5 Things Every Blogger Can Learn from a Scout
19 December, 2007 - Blogging - 9 Comments
As my regular readers will know, I put Scouting first on the list of places that have allowed me to be where I am today. Scouting gave me far more lessons, and much more valuable lessons, then any school class did. It gave me life skills. Leadership. Friendship. Confidence and organisational skills just to name a few.
The Facts!
It comes as no surprise, then, that 11 of the 12 astronauts who have walked on the Moon were once Scouts. It comes as no surprise that the youngest climber of the highest peaks on all seven continents was a Scout. It comes as no surprise that every year 450,000 UK Scouts give something back to their community through community projects. It may come as a surprise that 360 million hours are volunteered by adults each year to provide adventurous, challenging and exciting projects for young people. And of course, the first non-stop solo flight around the world was completed by a Scout. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, there are also plenty of successful entrepreneurs with a Scouting background. Richard Branson is one of many.
We all have a lot to learn
The fact is, we can all learn a lot from Scouts. Whether or not we like their cookies, they’re some of the most successful people in the world. Here are several lessons you, as a blogger, can learn from the average Scout.
A Scout is to be Trusted - As is a blogger. Use your about page to build trust. Add a photo. Who? What? Why? When? How? Do you have any qualifications relating to your blog niche? If you’re writing about making money, do you have a cheque to show? ShoeMoney uses this tactic and it happens to be the most popular photo on his blog. Readers like to know who is behind the writing and they like to know they can trust the author to publish quality, factual content. Show them you know your topic and know your readers needs and your readers will feel much more compelled to subscribe.
A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts - A blogger belongs to the worldwide family of bloggers. How many of you sent Christmas cards to your blogging family this year? You didn’t send a card? No problem. How many of you sent a friendly Merry Christmas message to your blogging family via their contact forms? You didn’t? There’s still time! Remind them you care. Remind them they’re not just another username on the other side of the world. Interact with your family on a regular basis through comments and emails. I can’t remember the last time I received an email from a blogger who was emailing just to see how I was or to talk about personal items, like friends do. Whenever a blogger contacts me, it always seems to be business related. Start treating other bloggers like friends, as opposed to usernames who can help your business.
A Scout makes good use of time - A blogger usually doesn’t. To be successful, a blogger must make good use of her time. With YouTube, MiniClip, FaceBook and the BBC and CNN to interrupt your day, I know just how hard it can be to commit to a time frame. I find that when I schedule the next day in my BlackBerry just before I go to bed, I find it much easier to get things done. I have the full day split in to blocks on my BlackBerry with my day job, blogging and my fitness all scheduled in. The effect of knowing exactly what tasks need to be done each day, and having an appropriate time block for each task, is invaluable for me. I find it motivates and inspires me. Sometimes, it’s actually a refreshing challenge to do the work fast enough to keep on track with what I have scheduled in my phone.
A Scout Wears Uniform with Pride - As should a blogger. Wear your Web site design with pride. Iron it on a regular basis to ensure spam comments and other rogue elements are caught and resolved.
Most Important of all… Be Prepared - The official Scout motto, and for good reason. A blogger should be prepared for every eventuality. Especially, be prepared for Web hosting issues that are out of your control. The last thing you want to do is lose your data. Backup your data on a regular basis. Speak with your Web host if you’re unsure how to do this.
What other lessons can we learn from a Scout? Baking cookies certainly isn’t on the list, but I’m sure the 28 million strong family can teach us a few more things.
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Posted on 19 December, 2007 by Jamie Harrop
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I also was a cub, but have since not continued on into full scoutdomness.
Always be prepared. I try and have backup measures in place to cover most eventualities.
One useful method I’ve developed is to keep my emails in three places. One for regular daily use on my laptop, another as monthly archives on an external HD and I keep a running 10 day log of recent emails stored on my web server. That has been invaluable on countless occasions.
Thanks for the comment, Andrew.
The email idea is good. I also keep mine in several places, including on a data stick.
Jamie,
Great and interesting perspective! As an Eagle Scout myself, I can say that the best lesson that I learned was to be passionate about what your beliefs are, and to have compassion for others. Those two rules for life has helped me go a long way.
I think they are true to blogging also as we need to be passionate about our niches and topics, and have compassion for others as we lead and teach them.
Thanks for incorporating Scouting into an article like this!
Thanks Elliott.
The point about passion is very good. I’ve spoken multiple times on the blog about passion for your business and ideas. It’s certainly an invaluable asset. Good point!
Unfortunately I was never in Scouts. I’m not sure why, it just wasn’t something my parents thought of, or that I knew much about. But my twin boys are definitely going to be be offered the chance to join as soon as they’re old enough.
This post offers a very interesting way of looking at how the two things could be considered similar. Good job.
Hi Rod,
Thanks for the comment.
It’s a shame you were never involved with Scouting. Maybe once your twins are involved you’ll find yourself giving up some of your time to help. It’s just as rewarding being a helper or leader as it is being a young Scout.
Having been in cub scouts and boy scouts (Eagle!) I kinda have to disagree with your 1st point. While it is important for bloggers to impress upon their readers a sort of social proof or authority, scouting is never, or atleast that I could see, about broadcasting what they do or anything. Actions speak louder than words; it’s what you do that earns trust. Just MHO, otherwise, great article!
Hi Shawn,
Thanks for the excellent comment.
That’s an interesting point that you hit on. I guess what I was trying to say is, if you’ve done things in the past, related to your blogging niche, that might make you a trustworthy person, then show those things on your about page. For sure, you have to keep doing those things now and in the future, but showing how you have done them in the past is still a good thing to do. At least I think it is.
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