Morning!
Today's post is rather bizarre… the idea for it pounced upon me at 11:30pm last night while I was walking the mooses. I'd love to hear you thoughts about the following!
Ready?
Set?
Alrighty then, sit back and regale yourself with:
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One of the neat hidden facts you might not know about me is that back in May, I earned my black belt in Goju-ryu karate.
To say it's been a journey of self-discovery is quite the understatement; back in my heyday (2-3 years ago) I would regularly spar with 5th or 6th degree 20-somethings and have my rear handed to me daily. Ah, it was truly glorious it was!
See, the nifty thing about Martial Arts is that it teaches you individual fantastic building blocks on which to create rather awesome physical and mental successes.
For example, you don't learn the Flying Squirrel Tsunami Tornado kick as a white belt. Nor even as a brown belt. Heck, even as a first degree black belt….no oh no, it's something that hardly any Martial Artist has ever mastered.
Okay, true, nobody has mastered it because it doesn't exist (it's the term the senseis use to discuss techniques so out of this world, applications much much simpler would make far greater sense).
But now….think about the following.
Simple really does rock…but to get to that point, you need to understand all of the basics behind it.
Let's apply that to your blogging now, shall we?
If you were to listen to all of the marketers or gurus or what have yous out there, you'd think that profitable marketing is something infused with $97 pricetags, black magic and a couple of mystical mooses to boot.
You know, it doesn't have to be that way.
You *can* gain the knowledge yourself to create the kind of success you crave for 2011….*but*…
You have to give yourself permission to attain it.
Right now, you have the abilities of a black belt blogger inside of you.
Did you realize that?
You can choose to create your own success and make it happen.
However, you might right now be restrained by a white belt blogger mentality…one that says, I just can't take the next step because I might get hurt.
I might fail.
Staying within my own imaginary limits….it's a lot safer.
And you know what?
I completely understand.
Giving yourself permission to ,aster all of the aspects of black belt blogging – it's scary. Heck, I should know (the 40-something year old handicapped woman said after being kicked head over heels during her black belt test) – choosing to face your fears is something many people lack the courage to do.
But don't you think you deserve to receive better for 2011?
I sure do!
Think about what black belt niche blogging involves. A short list might include:
- Becoming an authority figure
- Guest posting at A-list blogs
- Building your list
- Being asked to speak at blogging conventions
Then again, it might involve instead:
- Getting your site to rank high
- Mastering Facebook
- Mastering Twitter
- Mastering LinkedIn
Then again,black belt blogging could instead deal with:
- Making your blog profitable
- Creating your own product
- Running your own affiliate program
- Building your own thriving community
Dare I say, black belt blogging might mean instead:
- Driving quality traffic to your local bricks and mortar store
- Showcasing yourself as the vendor of choice
- Creating and delivering awesome webinars
- Mastering home town marketing
You know, it could also simply focus on:
- Networking with other bloggers
- Being asked to review products
- Counseling your community
- Making a difference in the lives of the people you love
As you can tell, black belt blogging can be a multitude of different things for different people…yet the mastery of the art remains. You use your blog to achieve your personal goals.
Whatever they might be.
These are some of the ideas that's been rattling around in me noggin since the wee hours of the morning – what do you think?
When you think of a black belt blogger, what comes to mind?
I'd love to hear below!
Grow strong,
Barbara Ling
Get Started Here
You’ll love what you learn… Promise!