The book, “The Flinch”,
To complete the assignment, I am passing it onto YOU.
Today’s Lesson
My blogger friend Davina told me about this book and when she forwarded the link to me, I downloaded it immediately. Within the first few sentences, I was hooked.
I knew “the flinch” played a major part in my life and wanted to learn more.
The first words which resonated with me are in the introduction,
This is a book about being a champion, and what it takes to get there. It’s about decisions, and how to know when you’re making the right ones. It’s also about you: the current, present you; the potential, future you; and the one, single difference between them.
It’s about an instinct “the flinch” and why mastering it is vital.
This book is about how to stop flinching. It’s about facing pain.
Now you might be asking, “What does this have to do with blogging?”.
Let me share a few more paragraphs,
Forget secondhand learning. It leaves no scars. It doesn’t provide the basic understanding that sits in the body as well as in the brain. There’s no trace of its passing. It might as well have been a dream.
Firsthand knowledge, however, is visceral, painful, and necessary. It uses the conscious and the unconscious to process the lesson, and it uses all your senses. When you fall down, your whole motor system is involved. You can’t learn this from books. It just doesn’t work, because you didn’t really fall. You need to feel it in your gut – and on your scraped hands and shins – for the lesson to take effect.
But if you’re surrounded by padding, scar-free learning is all you have left. It defines who you are. It limits you, but those limits aren’t actually yours – they’re the limits of the men and women who came before you.
When I read those words, I was reminded of how easy it is to learn blogging from others. How we can avoid making the same mistakes they did, and how we can possibly advance faster in the blogosphere if we follow the lead of fellow bloggers.
But, is that REALLY beneficial? Is it REALLY helpful for a blogger to NOT go through some of the pains associated with trial and error?
I think it’s one thing to learn how other bloggers succeeded, what steps they use(d) to promote their blog, what they think of different blogging issues and to even hear about the mistakes they made, but that’s their blogging journey. Not ours.
To copy what others do (or have done) “may” work for us, however not learning from our own mistakes, could be detrimental to our authenticity.
It could also make us lose sight of other possibilities.
That’s not something I want.
What about you?
Today’s Assignment
How do you prefer to learn blogging?
Trough trial and error, including by making mistakes?
Or would you rather fast track your blog and avoid the pitfalls?
Care to share?
Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 
For some blogs, it can take months before someone comments. For others, a matter of days.
It’s when we feel what we’re sharing isn’t being read, we think of giving up.
After all, blogging is supposed to be interactive.
Today’s Lesson
I feel fortunate that I receive the amount of comments I do. Comments inspire me to continue on. Comments inspire new posts. And via comments I get to meet other bloggers.
But it wasn’t always that way. My audience (or lack thereof) remained silent for quite some time.
I’d publish posts, but no one seemed to care.
But I didn’t give up.
What worked for me were five things.
Not every blogger reciprocated with comments on my blog, but some did, as did some of their readers. HINT: Comment on new or smaller blogs. Generally, A-list bloggers do not reciprocate comments.
I set up a series which I named, “New Blog Of The Week” (NBOTW) and hunted for new bloggers (usually under four months old). I used Tuesday as my NBOTW day and would write a post showcasing their blog, including excerpts from three of their posts/pages and included links to them.
This was a slow process, but over time, I began to build my readership, as well as my blog community.
I’ve discontinued this series, however, the list of 90 blogs remains here.
Even if you feel your post is complete, it doesn’t hurt to ask your readers, “Did I forget anything?’, “What are your thoughts on this topic?”, or ____fill in the blank___.
Give readers a reason to comment.
Although I occasionally miss comments which show up on older posts, my goal is answer all comments I receive on this blog.
Unfortunately, due to the amount of spam I receive, I closed the comments on posts older than 90 days.
Liz Strauss, of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers is known for the huge amount of comments she has received over the years so naturally she was the one I approached for advice.
In a two part interview, I asked Liz, How to Maximize Blog Comments and How To Get Readers To Join Your Community.
The information Liz shared is priceless.
For some bloggers, comments aren’t important, but for others, they become the real reason to continue on.
Today’s Assignment
What technique(s) do/did you use to entice your readers to comment?
Care to share?