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Expertise Comes in Shades of Gray

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Yesterday there was a blog post suggesting WordPress sucks along with its top-notch themes Thesis (which I run here) and Headway (which I started my blog with and switched).

After commenting on the post, I saw a tweet about the same post suggesting the author was absent his morning java to have written something so ridiculously futile (that’s with a long “I” as the Borg say).

This got me thinking about expertise and how it’s defined. I am an expert in public relations; are you? Perhaps to some degree you are, and mayhap not to the same extent as I.

I am not an expert blogger, however, nor do I relish the steep learning curve the IT and back end present. This is the gist of what the aforementioned blog post said – the back end of any blog is a daunting adventure. To blog expertly, one needs mastery of the back end.

As my friend Gregg so aptly puts it, “Jayme, this should be like falling off a log to you.” So I cringe, nod my head, bow it in shame, and continue to attempt to do it all myself and make silly non-expert mistakes which eat my time and efficiency.  And, I insist I’m doing this for the sake of learning and becoming an expert…one day, sigh.

Next to those guys leap years ahead of me designing their blogs in cool themes and developing new WordPress apps, widgets, and plug-ins, I’d like to think my content rocks.

I know for a fact that expertise is a gift; the more you earn it, the more you need to give it away. That’s exactly what I’m doing here; helping the next peep merely stumble on the path rather than take a hard fall.

Expertise comes in all shades of gray; I’ve just begun to color. What tint are you?

Cow Tipping & Blogs

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Ever hear of cow tipping? My mom did it when she was a kid. Apparently the cows sleep standing up, and when you shove them they tip like a domino (or some such).

Anyway, the headline was meant as a grabber (did it succeed?) to focus attention on the operative root word “tip.” We are tip lovers, and even that YouTube video above is in tip form!

When was the last time you read a “top 10 list?” (Oh, about 10 seconds ago.) I’m guilty as charged, and the two (only) blog posts I’ve written with tips have received the most retweets on Twitter, too.

It’s always interesting to notice patterns when blogging. I’m going to share a few for your consideration and ponder, too.  May I resort to being tippish?

  • Checklists and tips are some of the most reader-friendly content you can develop. That goes for blogs, too, and I think it’s because the tone is appealing, it’s educational, and quick.
  • One never knows if anyone is reading a blog, or not. What keeps me going are the people who send emails or tweets mentioning a cool post they read.
  • People who comment on a blog are few and far in between. I’m not sure the invitation at the end really makes a difference in encouraging comments either.
  • Focusing a post on a Fortune company with intriguing commentary helps elevate content to be more authoritative. It also helps bring in the spam, too.
  • There are more tools available for bloggers than one can ever hope to research; it’s daunting out here.
  • Focus first on content – keep it fresh, keep it active, keep it current, keep it energetic.
  • Set some goals to explore applications and tools regularly. Not only will you learn, but others will learn alongside you.
  • Teaching is part of giving back. Because my profession usually gets a bad wrap, it’s imperative I teach youngsters wending their way through a growth curve and offer sage counsel about success in public relations.

That goes for blogging, too. Hope a walk down memory lane or a “you’re kidding!” were the reactions you got from this post. I see no change on the horizon. My trending forecast remains bullish on tips. Tip it up galore, just don’t get all tipsy about it.

Blogging Remarkability

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Last evening, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a group chat in real time on Tweet Chat  captured by #SBT10. It was an esteemed bunch of experts from the Start Blogging Today  online course, in which I’ve recently enrolled.

The cadre of folks on board last night offered fabulous tips for bloggers concerned with traffic, finding a voice, consistency, partnerships, content, and more. I want to share what was pertinent to me and see if it resonates with you, too:

  • Bloggers need to be remarkable, said John Haydon, and Dr. MacNamara defined that as Seth Godin’s Purple Cow.
  • Play the edges, added John, and present content in a way that’s 1000% you.
  • Dr. MacNamara asked for unique content that has “your personality intertwined.” Readers want to connect with an authentic person.
  • Grant Griffiths, the ring leader, said to talk with your audience, give them answers to questions and solutions to problems.
  • Grant suggested bloggers should network with other bloggers you regard not as competitors but as potential partners in the future. Networking should be done with bloggers you can grow with and not just the “big boys.”
  • Grant mentioned bloggers should not stand in the crowd, but stand out from the crowd. Set yourself apart from others in your niche.
  • Bloggers should write content about their particular area of service or business and write about what they know and their expertise will show and you’ll get noticed.
  • A blogger will be sought out if s/he remains laser focused on the purpose of the blog, added Dr. MacNamara.
  • And, this point is particularly appealing – Grant suggested bloggers listen to their audience and give them what they want and not what you think they need.

It’s an intricate statement. What do you want, dear Friends?

Good Plans Don’t Break

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Yesterday, my contractor tore through old dry wall in the family room and removed plumbing in a closet to cap off a wet bar. The plan was to make this room, built on a slab adjacent to a garage and two outside walls, livable during cold weather. With insulation to code and new dry wall, we’d be able to do our thing and not freeze (the heat never reached that room from the lower-level furnace about 800 feet away).

Good plan, eh?

Yes, until the first signs of termites showed up, and then the infestation of live ones, along with the fresh mouse droppings just under the bar countertop being removed IN the family room.

Good plan broken? Nope, “just” a derailment.

 A need for squeamish flexibility on my part to alter this and that, add some steps that require my immediate education about termites, a call to several experts, including the current service provider who apparently has not been delivering great service, and stop-gap measures (literally) to plug some holes. And, perhaps some solid wishful thinking that this, too, shall pass.

Segue to the blog and the trials and tribulations to launch. Those who read my tweets of pain during those horrid IT nights attempting to do what I didn’t know I didn’t know but eventually got a feel for appreciate what I’m talking about.

A good plan starts with the end result. It’s accented with steps required to reach and attain that goal and outcome. To blog:

  1. Get a Web host of your own and publish your blog on your own server. (That requires a lot of ancillary steps to make happen.)
  2. Select a foundational blogging platform. In my case WordPress (a fabulous content management system one can even use for a Web site).
  3. Choose a theme of the 1,194 available (I went with Headway and crashed; now am running Thesis). That was another obstacle with tech issues galore, and I had no idea without help to solve that issue.
  4. Design the blog with colors that match (easy, you think?), branding that flows, and a bunch of widgets that ensure a reputable image at first blush.
  5. Find a voice. Write daily. Fuel controversy. Feed commentary. Market the blog. Do SEO.

Within each of these steps are little land mines that cause derailment for any number of days, weeks, and even months. Currently, I’m on step four trying to solve branding issues.

The moral to these true and happening-now stories is about planning. No one attains a goal without a good plan and steps from A to B to get there. Success is about flexibility and permission (from self) to explore other options and avenues which may take you down a rickety path until you get righted and back on track.

No matter how established you are, know that good plans don’t break, they just take longer to make happen. Exploration is education.

Blogger’s Reflection

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Today’s post is much about balance and harmony – finding that Holy Grail of work/life balance that feels so unattainable. The news does nothing for that – Greece, oil and environment, terrorism plots foiled and more coming, financial reform, Congressional fighting, product safety, health fears and obesity, greed and need of money, taxes and audits.

And, then, there’s the blogosphere. I’m new; this is my 45th post. I’m a mere babe still trying to find a voice and perfect a direction and target audience.

Blogging is thrilling, pressurized, heady, demoralizing, and a confidence boost or confidence bother. It’s exactly what you make it, how you regard it, and how you address the emotions that come with it and people who insert their opinions.

Those whom you’ll meet on the path may love what you say, disagree wholeheartedly, perplex you with a comment, suggest foolishness to content or writing style, and pressure you to think outside the box.  It’s what makes blogging real, and pushes you to improve with every post. 

Reading others’ blogs religiously may be a blogger’s biggest idea killer. Keeping up with the Jones’s and developing a topic that resonates with everyone is impossible. Writing style either nods heads or provokes consternation. Content ticks someone off, or pushes someone to tell a story of their own in agreement.

Here are more of my Blogging 101 tips to add to those I developed early on:

  • Select a topic that jazzes you, not one that everyone else is writing about that day or week.
  • Regard comments as enrichments to the conversation; consider these perspectives as fodder for thought, further content, an opportunity to stick to your guns or alter your own opinion.
  • Be of healthy mind when opening yourself to the world.  Comments can get under your skin and raise doubt or make you soar with the excitement of the post (I loved the Nestle and Greenpeace posts).
  • Be wary of those who seek to dismantle your inner serenity and sense of self but be open to the perspectives that push thinking to a higher plateau.
  • Take a day off; no one is asking for 7-days a week of posts. Find your own healthy rhythm, and when it feels like a chore, take a closer look at from where those emotions are coming.

Attaining 100 percent compatibility with the world is unattainable; if that’s anyone’s blogging goal then find another way to express yourself.