I’ve been blogging for over eleven years now, and many things have changed. Social media has come on the scene, and now drives much of the traffic on the web. In the early days of blogging, comments were common and interaction was great among bloggers in a similar niche. Now the primary conversation has moved to one or more social network channels, such as Facebook and Twitter. Blogs, however, are still relevant as a communication medium, they are just a destination, rather than a source. RSS feeds are gone, social links are now the rule. Blogging and presentation success requires multiple social channels.
Over the past six months I put aside blogging and have been working on finishing up a new fiction book and doing lots of training with writers and educators. The interesting thing has been my blog traffic. Even though I have not been actively engaged here, my traffic has increased. With over a thousand blog posts, many of which are linked at other sites, my weekly traffic continues to have a consistent rhythm. Unfortunately, new blogs are different.
Success With Blogging is Difficult
In my blogging for writers training sessions, I’ve learned how hard it is for the average person to get traction at all with a blog. They are told they need one, but usually end up in frustration about three months into the process. They spend the money for hosting, buy a premium WordPress theme, and then get frustrated when they get little or no interaction at all. Maybe that describes you? New blogs are notoriously hard to get off the ground.
What I’ve found is that it takes a mix of social media and blogging to gain traction, along with a lot of time and effort. It also takes a lot of experimentation. What worked two or three years ago, may not work at all now.
Because of this, I’ve decided to do a 180 on my blogging.
In the past, I’ve shared personal development ideas here. I’ve blogged about goal setting, time management, and other personal success topics. Most of these are evergreen. They don’t change much over time. While a revolutionary idea or book may come on the scene, the basic principles have been around for years. Popular authors like Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, and Stephen Covey wrote landmark books over forty years ago, yet each of their core ideas are still applicable today. What has changed is how we consume and learn their content.
In the past, we would buy a hardcover book, read it and highlight text, then take notes and apply it. Now we may buy a Kindle Ebook, listen to a personal development podcast, or watch a motivational YouTube video. We may see a quote on Instagram, that leads us to a Pinterest page which links off to a LinkedIn post that ultimately leads to a personal blog. We might attend a corporate Powerpoint presentation, that leads to a speaker’s page, where we can buy the author’s book which links to their YouTube workshop. The core concepts are the same, but the way we receive them are different.
Unfortunately, the problem with all this new media is it is scattered, confusing and very technical. It also may be contradictory or unproven. We have more media and content than ever before, but it quickly becomes overwhelming and disconnected. I would argue that in many cases, the old hardcover book was a better reference than the scattered media of today.
But I digress.
For me, and for Google, the real power in today’s media is to become an authority on a particular subject, and offer a complete overview or solution in one place. Instead of having to read 15 blog posts to capture an idea, I can go to one authoritative post or buy a complete educational program that gives me the tools I need for success. The media will be available in a format that I can quickly access. Blog post, video or podcast. Maybe an online Powerpoint.
A New, Interactive Mix Experience
For me, going forward, I want to offer you the best experience that I can to learn about personal development topics. To do this, I am going to mix the power of a video, a Powerpoint, and an authoritative blog post all in one. Much of the content I will be covering is already on the blog, but may be hard to find and may be slightly outdated. With my new presentation mix format, you’ll be able to view the video content on your phone, interact with the content on your computer or tablet, or listen to the mix as a podcast. Each mix will include downloadable documents. My goal is to offer helpful mixes on a weekly basis.
Follow Along With the Process
For those of you that are content creators or have your own business, you might be interested in the mix process. The idea is to take blogging, speaking, powerpoint and social media, and combine them into a successful presentation mix. Currently, creating the various media items for successful media presentations can take hours, days, or even weeks. You have to outline the project, write the content, create the graphics, design the powerpoint, practice your presentation, record a video, and then create multiple social media marketing content to promote it. Not an easy task. It can be overwhelming just thinking about it.
This type of project usually requires a team of people, lots of time and expensive resources.
My idea is to be able to streamline the process so that I can do this myself with the ultimate goal of creating a powerful mix in two to five hours.
I know what you’re saying. . . you’re nuts, John. Impossible.
Currently it takes me almost two hours just to write a blog post. Then I have to create graphics for the post, and spend lots of time creating marketing messages/graphics to promote it. If I want to do a video. . . oh my gosh. . . now I have more time. A podcast. . . yikes!!! You want a Powerpoint on top of all that. . . no way!! Speak about the topic. . . er uh. . . how many weeks do I have??
A Grand Experiment
To make this a reality will take lots of experimentation, feedback, organization, and practice. To help with this, I’m creating a whole new blog, along with brand new social media channels to test my ideas. The format will be short posts, formed as questions. Believe me, I have lots of questions. If you want to streamline your content, and find better ways to share with your audience, I welcome you to follow along over the next few months. As Pat Flynn would say, I want to be the Crash Test Dummy of mixed content creation. I certainly will need your help and feedback to make this a success. I’ll be posting more information soon.
Presentation Success
This mix format will be ideal for Speakers/Toastmasters, Writers, Educators, and Small Business Owners.
I’m super excited about the potential this has to help the average business owner, author, or speaker find traction and ultimately success in building their platform. Presentation success is so important, whether it is online, in person, or on a stage. Having multiple channels for your content is key. The goal is to take the complexity and frustration out of the process and help you create a professional media presentation.
Get On The List
I’ll be announcing the new site soon. To be notified when it goes live, just leave your name and email address on our signup page. Stay tuned for our first Personal Development Mix on this site soon.