Today, I wanted to talk about my new obsession: blogging and web development. I’ve done web site building and administration for a while and I’ve done almost every site for GetMorePC, but recently I’ve began to immerse myself in the wonderful world of blogging and building web sites. Its kind of weird, because I’ve always been a writer, but I’ve always written human legible text. Now I’m also writing machine legible text that ultimately will describe the way in which a web site or blog appears on the page.
I’ve told every website customer I’ve had the importance of blogging, but I’ve not done it myself. This is part of the reason you’re reading this blog: I’ve decided to take a dose of my own medicine and began blogging every day like I’ve told my customers to do for so long. The importance of blogging for your business rests in the fact that you will be creating new content around your area of expertise. You’ll be contributing work to your field of study in an easily accessible way, by creating a body of literature you can refer clients to and everyone can use. All of this doesn’t matter if you don’t blog, since you don’t have to worry about contributing to your area of expertise, content to stand on the sidelines and watch as things change and evolve. But when you do stand up on your hind legs and look out over the heard of sheep around you, you’ll notice trends, you’ll notice changes and you’ll notice things no one else can see, because they aren’t standing in your shoes.
When you choose to blog, you choose to report on what you see and make it public. This freedom of information doesn’t have to be telling of secret business practices or techniques; those probably can’t be expressed in words because they are intuitive and personal. What I’m talking about is industry trends and the direction of the market you work in. If you can somehow give an insite into what’s going on with what you do, your customers and your potential customers will see you as a source of knowledge to be tapped and used in business.
No one else has your perspective. You may think what you see is common, but it is almost always common only to you. Your point of view is what you have that is unique, no matter what you do or where you do it. By expressing this perspective, not only can you yourself look at the progress of your growth, but your readers can also bear witness to the fruition of your labor. Tell your story and listen to other stories and you will become part of the ebb and flow of information that connects us and brings us together.
Where I meant to go with this is here: my main push for business websites is towards blogging. Sure you need the general information about the business, contact information, hourly rates, percent rates, and other statistics that change with the market. But you also need fresh new content to attract readers and search engines to your site. The new content you create should be relevant to the general purpose of your site and relevent to something people want to read about.
You can’t win them all. There have been multiple days that I’ve wondered if anyone is reading my blog or if I’m just getting crawled by search engine spiders and web bots. I’ve got numbers to show page views and viewers, but I’ve only once got into a serious discussion about technology that bloomed into a full conversation. Of course it was with a Mac fanboy and my site is called GetMorePC, but I still relished the time and attention I know that he put into reading and analyzing what I had written. I crave more of that kind of involvement, not for purely financial gain, but for the creation of dynamic content that means something to someone. I don’t care if someone disagrees with me; in fact, I hope they do, if it will engage them in meaningful conversation on the site. That said, I don’t want to make anyone mad or start any trouble, I just want to have my blog read and reacted to in some meaningful way, even if that means solidifying your views as an Apple fanboy.
I can’t describe how much fun I’ve had writing these blogs every morning. I have no desire to stop and will continue until I can’t write anymore. To wake up and engage my mind in the creation of content is refreshing and everyday jumpstarts my brain into thinking critically and purposefully. I encourage you to think about what you do and how you want to shake up your industry and report on what you see. But even more importantly, I encourage you to write about it. If you’ve dealt honestly and openly about your content on your blog or website, then I guarantee you’ve done things The Write Way.
“…If you can somehow give an insight into what’s going on with what you do, your customers and your potential customers will see you as a source of knowledge to be tapped and used in business…”
The very essence of content curation. This is as important a reason to blog as any there is. Well stated, Daniel. Thanks for sharing!