It’s a question that this blog cannot answer. I’m not going to comment on the great beyond. There’s a twist though — what happens to your blog if you die? I thought of this topic a while ago, but held off posting. I didn’t want to cause anyone grief. Bloggers are typically young, vibrant beings. We’re not going to die, right? Well, according to a recent NY Times article, bloggers may be in peril of experiencing a Big Crunch, so I want to explore this morbid topic.

Before we kick the proverbial bucket, we often times setup wills to carry out our wishes. Our will forks over our boatload of affiliate earnings to our next of kin or the neighborhood postman, depending on our eccentricity. So what happens to our online lives? I’ve personally witnessed MySpace pages fill up with comments for the deceased. I’ve read blog posts written postmortem (gives new definition to that term). I’ve seen blogs with guest appearances from loved ones explaining the sad affair. Whatever the case, our content survives us. Isn’t this what we want?

What if we have affiliate programs setup where our family members don’t surf? Should we catalog our online affairs so someone could access our earning reports, blog posts, and other doings? We do have passwords and logins to a number of ad networks, affiliate programs, blogs, and social media sites.

I thought of building a website to capture this information securely, but it would be horrendous for convincing people it wasn’t a scam. The online safety deposit box. A virtual time capsule ready to store for that ill fated time.

But I don’t think it would be popular for one major reason. We don’t want to think about death. It’s the same reason I fretted about this topic myself.

I searched many sites, looking through Terms and Conditions on Amazon for instance, but couldn’t find anything related to death. I guess they don’t believe in customers leaving this world.

I also searched for websites related to retrieving passwords of the deceased. I expected to find harrowing tales of customer service calls by grief stricken relatives, but found instead a site dedicated to members of MySpace who died, aptly named MyDeathSpace.com.

How can it be that with a wealth of online content, I can’t find the answer to a simple question — what happens when we die? Are our online lives separated from health concerns, natural disasters, and other mortal fears?

The Solution As I See It

We need to create a spreadsheet with the sites we use that have importance to us. Our loved ones might need to know exactly in what pot we were cooking. The spreadsheet doesn’t have to include a password, but simply the URL and login used. I’m sure with the proper paperwork the person invoking the rights of your estate could secure access.

The only other solution would be to live forever. I don’t mind that solution. I embrace it actually. But unfortunately its not a reality. It’s better to keep a postmortem post handy and provide a loved one with a spreadsheet to our lives.

With the rain coming down all around you, have you ever paused between your car and the door of your house to feel the cool water?

Moments can be universal. We can share a specific instance with our readers and invite them to relate on an entirely new level.

We may relate to our readers through any of the following commonplace blogging dilemmas:

1. I have nothing to write about.
2. My comments have dropped dramatically.
3. I need more traffic.
4. Where’s my money from Adsense?
5. Will I ever make money from my blog?
6. How do I [insert WordPress functionality here].

The most important reason to write blogosphere truths? Trust. We can share a trial on our own blog and guide readers towards a solution. (What solution am I providing now?)

This isn’t groundbreaking stuff. Some of the more popular blogs offer advice, tutorials, life hacks, and more. They have found a way to give away what comes naturally to them. In this way, they’ve built a niche around their particular expertise and interest. It’s a win-win. Readers gain information and the bloggers gain an audience.

Blogging Like Kindergarteners

In kindergarten we all learned one thing — how to share.

It’s universal that we learn to share with others at an early age. The mountain of Web 2.0 content has been derived from this concept. It’s users sharing creations with others. It’s the pinnacle of kindergarten success. Mrs. Redwick would be proud.

So do what comes naturally, well, as naturally any lesson taught at an early age provides. Share you insights. Share you moments. Be yourself.

What can you share with readers that may bolster their opinion of you?

When is the title’s advice appropriate? On our blogs, elements of our personalities get left out of the conversation. A social media blogger may never reveal an affiliation with a 12 step program. A religious blogger may never speak about their left leaning political ideology. A mommy blogger may never reveal their stock trading woes.

Should I reveal religious and spiritual beliefs, political views, and moral stances? I don’t think so.

Should we ever discuss these items with our readers? And if so in what forum should we do this?

I feel it can hurt our brands if we dive into the religion topic with our readers on a blogging tips site. I read a post last week that drew inspiration from Atheism. Does this type of post hurt credibility or increase readership through controversy?

Drawing a Line

I’m a political junkie. I listen to NPR frequently. I watch the news. I listen to political podcasts. I don’t support a candidate on my blog, but I do Twitter various links and informative posts.

If our blog focuses on anything other than our personal life, shouldn’t the personal opinions regarding off topic items be left, well, off our blog? Or is this political correctness muckity-muck?

(Political incorrectness is) a term used to describe language, ideas, policies, or behavior seen as seeking to minimize offense to racial, cultural, or other identity groups. Conversely, the term politically incorrect is used to refer to language or ideas that may cause offense or that are unconstrained by orthodoxy. [Source: Wikipedia]

What happens when I open myself up to religious debate on my blog? Does it increase my readership? I don’t think so. It may increase traffic for a period of time. But the content doesn’t add value to my archives. I feel it alienates certain readers based upon a poor choice.

I’m all for telling the truth about online services, other’s blog posts, new online fads, etc. I do not believe it’s beneficial to demean anyone’s personal beliefs. It would ultimately hurt my content and my explosion on the Internet would be stifled.

Should blogs focusing on anything other than the individual be considered only a part of who a person is?

A Blog’s Character

My blog has my voice. I write blogging tips, review sites, and speak about online services and utilities for bloggers. I frequently use metaphors to describe blogging, because I think this adds color and flavor to my site. I would not demean, discredit or write disparaging metaphors towards anyone’s creed or religion. It would not benefit my brand.

I do see how this type of activity would help certain character blogs. We all know characters that invite conspiracy, demand attention, and create arguments for the sake of arguments. They invite the attention that comes with controversial blog posts.

So what do you think. Should our blogs cross the line into our personal beliefs? Do you want to know that the blogger writing about blogging tips carries Zoroastrian beliefs close to their heart?Or should that information be left off the table?

Blogging is not racing. There is no finish line. There is no checkered flag. However, there are a lot of cars turning the corners at breakneck speeds. We can use the idea of drafting to take our blog to the next level. What is drafting, you ask. Let’s look at the Wikipedia entry on the topic.

Drafting or slipstreaming is a technique in sports racing where competitors align in a close group in order to reduce the overall effect of drag or fluid resistance of the group in a slipstream. Especially when high speeds are involved, drafting can significantly reduce the average energy expenditure required to maintain a certain speed. [source: Wikipedia]

So when racecar drivers draft, they reduce the wind resistance of their own vehicle by following closely behind another. The wind streaks right over their hoods, giving them the momentum and power to slip past their competitors at the right moment.

I’m not suggesting bloggers are competing. Quite the opposite. If Entrecard has taught me anything, it’s that bloggers together do some interesting and fascinating things. I am suggesting we can compete only when we network and find support of other drivers.

This is nothing new, you say. We all know the pack mentality works to survive. So then why would we streak ahead of the pack? What possible motive would we have to be the first car in the race? Furthermore how can we break away from the pack to position ourselves in the lead for any niche?

Pole Position

The time trials prior to a race determine the frontrunners from the beginning. Those who lag behind often times have to fight the entire race to gain on their competitors. In the blogging world, those who began blogging years ago have a leg up on the blogs that began in 2007 or early 2008. What can the newcomers do to reduce the drag and increase their velocity?

I’ve been asking myself this very question for a while now. I’m sure many of you have read blogs discussing techniques to increase page views, RSS subscriptions, and site traffic. I’ve come up with a few questions to ask yourself about your own blog, which I’ve asked about my own, that should propel your site towards your own finish line.

1. What purpose does your blog serve? - This question may seem like an easy answer, but when I asked myself this question a few weeks ago I had to step back to think. I want a site that’s helpful, honest, and committed to writing and to marketing. I also want a site that caters to bloggers and to their views and ideas. My purpose is to inspire those reading to create, to write, and to gain excitement about their chosen niche.
2. Does the blog meet my expectations? - I ask myself this before I start writing about whatever comes to mind. It helps me focus on what needs filling in on the site. I have a lot of content, but I see it like building a foundation brick by brick. Each new article represents a piece of the foundation. If I’m writing content that veers from my site’s message then I’m creating a faulty foundation. I need to go back to question one and recalculate.
3. How can I keep the blog on target or mold it into what I need? - I can keep my own blog on target by mapping out the course. I know the turns and conditions I have to face before I ever put rubber to road. If I know what’s coming, then I know where to turn. I become more organized and stay focused.

I know for certain no finish line exists, only our personal one. We have pit stops and some cars drop out of the race, but we always keep moving. 

Alexa, Technorati, Exactrank, and other sites will tell you the popular blogs — the frontrunners. If we fixate on the numbers, and forget to look for the opportunity to spring ahead, then we may be just running out of gas waiting for the next pit stop to catch our breath and reconsider it all.

How do I draft?

I draft in the blogosphere all the time. I join networks like Entrecard, forums like Bloggeries, subscribe to RSS feeds of fellow bloggers, read content on popular blogs, write content that’s helpful to others, and guest post on other site’s in my niche.

Through blogging, we sometimes might rub other bloggers the wrong way. But, we all know rubbin ’s racin. The important thing is to stay in the race.

Do you draft with your blog?

Where in the blogosphere did you hear that idea? Oh, on every other blog?

Once when I was leapfrogging from blog to blog, I saw a pattern. 

The first time I read a post on using Adsense to make money I stopped, skimmed, then moved on to the next topic. A few blogs later and I find a post discussing Adsense using similar language, similar examples, and similar conclusions. All in all it was very, well, similar.

How then can we create something new? Over at Scribbles and Words, Jay delved into the topic with a post where he asked if your blog has a voice. He talks about the universal truth of there being no new ideas, only voices. After all, we cannot siphon water from an empty bucket.

Does our interpretation of the world indeed create our foothold in the blogosphere?

Spinning with Politicians

The recent caucuses and election hubbub has caused me to hear a lot of political rhetoric. This discourse usually begins sounding sweet, and then ends sounding similar. It’s similar to other candidates, previous candidates, other elected officials, until it becomes Hollywood — scripted.

Each presidential candidate tends to communicate better than the average American. They can spin issues in their favor, masking their failures in logic and past performance, or illustrating a point with vivid language or boisterous remarks. We follow each candidate to see where they stand, over by the workers or in the high rise away from view. But what we know of them we hear them tell us and divulge from popular media.

We follow blogs because they carry us with their words. We buy into their information, lessons, tutorials, voices, and want to learn from them. When we go out on our own to blog, we carry with us the lessons we learned from our online tutors.

How to Sound Dissimilar

A blogger may write posts that sound similar to other blogs. How could this happen? Well, we live in an intellectually cramped world. I realized this when I thought up great names for domains, only to realize, after a quick search, someone else already thought of celebritney.com or callaflower.com. How could I have known? I thought I was being original.

I often hear bloggers suggest we read popular blogs to gain inspiration. This doesn’t mean we copy content, but we see how successful bloggers put words to page and cycle through traffic like an inner city freeway. That’s the stuff of sheer joy, right? We all want to be successful. We all want traffic. But without good content, we will be stuck behind a big rig, honking in frustration.

If You Build It…

We build originality from what we know. Originality can be viewed as standing on the shoulders of the work others have done, but we are not standing on just on one shoulder - but on many. When we write about organizing our lives, and we also know a little bit about zen, then we create a blog about finding peace in modern society. When we love humor and also making money, we can build a blog out of our knowledge and humor. You get the idea. These people did not invent writing about organizing our life and soul or satirizing the successful for our own gain, but they do it well with everything they know.

I feel like my own blog comes from my experiences, the writings I’ve done as a freelancer, the blogs I read regularly, and the information pouring in through every crevice of my life.  It’s all come together in one climactic boom. I’m here spreading it to all of you. I’m sure you’ll pick up something you like, think about it, and use it in your writings, blog, or work. It’s how this originality thing works.

An original idea is like a multi-colored Playdough man, stretching his arms to the sky.