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Blogging – How Do You Feel When Somebody Disagrees With You?

Fear of disagreement is one of the factors that holds back new and potential bloggers. Putting your opinions out into the internet can be a worry: ‘What if I get some negative comments?’, ‘What if somebody out there knows more than me?’. Such negative thoughts can inhibit the creative process. Don’t despair – there are many reasons why disagreement can be a positive sign that you’re getting it right.

First of all, disagreement means that your blogging has an audience. It also means that somebody, somewhere thought that the content was sufficiently interesting to justify their time in making a comment. So far so good.

Assuming that your content isn’t completely detached from reality and that you really aren’t just ‘plain wrong’, then it’s likely that you’ve said something beyond the commonplace; something that is actually worthy of disagreement. Value in blogging comes from having something distinctive to say, something that people can’t get somewhere else. Who knows, you could be turning into a thought-leader.

Blogging – Influence and Thought-Leadership

I like to break content down into 3 categories with increasing levels of value:

content marketing

There is value in having the right type of content (by which I mean something that appeals to a defined audience) at all 3 levels. But the more time you spend in Insight and Thought Leadership, the more likely you are to be developing genuine influence and higher value leads for your business.

Information has value

Passing on useful information is helpful. Whether it’s information you’ve researched yourself or content that you’ve curated it can still add value to your on-line marketing. You need to apply a rigorous filter to make sure that it really is relevant to your carefully defined audience. Never take an easy way out and re-post all of the vaguely related links you come across on social media – there is NO VALUE in that.

Insight is different

Insight means interpreting the information. Putting it into a slightly different context with a unique spin that helps people view business issues differently. Here’s a very simple example that I used this week in a networking meeting. Somebody was finding it difficult to justify spending time participating in LinkedIn discussions. My ‘insight’ was to look at it as real work. It’s part of your job, not something you do instead of what you should be doing. I didn’t say anything radical – it’s just that they’d never thought about it that way. Like I said, a simple example.

Insight means that you have to have thought through what your brand stands for; so you are reinforcing your key messages in a consistent way. It also means giving people something unique and distinctive that they cannot find elsewhere (whether they fully agree with it or not).

Insight is the way that you start do develop your on-line reputation and authority. Google loves content with authority.

Thought Leadership

Apologies, by the way, for the use of this sightly buzz-wordy term, but, for once it does seem to have a real meaning. A thought-leader will publish content that will cause people to re-examine their views at a fundamental level. A thought-leadership piece might, for example, get you to re-evaluate your whole approach to marketing or to the products and services you offer. It’s rare, and we can’t all be thought-leaders every time we publish new content. In fact not all of our audience may be ready for thought leadership. But here’s a picture to show why it’s worth striving for, even occasionally:

content marketing

© RSH Copywriting

Insight and thought-leadership grow authority. This means people engage with your content and want to come back for more. They’ll probably even subscribe so you can email them content directly. And as they’re re-evaluating their business model, where do you think they will turn for help?

Being distinctive will probably mean that not everybody agrees with you. But if your views are based on the way that you want to do business then those who disagree would probably never have turned into your customers anyway. Your content should be going towards influencing and converting people who are likely to see things and define value in the same ways you do.

Now who would argue with that as a route to longer term business success?

website content

 

Richard Hussey

Contact me on richard@rshcopywriting.co.uk.gridhosted.co.uk. 

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2 comments

  1. Sean Humby says:

    Loved the article and discussions, challenges even disagreements will certainly throw out new perspectives and opportunities. The key, as Sara has said, is being professional and courteous about it – makes me think of the Stephen Covey adage “Win-Win” – having just looked at the Stephen Covey website how could I paraphrase what he says – I cannot so here is his explanation!

    Most of us learn to base our self-worth on comparisons and competition. We think about succeeding in terms of someone else failing–that is, if I win, you lose; or if you win, I lose. Life becomes a zero-sum game. There is only so much pie to go around, and if you get a big piece, there is less for me; it’s not fair, and I’m going to make sure you don’t get anymore. We all play the game, but how much fun is it really?

    Win-win sees life as a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-win means agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying. We both get to eat the pie, and it tastes pretty darn good!

    A person or organization that approaches conflicts with a win-win attitude possesses three vital character traits:
    Integrity: sticking with your true feelings, values, and commitments
    Maturity: expressing your ideas and feelings with courage and consideration for the ideas and feelings of others
    Abundance Mentality: believing there is plenty for everyone
    Many people think in terms of either/or: either you’re nice or you’re tough. Win-win requires that you be both. It is a balancing act between courage and consideration. To go for win-win, you not only have to be empathic, but you also have to be confident. You not only have to be considerate and sensitive, you also have to be brave. To do that–to achieve that balance between courage and consideration–is the essence of real maturity and is fundamental to win-win. Link is here https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit4.php

    • Thanks Sean, I really appreciate those comments. I think Covey’s words apply in business,economics and society from the local to the global scale. We might not be able to change the world but we can change ourselves. One of the reasons I value BNSW events is the opportunities they create to share, collaborate and provide mutual support. Give me that over cut-throat competition every time.

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