Around the beginning of the year, I made a goal to write more and publish online. Now that I've overcome what has been blocking me, I wanted to share what I found helpful. If you have an itch to write online, here are some of the barriers I came across and what helped me get my first article (this one!) published.
In 2014 I had just finished selling pest control door-to-door for four hot months in Austin, Texas. Although grueling, you can make a surprising amount of money doing this and I wanted to reward myself with a vintage car. A neighbor at our apartment had a little Datsun roadster that caught my eye, and after watching the video Dare to Be Different in a Datsun 240Z far too many times, I pulled the trigger on a partially restored 1972 Datsun 240Z.
My 1972 Datsun 240Z
I loved this car and wanted to share my adventures with it online. So I started a blog on WordPress called Me and My Z. My third post, 7 Reasons Not to Own a Datsun, got a lot more traction than I had expected. Without any promotion of my own, it was shared across Facebook groups and Datsun enthusiast forums, and after one month it was seen by over 10,000 people from all over the world.
This experience taught me that there are passionate communities all over the internet connecting over basically everything.
Julian Shapiro shares three reasons why you should write online: clarity, leverage, and connection. And I would add a fourth, creativity.
Have you ever tried to explain a novel idea or exciting new concept to someone but when it comes out it doesn't make any sense or doesn't make the impact you were hoping for? I often run into this problem when I try to untangle a complex thought for the first time.
If you have valuable ideas but can't communicate them, then the value is lost inside your head. And if the ideas aren't clear enough in your head to communicate them, do you really understand them?