While I was running with my wife Hilke today, I told her I’m frustrated with Wordful because the first two entries I wrote were so forced and unnatural. They each took me hours to write…can you believe that?
Her advice was to stop being so contrived, fuse yourself into Wordful because it’s an extension of you. Tell your own story, not just the one people want to hear.
So that’s the first thing that’s going to change around here. Whatever I end up doing with this (and believe me something will happen), it’s got to be a part of me and the way I can tell the story. I write so much better that way.
So, about this Editor as Writer, editorial integrity stuff. I don’t think I made it clear the first two entries, so this is what I mean: I think it’s important for writers on the web, especially bloggers, to adopt more of an editorial strategy than just a writing one. The reason why is because there is simply too much content on the web for anyone care about or even have the attention or time to commit to it.
Even if you were to narrow what content you choose to consume, there’s still too much noise and distraction to pay attention to the good stuff. Kevin Kelly of Wired Magazine said it best:
In this world we simply cannot deal with all good things…There are more useful tools than we have time to master. There are more cool websites than we have attention to spare. Forget about all junk, all the mass produced hits, and all the critically acclaimed creations that mean nothing to you personally. Focus instead on just the things that would rock your boat. There are still too many of them!
That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? And that’s also why I believe the duty of the writer (blogger, whatever) is not to merely “write about their passion” but to navigate their words so that it eventually outgrows them and blossoms into a real community of followers and supporters.
I know that what I’m saying is nothing new. I’ve spent the last two months solid reading and studying people who have achieved exactly what I’m saying and seeking: the personal (and yes very profitable) brand. Here are the people who I’ve studied and followed, with my terse comments added:
- Gary Vaynerchuk: most inspiring, best energy, noble and approachable, serious work ethic from the family business
- John Chow: one-of-a-kind (let’s face it only John can do what he does), gimmicky, shameless self-promoter. Not me, but I admire him for being him.
- Shoemoney: like John Chow, I could never be like him (Las Vegas-ish, high roller, “mad scrilla”), but again, all he’s doing is being himself and he’s killing it!
- ProBlogger (Darren Rowse): here’s a writer-editor offering total value. Less of a personal story here and more content…but that’s okay.
- CopyBlogger (Brian Clark): some very excellent blog posts on writing, but like ProBlogger I’m starting to think that all of these “How to Write…” and “7 Ways to…” articles are going to get worn down until they’re useless. Readers are sooner or later going to catch onto this style and start filtering it as marketing noise. (That’s where Wordful comes it heheh)
- Seo Book Aaron Wall: honest, sincere and prolific. I subscribed to his training program for three months and that’s where I learned about niche web marketing.
- Yaro Starak: clear, easy to understand and friendly. He’s given me the inspiration and tools to get rolling. Thanks, Yaro.
- Rich Schefren: super-high power, always intense, excellent “bigger picture” thinker. This guy intimidates me and I think that’s what he intends. I can’t put his reports down even with all that dire intensity I feel when I’m reading and for days after.
- Arianna Huffington: my editorial idol. She is where I’d like to take Wordful: big, major and highly influential. I’m going to personally approach her one day soon.
The websites of all these people are pretty much a natural extension of their personas. And that is my first elementary step in evolving Wordful.
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