PureBlogging

The other day Steven Snell gave us a great warning when he cautioned that “Blogs in certain niches tend to be very similar.”  It doesn’t take too much blog hopping to see just how true that could be.  Many bloggers tend to get their ideas from another blogger who got their ideas from another blogger, and on and on it goes.

It all reminded me of a poem I had to read in school titled “The Calf Path” by Sam Walter Foss.  I highly recommend it, because it is the kind of piece that makes you stop and think your own path.

It’s a poem about a twisted path that was created by a calf wandering its way home.  Over the years, that path see’s continual use, and becomes a lane, and then finally a road.  People that mindlessly follow that calf’s path, complaining about the twists and turns, without once considering why the road is laid out the way it is, or looking to see if there is a better way to go.

The point of the poem is that we do the same thing in other areas of our lives.  We follow the examples of the ones who have gone before us, without checking out if it the best way to go for our own purposes.   Auto companies use internal combustion engines because that is the tried and true method of building a car; businesses use telemarketers because it was a successful marketing tool in the past; we blog the way we do because that is the way we learned to blog from reading other blogs.

If that works for you, fine, but you don’t have to follow the same path.

Think Outside the Box

Here’s a little secret for the “Think outside the box” crowd:  There is no box, there are only self-imposed limitations.  It’s like the four minute mile.  People once thought that it was impossible to run the mile in less than four minutes.  The human body wasn’t capable of doing it.  Then Roger Bannister came along and broke that barrier.  Now it is common for world class runners to complete a mile in less than four minutes.

People of that time based their perception on what was possible by looking at what other runners were doing.  They created an artificial barrier that they couldn’t get past.  Once a new “reality” was established it became easier for those that followed.

As a blogger, we run the risk of falling into the same trap.  We design our blogs a certain way, because we are told it works better that way.  But is it necessarily the best way for you?  Only you can answer that question.  Take a very critical look at your blog to see if what you are doing is limiting your blogs potential.

If It Ain’t Broke…

There is a mindset that many innovative people have that is uncomfortable for some.  It is the “If it ain’t broke, break it!” philosophy.  To realize your blogs full potential, you may have to break the current mold.  Experiment.  Try something completely different.   Your only real limit here is your own vision and creativity.  Look at all of the changes in blogging in the recent past.  Video, podcasts, and more different ways to monetize your site than you can shake a stick at.  And who knows what is still to come.  You may become the trailblazer that all of the other bloggers will be following.  Shake it up a little bit, and see if there is something out there that works better than what you’ve got.

That isn’t to say that you should ignore the work of other bloggers, but you should not allow their work to limit your potential.  Roger Bannister used the same training techniques as the other runners of his time; he just saw beyond the limitations.  You should still listen to, and at least consider the lessons from the more successful bloggers, but you shouldn’t allow them to limit your potential.  The biggest steps forward throughout history came as the result of someone taking a risk.

So, look at the calf path you are walking on.  If it’s a comfortable road, and you like the view, fine.  Just realize that you don’t have to stay on that road.

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