The confidence of a child is a remarkable tool when it comes to entrepreneurship. A child is fearless and not afraid to take risks, especially for something they really want. My son is constantly speaking his mind on things he does and does not like with the conversation always ending up with a “why?” or “let me explain.” This got me to thinking that all bloggers should have the same confidence. We should be able to say this is what it is and stand behind it with confidence. Here are five blog management skills my seven-year-old has taught me.
1. Do I have to?!
Now, if you have kids, I am sure you’ve heard this line way too many times to count: “but do I have to?!” I tell my son constantly “Yes, you have to because it’s due tomorrow” or “because I said so” and on and on, always starting with “because.” There is a constant struggle between him being inquisitive and him just wanting to show that he has an opinion too. However, for a blogger, who is behind us saying, “Yes, you have to” when we say, “Do I have to?” Chances are no one, because when we don’t feel like writing that blog post we just don’t. At the end of the day we make or break our blog by writing and I am guilty of not writing at times or not doing something blog-related because I don’t have a mom on my back. So let’s mom up and get to writing whether we want to or not.
2. Speak up
What do you want for dinner? I want McDonald’s chicken nuggets and fries. My son is quick to speak up and say what he wants without any hesitation at all. We should have the same assertiveness when someone asks us questions pertaining to our blog; what do you want from your blog?
3. But why?!
The infamous “why?!” Naturally, there is a certain place and time to use this, but like my son, you should never be afraid to pull it out. But why Mom! The same goes for blogging. Never be afraid to ask a question. If you are not comfortable, do not understand, or simply want to hear it explained again—ASK!
4. Go outside
While everything and everyone is at our fingertips, it’s nice to go outside and see who you will meet around the corner. Okay, so not only is my son totally handsome, but he is a social butterfly and chick magnet. No, seriously. Everywhere he goes he attracts a little miss and in turn her mom gravitates to me for conversation while we wait for our children to finish socializing. This drives our conversation to our respective occupations and that opens the door for me to say I operate a blog. While I always hate chatting about work, a new fan is a new fan. Let’s chat away. So get out and attract new readers. It isn’t always about complex marketing strategies or building new partnerships, a simple “Hello, what do you do?” in person can go a long way.
5. Enjoy Blogging
The same way a kid enjoys being a kid, no expectations needed or required, the same goes for you. Enjoy being a blogger. You started blogging to share your thoughts on a certain topic, to express yourself, do just that without expecting fame and the six-figure deals. While these things would be nice, if you got into blogging just to achieve them, then you will have a hard time with your blog. Most popular bloggers are popular because they offer genuine opinions and love doing what they do. Passion first then profit.
