Shaken, not stirred

Goldfinger: You are looking at an industrial laser, which emits an extraordinary light, unknown in nature. It can project a spot on the moon. Or at closer range, cut through solid metal. I will show you.
Bond: I think that’s enough, Goldfinger, you’ve made your point.
Goldfinger: Choose your next wittisism wisely, Mr. Bond, it may be your last.
Bond: Do you expect me to talk?

Goldfinger: No Mr. Bond I expect you to blog!

This week I thought to take a break from my regular posts on BPM topics and instead – try to convince more people in the industry to start blogging.
Most bloggers, like myself, blog for pleasure, others blog to promote their own business. A smaller percentage blog to make money or blog for their employer. Whatever your reason for blogging – you are part of the BPM community.

For those thinking of starting a blog, but haven’t jumped in yet – this post is for you.

I’ll admit – blogging is scary at first. You worry about the responses, what people will think of you. It takes a bit of time to get over that hurdle. When you overcome that fear, you suddenly want the whole world to hear what you have to say. You frantically try to impress. It takes a bit of time to get over that hurdle also. You try this. You try that. You change the way the blog looks. You change the way you write about topics.

It takes time, but you finally get to a stage where you feel comfortable with your blog. Then you start to enjoy blogging.

So, what would I advise to those that are thinking of blogging:
1. Jump into the water. Open an account on wordpress or blogger. It’s free. It’s easy to use.
2. Write one post a week. No need to write more than that.
3. If you are looking for more readers, I’d advise joining LinkedIn groups and posting links to your articles there.
If your post is around software development, programming, etc – then I’d advise submitting it to DZone.
Twitter is another way to tell people about your posts.
4. Interact and discuss other people’s posts. You’re part of a community, not an island.
5. Don’t take life too seriously.

So… what’s my method?
I like to choose a different topic every week.
There are some favourite topics that tend to get discussed more than others, but I try to pick as many new topics as possible. It forces me to do some research on them, to learn new methodologies, different views.

It takes me around two hours to write each article. I post around 4 posts a week.
It’s time consuming, but I enjoy it.
Would I advise anyone to write so much? No. There is no reason to post more than one article a week.

I usually post a funny post on Monday, and discuss it on Wednesday. I enjoy being a bit sarcastic, adding a little tongue-in-mouth humour. If it’s funny, interesting and provokes some thought – I’ve done my bit…
Friday’s post I try to highlight one of the BPM vendors achievements. I’m not afraid of promoting competitor’s achievements. I don’t think we will lose a potential customer because of my blog. My personal belief is that the industry is big enough for all of the vendors. It’s not a cut-throat industry like others… but maybe I’m naive…. Anyway, some of the vendors have great ideas or innovations and are worthy of praise.
I usually publish my “BPM quotes of the week” post over the weekend. The idea was born over a year ago. I read quite a lot of articles on BPM, so I said to myself that I might as well publish the quotes that I find interesting. I’m sure others will find them interesting as well. It’s also a way of saying to the blogger that I read your article.

My last word of advise is about controversy.
Be careful using controversy as a way to get attention.
“Is XXXX dead?” – is ok. “XXXX is rubbish” – isn’t.
Personal attacks are counter-productive.

So… what do you think?… Ready to start blogging?… Go for it! The BPM community is waiting to hear your view, your opinion, your voice.
An interesting community is like a good Martini… shaken, not stirred.