you Archives - Rogier Noort

Why Do You Blog?

Seems a fare question.., right?

Let me tell you why I ask:

I am wondering if you find it worth the time and effort you put in.
I am wondering if you get the responses you would like.
I am wondering if you would not like more traffic, more comments, more interaction.
I am wondering if you would not like to take your blog to the next level (and the next, and the next).

Let me tell you why I blog:

I like to have a place to share my thoughts on what’s relevant for me.
I hope that people benefit or learn something from my posts.
I aim to have some side income from my blog (at some point).
I aim to generate leads through my blog, leading to actual clients.
I like writing.
It pushes me to think about my business.
I enjoy the interaction, comments, tweets and communities I join and create.

You and Your Blog

Back to the question (and you can leave the answer in the comments): Why do you blog?

Chances are you’d say, because you enjoy it.
You might like/love the writing. You might like helping people or you might just like a place to give your uncensored opinion.

OK, so why this post?

Something that I noticed in some niches, or rather most niches, is people spending quite some time on writing a blog.
But, it seems they do not want to take their blog to the next level. To give it a boost, let it grow a bit.

I’m sure some bloggers are quite content with just writing a post now and again, and that’s okay.
But, I’m sure there are some (maybe even many) among you who want more out of their blog.
Maybe it’s you. And maybe you are thinking about the same goals as I do.

So Why Don’t You?

That is actually my main point.

If you’re writing articles for you blog, and you make it look good, and you like writing and your subject.., then why wouldn’t you spend that little bit more time and effort and give your blog a boost.

And it’s not that hard, here’s just a couple of things you can do:

Don’t be afraid (if you like your posts and your blog, there’s always someone else who’ll like it too)
Buy a book. (“Born to Blog” is an excellent place to start. Here’s a review, it’ll give you a great overview of how to get started and keep going.)
Join Triberr (If you read this blog more often you’ll find I like Triberr, you can read about Reblogging, their great community and how it can help to grow your following.)
Just do it.

This list could be a 1000 points long, that’s how much there is written about blogging. The infinite amount of advice given on blogging is, well, infinite. There is just so much.

I’m helping you out here.., you can even forget about number 4, I added that to make the list 25% longer. But, basically, if you feel you want more out of your blog, step 2 and 3 will give you a substantial boost.

From there.., well.., there are a 996 more things you can do.

So.., why do you blog?

Personal Branding.., why you should?

Some say a person cannot be a brand, or that a brand that is a person isn’t personal.

Whatever you want to call it, it helps to create a clear and consistent personal profile on the web. If you have to change your job or attracted a new client or a new project it helps to have a good on-line profile. But, personal branding can also be useful when staying with your current company.

Creating a personal brand is not just about presentation, it’s about growing, finding your path and (on-line) identity, joining or creating communities and creating and sharing knowledge.

In short, your personal brand is about personal growth.

Continue reading “Personal Branding.., why you should?”

Climate change: You are the problem

Climate change: You are the porblem Here we go.., way off topic from our usual broadcast. My tribemate Geoff Livingston wrote a post titled “Not Shying Away from Our Great Crisis“. It triggered me to also address this issue.., or problem.

Geoff is right. This is the one problem, the one challenge every Earth citizen will have to face sooner or later in one form or another. As a blogger I have a certain platform and, as far as I’m concerned, a responsibility to address this problem.
In fact.., I believe that every TV station, news outlet, blog, artist.., anybody and anything that has some sort of audience should address this problem. It is that big and that profound.

So, every first Friday of the month I write an article dedicated to this change we all face. And I hope other bloggers will follow suit, regardless of their niche.

You Are The Problem

I’m not going to argue the validity of climate change (maybe in another post), if you haven’t noticed our climate is changing or if you believe that we are not responsible or that it just isn’t true.., all I can say (or scream) is wake up and get scared, quickly.

Why are you the problem? I noticed that most solutions offered always use the words “we” and “ours” and very popular one “the government”.
It’s always the herd that needs to change direction.., but if you leave it to the herd.., nothing will change.

People, like many other animals, find safety in numbers. This absolves us of our individual responsibilities.

I literately had people say to me that they didn’t need to do anything to ‘save the planet’ because I was already doing it, at the time I drove a hybrid and watched my electrical usage in the house.

The only way for us, as a species, to find some way to limit the change of our new climate (because the changes will come and they will be permanent), is if we all do our bit, no exceptions.

That means you! You need to use (a lot) less fossil fuels, you need to eat (a lot) less meat, you need to find alternative energy sources, you need to invest in cleaner energy, you need to buy less stuff (or buy quality stuff that lasts longer), you need to convince your neighbours, you need to grow your own food, you need to talk to your local government and get them to adopt changes.., you need to change.

The few fighters we have, the few who are aware of the possible devastation in our food supply’s, the coming shortage of fresh water, the rising sea levels.., we are too few. We can only do so much.

We need to change before we are forced to change. What do you do?