these are merely small snippets and components of life and who we all are.
Your blog is less of a drill. It’s less about what is wrong with my blog and more about what is going on and what may be wrong in the world. And, yes I love alliteration, and you are a great story-teller.
I must disagree with you Margie. You have a thing. Keep doing it
Martina
@martinamcgowan
@Martina McGowan Gosh…thank you!! This is not at all how I intended these comments to go, but I’m not complaining 😀 Y’all are the best!! THE BEST!!!
Margie, I, for one, love your wide variety of musings, rants and raves. You make us think about a wide variety of subjects, and share your opinion with caution thrown to the wind (I so admire that). THAT is your “thing!” And you don’t lie (still one of my fave posts EVER!). Please don’t go in search of some “thing” that will make you stray from this “thing” of yours that works SO well. 😉
@NancyCawleyJean I should have read this before my comment. What she said.
@NancyCawleyJean Thanks so much Nancy. I greatly appreciate that 🙂
MC Media,
You most certainly have a thing: You have a primary portfolio on social media. You often offer up a large part of MC with a double sized side helping of heart. That my dear MC is most definitely “a thing”. In terms of SEO to a specific audience, okay there’s a challenge. I can tell you your blog speaks to me (I was moved to comment after dinner, risking the wrath of my family, but they’ll get over it), so long as it speaks to you, I declare you found. But hey take the vaca to Cali, anyway, Time out is good for the soul.
@barryrsilver Oh man, Barry. If you want I’ll write a letter to your family explaining that your comment and the time you took to make it helped make me a really happy lady, so it was time well spent 🙂
Thank you!!
Lady you have a Thing! I second all other comments. No matter what topic you write about….you make us stop and think!
@dabarlow thanks dahlink 🙂
I tell my students that writers write for a variety of purposes. They write to entertain, to persuade, etc. The surprise for most students comes when they learn that writers write to think. By writing, we learn more about ourselves and our world.
To me, your blog is writing to think and share about the world. Perhaps a more thematic “thing” will emerge in time. Perhaps it won’t. You obviously have a good following so don’t change it :). If you find some themes, you can start selling books.
As my Aussie hubby would say, “No worries.”
Janet | expateducator.com
I guess having true style is about not thinking about it. I wrote a post on my favorite artist Calle 13 where he pretty much explains what you said in his very creative mind.
Your thing is being yourself. You are great at it so continue to create and not worry about that thing!
@RaulColon Thanks Raul. I appreciate it!