Are You Reading This?
If you are, I can guess why: it's either because you know me personally and are friends with me on Facebook, or it's because you've stumbled across this blog from a search engine somehow. If it's the latter, my guess is that you're not going to read all the way till the end of this sentence.
There are lots of writers on the Internet. A lot of them have really great ideas and seem like really smart cookies. But I don't read all of them on a daily basis. I can't. At the same time, there are a lot of talented musicians out there who are producing a lot of great music. But I'm not listening to all of them. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
I read personal blogs and listen to music on the Internet for one of three reasons:
1. I know the creator personally.
2. I'm deriving value or enjoyment out of the content.
3. I feel like I'm part of something that's bigger than just the creator and me combined.
You're probably here for the first reason mentioned. Maybe you've been coming back here and there for the second reason. (If so, I'm humbled, and thank you.) But what separates the big winners in writing, music, and art is when the interaction of the viewer and the artist becomes more than just a sum of its parts. When the viewer feels like they're joining a community, and becoming a part of something, that's when art really meets with success.
I can strike up a conversation with a lot of random people I meet about Dan Brown's books, the Mona Lisa, or the music of Lady Gaga. It becomes easy to create and join communities, both locally and on a much larger scale on the Internet. This ability to do this is what draws people in. It's not just how good your art is, or how accessible the message is, or how much you spend on marketing.
People are filtering you, your content, and your message based on how easily they can use what you're giving them to self-actualize and connect with other human beings like themselves.
There are lots of writers on the Internet. A lot of them have really great ideas and seem like really smart cookies. But I don't read all of them on a daily basis. I can't. At the same time, there are a lot of talented musicians out there who are producing a lot of great music. But I'm not listening to all of them. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
I read personal blogs and listen to music on the Internet for one of three reasons:
1. I know the creator personally.
2. I'm deriving value or enjoyment out of the content.
3. I feel like I'm part of something that's bigger than just the creator and me combined.
You're probably here for the first reason mentioned. Maybe you've been coming back here and there for the second reason. (If so, I'm humbled, and thank you.) But what separates the big winners in writing, music, and art is when the interaction of the viewer and the artist becomes more than just a sum of its parts. When the viewer feels like they're joining a community, and becoming a part of something, that's when art really meets with success.
I can strike up a conversation with a lot of random people I meet about Dan Brown's books, the Mona Lisa, or the music of Lady Gaga. It becomes easy to create and join communities, both locally and on a much larger scale on the Internet. This ability to do this is what draws people in. It's not just how good your art is, or how accessible the message is, or how much you spend on marketing.
People are filtering you, your content, and your message based on how easily they can use what you're giving them to self-actualize and connect with other human beings like themselves.