Remember the Root Goal

October 14, 2008 · Comments

effects There might be a better picture to describe the intentions of this post. I should start this blog post with a catchy anecdote; I’d better go find a story that matches what I’m looking for. I’m going to go ask Twitter what they think. Once I get that all done, I’m going to stumble, digg, mixx, sphinn, delicious, and reddit the post. After all that, I’m going to add it to LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and everywhere else. Then, I’m going to go comment on 10 blogs that have similar posts, and try to subtly convince people to come back over and visit my site, because hey, there’s a new blog post over here. Hey! Come look at this incredible blog post!

The goal is rarely that. The goal is conversation. Or if you’re someone else, the goal is sales. Or if you’re someone else, the goal is thought leadership. Or the goal is capturing business practices.

It doesn’t require the right picture. It doesn’t require a blog post. It doesn’t require anything very specifically, as much as it requires realizing that you’re doing what matters most to the goal. If my goal is to make money blogging, then I do a really poor job of it. If my goal isn’t about this blog at all, but for something larger, then getting tied up in my stats and things like that means I’m not focusing on the goal.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Right?

Photo credit, Michael Morel

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  • Chris
    Your point is well taken. Your route there is quite interesting.
    I wonder how many people were attracted by the photo? I was. Like Nicholas, I've owned most of these pedals--still own and use many. I read your blog most every day, but this post caught my attention more than usual. I went Flickr site, joined the pedal board group, and enjoyed looking through some of their photos.
    Then I came back here to comment.
    If your goal is indeed conversation, you're damned good at it.
  • Chris,

    Great post, I have owned most of the guitar pedals in the photo, and now use plug-ins on Pro-Tools 7 for most of my guitar recording. The illustration has merit in the context of your post.

    Your point is well taken, blog posts will not make you rich, but engage your community of subscribers with a forum to dialog with you about the posts. If someone is curious enough, they will discover your business-side, and the discussion can 'continue over there'.

    I am blogging on nine separate blogs because I love writing articles! I have blogged about ipods, skateboards, unicycles, guitars, dieting, weight-loss, cholesterol reduction and mesothelioma. I plan on releasing at least one post per day for the next thirty-days on HubPages.com as an experiment in 'revenue-sharing' there.

    Not one of these blogs has made me a dime, that is not what they are for, even though they are monetized to the maximum.

    Being perceived as an authority is what I am after. Once I have established my credentials, I may choose to market to those individuals who have an interest in that product or service.

    Being authentic is my goal in the next year, even though my next 'day job' will be paying the bills.

    Respectfully, Nicholas Chase 'the video guy' from BlogWorld Expo 2008
  • A good chance to think: my main goal with my blog is to write a book. So I get to put my thoughts out there, get into interesting conversations, see what interests people and what is boring. And discover what my book is about...writing to learn, as William Zinsser says. Along the way, other cool things happen. But you are right...I should tape a reminder of the "main thing" on the top edge of my laptop, and remember to do all the "offline" things that need to be done to get the book done.
  • Chris,

    Mainly, yes! Begin with the end in mind. Things I never worry about: images and maintaining 15 different profiles to capture two more in-n-out readers.

    Is it okay if I think my stats "deserve" to be better anyway?

    :)

    Regards,

    Kelly
  • Hi Chris,

    Great thinking. One question though, after leaving those comments on 10 different blogs covering a similar topic, do you also sibsribe to these blogs or just use them to drive traffic to your site / post?

    Cheers,
    Max
  • I'm so glad that I read your post. Because I am very new to the blog world, I have been reading and reading. I've read so much it makes my head swim. Getting back to the basics of why my blogs were created is very refreshing.
  • @Michael D. Wentworth: "City Slickers!"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k1uOqRb0HU&...

    @Chris Brogan: sorry for the link dude (feel free to delete). Love that movie...
  • That's the point.

    Everything else is marketing.

    And is marketing all there is to anything these days?

    When is a writer supposed to write, afterall...
  • Siobhan Bulfin
    Hey Chris
    In Boston with you at the New Marketing Summit on Social Media and Interactive Marketing - learning heaps - great work.
    Cheers
    Siobhan Bulfin
  • Good content...great content...is what initially attracts people. I think that what keeps them there is a sense of community that is established by the author. He/she gives back to his/her readers in some way that makes them feel welcome time and time again.

    When you first set sail and start blogging, it's easy to get caught up in the stats (you know, the push for "the big time" and instant popularity or increased sales). We push out the content and then forget about "the community" aspect of it all that ties it together...that keeps it together.

    People will say that it's foolish or naive of me to say that if you take care of the people...the community, the stats...will take care of themselves. But I say it with confidence and pride because I've been there...I've done it.
  • Excellent post. Without a purpose, what's the purpose? I run into small thinking all the time--people wanting to measure and control things, but not tapped into a deeper reason for doing it. Makes a thoughtful person want to rebel against pragmatism all-together. But that's not too practical, is it?
  • Hi Chris,

    Nice post.

    I guess my blogging goal is different than most. The older I get the more I see that all aspects of my life--business included--are about connecting with people, building relationships, and creating shared experiences.

    That may sound a little "greeting card-ish", but at a top level that's what it's all about for me.

    Remembering that keeps me on track and humble. Usually ;-]
  • I don't think everyone has their specific goals of why they blog. The main thing can be AWOL, MIA or even DOA. I have been thinking a lot about my main thing lately, and it continues to evolve. I read your ebook about Personal Branding and immediately thought that was my new main thing. It is now a major thing to me but not the main thing. So, do the major things drive the main thing? Maybe. What about the minor thing? Is it even relevant? I just know it feels good to write about what drives me and see that that matters to people. To write something that is helpful to me and others. Building an online reputation while doing it makes the deal a bit sweeter, but I don't think it's my main thing. I do know this. I think your main thing rocks. It makes me want to do mine better.
  • This very topic has been on my mind lately, too. I started blogging because a publisher told me to build an author's platform. Just last week I had a mini-crisis and then an epiphany, of sorts. The result was a refocusing (and a blog post, of course: http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=90). The "main thing," for me, is that I have stories to tell——stories that seem to resonate with many people, and make them feel less alone.
  • We all have a reason for participating on SM. For me, it is the experience - just gotta see what it's all about. I have been around the web world for years but only involved in blogging and social media for a month. I find engaging directly with strangers is an odd experience - even less comfortable than when I joined match.com years ago. It is like a combination of being in high school where everyone tries to be popular and living in the mental ward where you are walking around talking to yourself. The "main thing" is to see what presents itself.
  • Defining the "main thing" often happens as part of a process which begins by defining your voice and your audience, or readership. To be able to write with the understanding of who you are writing for, as opposed to writing simply for self-expression helps us to develop and direct our conversations rather than blathering on endlessly to no purpose. I am rather new to blogging and SM, but I certainly respond as a reader and consumer to those who, like yourself, actually have something valuable to impart, have a distinct voice, and a willingness to engage in dialogue. It doesn't take me long to click away from the me-focused-on-statistics-not-content writers. However talented they may be, it just doesn't resonate or ring true. May your work and service be together and may you always do what you feel passionate about.THank you.
  • I always believe that if you have a passion for what you blog about, then the content will speak for itself. Concentrating on stats everyday will only drive you crazy and, like Chris said, cause loss of focus. Focus, Daniel-son!
  • Hi Chris, I agree staying focused on the main goal is essential. I often find myself frustrated when I try to Tweet, Twit, whatever the heck it is!
    I have to ask though, you're pretty high up on the food chain here, if you're not Twittering, Digging etc., then what's your strategy, other than SEO, listing your blog and the basics?
  • Everyone has their own specific goals of why they blog, comment, engage in conversation or other activities. Some may do so for casual enjoyment, some to be thought leaders, some for social media optimization. Whatever the goal, I agree Chris, you need to keep it in mind, always. Or else you will get tied up.

    Craig
    www.budgetpulse.com
  • I like your philosophy, but I have doubts that it is that simple. Unfortunately for many of us that are on a solo mission, we have to wear a bunch of hats.

    I believe that our goal should be reflected in our work, but sometimes we have to take a detour.

    Still, a thought provoking post.
  • "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

    I like that very much.
  • Seems like you have started reading Brian Tracy
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  • I'm a newbie to your site. I see you're a very smart writer, and a person of great wit and common sense. Thank you.
  • J*G
    Chris,

    A very nice reminder of holding to the purpose. Your positivity is encouraging.
  • ron_miller
    Hi Chris:
    It's about the content and the quality of your writing. All the rest of that stuff, the social networking and the publicizing is just to get people to read it. You can write the best content in the world, but if nobody shows up,the content is lost in the vast internet shuffle. If we forget the content in lieu of the socializing, we have missed the point of what we do.
  • John Bell
    I know so many people who are just machines at "working" social media to remain popular. Content and conversation is a means to that end for them. I wish I did a better job of that but the reason I don't is probably because it is not important enough to me. I struggle sometimes with not being the most popular blogger in a category (especially since I made up my category - digital influence). Yet I have stayed remarkably consistent in my blogging beacuse I enjoy writing, capturing concepts that seem interesting at the moment, and connecting with others who share, if even briefly, an interest in one thing or another.
  • To keep focus one must know what that is first? For me, who is just starting to blog for business, the goals are very clear, connect others who collect, provide information about collecting, and hopefully bring new users to our site. However, blogging in the personal realm is a way more fuzzy concept for me. Why do it? Because it is a way to explore yourself and connect with others around you.
  • Michael D. Wentworth
    Oh yeah!

    Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
    [holds up one finger]
    Curly: This.
    Mitch: Your finger?
    Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit.
    Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?"
    Curly: [smiles] That's what *you* have to find out.
  • "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Right?"

    Yes, keeping the main thing THE main thing is correct. However, there may be some, like me (I hope I'm not the only one), who didn't have a main thing when we started. I saw a twitter demonstration, decided it was the best thing since sliced bread and jumped into 2.0 head first. Since that fateful afternoon in February, I'm blogging, uttering, digging, jotting, pinging, plurking, friending, following, powncing, videoing, streaming, lifecasting, microsharing, photographing, commenting, and so on and I'm loving it.

    I'm learning, engaging, exchanging, growing, meeting, interacting and conversing with people around the world I would have never known.

    I've discovered that this is my main thing and I'm working it everyday.
  • Thank you Chris, as I just tweeted to you, this is such a perfect observation.

    I created my blog to be a source of inspirational,insightful and mind expanding info for people, to enable them to grow beyond where they are today. When I stray from that and get "commercial" or salesy... I don't feel authentic and it feels uncomfortable. Therefore I return to my original purpose quickly.

    I likely could have more subscribers and profit if I sold out with the blog, but that feels wrong. I can't do it. It is a labor of love. And love it conveys.

    Thank you for your insights.

    Joyfully,

    Amy
  • I definitely appreciate this thought. Sometimes so much of the web seems empty of meaning - we really ought to write things that contribute, that stir the mind to action. Thanks for making me think.
  • Hi Chris,

    I'm agree that we have to keep the focus, and focus can be conversation... but what happens if you talk to nobody ?

    So, yes we have to keep the focus, but we have also to do our best to pass the message, and find the counterparts to have this conversation with.

    We need focus, but we also need a little bit of everything.
  • Thanks for the post. It makes me thinking. I've a blog but I don't update it everyday (although that's my goal). Now I think it's probably bcoz I think too much before I wrote anything. Keywords... it is related with my blog... is it too short or too long for SEO etc. I guess what I should do is just write and create conversation. Hmmmm *scratching head*

    Chetz Yusof
    Creating Great Legacy
  • Chris,

    ABSOLUTELY!!!

    Blogging = Writing = Sanity

    Hopefully, the writing helps to create heaven on Earth a bit... ;-)

    Thank you because anytime I start to check the rankings etc, I lose my goal of blogging simply to communicate to myself, Life Itself and all divine human expressions of Life who pass through...

    Angelic Blessings to you,

    @AngelaChenShui
  • And there was I, going along being blissfully goal-less.
    I suppose this is the downside to blog following - there's always the risk of that post that clips you round the ear and tells you to pull your socks up. This was the one!
  • Chris, stats are flashy and trendy for a lot of people. When we see someone with better ranks, more incoming links, posts on each social bookmarking sites and thousands of rss readers, it's relatively easy to lose focus and become a stats maniac. We don't see that most submissions for the blogs we like or envy come from readers, that they keep the conversation going, that the stats are not what makes new readers become "regulars".

    Self promotion helps, but not when you're the only one thinking your blog is worthy of being promoted :) I think we need to try and forget about stats and think about readers, what's in it for them and what we want from them more often.
  • ...yes it would be nice (or horrific?) to think that one day soon there may be a mighty techno-confluence and all the stuff you mention might be done with one click (or a thought) but in the meantime...

    ...a picture does still often better express a metaphor that a thousand words, as someone else said (but betterer than me).

    See also http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2008/10/13/4000...
  • You bastard, Brogan, it was you who stole my FX pedal set up! :-)

    regards, @tindle
  • MMmmmm...will need to sleep on this one. but I think I get your point...just have a reason!
  • Hi Chris

    Good point - keeping sight of the reason you're doing what you're doing.

    Don't forget though - sometimes the act itself is the point of the act.

    I don't Blog for profit, or for sales, or for conversation. I blog because it's writing, and for me the point of writing is to write.

    I post because others have been complimentary about my writing before, not to generate business.

    Do I mess up the model, or am I simply focused on my goal - writing?

    Cheers, and keep thinking!

    Dungeekin
  • Chris, first I love the photo. Second, keep on keeping the main thing the main thing. You're touching a lot of people and that's the important thing.
  • Absolutely! I couldn't have said it better myself! We must always know that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing! Brilliant!

    How does one become so enlightened? It must be connectivity, right? LOL

    Great post! Thanks for an early morning smile to start my day!
  • but sometimes we just do something without knowing why we did it in the first place, which is stupid. That's when opinion from other people comes in :)
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