The 4 A's of Blogging

In a recent interview at the Buzz Bin, Geoff Livingston and I talked about success, business, networking and blogs. As I shared with Geoff, I believe that --

Relationships make the world go around and my posts are all about people grappling with them. Whether the relationship is to a new idea, implementation, pattern I observed, or with each other. Sales and profit are outcomes of all those activities, just like you network is the outcome of reaching out to others.

I post both about small changes in thinking that can shift the way you do things for the better, and mega trends/big picture ideas that can potentially change you personally and thus the way you operate in the economic engine.

One of the outcomes of blogging is relating to like-minded professionals with whom you have powerful conversations online as colleagues and peers, regardless of where they work. Together, we build on ideas and implementations to advance our ability to flow with change -- collectively and individually. And through the process of conversation, we arrive to meaning and impact. Collaboration and thought leadership happen even though we are not physically in the same space. This is the power of blogging.

Almost one year ago, David Armano shared his thoughts on The 4 C's of Blogging -- Community, Content, Clarity, and Consistency. He will be talking about impact this Saturday in Conversation by Design. Along those same lines, trying to explain what blogging is to someone who's never blogged, Mark Goren talked about The 4 Ps of Starting a Blog -- Participate, Plan, Practice, and Post.

As professionals, our challenge remains to explain what we do in a way that produces an outcome. The focus on the listeners' side remains on results, benefits, profit, sales. So building on what my colleagues shared, with an eye on outcomes, from my perspective there are 4 A's in blogging. 

Aspire -- This means seeking out new forms of connection, aiming for something greater than self, wanting to make a difference, and keeping hope that you will. When I talk to younger generations, I hear about meaning a lot.   

Ask -- Blogs are a very large repository of knowledge, thus it affords multiple opportunities to learn and experiment. I remember an old song that said being a man meant you never had to ask. Asking and interacting are the foundation of what blogging is all about.

Attract -- We are a focal point for conversations at the intersection of what is happening today and what it means for the future. In that sense, we want to invite innovation and creativity into our lives and work to redraw where these new dynamics exist.

Act -- At the end of the day, we need to take our own advice and do something. Try new things, act out on different dynamics, take steps to execute, and then repeat. With new media, the barrier to entry is much lower. Blogging may be easy. The hard part is getting traction and creating something that people want to join.

Aspire to possibilities, Ask questions to join the conversation, Attract new ventures, Act on your ideas. What other ways are there to get all A's?

Comments

[Mark Goren]

These are great, Valeria. But I think these 4As are bigger than blogging – I think they apply to embracing new media as a whole.

[Jamey]

Valeria,

There's an 'r' missing in your graphic for attract. I noticed it because that rang as a key point to me. It's key to attract and invite innovation into our lives so that we can improve and move forward. This should motivate us to act rather than just serving as spectators.

Thank you for your thoughtful writing.

[Geoff Livingston]

I've been talking a lot with people about this recently. It seems to me that social networking technologies -- when used correctly as outlined above -- return us to the small town world where we actually interact with our customers. That's the crux of the communications world. Everyone thinks it's a revolution, when in reality it's a return to old fashioned values.

Another $.02 from Livingston

[Valeria Maltoni]

Mark -- yes, they could be applied easily to the whole of social media. And to any activity, work and life.

Jamey -- And to think that I can even roll the "r". Everything I discuss here has been done in some form or another. I love to test ideas in real situations.

Geoff -- That was in my post "the world is not flat" (see side bar). Revolution stems from evolution. Every time we get a new tool (or toy), we need to first test its limits and invent new ways to do the same things, only differently.

[Geoff Livingston]

I like The World Is Flat.

[gianandrea facchini]

Valeria, these four As are probably the most dificult tasks to be accomplished. They require for an individual to push his/her limit, to be able to look inside, to be consisten, to have a plan, to be flexible..... I suppose we could cover the entire alphabet.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Geoff -- there is a wonderful sparring of between authors about the world being flat, or not in the latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine. It's in the letters to the editor section.

Gianandrea -- that's an interesting take. I think hard work is only painful when you don't enjoy what you're doing. It's funny, because when I saw David's post, I also thought about the alphabet. I wanted to give everyone an A.

[Lewis Green]

Valeria,

Relationship building and connection are what we humans need most to live a fruitful and happy life and to build a successful business. What I just wrote is didactic but I haven't found anything in my six decades to prove it wrong.

[Catherine Carey]

Kudos!

I've started the process of developing a community blog in Belair-Edison, Baltimore, MD and this blog is super helpful.

I'm reaching out to folk I know and asking if they care to participate. One of the "rules" for participating is inviting someone else with a tie to Belair-Edison to blog.

People are getting excited. Research awaits. We have a July 4, 2007 deadline.

Catherine

[Valeria Maltoni]

Lewis -- sometimes we just have to go with what works. And relationships do.

Catherine -- These are exciting times. With the use of new media, we can reach farther and collaborate more easily than in the past. I like your explanation of the language of accountability and performance.
In my experience community initiatives and a shared journey have the most impact -- they transform people individually and collectively. Kudos on the idea and best wishes that this project may inspire and energize all participants.