May
Why Blogging Takes Balls
Ask any blogging expert and they’ll tell you that you *should* be opinionated when you blog. Who wants to read bland, opinion-less, safe, on-the-fence posts when you can read something which sparks controversy and causes a raging argument in the comment section? (or is that just me?!!)
But it’s all very well sitting down to write a post that’s opinionated and “you” until you read it back and the doubts start creeping in…
- Will people think I’m arrogant/rude/stupid?
- Will it alienate people?
- Will people no longer like me?
- What will people think?
So you go back over the post and take out anything even vaguely offensive, anything controversial or anything which might alienate anyone…and what are you left with? A ball of fluff, a bland, opinon-less post and something which anyone could have written.
Will it ruffle feathers? No. Will it generate interesting debate, argument and commentary? Probably not. Will it expose you to opinionated, rude or even personal comments? Probably not. Will it make for a stressful experience dealing with said comments? No. Will it create raving fans out of disinterested observers? Probably not.
That’s the safe approach to blogging and it’s not a bad one, it’s just a boring one – which is fine if you want to be boring. But the alternative is much more interesting and exciting…
Imagine if you’d left the “you” in your post. What’s the worst that could happen?
- You get rude, insulting comments
- You get people unsubscribing from your blog
- You get death threats (this one’s not so funny, just ask Kathy Sierra)
And the best that could happen?
- You get people who totally agree with you and ‘get’ you
- You get a show of support from commenters fighting your point for you
- You get more subscribers because of the buzz you’ve created
From my own personal experience, I’ve written a few posts that have caused some controversy in my time. One post generated a few personally-attacking comments from narrow-minded individuals who really had no idea what they (or I) were talking about (yes, that’s my opinion!); another sent someone into a huff when there was really no need to (again, in my opinion) and yet another which provoked a couple of emails from disgruntled readers who ’strongly disagreed’ – these I really don’t mind; it means that what I wrote generated enough of a response to get them to take time to react.
I don’t intentionally try and lose us business or alienate people but on occasion, that may be the end result. In the words of Lauren Cooper: “Am I bovvered?” In truth? No, not really.
The kind of people who are going to take offence at what I write are probably not the kind of people PW would choose to work with anyway. We realise that our style and our personalities don’t suit everyone and if we don’t express them, then we’ve only got ourselves to blame when we end up working with less-than-ideal clients and partners.
But I admit, no-one really likes others to disagree with them nor to have personally-attacking comments left on a post. That’s why blogging (with opinions) takes balls. Do you have them?
Lea, blogging takes courage for this and so many other reasons! I agree that readers do want your blog to show your personality. While you don’t always have to court controversy they want your personal insight on subjects. There are also generational differences which is why here too it’s so important to know and understand your ideal client profile. You will not be able to reach everyone nor should you try. Thanks for having the courage to write this post, it’s great information! :-)
Hi Karen – thanks for the comment; you’re right, knowing your ideal client profile and audience is crucial. I’ve never really courted controversy intentionally (far too stressful!!), but the times I have done accidentally have proven to be far more effective from a marketing perspective than playing it safe!