{"id":2130,"date":"2010-12-10T18:01:45","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T18:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=2130"},"modified":"2010-12-10T18:05:24","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T18:05:24","slug":"how-to-overcome-bloggings-fear-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/how-to-overcome-bloggings-fear-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Overcome Blogging’s Fear Factor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Schaefer<\/a> is indeed one of our shining lights here @TheSocialCMO<\/a> when it comes to blogging! Not only does he write individual posts that resonate and put the “social” into social media (see Spirituality<\/a>) he also produces pieces with very practical guidance to help others follow along the path that he’s blazing! See his latest post below which will I think inspire many more to face and overcome blogging’s fear factor!<\/p>\n

\"\"I talk to a lot of bloggers. In fact I speak to some blogger somewhere almost every day \u2026 supporting, encouraging, listening, and helping where I can.<\/p>\n

And I think I\u2019ve determined the biggest hurdle that keeps people from ever beginning a blog. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a lack of ideas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not time.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not writing ability.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s CONFIDENCE.<\/p>\n

Fear of failure and criticism seems to be the most overwhelming reason why people don\u2019t blog. Having some trepidation about blogging is reasonable. After all, it\u2019s kind of like public speaking in a way, isn\u2019t it? I think it is a pretty rare person who can put themselves out there in a public way and not have at least a little insecurity. <\/p>\n

So what do we do about it? Here are a few ideas that seem to be working \u2026 <\/p>\n

Re-frame the fear.<\/strong> \u201cBlogging\u201d is a word associated with publishing and being in the spotlight. Let\u2019s use a different word \u2014 \u201cessay.\u201d Can you compose a 500-word essay on a topic that interests you once a month? In analog terms, 500 words is one page, double-spaced. That seems pretty easy, doesn\u2019t it? Well, let\u2019s start there. Set a goal to write one 500-word essay every month on a topic related to your passion or profession (or if you\u2019re lucky, both!).<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s look at writing a second essay every month. This one is based on something that you\u2019ve read \u2014 a book, a newspaper article, a blog post. Write this 500-word essay on why you liked the article, what you learned from it, or how it impacted you. Focusing on two essays a month \u2026 that seems achievable doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Focus on fun.<\/strong> Now, let\u2019s address the fear factor directly. If you\u2019re thinking about blogging, you probably have some thought that you will enjoy it, right? Well blogging IS fun. It\u2019s an interesting challenge, a wonderful creative outlet, and an opportunity to join an amazing global community of bloggers. <\/p>\n

So one way to get over the anxiety is to focus on the benefits to yourself, not the fear of criticism from unknown \u201cothers.\u201d Even if nobody reads the thing, many bloggers tell me they keep doing it just because it\u2019s so enjoyable. Focus on this opportunity to learn a fun skill that might open up some new doors.<\/p>\n

Seek active support.<\/strong> When I started blogging there was a small group of people who were also just starting out and we encouraged each other along the way \u2014 Jayme Soulati<\/a>, John Bottom<\/a>, Steve Dodd<\/a> and Gregg Morris<\/a>, to name a few. They would leave a comment now and then or tweet a post out just to keep me going. I\u2019ll never forget \u2014 one time I was beginning to wonder if anybody was reading the posts I was writing and out of the blue I got this email from Dan Levine<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I appreciate what you\u2019re doing \u2014 slowly and surely, thoughtfully and methodically, you\u2019re helping shape the direction of this \u201cnew\u201d medium. In a landscape filled with yes-people and a few too many sheep, your posts are making ripples that will eventually lead to new ideas and fresh approaches. I have no doubt. So \u2026 thank you.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let me tell you \u2014 that was a great confidence booster at a critical time for me. Blogging can be a lonely job. Remember that on average, only 2% of your readers ever leave a comment. So take the time to build your support group of fellow beginners and encourage them by becoming active on their blogs.<\/p>\n

Handling hate<\/strong> \u2014 I\u2019ve received about 7,000 comments on {grow}. I take a lot of risks in this forum and would say I have only received two or three comments that were unprofessional pot-shots. That\u2019s 0.04%. Now I get plenty of criticism and dissent because I encourage that. But mean? No. <\/p>\n

Expecting negativity is an unfounded fear. Bloggers, and those who read blogs, are generally an extremely nice and supportive bunch of folks. They may push you, they may disagree with you, but that is sign that they care about what you say. It\u2019s recognition that you\u2019ve had an impact and you\u2019re making people think. That can be a point of pride, not a source of fear.<\/p>\n

Fear of failure<\/strong> \u2014 If you define success as attracting a thousand readers, or achieving professional recognition, or even becoming rich from your blog, well, you might fail. But there are lots of other personal and business benefits of blogging<\/a> even if you have a small audience or you never get rich. And you\u2019ll never achieve any of them if you don\u2019t try. What\u2019s the worst that can happen if you \u201cfail?\u201d Probably not much.<\/p>\n

You are unique and amazing in your own way. There are people who would benefit from hearing your stories and learning from your experiences. Dive in. The water\u2019s fine!<\/p>\n

Join the conversation. What fears did you have when you started and how did you overcome them? What advice would you provide beginners?<\/p>\n

Mark Schaefer<\/p>\n

Mark is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions and CMO of Freesource Inc. You can find him on Twitter at @markwschaefer<\/a> and on his blog {grow} at www.businessesGROW.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Schaefer is indeed one of our shining lights here @TheSocialCMO when it comes to blogging! Not only does he write individual posts that resonate and put the “social” into social media (see Spirituality) he also produces pieces with very practical guidance to help others follow along the path that he’s blazing! See his latest … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,435],"tags":[285,526,254,874,876,875],"class_list":["post-2130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-markschaefer","tag-blog","tag-blogging","tag-confidence","tag-fear","tag-haters","tag-overcome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2130"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2134,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions\/2134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}