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?