Blogging Elements

What Armed Forces Can Teach You About Blogging

Posted on 07. Aug, 2009 by Ashwin in Blogging

First off, blogging is much easier compared to being a soldier. They die for their homeland and we don’t bother with that, do we? Having cleared that defining characteristic that really seperates the military from us civilians, plenty of lessons are available for us bloggers. Here are some of them:

1. Going to war certainly isn’t easy: I heard that. I bow my head down full of respect and gratitude.Anything worth doing isn’t easy and each time soldiers get this call to head to the front and wage war, they don’t even know if they will return. While bloggers don’t have that kind of brutal uncertainty to deal with, blogging isn’t for sissies, easy wealth seekers  and lazy bums. Don’t try blogging if you were thinking otherwise.
2. Armed forces function on discipline: No minute is ever lost; no one is ever spared. These soldiers bash on regardless: they race against the time. The entire institution of armed forces is built on a rock-solid foundation of pure, no-questions-asked, keep-your-ego-at-home, discipline.That’s how things work there. Can bloggers learn a thing or two from there? Are you kidding me? Discipline can make you a blogging rock star. You don’t have to punish yourself, but you certainly have to push yourself hard.
3. It’s all for a greater cause: Ever noticed something? These soldiers put their lives at stake not for the pittance they receive as a salary each month. They do it for the love of their nation. They are men and women of honor. They serve selflessly for their country. Can you imagine how your blog would begin to look like once you let go of the “monetization fever” or the “making money madness” and focus on a greater cause instead? Think about it. Don’t yell at me when your hosting account crashes due to unprecedented traffic.
4. Keep it simple: Hair cuts close to the scalp, uniforms on all the time, simple food, simple transport options, always armed, always on the vigil, ready to strike, ready to kill — that’s armed forces for you. Notice that these soldiers never keep anything complicated. Everything has a system in place; a protocol to follow and multiple layers of authentication required to do anything critical (Remember the face-off between Denzel Washinton and Gene Hackman — manning the nuclear submarine– in the movie Crimson Tide?).  Blogging is more about content, opinion, flair, connections and promotion and much less about designs, flash and the like. Keep it simple, success shall come.

Armed forces do a great job serving our country. You go and do a great job blogging and helping out in your own little way. These soldiers put their lives at stake and try to make a difference to each one of us; do you try to make a difference to any one through your blog?

Tags: Blogging Lessons, Blogging Tips