In the past 12 days I’ve blogged every single day and I plan to continue for a total of 30 days. My approach to blogging is very similar to how I start companies. I get inspired, write something down, hit publish and then fix the typos and issues as I get feedback. Seriously. It’s very iterative and there are quite a few people that help.
Many people have asked me about where I find time and how I come up with the topics, so I thought I’d write a post to cover the most common questions to help shed some light.
Why I Started Blogging Again
A couple of weeks ago at an event, I heard someone ask a friend, “If you couldn’t leave your kids any money, what would you teach them to help them create an amazing life?”
That question hit me like a tonne of bricks!
If something happened to me tomorrow, what would I want my kids to know?
So I decided to start by writing things down.
Now, you need to understand: I’m not a trained writer.
The longest emails I write are about 140 characters long.
Also, I grew up French, taught myself to write English and have a super power called ADHD.
So writing can be a major challenge.
The big push was for my kids. That’s my “Why.”
So now, I’m a writer (at least that’s what I tell myself).
For the same reason you can’t learn to surf by reading a book… you need to write to become a better writer.
So here I am. Writing. Trying to find my “voice.”
How I Find Time
Well, I make time. I made a commitment to have something published everyday by 10AM EST. I also read a bunch of posts on how to write blogs in 15 minutes (they’re all full of shit)… but I learned some things like outlining my post, doing a first draft and then coming back to edit, which helps me get them written faster.
I’ve also found that I can blog from my iPhone.
How I Come Up With The Topics
This has been the most interesting part.
Once I decided that I wanted to share some lessons that I’ve learned, I started writing them down in an Evernote file.
As I went through my day, I would add to the list. I would get inspired by things I read or conversations that I had with other entrepreneurs.
What’s crazy is that the inspiration for more ideas continues to explode.
It’s almost like I’ve started thinking in blog posts.
What’s great is that if I find myself talking about a subject too many times in a week, I just write it down, then send people the link.
Over time I’m hoping it will actually help me be more productive and add to my email responses when someone needs my advice.
Does Anyone Help Me
At first no.
But over time I’ve had so many people reply with feedback on typos, broken links or just confusing sentences that I’ve started to solicit their help on a more regular basis.
The key for me isn’t to have someone else write; it’s for me to become a writer. I like being told when things are off, why and how to fix them.
It’s a quick way to learn.
Everyone that’s helped so far has done it out of the kindness of their own heart.
I do not pay anyone to edit my posts.
Any Cool Stories Since You Started Writing More
Actually, yes.
I’ve reconnected with some super old friends that must have been subscribed to my RSS feed from way back in the day.
I’ve had some interesting email exchanges from people thinking I’ve been personally emailing them every morning because they were subscribed to my blog (The email updates from Feedburner come from me.)
I had Jack Dorsey retweet one of my tweets. (Alright, that had nothing to do with my blog, but it was still cool.)
I’ve had some amazing discussions in the comments and learned way more than I’ve shared.
What’s Next
For now, I’m just going to get my 30 day challenge completed and then review how I’ve progressed.
The one thing I keep reminding myself is: Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.
So I continue to research approaches to writing, read about story structure and try different formats for the post. I then look at the feedback I get in the comments, social shares and traffic, so that I can adjust.
I do plan on creating more content, I’m just not sure if it’ll be through blog posts … there may be other ways I can share information that are more inline with my natural talents. For now, I continue to write.
Have you ever taken on a 30 day challenge to teach yourself something or to start a new habit? If so, leave a comment below and let me know about it.
