Tag Archives: blog

There’s this fascinating story about Pablo Picasso being able to produce a work of art in a few minutes.

Apparently, a woman once asked Picasso (who was either at a café or in a market) to do a drawing for her.

Picasso did what she asked, and then demanded some ridiculously high amount of money. Let’s say ten thousand dollars.

Of course, the woman protested, “But it only took you a couple of minutes to draw this.”

The old master corrected her, “It took me thirty years to learn how to draw this in a couple of minutes.”

Or so the story goes.

I’d like to use this story as a framework to discuss an often overlooked aspect of content creation.

It’s not just the skill, but also how that skill is perceived by others.

Blogging success is not just about years and years of practice, but about having an audience that’s aware of all those years of practice.

Let’s talk about the concept of social proof and how you can best use it to your advantage.

On the 22th of April, 2012, I signed up for a WordPress.com account. The same day I wrote and published my first blog post.

I didn’t know how to write an article, what a headline was, or how to properly format a blog post. I didn’t know who my ideal reader was, I wasn’t sure of my niche or main topic, I didn’t have any social media accounts, and I didn’t have any money.

It took me a month to purchase my first domain name, and for a long time that was the only money I invested in my blog.

I didn’t know how to write an introduction, how to make my content engaging, or how to add value to my readers. In fact, I didn’t even know about many of the principles of blogging I learned along the way.

All I knew was that I needed an audience. And I just wanted to blog. And I knew that I wouldn’t give up, no matter what.

Two and a half years ago I was just about ready to quit blogging.

First, because I thought there was nothing new to learn. I knew it all, I had reached the top of the mountain, and there was nowhere else to go from there.

Second, because I didn’t get much pleasure out of writing articles anymore. It was not challenging me anymore.

It was a rough time for me, considering that my income was a direct result of my ability to consistently produce new content.

I believe that…

I remember blogging hell. The 0 attached to most of my blog posts. Zero comments, zero likes. No shares.

I remember clicking the publish button as if to send my articles to die an undignified death.

I also remember the effort it took to go from 0 to 100 readers: taking massive action when networking, commenting on dozens of different blog posts daily, replying to every single comment.

I remember who it all felt unfair somehow. How it felt like a battle that I could never win.

Learned a lot during my nine years of blogging. I also figured out that the most important aspects of blogging are some of the least talked about, which is why I am sharing these lessons with you today.

Oscar Wilde once said that, “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

There’s a lot of truth in that statement, and I do strenuously believe that we must experience blogging ourselves, try and fail and develop our own frameworks and strategies, but at the same time we must understand that someone else’s rules can also help us on our journey.

There are no maps to guide us, but some of these books may point you in the right direction.

Here is a compilation of 25 books about writing well, marketing, and building an audience.