I kinda like Andy. He’s easy on the eyes, amusing, motivated. I was curious about his ideas for blogging, so I signed up for his newsletter. He’s a big fan of coaching (which I thought was handily satirized by the Daily Show), but I thought his suggestions worthy of note:
1. The biggest fear around your business or industry. Vulnerability scares the heck out of anybody – but is one of the fastest ways to build rapport. My post about bookfat still gets me emails.
2. The top news story – filtered through your topic. If your an IT firm, talk about the challenges of deploying networks in disaster areas. If you are in marketing, talk about the marketing genius of Karl Rove.
3. The most popular book in your niche. No-brainer. Go to Amazon, find your category, read the top book in your category, blog your notes, make a mindmap, add an entry to Wikipedia, create a study guide, refute, rebutt, advance, expand, expound.
4. The big elephant in the room. Every industry has one. What isn’t being talked about among your colleauges? What’s the controversial topic? What is ticking people off?
5. A smart blog post from your colleague. Always feature other people on your blog, colleagues, clients, competitors…
BONUS: What you ate for lunch. Whenever I talk about blogging it always comes up, ‘Who wants to read about what someone had for lunch?’ That’s beside the point. Blog about what you learned from your lunch outing that reflect on your industry or niche. Or have lunch with someone fun/smart/crazy.
That’s it. I just wanted to catch it before I deleted the newsletter, plus I hope it strokes Andy in a good way. 