cre8d design

I’ve been pondering this thought recently. In the world of blogging, most bloggers I come across are desperate to find the latest tips and tricks to attract new people to their blog and rapidly increase their traffic (and revenue) and that’s completely fine.

But the blogs (and sites) which get the most traffic aren’t necessarily the ones with the newest ideas or the most insight. There’s so many gems out there in largely undiscovered blogs which plod along with very little traffic.

So why don’t they give up? Their writers simply enjoy writing and sharing their thoughts with the world. Popularity isn’t vital to them – in fact, when they become popular overnight (thanks to Digg or delicious), they’re often not ready to handle everyone criticising their thoughts and opinions or aren’t sure how to manage the flood of emails and comments from people.

The blogosphere is a little like high school. A lot of people spend all their time wanting to be popular, trying to get into the “it” crowd, spending so much energy and heartache on the goal – even going to the extreme of changing themselves to be more like the popular crowd. Others are OK with a smaller group of close friends, where they can be themselves, have fun and enjoy life.

Someone I know writes a personal blog and once wrote us an email saying not to give out the address to just anyone – they wanted to keep it to close family and friends. I smiled to myself and wondered why they started a blog. But, a year later, it’s one of the blogs I wanted to most read when I got back from holiday.

Another I know was happy with a small, slowly growing close group of commenters who they had good relationships with and then found their blog was linked up by a major player somehow and bam! The dynamic was disturbed by party crashers and things were never quite the same again. The secret was out and the blog’s sudden popularity changed the author, changed the tone of the blog permanently.

I’ve had different blogs become popular for one reason or another overnight and because I’m not the biggest fan of crowds (I’m happy speaking to one but trying to mix and mingle in a crowd of strangers at a party isn’t something which energises me) I found the experiences to be rather exhausting (even if the feedback is positive). Dealing with the rush of emails and comments is usually something I hope will die down reasonably quickly. I’m happy not to be popular, to fly just below the radar.

I honestly think that it’s OK to fly just under the radar and not to be popular straight away when you start a blog. It rarely happens. But sometimes I see people working so hard on being popular or having popular people link up to you and sing your praises that I wonder if they’d still blog for the love of blogging and not just for the love of a (paying) audience.

(*Of course, blogging where income is the primary objective brings with it certain pressures but most small businesses take a long time and hard work to get up off the ground. Good things take time.)

I personally like the ebb and flow of visitors to this blog. I don’t feel pressured to keep it up – I’d rather write when I’m inspired to write than write to a schedule (or write to say sorry for why I haven’t been blogging). Lately, I’ve been thinking about secretly starting some blogs I’d love to write about and I’d be happy writing even if no-one came along except a few of my friends every so often. If you’re thinking about starting a blog and the thought of no-one visiting for quite some time doesn’t bother you either, go for it

Oh – and who knows how useful and popular your posts might be in the future? Your blog might be a treasure trove to someone one day.

I’ve been reflecting a little on my time in South America since getting back a couple of days ago. Taking time to experience other cultures, languages and perspectives on life in such an invaluable experience and I’d love to go back there one day – Peru was by far my most favourite country we travelled through and Rio de Janeiro the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to.

I have CDs full of photos which I’ll need to sort through and organise and then share with everyone but in the meantime, here’s some thoughts on my time in South America and how it (loosely) relates to blogging now that I’m back:

I forget how fortunate I am. When I saw people who are content and happy with so much less than the norm here, who are living such simple, yet hardworking lives, I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to be able to drink water from the tap, to have power, to have a tv, to have a computer, to be able to travel and so on. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rat race – and caught up in wanting more and more things.

Reading the blogs I do, I’m reminded of how often people are discussing upgrading their computer or buying the latest gadget. It’s easy to start wanting new things too. It’s easy to forget to be content with what I have already. It’s a personal challenge to see people with so much less being content, and not complaining about what they don’t have. The online and blogging world – while growing rapidly, is leaving others behind. I’m reminded to watch out for people who are forging new areas, who are just getting going with writing a blog. I helped someone today get a blog up to help kids they’re working with in a war-torn third world country.

I’m challenged by the work ethic of others. Everywhere we went someone was trying to sell me something or entertain me to make a quick buck. Whether it be toilet paper at the traffic lights, endless beads, tarot cards on the underground, a BBQ lighter while crossing the road, or a pen on the train – someone was making the most of the opportunities and people that came across their paths. People in New Zealand tend to hold back, to not bother people, to wait until someone approaches for help or to buy something – and that has its advantages and disadvantages. To see people desperate to make money and to be innovative and so hardworking for little rewards was challenging.

I’m inspired by their servant attitudes. In New Zealand, we don’t tip. I’ve travelled a lot before and found it difficult and strange to tip – I wondered if I was just a stingy person or if it just wasn’t part of my culture. While in South America, I found that I wanted to tip.

When we temporarily lost our bags (thanks to Varig…) a taxi driver took us back out to the airport, and came in and acted as our translator (even though his english was very very poor). He went out of his way to serve. People went the extra mile with their service and never were frustrated at our lack of Spanish/Portugese and loved our little attempts at speaking their language. In New Zealand, we pay for everything up front – and we found it awkward switching to paying for everything afterwards. They were embarrassed when we tried to pay before hang gliding or going on a tour. It was such a reminder of how important service is – how much of a difference it can make, no matter what you’re paying for.

The world is beautiful. People are creative. South America is a gorgeous place, full of contrasts in landscape and weather from the cold high Andes to the low jungle sweltering heat separated by only a half hour plane trip.

Seeing ancient Incan ruins and artifacts, traditional highly intricate woven rugs, bright clothing, hearing loud vibrant music and much more gave me new inspiration for coming back and creating blogs for others. It’s too easy for me to get caught up in online ideas for inspiration. So many blogs are clones of one another. There’s so much colour and life bursting out in other cultures and even around us where we live. Blog design has so much room to grow. Blogs could be so much more of a personal reflection of a person’s character and life than they are now. It’s easy to get side-tracked with the fancy new features and plugins coming out and not focus on creating something unique and beautiful.

I went to a design fair of emerging artists in Buenos Aires and was so inspired by the ideas they were coming up with that I hope to get in touch with one designer now that I’m back home. It’s great to see how creative people are all over the world.