The Mr. Spock Guide to Effective Blogging

The Mr. Spock Guide to Effective Blogging

Reader Comments (43)

  1. Good stuff, as always, Sonia.

    I think part of the lesson you’re getting at here is this: as with Spock, your emotion has to be held in tension with and in check by your logic.

    I think this is an especially important lesson for blogging. Anyone can blog with their heart, and most do. Few read them. Others blog only with their heads, and only the search engines seem to care for those bloggers.

    The tension between logic and emotion, when done right, is like the tension on a violin string. It creates an amazingly beautiful sound from something that is, ultimately, a mechanical action.

  2. Spock was all the more fascinating to watch because of his human side.

    It seemed to make him even more human than the rest of the characters, even with his logical leanings.

    Thanks for the vulcan reminders to logically focus on your goals, good stuff.

  3. I knew when I saw the title who wrote this one. πŸ™‚

    What a great analogy for the parts that are a bit behind the scenes in this discipline. There’s fun in hopping in a starship and traveling at random, but not if you actually want to get somewhere. My inner Spock wants satisfaction.

    ( note to self: find pic of Spock for my desk. πŸ™‚ )

  4. it says in this article about blogging takes a long a time. That is so true in every shape and form. The problem is there are too many bloggers that say you can only work one or two hours a day blogging and make tons of money. This is only when you’re able to write a post and know that your subscribers and other organic traffic will just automatically come to your web site. Probably in a year or two of blogging.

  5. I really enjoyed this article, way to put it in the perspective if somebody who doesn’t blog πŸ˜› I agree with most of your tips, especially since I’ve been thinking about “social proof” a lot recently

  6. I see so many people spinning their wheels because they have no direction and reference point and so they keep moving but are not going anywhere. Setting a goal and making a plan to achieve it is critical to success.

    Great Post!

  7. @Melody, I don’t know, Spock may not have seduction in mind, but apparently the character has always gotten more than his fair share of attraction from fans. So maybe he’s unwillingly seductive.

    @MarkDykeman, mind meld! Very nice. An excellent addition.

    @Bob Younce, yes, very much. More people make the “all emotion” mistake, but either extreme is a problem. Emotion and logic have to work together or you don’t get where you want to go.

  8. Great post, Sonia!

    It was put together in a very logical, easy to implement way.

    Thanks for the great points,
    Mark

  9. Emotion and logic have to work together or you don’t get where you want to go.

    Another thing to realize is that bloggers are often only concerned with their own emotions, and not the emotions of the reader. That makes all the difference, and it’s a triumph of logic over emotion (for the publisher).

  10. I’m Spock. Or rather, I’m James, but hey, we can all dream, eh?

    What I liked about this, Sonia, is that you pretty much summed up the recipe that has driven my success. I can be extremely logical and linear in my decisions, planning and choices. What are the options? The possible outcomes? The risks? The ROIs? Analyzing logically lets you see the best path to take.

    And then you launch yourself into it with your heart. If you believe and use your emotion in everything you do, you can’t lose. You just can’t.

    So maybe it’s not logic and emotion after all.

    Maybe it’s mind and soul.

    Cheers.

  11. Say what you want about Capt. Kirk, but he always got the girl. And he won almost every fight.

    Unfortunately (?), neither of those is on my list of blogging goals. So Spock it is.

  12. Ha ha! I like James C. as McCoy, but he’ll always be James T. Kirk to me. Bringin’ it home with a flying roundhouse and a grope of the green alien girl, every time.

  13. Excellent! Another quote that might apply is the IDIC, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

    In one universe you have infinite cultures and infinite groupings to interact with.

    True blogging needs to appeal to a variety of audiences in a variety of ways but still be focused on your message.

  14. I enjoy the passionate writing about how excited I am about an ebook I want you to buy. I forget that I’m supposed to be logical, seed the post with keywords, etc.

    I do try to make shorter paragraphs and sentences so I don’t lose you in the dust bunnies

  15. Sonia, thanks for this post. I was getting emotional about the low numbers of subscribers I have at my new blog. But reading your comment about “social worth” and waiting until you have more subscribers before listing Feedburner stats helped me realize that it was illogical to expect too many subscribers too early.
    Your words mattered, your blog is masterful, so I’ll leave you with another quote from Mr. Spock (sort of): “This thing you call language, though… most remarkable. You depend on it for so very much, but is any one of you really its master?” Thanks again.

  16. Terrific Article!

    Especially liked what you had to say about using logic to see the big picture before making hasty decisions that don’t fit in. Good advice.

    Also think that implementing metrics to know when logical goals have been achieved is crucial.

    As I learn to blog, knowing where to go and when I’ve arrived is probably more challenging than creating the content to get there.

  17. Having only recently started publishing regularly (although I’m a long-term netizen (old enough to use that term)) I’m driven by my passion, but I’ll certainly attempt to being in the logic to keep me going over the months and years.

  18. Great post! Whether you lean more towards the logic or emotional side really depends on the focus of your blog. However, too logical / formal blogs may fail to “connect” with the audience. So, even if you are blogging about your business consulting services, for instance, you still need your audience to “know” and connect with you – the person and the voice behind the blog.

    I think as long as you blog about what your readers are interested in, and find useful and valuable, your blog will be a success.

    What I’ve also found is that as long as you continue to build your readership / audience, your readers will love your blogging and want more of it – regardless of your blogging style.

    Thank you for the Spock Quote: “It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want” So true!

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