Barack Obama’s Lessons For Blogging

This is actually taken from a post on Obama’s Lesson’s For Marketing by Marktd but I think it applies to blogging, as well. This is especially true for a company’s market facing blog. But since we are all trying to get acceptance for the ideas we blog about, even if we are not selling anything, I feel the coverage goes further.

Here are the ten lessons that Marktd posted:

1. Be different - celebrate your differences from what has gone before and turn any perceived weakness in to an advantage (e.g. inexperience becomes change)


2. Stand for something big - don’t get bogged down in the detail and try to elevate
the conversation


3. Be prepared to be flexible - there is no universal panacea


4. Be likeable - if people don’t like you they probably won’t listen to you


5. Have a big personality - have different facets to your personality


6. Embrace the little people too - the influencers only have so much influence


7. Embrace behavioral economics (only say you’ll change the world if you
actually believe you can)


8. Be optimistic - people know it’s bad, they want you to give them hope


9. Listen - Most brands spend their time shouting about themselves rather than listening to what people actually need


10. Converse don’t dictate - you’ll only move forward if it’s a dialogue rather than a monologue

Some one said that with a blog you should write short and deep. That seems consistent with above. Now sometimes we have to get into details or be more mundane about things such as upcoming events but there can still be aspirational goals. However, short and deep does not mean sound bytes, but complexity conveyed clearly. It is nice to see a validation of these principles. I am posting the above as advice to bloggers, regardless of their message. I think these concepts apply on all sides of an argument or policy or position and will only elevate the discussion.

Comments

[storyteller's other blog]

Interesting post
Today's Friday so I write
mainly in Haiku

Hugs and blessings,

[Mark Gould]

The "short and deep" thing irritates me a little. I think people need to find their own blog style. If they find that they are comfortable with "short and deep" that is great. If they aren't comfortable, their potential audience will see that and may be put off by it. My prescription would be to find a consistent style, and the audience will follow (and it may not be the people you expected).

[bill Ives]

Mark - Thanks for the comment and I agree with your point. Blogging is suppose to be about the personal voice so people should only do what they are comfortable with. My comments were only meant to be suggestions and not rules. I like the freedom that blogging brings, especially for someone who writes for an enterprise of one. I only do what I want even if it means not following the "rules." You can tell that by the eclectic nature of what i write about. Bill