Missing the mark

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You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target. ~Captain James T. Kirk Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan

Are you missing the mark when it comes to your business? Are you shooting for the stars and ending up in the depths of the tar pits? Are you attempting to build a rapport with your visitors, but ending up alienating them?

The Fantasy

We research and write our posts with the idea that we will be writing the best posts out there. And sometimes we do write an excellent post, but most of the time, sadly, our posts are mediocre at best.

I am not saying this to be cruel. I have a ton of those posts, too. But sometimes we just miss the mark. We aim for perfection and hit nothing. We shoot for groundbreaking and only hit the ground. Hard...

It isn't because we don't know how to write. It isn't because we haven't chosen a good niche. It isn't even because we think highly or lowly of ourselves...

But there is a reason that we just don't seem to be getting anywhere. We are in high gear, spinning our wheels in a pool of mud. We are stuck.

The Reality

The reality is simply this—we are in a competition. A competition against unknown competitors. There are hundreds of thousands of people trying to make a living on the Internet. Those numbers have no doubt increased since the global pandemic of COVID-19.

There are honest people who just want to be able to make a few extra bucks or even make a living. There are also dishonest people who try to rip others off because they have no scruples and they do not care who they hurt.

The one common factor? These people/websites are all vying for the same audiences. It doesn't matter if we are writing about children or grandchildren or space or time or vacations or marketing or pet care. There are hundreds of thousands of others writing about the same things.

We are targeting the same keywords. We are reviewing the same items. We are all on the same racetrack struggling to edge out the competitors that crop up everywhere!

Even if we are prolific and an excellent writer, there are a thousand others who write just as well or even better. They have better ideas. They have access to tools that we may not. They don't work a regular 9 to 5 job. They don't have children and/or a spouse constantly bartering for their attention.

But do not despair. We just need to find a way to rise above the chaff.

Standing Out From the Crowd

So how do we stand out from the rest of the field of wheat? How do we rise above the mediocre and truly prove we are hitting the mark with a fair frequency?

Most of us have heard this before, but perhaps we are not sure how to do it. My personal belief is that we have to run our businesses, our websites, our lives with an attitude of service to others.

In his book, Quit Your Job in 6 Months: Why you SHOULD quit your job and how you can! Buck Flogging (not his real name as he points out in the book), writes, "At the end of the day, serving others is where value is created. And where value lies, so does money—more than you'll ever make on someone else's payroll."

How do we create sites that reflect an attitude of service? How do we create value? How do we market value when we are writing about our topics?

I thought of a few things as I was reflecting on this last night.

  • Most of our posts should offer free tips, free books, free whatever will fit with that niche.
  • The more we offer for free—as long as it has value—the more our businesses should grow.
  • Offer services or insights that others do not.

Flogging writes, "So really be thinking about what you can provide to the world that has value. If you provide something that has value, people will exchange money for it. You'll help them, they'll help you, and assuming the exchange was perfectly equitable between you and the customer, the world will become a better place from that transaction."

The Point

We all have something of value that we can offer the world. What will your offering be?

I sincerely hope you all have a rich and blessed day!

Karin

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Recent Comments

21

Well said Karen - Thank you.

A person comes to your website to find something they are looking for.
It is important to provide them with an answer that will meet their requirements. Give the reader helpful information & they will more likely be interested in your product or service.



Denis



A rich and fulfilling post, Karin. You know I think about that a lot-am I writing about something that others really need and want to know about or am I just putting down words ?
It isn't that easy to come up with a topic that really fills a need for our readers or that will entice visitors to become regulars.
I think we have to do a lot of writing to get all the good, but fairly ordinary stuff out of our systems. Only then can we reach the outstanding message that our readers are looking for. And They may not know what they are looking for until we bring it to them.
Something of value to offer -hard to find but worth searching for----

Thank you, Barb. It constantly haunts my mind—am I really writing something that will help others or like you said, "am I just putting down words?"

Value is something definitely worth searching for! Thanks for reading my posts, my friend!

Best wishes,
Karin

Great post! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas Karin.

Thank you, James.

Best wishes,
Karin

Great thoughts!
Thinking it for myself, if I get what I need from a site only then I will pay for it. I am sure people are like that too.

Thank you and thanks for sharing your insight!

Best wishes,
Karin

Karin, thank you for your thought provoking post. I often just write with the customer in mind. I often find myself giving extra and sometimes going overboard to facilitate what the customer needs based on my research.
Will it be enough? Only time will tell

Thank you for reading the post and your comments! When we write with the customer in mind, I think our posts can be much more enriching and full. Just my humble opinion!

Best wishes,
Karin

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