Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Last night I wrote a post, sharing my experience with feeling overwhelmed and the search for a well-balanced and meaningful life. When I began writing, I had a vague direction for the post, but I didn’t have a clear message or lesson that I wanted to teach. I let the words flow in the direction they wanted to.

When I was at the end, I briefly considered adding an image for eye candy and then decided to allow the words stand on their own. I hit publish at 11:46pm, tweeted about the post and went to bed.

By the time I turned on my computer this morning, there were already comments from four readers (including one new reader), an email response from a colleague, two people had retweeted about the post, three people had tweeted about my blog, a reader in Japan had bought me a cup (or two) of coffee, a copywriter’s offer for free assistance with the pending ebook on web accessibility for bloggers, and the blog traffic was spiking. Wow! What amazing results in less than twelve hours!

But why? The post wasn’t that spectacular. There were no images, no lists, no hyperlinks, no subheadings, no mention of blogosphere rock stars, and no contests. The title wasn’t even snazzy – it was slapped on before hitting publish. I definitely didn’t use any keywords. These are all strategies for increasing traffic and search engine optimization (SEO).

What was it that garnered such results?

Writing coach Joanna Young nailed the reason in a Twitter conversation:

I think you managed to make your personal experience universal – something we could all relate to

Thanks Joanna. One of those posts that wanted to be written. You know how that is, I’m sure. 😉

I do, and of course, those are the ones we respond to… we ‘hear’ you. Plus there were the spider plant babies… 🙂

Mentioning spider plant babies did it? Had I only known…!

But seriously, as Joanna points out, I shared a personal experience that most people are experiencing. Who isn’t feeling overwhelmed by the amounts on their plates these days?

I wrote from my heart, my truth in that moment. I wrote to share but also to reflect. I didn’t feel the need to go searching for distractions while forcing out words. The words flowed through my left thumb. When those moments occur while writing, that is when writing is enjoyable, liberating and authentic. To me, that is what blogging is meant to be.

While writing yesterday’s post, I wasn’t concerned about using keywords or SEO. I wasn’t writing for search engines; search engines don’t connect and engage with thoughts, emotions and ideas. The amazing results named above are not due to search engines and page rankings, but thanks to people.  People connect and engage. People comment, tweet and stumble.

To engage readers, share your truth, write authentically and include a few spider plant babies.