Remember the scene, in that movie where all the  addicts and patients sat around in a circle saying their names and what their problems were…? Well, like these people  I suck at introductions – so here goes…

My name is Ross and I’m a Social Media Addict. (This is where you say in a creepy tone: Hiiii Ross)

So here we go – The beginning of something new and hopefully a bit more exciting than watching paint dry but clearly not as exciting as Balloon Boy.  A couple weeks back (violin music please) my sister stopped listening to my rants and raves at the kitchen table so I decided it was time for me to bring my thoughts to the universe.

Last year I started a blog over on blogspot it was the original and unadulterated Cool Perspective. It was a complete and utter failure; To an extent anyways. I guess it was a success in the sense that I learned a lot from it and can apply that knowledge to this blog. Looking back at last years blog – I realized first hand that blogging aint easy.

This blog is the new and revamped Cool Perspective; Thoughts from Me! – Ross, a self-made and self-proclaimed Modern Ad man. I’m no Donald Draper and I don’t really look much like Ogilvy. The discussions and thoughts that will be all found here will be about a variety of different things I’m passionate about. Some of the topics will include, networking, marketing, advertising, entrepreneurship, social media, relationships and whatever else comes to my mind.

I’ve been debating whether or not this blog post was going to not only give an introduction to my blog but that would be pretty boring so I wrote out some lessons I learned after failing to keep the original cool perspective up and running.

Why Bloggin’ Aint Easy

1 – Too much White Space…

One reason blogging aint easy is that unlike twitter where you are cut off at 140 characters, you can go on and on for days.  This time I will be limiting myself to a couple paragraphs instead of a couple chapters. No more rambling; I’ll try my hardest to get straight to the point.

2- Everyones a critic…

You are putting it out there for anyone and everyone to see – You are opening yourself up to praise but also up to critics. These days everyone is a critic and you have to take what they have to say and learn from it. Remember, similar to you – Everyone has an opinion whether or not is right or wrong doesn’t matter. Debates are healthy but remember arguing online is like trying to rewind a DVD – pointless.

3- Finding what to write next…

Coming up with ideas for a blog is no walk in the park – It takes effort and a whole lot of imagination. People do different things to find their inspiration when it comes to writing blogs, novels and even poems. Some people ask questions on twitter – Some people go downtown and intentionally get lost (Trust me it works). No matter how you find your inspiration go find it and squeeze the juice out of it.

4- No Comments = No Success?

If you’re a journalist and you never receive “letters to the editor” does that mean you are a horrible writer and no one is reading your column? Not at all. It could mean that everyone who read your column agreed with what you had to say or that you summed up everything that needed to be said about a specific topic. The key is not to write each post with the hope that it will have 60 comments or 20 diggs. The key is to write each post for yourself…This blog will be all about discovery – If I learn something i’ll share it with you. If I think its something someone may find interesting – I’ll share it with you.

5 – Real Life & Real Consequences…

Throughout University they always taught us how important it was to have some kind of Work-Life Balance. I was always the student who ignored this lecture with his headset in and didn’t believe that balance was necessary. Although, I still stick with my high school mentality in saying a “balance” isn’t needed, I now realize that something has to give. This time rather than just going at it full tilt and burning myself out, I will make sure that I’m managing my time correctly…

With that, you have read my first post…I hope these 5 points are useful to you or someone out there! I want to know your story with blogging, any tips are welecome…And if you don’t have any experience just drop a bit about who you are and say Hello! Not good with intros either? – Feel free to steal the Alcohol Anonymous intro I used above…

photo credit: stars alive