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December 16, 2008
Just Blog Already
Yesterday I admitted that I'm a newbie on Twitter. Now for an even more shocking confession: I'm a novice blogger.
I would never have expected that I'd end up the primary blogger for a well-respected company -- the outward facing voice, if you will, trusted to publicly express the values and principles of a group much larger than myself. But it happened, and in a pretty painless way, I might add. [I keep telling people the ankle cuff and subcutaneous RFID chip aren't painful but no one ever believes me. --Susan]
I was lucky enough to be passed a torch from one of the most esteemed and beloved bloggers in a burgeoning industry, and I can pretty confidently say that I haven't screwed it up too bad -- yet. In reality, the responsibility of blogging wasn't as daunting or scary as I thought it would be. Basically, if I can do it, you can do it. And you should.
Blogs are an important source of knowledge sharing. Even when I don't have the answers to a question, I can still ask and hope some reader will chime in with their insights and opinions. Just the most basic conversation starter can spark debates that further the thinking of a community or industry. Even the act of writing helps to develop one's thoughts on a subject, bringing the discourse to a whole new level.
Why I'm telling this to you, I don't know. You already know the value of blogs. That's why you're reading this! With that out of the way, there are plenty of resources out there to help you direct your blogging efforts.
Personally, I take my blogging cues from my mentor. And one of our analysts introduced me to Steve Yegge's blog, which has an excellent post that knocks down all the reasons people have for not blogging. The moral of the story is you should be blogging.
One of the recurring themes of blogging best practices is be yourself. Lisa says that you should write with a style that reflects your passions and humanity. Steve says that people are looking for your real voice, and while not everyone is going to think like you, certainly there are those who do and they're going to be most interested in your real interests. Sometimes my most-read blog posts are the ones that I didn't spend tons of time researching and overworking. They're the ones where I just wrote off the cuff, straight from the heart. Who knew?
Posted at December 16, 2008 5:19 PM
View related entries in: Blogging
Comments
Posted by: Lily Grozeva at December 17, 2008 1:01 AM
Very well said Virginia. I feel the same way about blogging too. After all we are just human and need to interact with a human on the other side, otherwise we would all just read Encyclopedia Britannica for breakfast ...
Posted by: Virginia Nussey 
at December 17, 2008 3:40 PM
Hehe! Thanks, Lily :) My sentiment exactly.
As an update to my post, I just wanted to throw this how to blog resource out there from blogger and funny-man Merlin Mann (@hotdogsladies) during a series for the podcast Spark. (Hat tip to Cubicle Geek.)
Posted by: Heather Steele at December 23, 2008 7:39 AM
Isn't it funny how sometimes you get on a roll and the blog posts just pour out of you, and other times you sit there staring at the screen for hours hoping something will magically appear on its own?
One thing I think people do is try to be too formal. One reason I love your blog and decided to follow you on Twitter is that you write like a person. Great job!
Posted by: Virginia Nussey at December 23, 2008 8:58 AM
Thanks Heather! You are so right about the writing waves and dry spells. The best advice I can give is to make writing every day (or some other time interval -- whatever you prefer) a habit. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello! See you around Twitter :)
Posted by: Jeremiah Andrick at March 20, 2009 1:36 AM
Hey thanks for the nod Virginia. What was real cool was that the CBC folks reached out to me after posting that find.
Virginia Nussey
Susan Esparza
