Off-blog Qs & As (some even off-topic)

Some of the best stuff about blogging happens off the blog.  Besides getting to meet so many of you great bloggers, I've also had many readers reach out over email to strike up conversations (not everyone is comfortable leaving comments yet and that's cool; this medium is still so new).

It's fun to look back at the many emails I've received over the past year and see some of the common questions I've been asked--along with some of the uncommon ones. So I thought I'd share some of the questions and answers.

Here are some of the common ones...

• I'm thinking about starting a blog, any advice for me? Don't focus on how well your blog is ranked, focus on the relationships you make through blogging. Rankings come and go, but relationships evolve into life-long colleagues and friends.
• What strategies do marketers often overlook? Two things: divergence (create the category you want to own) and counter-trends (to every trend there is an opposite, I wrote on it here). Oh, and many marketers think only to look to marketers for all the answers when we can learn so much through other groups (trust me, we marketers don't know all the clever strategies).
• Do you like living in NYC? Very much. It's a great place and like no other, but far from the only great place to live. I've moved a lot in my life and would have no problem living other places for a few months at a clip.
• What is your favorite part of blogging? Connecting to marketers and other markets (I like that I can connect with the other 97% of the world, too). A collage I created with feedback from me and many others on the value of this great medium is right here.
• Why do you like books so much? As marketers we are our ideas. So it's not the books so much as the ideas--and getting to share them through the Book Club. If you haven't already...you should join in the fun (yep, it's a lot of fun to chat with other bookworms and the authors).

...and here are some of the uncommon ones:

• What's your favorite poem? I have two faves. First, If I Had My Life To Live Over (because it provides a good road map on how to get it right since we only get one go at it!) and, second, To His Coy Mistress (because the guy really worked for it).
• What's your favorite Greek Myth? Pandora's Box, because, as my sister taught me: once Pandora unleashed all the world's evils...at the bottom of the box there still existed hope. People always remember it was a woman who unleashed all the big bads but rarely remember the hope.
• Are you nervous you'll lose readers when you go off-topic on your blog? I mainly stick to marketing but, when a world event or an issue is happening that I need to talk about, I need to blog about it. After all, I started my blog to start conversations and get the views of others ;-).
• Why aren't you married? I work a lot. Or maybe I'm too independent. Nah, let's shift the blame: it's because that prince on a white horse is fashionably late.
• What freaks you out? Heights and sharks. I've no problem with a roller-coaster but you'll never see me on a Ferris Wheel. As far as sharks, Dad thought it a brainy idea to take me to see "Jaws 2" when I was a kid during a rainy day while on vacation--um, we were vacationing at the beach!

Thanks for the conversation folks, you make it all worthwhile (and keep it interesting). I look forward to more of your questions and comments...either on the blog or off of it.

Comments

[Tim Jackson]

I never knew that about you and sharks. I'm not crazy about spiders much, my self.

Yes, it is the richness of the conversations that evolve through blogging that has kept me so addicted. Great friends, like you, might not have ever materialized without blogging.

OK, group hug!

[mindblob]

Hi CK,

I agree with you on your advice about blogging. It is all about meeting people and getting to know them better through time. Blogging is a great human experience. Rankings are as cold as figures can be.

Regarding fears... the good thing about sharks is that there are fewer chances to be face-to-face with one than you'd have with a spider (sorry Tim, can't help it, really!). Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend working in an advertising agency.

Then, talking about heights... did you ever think that over heights there is no gravity. The best way to avoid the fear to fall is to think about what is... up-there. ; )

[CK]

Tim & Luc: Thanks. Well, I've gotten over almost all my other fears--so I guess sharks and heights are next.

Yep, blogging is about the relationships. Best advice I've given to many...and will continue to give in the future.