7 Reasons why cool people don’t blog

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too_cool_to_blogOne of the greatest benefits of blogging is the many relationships you build with other bloggers and blog readers.  I believe this is the especially case in a small niche like Chinese medicine.  There simply aren’t many active blogs (or even, really, non-blog websites) out there.  This creates a pretty small pond in which for fishes of any size to swim.  It’s a positive thing in some ways – it’s easy to get to know the folks in the field and the relationships built are pretty intimate.  But, having more folks as part of the conversation makes for a more robust conversation!  Further, when there are a lot of folks working in a given niche a kind of ecosystem evolves that allows for lots of fruitful cross-pollination, traffic building and ultimately more potential profit for everyone.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about why there aren’t more active bloggers in the world of Chinese medicine.  In my research, I’ve discovered that there are a number of niches in the general category of “conscious living” that are bizarrely unfilled or under filled.  While there are plenty of people searching for information about more “alternative” topics (like veganism, meditation and Eastern spirituality, simplicity, naturopathic medicine, homeopathy, eco-consciousness, local food, etc…) there aren’t that many people having robust and interesting conversations about these topics.  In talking with my friends and reading through some forum and email exchanges, I think I have at least one (mildly tongue in cheek) reason why this phenomenon is occurring.

Simply – consciously living folks who are knowledgeable about these topics are too cool for blogging. :)  What can I possibly mean by that?  I’m obviously joking a bit, but I do encounter a quite perplexing attitude when I talk about blogging to people in the Chinese medicine and naturopathic community.  They look at me as if I’m a creature from another planet, a traitor to my kind or some hybrid of both.  After some long thinking, I think I’ve discovered some reasons that these wise, conscious and unbelievably cool people haven’t yet discovered the power of blogging.

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1.  They don’t want to spend so much time with computers : I think this is the most crucial item on the list.  There is a perception that, in order to be a blogger, you have to be married to your computer.  Seeing me blogging probably doesn’t help that perception much.  But many people have managed to create active, exciting and profitable blogs on around two hours of active work per day.  Further, even creating a blog and posting your thoughts just a couple of times a week can do a lot to counter the weak and outright bad information out there about all the topics I’ve listed above.  My point is simple – you don’t have to have your computer glued to your hands in order to be a successful blogger!

I think behind this is the latent idea in the natural medicine community that computer technology is inherently bad.  I meet and greet this misperception nearly every day.  I understand where it comes from.  Many people who use computers frequently don’t lead very healthful lifestyles – long hours of sitting, staring, eating whatever is at hand, terrible posture, etc… it can be a detriment to balance, to be sure.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  I’d argue that it isn’t that way in the majority of cases.  In my time blogging, my lifestyle has become MORE healthful – not less.  I don’t believe that I am being invisibly eviscerated by rays of death emanating from my machine.  I simply haven’t seen or felt any evidence that this is the case.  I think it’s high time that we as natural medicine practitioners and supporters of all kinds of alternative lifestyles take another look at our perceptions of computers and computer technology.  Let’s find a way to make it a boon, not a bane.

2.  They don’t have time because they’re doing cooler things : A lot of us are very busy.  I’m very busy.  Oh man, you don’t even know.  So very busy.  A quick glance at my active project lists shows over sixty currently active projects pulling at my attention.  I’m not exaggerating.  I have an eleven year old daughter (going on sixteen), I’m in my intern year, I’m student body president at NCNM, active in a number of other organizations, working on projects for both of my main mentors, I’m starting a business and trying to keep up in a number of fields by self-educating.  That’s just for starters and doesn’t include my personal projects.  What keeps me alive?  Self cultivation and the power of the relationships I cultivate both online and offline.

Regardless – this “reason” is related to the first — that blogging has to take a lot of time.  It doesn’t.  To be truthful, at first it does take some time to get set up and to get used to the work flow.  After that, things get easier and only have to get time consuming if you decide to change or expand something.  At the most basic level, it can easily be 5 hours or less of your working week.  Easily!

3.  They’re not self absorbed : As I discussed in a recent article, many people have the perception that you have to be very into yourself in order to project your thoughts to the universe online.  I don’t think this is the case.  When you’re blogging about a topic that you care about, even if you blog in very personal terms, your focus is the topic – not yourself.  Even if you do a little self-promotion (like in promoting your private practice, or a lecture series or a product you just released) the focus is really on informing people about something that might be of interest to them.  Further, if we keep in mind that the desire should be to get great information about natural medicine (or whatever topic) out there for people to find – you can have a very giving mindset and be somewhat ego-less in the whole process.

4.  They communicate in other, cooler, ways : Some people don’t understand the blogging format and feel that their thoughts are better projected in other, more traditional, ways.  Perhaps they have a mailed newsletter or publish articles in industry journals.  Perhaps they are fortunate enough to have book deals or a regular newspaper or magazine column.  All of these types of people can benefit from blogging.  By leveraging this simple and powerful communication medium, they can help magnify the positive educational effects of their print media offerings.  My friend and colleague, Abdallah B Stickley, provides a good example of this method with his blogging about his Chinese Medicine Times article.

5.  They know it doesn’t make any difference what people say on the Internet:  I have been on the Internet since the Internet was born.  That’s just a simple truth that, I think, explains why I believe so much in the power of this medium of communication.  From the very beginning, I saw how it was changing how people talked to one another (in good and bad ways) and when blogging first began, I rejoiced at how it might allow ordinary people to discuss their experience of life and how they live it.  There is something very powerful in sharing one’s take on the world with others and something even more powerful about stumbling upon the works of someone from a very different background with whom you have some resonance.  This is made more possible, in my opinion, by the Internet and blogging in particular.  I have been changed by the things I read on blogs, and I know people have been changed by what I’ve written here.  If that doesn’t matter, I don’t know what does.

6.  They’re not techno-savvy because of number one and two above : I think the first two things I mentioned on this list keep people from becoming acquainted with the technology involved in blogging.  At my school, NCNM, I would say about 50% of the student population gets confused by simply checking their email.  Though it puts me at risk of offending them, I want to say that I feel like this is a kind of feigned helplessness.  Because many have this ideological stance against technology (as I’ve said, I think its an erroneous stance) and because they believe themselves to be too busy – they do not learn the requisite skills needed to blog.

What are those requisite skills? Well, checking email is a good start.  The ability to navigate a basic word processor is necessary – since most blogging software has similarities to basic word processors.  You have to have some familiarity with how the Internet works and how to find information using search engines.  From there, you can learn the rest as you go.  As I mentioned in my article yesterday, there are training programs available for people who would like to learn to blog – and I can highly recommend Yaro Starak’s Blog Mastermind program.  Please read those above linked articles if you want to learn more about the program.

7. Secretly, they don’t think they have much to say : I think the majority of people, at least in the United States, have been trained to think of themselves and their thoughts as fundamentally meaningless.  The vast majority of public education in this country kills creativity, makes people question their ability to think and generally tries to produce a buzzing hive of listless worker bees.  To put it mildly. Because of this, most people grow up thinking that OTHER people have important things to say and that noone could possibly want to hear what they are thinking or what they believe.  It may be that you don’t have much to offer in the way of blogging content – but I doubt it.

Have you faced a major illness, whether in yourself or in someone else?  Have you started a business?  Do you specialize in something within your field?  Have you travelled to a foreign country?  Learned another language?  Do you have a garden?  Do you have any hobbies?  Do you have strong political beliefs?  Are you an avid researcher of one topic or another?  Do you have a family with a strong tradition in something?  Do you have allergies or particular food preferences that other people don’t have?  Do you excel at finding interesting photographs or stories?  The list of questions could go on – if you can answer yes to any of these and similar questions – you can be a blogger.  In fact, you SHOULD be. Your adoring public awaits.  :)

Note:  I should mention that a subset of this last point is the group of people who may have something to say, but don’t think they can write.  Yaro actually goes into some detail about the “but I can’t write” objection – but let me assure you – you don’t need to write the next Great American Novel.  If you can get your point across, you can blog.

Thanks for reading,

Eric

PS: If you’re interested in blogging and even making some money at it, feel free to download the Blog Profits blueprint written by Yaro Starak, my blog mentor.  Also, please check out the articles that I linked to above if you haven’t already.  Finally, I’m always happy to talk with folks some more about my experience with Blog Mastermind – just email me at d e e p e s t h e a l t h @ g m a i l . c o m, with no spaces between the letters.  Also, as always, feel free to share your thoughts and questions in the comments!

Related posts:

  1. 20 benefits I have enjoyed since having a blog focused on Chinese Medicine
  2. Why should healthcare practitioners have a blog?
  3. Technological teaching : social networking for natural medicine practitioners and a study update
  4. What is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)?
  5. A fun and effective way for you to start earning money blogging

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July 23, 2008 · Filed Under Blogging, Technology, The profession

Comments

5 Responses to “7 Reasons why cool people don’t blog”

  1. M. Reynolds on July 23rd, 2008 7:25 pm

    It’s also because Chinese Medicine ain’t the easiest row to hoe in the early stages, at least not compared to the assorted diverting Qi Hugger activities. Probably the #1 most checked out book at my school’s library is a big book on esoteric acupuncture.

    Shang Han Lun? Not so much.

  2. Gail Black on July 25th, 2008 10:53 am

    Yaro Starak at BlogMastermind.com, “The Forest and the Sea” a book by Marston Bates, and finding your blog on ‘7 Reason why cool people don’t blog’ are three of the most incredible connections I have made this week!

    I’m listening to your ‘Episode 3 ipod’; though I’m not a ‘holistic practitioner’; consciously connecting with the ‘holistic community’ and bringing more people into our conversation is a goal we share; it is imperative that we not only build, but organize an enormous network of like minded people so we can better heal our planet!

    I’ve been on the internet since the 80s and marketing organic, biodynamic and sustainable agriculture for longer; which brought me to a consciousness about holistic health.

    I’m in total agreement with your assessments’ of why ‘holistic minds’ find so many reasons for not blogging. Farmer’s (you know who you were) of organic and biodynamic agriculture are the worst!

    Yesterday, I began watching Yaro Starak’s recent training video and am considering taking his class. He is very concise and organized in his presentation; a lesson in itself. One of my mentors (DevinePurpose.com) forwarded Yaro’s link to me. Thanks Michelle.

    Eric, thank you for writing ‘7 Reasons why cool people don’t blog’; I’ll be passing your message along to as many of these ‘cool’ people as I know!

    Best and warmest regards.

  3. Eric on July 25th, 2008 2:00 pm

    Gail,

    Thanks for your kind comment! I’m glad you’ve found Yaro – he’s quite a resource. I’ll definitely be looking forward to watching your work as you go through the program. Anyway, I hope gradually our dear friends who aren’t into embracing technology will find a way to do so – at least some of them. :) Maybe with our help?

    Eric

  4. Pasadena Auto Repair on August 13th, 2008 4:42 pm

    Yesterday, I was too cool to blog but…

    Today, (You’re absolutely right) I am no a blogger.

    Thanks for convincing me.

    -Michael McClurg

  5. Pasadena Auto Repair on August 13th, 2008 4:43 pm

    Oops! not ‘no’… I mean ‘now’, sorry.

    How Ironic, maybe I need an editor?

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