{Personal Image by Lakshmi}

You’ve probably read it everywhere. What does it mean in this faceless existence on the world wide web (does anyone even say that anymore?!).

But think about this as I paint this picture (pun intended) – the internet is flooded with blogs.

That is probably an understatement.

There are established blogs, the upcoming blogs, the undiscovered blogs, new blogs, newer blogs ….

Everyone tells the same thing – be yourself, inject your personality into your brand. Be consistent. Yada yada yada.. I’ve heard it all.

Its all true too. I’ve also heard all this from the people who are trying to be like others.

Huh? Yeah, it makes no sense at all. But in a desperate attempt to get noticed, and to be taken seriously, people try and be like others. If the magic formula for success is working for someone else, it should for you too, right ?

It doesn’t work , at least not for too long.

Why is it important to be yourself ?

You an a unique identity.

That is special. Make that obvious.

Let your personality shine through your words and products. It’s what sets you apart from the big box stores and your competitors. Let your interests be known. Explain why you are passionate about what you do.

Let your quirks be known.

It doesn’t mean you have to necessarily share every facet of your life. Some people do. It’s what makes them unique.

Set your own standards. Share what you feel like. Be as personal as you feel like. Make it your own.

So how do you be yourself ?

When you try too hard to be noticed, it shows. Relax. Work on your gig. Work on getting YOUR style noticed.

What are the ways that you could work on to showing the real you , especially through blogging ?

Here’s five ways of making sure you are true to yourself and your readers:

1. Make sure you write on something that you are really good at or write about your experiences. 

Play on your strengths. Don’t write on a topic just because you noticed the other guy doing it and now you want to be like that guy. No, that’s a bad move.

2. Write your posts as if you were writing to yourself.

Explain it to yourself. Be clear. Or ‘talk’ like you were talking to your friends. That will relax you and your words will flow more naturally. You’ll write better and sound a lot less like you are preaching.

3. Write precisely and clearly.

Make a point by giving a good example. Make it easier for your readers. Write as if your readers are reading something of this nature for the first time.

Don’t think of it as if they don’t know anything, but realize that they are there because they want to learn from you.

A great example of this is Meagan Visser’s post on ‘Pitching a Guest Post‘ she not only answered it via a vlog but also published an example of an email to a blogger, which made it simple and easy to understand.

April’s post here on ED about good marketing tips and used live examples of how to rock those tips. Examples of real people living those marketing tips in their creative lives.

4. Vlogs and podcasts

These are two fast growing ways of enriching people’s lives with your personality and your brand. I’ve seen many bloggers who bring on their best game when it comes to vlogging. I see the real person- or the person who is trying too hard – as the case maybe!

It’s a bit intimidating, but I can see how it is useful to your growing biz. Personally, I look forward to a lot of my favorite blogs when they publish their videos or podcasts. Its fun, quirky, informative and I can work when I listen/watch them!

5. Make sure it is you.

Lastly, something that I do often is that I don’t publish something right away.

I write something and I read it several times. Then I sleep on it and read it the next day or a day after that.

Only if it sounds legit and like how I would sound do I publish it. Sometimes, if I read something and read it the next day, if it doesn’t feel right, I edit it till the language, style, voice is all me.

And yet, if it still doesn’t sound like me, I scrap the post entirely. Yes, I have done that. Its better to do that than to have a fake me out there!

What other ways do you use to be you ?

Facebook , twitter etc give us the opportunity to connect in different ways. How do you use it all to your advantage?

P.S. FYI, I did sleep on this post before I sent it to Jess – it felt right, it felt like it is me.

Lakshmi is an architect by profession . an artist by nature and has a slight obsession with colour.  She is a mother to 2 kids and married to her college sweetheart. Their current nest is in sunny Sydney, Australia.  

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