What are you reading?
When I ask other bloggers what blogs they read, I am always fascinated that they tend to read in their area of interest or about blogging.
So if their blog is about technology they read other technology blogs and they might read the occassional business blog or blogs about blogging (like this one). On the surface this seems pretty normal, its what you would expect. It is actually very limiting and it has a tendency to lead to an “Echo Chamber” effect. You read something on a blog, you think its pretty good, you do some more research you expand on the topic and so it goes on.
I have recently started reading what are known as “Mommy Blogs”, I actually think that is a bit of a derisive term, certainly from the quality of the writing on the blogs I have read. Mommy bloggers are actually very good examples of bloggers who know their audience, how to communicate with them, and how to keep them coming back.
One in particular that I make sure to read as often as I can is The Daily Blonde. Cheryl, the author, shares insights into her life, her children etc. On the surface of it, what has that topic got to do with me? I’m not a mother, I’m not a woman, so what on earth could I gain by reading her blog other than perhaps entertainment. Well firstly, don’t knock entertainment, nothing wrong with reading for fun, but what I have actually found is that I have learned a lot about communication. I have learned about being open, about understanding your readers or at least making the effort to.
So take a chance, step outside your normal sphere of reading and find something else that you can learn from.
