Today’s springboard for your professional life is a guest post by Bill Seaver of MicroExplosion Media. He has been a big springboard for me and my blog. I wanted to give him the opportunity to be a springboard for you. Thanks for this, Bill.

By the way, after his post, I’ve added in a couple of interviews Bill conducted with clients of his. These are  great intros to blogging and how blogging can be a real springboard for your professional life. The first is with a CPA, the second a gunsmith. Check them out.

Enjoy!

Social Media Only Works When You Have Something Valuable to Say

I’d like to thank Edwin for the opportunity to provide this guest post on his blog. As I’ve gotten to know Edwin over the last several months, I have been very impressed with his ability to turn out good content on a regular basis. He was born to blog.

Most people won’t have as much to say as a prolific blogger like Edwin; they could think that makes them unqualified or unable to blog. I don’t buy that. The guy who has eight things to say a week may appear to be a better blogger than someone who only blogs once a week, but quantity doesn’t trump quality. 

It’s easy to be intimidated by someone who’s prolific, but there is no reason to. Some high output bloggers, like Edwin, have the unique gift of quantity and quality, but that is an exception. Most people who are too focused on high quantity posts tend to produce poor quality posts. One really good post a week is much better than five average posts. The key is having something to say that’s really valuable to the people you want to reach and not just saying something because you feel like you’re due to blog again.

So how will you know if you have something valuable to say? Start with these:

• If you have truth to share, you have something to say.
• If you have an experience to draw from, you have something to say.
• If you know something I should know, you have something to say.
• If you can tell me about someone I should meet, you have something to say.
• If you have perspective where I am lacking, you have something to say.

The bottom line is to focus on great content. Great content in small doses is much better than average content in large doses. I think a portion of a C.S. Lewis quote (out of context) is pretty fitting here. Don’t settle “like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”