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Remember my last STS entry with the tips and tricks of the blogging trade? Well, Patti Digh paid attention to none of that, and still produced a beautiful and ultimately successful blog.
Patti is the author of Life is a Verb; 37 Days to Wake-up, Be Mindful and Live Intentionally. Patti was inspired to write this "soul-help" book when her stepfather was diagnosed with cancer and sadly died 37 Days later. Patti has one of those awesome blogs to riches stories; a publisher found her blog and asked if she would be interested in turning it into a book. And what makes it even more awesome it that success came to her in that perfect way. Here's a quote from an interview she just did over at Women on Writing.
I still don’t play the blogging game—that’s not why I’m writing. If I pay attention to readership, I lose focus on my own intention. When bloggers write to ask my secret for having such a successful blog, I tell them that they must first long to say something. I believe 37days is successful because I had one single intention and that is all. My intention wasn’t split between writing for my daughters and gaining a readership. No, it was one single intention—the greatest example in my life of the power of a compelling intention.
It's very easy to get lost in the strategies of building a successful business; branding, PR, marketing, etc. But bottom line, whatever it is you're putting out there for the public must have a real soul and heart in order for it to be successful. My most successful entries come from a very real place inside of me at that moment. As I write them, I feel a momentum and energy until I hit "publish"...which is the best feeling of all. I can't tell you how many entries I've started and then just scrapped for the mysterious reason of "it just wasn't happening."
My entry about Beyonce's amazing new video did well because I freaking loved that video and I wanted to tell the world! And because I loved it, I was able to get all of my blogging smarts together and promote it effectively on Monday and Tuesday. And yesterday, I published a very different post starring Charlie Rose and Jem, a character from one of my favorite cartoons growing up. I loved that too, and that was a success. I didn't get nearly as many hits as I did on my previous entry, but I just thought it was hilarious and was a blast to write. I'll take that success too.
There's nothing wrong with the tricks and tools of the trade. But they are useless if you don't have an authentic passion, enthusiasm and love for your work. Always, ALWAYS start there.
Read Sarah's other blog entries >
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