The blogosphere is filled with all kinds of people who hope to take advantage of the modern day Gold Rush to become an in Internet millionaire.
Some of them are people who hope to sell their products/services online and some of them are writers who hope to be discovered.
In some respects the differences between them are minor because they are both working hard to find ways to break through the online clutter by engaging in various forms of self promotion.
There Are Ways To Market Your Blog And There Are Ways To Market Your Blog
I am no different than most in that I work hard to market my blog/services and work on finding ways to do so more effectively.
There is no doubt that some very talented people remain undiscovered because they do a poor job of marketing themselves and there is also no doubt that some of the people out there that make it are prime examples of the squeaky wheel getting the grease group.
However it is important to remember that how we go about promoting ourselves impacts impressions and the work we do or do not get. It is really easy to generate pageviews and attention by writing about controversy.
Flip through the blogsopshere now and you will find a million posts about the tragedy at Sandy Hook. Intermixed among them are posts that have been written solely to get attention without a care for what happens afterwards and that is not a smart way to go about things.
Ignore the ethical concerns about whether you can or should take advantage of another person’s pain and think about the ramifications of what you are doing. If you are not building a foundation that will help you sustain your effort for the long term you are making a mistake.
This is a marathon and not a sprint and we will remember those who profit off of pain so you really should take care what you are doing.
My Goal
I know what my goals are and what sort of objectives I have in mind and that doesn’t include having people look at me in the same light as the character in the joke below. What about you? Do you know why you are out here and what you are doing?
Do you have a mission statement or plan that you are following?
The Schmuck On The Camel
Mr Shapiro, sixty-five and a widower, was having a lonely time in Miami Beach. He observed a man of his own age who was never without female companionship, forever surrounding him, extending invitations and regaling him with amorous advances.
One day he worked up the courage to ask this paragon: “Mister, excuse me, what should I do to make friends like yours?”. The man sneered and said: “Get a camel. Then ride up an down Collins Avenue every day. Before you know it, everyone in Miami will be asking who that man is, and you will have to hire a social secretary to handle all of the invitations.
So Mr Shapiro purchased a newspaper and looked through the ads. By good fortune he read of a circus, stranded in Miami, in need of capital. Mr S. phoned the circus owner and within the hour he had rented a camel.
The next morning, Mr S. wearing khaki shorts and a pith helmet, set forth on his camel and on to Collins Avenue. Everywhere people stopped, buzzed, gawked and pointed. Every day for a week he rode his trusty steed.
One morning, as he was about to get dressed, the telephone rang. It was the parking lot attendant to tell him that his camel had been stolen. Mr S. called the police. Sergeant O’Riley answered.
“What…you say someone stole your camel?”
“That’s right”, said Mr S.
“I have to fill out a form”, said the sergeant, “How tall is the animal?”
“From the sidewalk to his back, where I sit, a good six feet.”
“What color is it?”
“Camel color, a regular camel-colored camel.”
“Was it male or female?”
“What?”
“Was the animal male or female?”
“How am I supposed to know that?
Wait a minute. Yes, it was a male.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“But a minute ago you said you weren’t sure.”
“I’m positive, officer, because I just remembered…
Every time and every place I was riding on that camel, I heard people yelling:
“Hey, look at the shmuck on that camel!!”
Author’s note: Schmuck is the Yiddish word for penis so technically you can interpret this joke in a few different ways. If someone calls you a Schmuck you shouldn’t view it as a term of endearment.
I loved that story!
Back in year one of my blog, there were several posts about a post-apocalyptic story involving a camel named Winston. This made me want to revisit it.
Hi Brian,
A camel named Winston? What is the link?
I almost blogged about Sandy Hook. Seriously. As a parent, I found it extremely disturbing. In the end, I felt everybody would blog or write about it, and that I had nothing to add and off topic.
It was a terrible thing that happened. It was traumatizing for many people. And in today’s social media world, people have become accustomed to sharing this kind of pain to relieve it.
I say this because I was schmuck, too. I just paused before pressing send.
I hear you. Sometimes it is smarter not to publish. With Sandy Hook I think many of us are processing it by posting, it is the communal gathering of grief.
I am just laughing so loud!
Hi Hajra,
Any time I can make people laugh I have to smile.
Best headline ever. I defy anyone to see this headline I their newsfeed and not click through.
Hi Lisa,
Thank you. I am rather fond of it.
OMG…you are such a dork; I mean schmuck…a guy in high school had that last name; in fact, so did his sister. No lie.
Now, getting quite beyond that…the post above the jamoke joke was perfectly relevant, and it helped me know what to do about that horrific topic for tomorrow. Nothing.
There is a sportswriter named Peter Schmuck. He has been around for years. When I was a kid I used to laugh every time I heard his name.
Sometimes nothing is the best thing to do about hard topics. It certainly isn’t easy.
Hi Josh,
Great analogy, was laughing while reading through. We all here on blogosphere to present our own unique style, don’t want to be copycat for sure.
Nobody wants to be Schmuck on Camel in a negative sense.
Thanks
Sapna
Hi Sapna,
It is all a matter of presentation. Sometimes we can overboard.