I'm 123 days late writing this post. I should have done it months, in fact, maybe years ago. I know I read the book when I was 8.
But as the head of a rather successful digital marketing business for the past 10 years in which I wrote and edited several hundred business proposals, articles, tweets, and posts, I agonized over creating something "good enough" when it came to putting my name under it. It reminded me of the time when a family friend requested me to write an essay for his son who was applying to colleges abroad. “It carries at least 60% weightage", he stressed, perhaps his gentle way of letting me know the stakes involved. Let it suffice to say, I still carry that with me...
Writing content for a clear business or sales purpose like a website development roadmap or manual for a machine is hard work but relatively straightforward. It has a clear business goal and clinical purpose which can be divorced from personal ego or self. But content marketing is different - In an era where people are inundated with choices at the click of a button, your ideas and their ability to hold a reader's interest BECOME the service with an analytics-driven scorecard that is hard to argue with! For those who see this in black and white, it becomes truly personal and therefore immobilizing to a degree. Some are stuck at the first word, many others in the infinite iterations they pursue to get it "just right".
The only problem is that the chances of getting it “right” is non-existent the first time around. It takes years of practice to be good at anything and writing a blog post that gets a million likes is no different. You have to write tens and maybe even hundreds before you strike a chord with your audience or conversely find a large enough audience to LIKE you. Kind of like dating, right? (except with the ignominy of a public failure record!)
While a lucky few may kiss the frog prince on their first try, the only statistically relevant way forward is to put pen to paper, publish and be a step closer to your ultimate goal of being recognized for your true brilliance. Once you accept it as a necessary part of the process of finding a theme that motivates you and your audience in equal measure, you will find the courage, as I did with my rather safe choice in updating an existing best-seller "How to clear the GAIQ test" (There are some advantages to being on the publication team)
My parting thought is on the subject of "perfection" - Yes, this post could have a more creative title and if I put some more thought, I could also come up with a cool kiss frog-themed green infographic to go with it. But I could just as well use that time to write another post that tells you the 5 cool forums that kiss frog princes share their princess fantasies on! Would that be smarter? I really don't know. I’m just going to press SEND now...
