January 2011 Blogger of Month is George Emsden
from www.georgeemsden.co.uk & @cancerIFA
We asked him to share his pearls of blogging wisdom with us…
Where do I start?
People always said I could write. Remember doing an A level essay, and the English teacher was grinning from ear to ear when she gave it back to me. What did I do? Nothing really as I only saw it as an A level essay.
Eventually, inside my thick skull I realised that I wanted to write. But where to start? Never wanted to write the great novel (such a cliché) but did want to write screenplays as I was tired of seeing really good stories turn out as rubbish films e.g. The Odessa File. Problem with screenwriting though is that the writer is low down in the pecking order after the producer, director, temperamental film stars and studio executives. TV is better here as the writer keeps much more control.
So what was the final spur – a singing coach! Met Gena when I first started networking with BNI. Mentioned to her that I wanted to write a book on swimming for nervous people and months later she called me to say she had done her book thanks to a writing coach called Anthony Parry and I really must call him! Eight months of coaching after a face to face meeting got me started and here I am. The longer version of this story is on my blog as Gena is sadly no longer with us.
A few other thoughts.
People like reading what you feel about things. Write about what you know or what gets you going. Best blogs are written straight after a good meeting, good book, good film etc when they get you excited and can almost write themselves. This one springs to mind here after a very enjoyable meeting.
You may look back on your first efforts and feel they could have been better. Don’t feel bad, this shows you are learning.
Each blog takes 3-4 hours a week. People ask me how I get the time? Well, I just do it and maybe watch a bit less TV.
If you use a template, don’t forget to copy and paste to Word and do a spellcheck. Your own spelling mistakes are really annoying.
Used to write 1,000 words per blog. Perceived wisdom is 400 – 800 words. Typically write 600-700 these days. Sometimes want to put more stuff in but if it is too long, people won’t read it.
Vodcasting is the new thing after podcasting – Filipe is a goldmine of information here.
As a result of my blogging have been on Radio and TV. On Friday I recorded a webcast for BrightTalk about my niche work – giving financial advice to People with Cancer.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Our January #Blogger of Month George Emsden @cancerIFA shares with us how he got started… http://bit.ly/edHq8T #blogs #ldnblogclub
“This one springs to mind”..missing link here. http://www.georgeemsden.co.uk/2009/07/im-an-investor-get-me-out-of-here/
Good work George, nice to see you on here!