I’ve actually been waiting for 2008 to hurry up and close forever, because for many reasons, 2009 just seems so much more promising.
Anyone willing to dip their toes into the social media-blogging web-o-sphere is sure to be pleasantly rewarded. The shift in American leadership will bring profound opportunities to people like us who embrace the potential of 21st century. (Aside: can you believe President Obama is from Hawaii and he surfs?) I think, as Gary Vaynerchuk says, now is the time to join the Gold Rush because if you don’t — you’ll be left behind.
I’ve made several resolutions in my head, and I’d like to share the ten most important ones, right here, right now:
- Stop being a nobody: On the web there are movers and shakers. I am not one of them, yet. I’m getting tired of following the gurus all the time while ignoring my potential for guruship. My number one goal for 2009 is the become known by many for being and doing great and original work. I think the secret to this lies on being true to myself and my talents, working my buttocks off, networking and embracing the community at large.
- Use my time wisely: I have a wife and four children, and that alone is enough to make many men settle for a stable 9-5 with steady pay and benefits. Not me — I’ve gotten this far living on just enough risk, luck and talent to scrape by. If I can pull together a bullet-proof schedule that leaves nobody or no task neglected — while staying fit and happy — then I believe I can accomplish everything else on this list.
- Take blogging seriously: It’s my goal to be a “pro-blogger,” or one who makes a good living from blogging and (see #1) — being a Somebody. I intend to expand wordful.com (and some other blogs I’m developing) into indispensible blogs of the 21st century. As far as other blogs/websites, here’s a hint of a few domains I’ve purchased over the past few months: wordful.tv, runnerbunny.com, hiddenocean.com, familycoaster.com and others which will remain unnamed.
- Focus on long-term growth: This means to use 2009 as the staging year for 2010 and beyond for growth of all aspects of my life: family, work and self. I’m not looking for any overnight schemes to make a quick buck, but rather building, word by word, minute by minute, a sustainable model of expression, profitablity, fulfillment and expansion.
- Publish only what’s excellent: I mean this very seriously. I’ve noticed on many blogs there are some posts which are clearly filler content, like someone in a one line post mentioning the DVD release of Lost Episode 5. I actually don’t look fault those type of bloggers because they’re riding a lot on their online popularity/persona/personality, and that’s okay. But that’s not what I want to be known for.
- Be more natural: In the early months of my blogging (from October to now) the greatest struggle I’ve had is trying to sound like someone I’m not. I’ve curved my writing to fit what I think is an acceptable if not commerically appealing voice. Simply said, it’s not working for me: writing becomes slow, labored and forced. Blog posts show up infrequently and it becomes a mental nightmare. Part of 2008 was a final realization and belief in myself that I can do this if I can just be who I am. When I apply this concept to blogging, success seems so much more attainable.
- Get this blog on the radar: People have to know who I am and what I’m offering. Aside from the bit-by-bit strategy of blogging, commenting, visiting forums, tweeting, etc., I plan to make connections with some of the people at the top. This means confident and courageous, unsolicited approaches to people like Vaynerchuk, Rowse, Huffington, Clark and many others. The only thing holding me back here is having an active blog and “original idea” in place so I’ll be taken seriously.
- Start making some cash-heesh on the web: My goal here is to earn an income of $1,000 per month by December 2009. This will be a considerable challenge because I seem to be at odds with being a writer/publisher and being a salesperson/marketer at the same time. I hate the fact that I am writing to get paid, even though it’s what I want to do.
- Write more and write faster: I’m a writer, and as I’ve said before there’s no more running and hiding from that fact. But if I’m a writer that means I need to write, right? I think there’s a huge backlog of things I was supposed to have written all the years I avoided it while dabbling in other trades — so I owe the universe a lot of words. One great skill I can merge into my writing will be my editorial experience, which will help steer and enhance the viability of my blogs.
- Support the new Obama Presidency: This is not a political statement, but a patriotic one. I usually don’t step forward with my inner most views on my country and its leaders, but I’m very keen on upcoming President Obama. From all accounts I’ve seen and heard he’s a genuine local boy from Hawaii (like me) who has answered a call to greatness (my aspiration, too). If I can be of any service or influence with my work with Wordful or anything else, count me in. I can no longer just sitback and watch while 21st century history is being made. I need to be part of it!
OK, readers: I’m out until next year, which is only 1 1/2 days away. Aloha and Mahalo and Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou to you all!
Nate
Charles,
“I think there’s a huge backlog of things I was supposed to have written all the years I avoided it while dabbling in other trades — so I owe the universe a lot of words.”
You owe the universe nothing. You can’t make up for lost time. Don’t put pressure on yourself of making up for the past. That’s a pressure no one can live up to.
-Nate
Charles
Thanks again for your comment, Nate, and Happy New Year to you and your blog.
You make a good point, because there was a reason I did what I did for all that time — it’s all lead up to who and where I am now.
I probably didn’t mean that statement in such a terminally serious way, however. Maybe more tongue-in-cheek, eh? After all, I’m writing into the future and bringing the rich experiences of my past to light.
I’ve got so much stored up that I’ll probably never run out of things to say…
Mike Quinn
Charles,
An impressive set of resolutions. My first impression is that many of your resolutions are accomplishable using the ‘yi shi er niao’ fighting style. As in 2 birds one stone.
Why not increase your blogging outside of wordful? One thing that might increase traffic to your site is to be seen in other people’s blogs, with the obligatory and not shameless link to your website beneath your signoff. This accomplishes a few things. First, the top three search engines place a large value on how many unique sites link back to your site. Second, clearly if people are interested in what you had to say, they will come back to your informative blog and check you out. Finally you can link from wordful to those places where you interact with the web outside of the how-to-write-a-blog framework.
I’d be interested in reading something about making the jump from reading blogs, to writing your own… Mostly on the how and the why…
Good luck on the resolutions.
Mike
Charles
Thanks buddy. Good to hear from you. As usual I know I can count on your intelligence to help me out. The blogging is a labor of love right now, hopefully something profitable one day. I’m aware of the commenting and have done some already. And sure enough, when I do, I pick up some traffic. You seem like a perfect candidate for a blogger…why not give it a try?
A Maui Blog
I am excited for you abut your new endeavor especially because I can relate. It’s the same with me. Anyway, I notice that I practically filled out the “recent comments” on your sidebar (didn’t men to dominate that – I just am getting carried away commenting on your good posts). I will definitely be adding you on my blogroll and your link will be on my sidebar. If and when you start adding blog link on your sidebar, please don’t forget my blog 🙂
Liza
A Maui Blog and Liza’s Eyeview
Yelwrose
Charles, your goals are inspiring and I am with you on every one of them. My mission is to improve the quality of content on the web by improving the quality of the writing. So many people are struggling and want to be better writers. I salute you, my friend. Are you working on an ebook yet? This would be a way to further your mission of helping others create great content and meeting your financial goals. And how about a regular newsletter? You’ve made a solid start here and I’m looking forward to seeing Wordful grow.
Best of luck,
Mary
Charles
Thanks for the support, Mary. We seem to share the same vision for a “better, cleaner web.”
I’m also concerned about the glut of over-hyped marketing and fakeness on the web. Don’t people know that selling out to mediocrity will never yield success?
With that said, I’d also like to see more personal authenticity, even if it’s at the sake of substandard writing.
Yelwrose
I think that the hype falls to the wayside eventually and authenticity sticks. It’s taken me a while to cut through a great deal of the garbage, but that also inspires me in that I know more and more that what I offer is (as you put it) “a cut above.” Stick to your guns, have faith and think big. Those “gurus” having nothing on you and me, except a head start 😉