The One Thing Your Blog Has that All the Others Don’t
Scrolling through that enormous list of Personal Development bloggers started by Priscilla Palmer, I’m thinking that the size of the list may be the most “awesome” thing about it. How awesome is that, exactly? Does this list feel a little bit like a school of tuna or an anthill?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great honor to be included, to find yourself in the company of hundreds skimmed off the top of the millions of blogs out there. But, come on, admit it — for the ego, it’s a conflicting mix of “special” emotions — aren’t you privately thinking:
“How do I stand out…further?”
I’m not talking about “competing” — I’m talking about diversity, synergy, bringing something uniquely powerful to this community that simply wouldn’t be the same without your voice.
What makes your blog different from all the others?
I personally think the reasons why I was surprised to find Shift Your Spirits listed as a Personal Development blog — the same reasons I would NOT think I belonged to this list — may be the exact same things that make my blog unique.
Just Another Personal Development Blogger?
You absolutely must define an angle or a sub-niche or a focus topic to stand out from this crowd — to improve the collective with something more than what you bring to the “warm body count” — otherwise you’re just “another personal development blogger.”
What can you offer this niche that others — writing about the same general self-improvement topics — can’t find on their own blogs? What brings your peers, colleagues, collaborators, competitors — all as bright, capable, talented, insightful, and motivated as the rest — to you?
There is one thing I can absolutely guarantee that your blog has that the others don’t:
YOU
Even if your blog’s mission, categories, headlines, design are all nearly identical to another, you are your own special ingredient. Given the choice between having the exact same brilliant article served up by two completely different people, it comes down to a personal matter. The Who. You.
Your unique flavor, filter, spin, angle, perspective, sense of humor, voice… maybe it comes down to a matter of your great hair.
How prominent is your personal identity on your blog? Is your smiling face easy to find? Does your bio page feature details that only you can offer? Or are you hiding anonymously behind a brand identity or logo mask?
How can you bring more of You forward, without it becoming Me-Me-Me and the Royal We? What makes your blog different from all the others? I find this list more daunting than helpful…Leave a comment because I really want to know why I should pay attention to your blog, and so do your potential readers.
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Slade Roberson is an intuitive counselor, ATP®, professional blogger, and the author of Shift Your Spirits, Automatic Intuitive Response, and the PageCoach Problogging Tutorial Series. Slade on Blogging shares behind-the-screens internet marketing, self-publishing, and blogging strategies with other personal development writers, coaches, and healing arts practitioners.
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11 Responses to “The One Thing Your Blog Has that All the Others Don’t”
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[...] the next question is: How do you plan to stand out on this list? Personal Development [...]
I agree with what you said 100%, Slade. The “You” that is behind Spiritual Blogging and Shift Your Spirits is exactly why I included your name on the list. In going through some of the sites on the list, I have been disappointed in what some of them offer and call Personal Development. I have never been disappointed by your articles. Even if I disagree, I am still stretched by reading your articles. Stretching my thinking to new ideas is why I read a blog.
What makes my blog different is my point of view in telling my story. Sharing my experiences with my readers is what makes my blog different because no one else has my experiences from my point of view. That doesn’t mean mine is better. It means that it is different. What makes my blog different than some is that I write from a point of recovery looking back at the events of my life that have shaped who I am today. I recognize that “Me” as being knowledgable, strong, courageous, kind, caring and humble (even though I may not sound that way in this sentence). Listing my good traits isn’t something that I do very often. Those are the traits that I access to reach out to my readers which sometimes sharing information that I know can be difficult for me to share and for others to read. That is where the courage comes in. I don’t write to discourage or to dampen moods, even though some of my articles may do that. I write because someone needs to speak out to stop the violence, because someone has to be willing to break the silence of abuse or it will never stop. Now that I have said all of that, have a glorious day. I plan to.
Ah, Patricia,
As always your kindness is truly humbling.
I feel that to a certain degree we all hold up a mirror in which others can see themselves.
By going deeper into your personal story — with the intention of another finding herself in it — creates the most powerful connection between you and a reader.
You don’t represent everyone — but your voice represents everyone who sees themselves in your story. Don’t apologize for the “moody” pieces — they are not for everyone — but for the person who reads about your challenges and feels in a flash “I’m not alone in this!” nothing could be a brighter moment.
My current challenge is finding that mid-point whereby I can use my unique voice and Me-ness without writing all about I I I…
I don’t want to talk so much about my experiences as such…
But obviously they greatly inform what it is that I write about.
Slade - When I got this list, I have to admit my response was to put my head down on my desk and sigh. Why bother. When I started clicking around, checking out all these blogs where all these people knew all the things I know, I felt, frankly, defeated. I’m still thinking about it a day later.
What took the wind out of my sails? I mean, I’m not delusional enough to believe that I am the wise old owl dispensing wisdom to everyone else. But still, why bother?
As you noted, it comes down to the same thing: What’s my unique contribution to the blogosphere? The same question every counseling client comes with: What is my reason for being here? What is my purpose? What gift will I leave behind?
Thanks for pondering this with me. Your post got me to lift my head off my desk and start writing again…
Amy
amyoscar.blogspot.com
Yes, it’s me–of course, but how do I communicate that to my reader.
Hello Slade:
You may recall that I gave my take on what made Spiritual Blogging unique — a clear voice. Utimately, it’s what your readers discern that defines your uniqueness. Patricia’s articles are courageous and informative.. she uses her story andher examination of her experiences as a service to others.
In my niche, Emotional Intelligence, I am one of the few bloggers who writes original Emotional Intelligence articles, based upon real life experiences. I aim to give practical tools that readers can use right away. They give me quite a bit of feedback, so that is helping me to refine my approach.
Personal Development can be a very broad church…with a bit of focus one can find the pew of one’s choice.
Galba, thanks for your words of praise. They make my sharing easier.
The most interesting blogs have the most interesting stories to tell. What is your story? Can you tell small stories that share big ideas? Are they real? Did they happen to you?
You guys, I think the trick is being able to respond to this question at all.
We know You are the given. You can count on that one.
Finding an Answer #2 and Answer #3 — and knowing how your writing can represent that intersection — is It.
I don’t think you can necessarily know it, pin it down, and then expect it to never change or evolve. But if you can pick up that “scent” of why people are reading your blog over another, then you can “follow the whiff of that” even as it grows and moves…
In my experience, my readers keep pointing the way through the woods, and I say “Okay!” and go to with the machete… There are cycles to this, where together we catch our breath and ask “Where to next?”
It’s really fun, fascinating, and dynamic — the conversation and interaction is truly what makes blogging a different form of writing. I find it both easier in some ways and more challenging…(than say, writing a book).
But it’s also forgiving and growing and alive, while always managing to be “in progress.” Like a jam session among musicians, like a drum circle for writers…
Hey Slade, another inspiring post! I do have the same dilemma as KL-Masina, seeking to find my true voice in the midst of those noise, without focusing too much on ‘me’ or like what you mentioned the royal ‘we’. But I’m strongly in favour of sharing experiences though, because it through your own unique circumstances that makes you stand out and reach out to readers who can relate to it.
So, the challenge becomes. How to achieve a balance in both? That’s a question that I’m still seeking to answer.
Cheers,
Ellesse
Slade, I have found my articles recently definitely being lead on to the next article by my readers comments. I like that. K-L, for example, with a comment recently sent me in a direction that I needed to go but hadn’t thought about until she made a comment on my previous article. Several times recently, I have read something on someone else’s blog, left a comment and then come back to my blog and expanded on the idea that I picked up from the other person’s article. This has caused my article writing to be a really interesting adventure that I never would have planned and I am definitely enjoying the ride.