Want to know the one phrase that will shoot your blog straight to mediocrity and see it dwell in the uninspiring hell of normality?

“A blog isn’t a blog without……”

It’s Ridiculous. Stupid. Normal.

With comments being removed from Cash Quests, I have read variations of that phrase more times in the past two days than I have in the past six months and it is truly amazing how many sites it has turned me off ever reading again.

So what is a ‘blog’ anyway?

Your blog is a “web log” and is a journal of your thoughts and ideas that are (usually but not always) ordered chronologically.

And that’s it. Nothing about interaction. Nothing about community. Nothing about a “shared learning experience“. Yes, there are blogs that choose to have all of these but those that don’t are still called blogs.

Why that phrase will kill you

When you start thinking that “it must have this to be blog” and “every other blogger does this” you are chaining yourself to a level of thinking that should be avoided and discouraged if you ever hope to achieve success.

Most blogs are good. Creating another “good” blog that follows the same formula as everybody else’s will not help your site stand out amongst the millions of others. If you want it to stand out then it must be remarkable and the best way to achieve that is to push the limits when others are afraid to do so and think about what your competition isn’t doing.

When you’ve discovered what everybody else isn’t doing, you’ve discovered the perfect niche.

There are some things that you will choose to do simply because they work and are the right choice. Choosing not to drink water is obviously ridiculous but nobody does it just because everybody else is doing it - we do it because we need to. To have a blog, you only need to express your thoughts and ideas.

Be remarkable

It’s amazing that one phrase can have the power to completely destroy any future success you may have been headed for. Try a few different variations of it and see how outdated it sounds:

“A car isn’t a car without gasoline” - Hello electric cars.

“A computer isn’t a computer without MS-DOS” - Hello Windows.

“A cell phone isn’t a cell phone without buttons” - Hello iPhone.

Cutting that phrase out of your language is when you can truly start being different. Instead of spending your time trying to have a louder voice in a crowded niche, try using your uniqueness to carve out your own niche.

Whatever you do, do it because it’s the right choice for you. Not because someone else’s definition tells you that you should. Rewriting the rule book and not obeying other people’s definitions is when you really start to be successful.

Is turning off your comments remarkable? I don’t think so. But if others are remarking about it, then maybe you can be remarkable with just a single small action. Thanks for the inspiration Mr Godin:

“If you’re remarkable, then it’s likely that some people won’t like you. That’s part of the definition of remarkable. Nobody gets unanimous praise — ever. The best the timid can hope for is to be unnoticed. Criticism comes to those who stand out.

Playing it safe. Following the rules. They seem like the best ways to avoid failure. Alas, that pattern is awfully dangerous. The current marketing “rules” will ultimately lead to failure. In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.”

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