I Made A Mistake...

My last blog received a lot of great comments, but one in particular seemed to grab your attention. I made a grammatical error.

As an influencer, this sort of simple mistake can really cause a stir, because for some reason it’s assumed we simply cannot make mistakes. Since we have a team of 10 writing and reading our posts, whoever didn’t catch that grammar faux pas should be sacked pronto!

In actuality, some of you may be surprised to discover that I write my own posts. Unfortunately, I don’t have a team of researchers looking for the best ideas or copywriters at my disposal.

The reality is, every week I give myself time to sit down and think about what I’d like to share with you. I try to make a conscious decision about what advice you’d benefit from the most, and then I write down my thoughts.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work as well. I’ve written blogs that have had millions of views, other weeks I only hit a thousand.

As far as I’m aware, there’s no magic formula to their success, some are just more relevant than others.

 For example, this one may not do as well because I’m not giving any direct advice, but I think it’s important you understand why I bother writing, and more significantly, that it is actually me writing them.

So, why do I write them?

Firstly, I find it challenging.

When engagement is fluctuating, it challenges me to try new things. My posts are here to support you, so ideally they should be tailored to you. For example, a few weeks back I asked my followers to send in their own questions and tailored my answer to each.

When I was first invited to join the influencer programme I’d never blogged before, and probably made 10x more spelling mistakes than I do today. All these years later, it’s become part of my routine, and something I look forward to on a weekly basis.

 I want to give something back.

I’ve been in business for 30 years, I’ve started and scaled businesses, I’ve employed hundreds of great employees, I’ve been successful and I’ve failed several times.

A lot of my followers are going through the same process. If you’re starting a business, I feel as though sharing my experience can help you avoid making the same mistakes I did. If you’re attracting new talent, my experience building and retaining a great team is relevant and if you’re a job seeker, I think hearing an employer’s point of view on interview tips etc is invaluable.

 I enjoy reading the feedback.

Contrary to popular belief, I do read my comments. I may not reply to them all, because I’m a busy guy, but I do read them.

Your feedback and critique is really important. If I’m writing these things for you, I need to know what you want to read. That’s why people pointing out grammar mistakes and offering alternative perspectives doesn’t bother me – that’s what fuels these things.

I felt it was important to confirm that this isn’t a ghostwriter. It’s just me and I hope you enjoy reading my musings for years to come, even if I have become too reliant on spellchecker…

In the meantime, let me know what you’d like to read about and I’ll add it to my list of ideas. Or you can just contact my blogging team and they’ll write about it.