If an apple falls out of an old ladies bag and rolls down the street stopping at my feet I will bend down, pick it up, and hand it to the lady.  She will smile and say, thank you kind young man.  I will return the smile and move on – she is right, I am a kind young man.

A guy is walking down the street staring at a map and obviously lost.  He looks at me with a face that is a plea for help.  I will look the other way and try to ignore him, making a silent prayer that he does not stop me.  Why should I help him – he should be able to help himself.

I feel the same way about my readers – why should I help them?

I do not possess any need to help people that can help themselves.  The old, the blind, the slow, I will help if forced – if an apple hits my foot.  But everyone else are on their own.  I do not care if somebody is lost or needs a dime, there is no force driving me to help people in need.  If they have a brain, eyes and the major extremities then they should be able to help themselves.

And that is why blogging is difficult.  Blogging  is about giving advice, tips, suggestions and information with the intent of helping the reader.  Provide content that helps readers.  They do not know how to do something – show them how.  They do not know about something new – tell them about it.  They want to be entertained – stand on a beach ball and roll around juggling bananas.  Blogs are not for the blogger, they are for the reader.  You exist to serve the readers.  They should be able to help themselves – but no – they want you to help them.

But honestly, I do not care about the readers.  Besides the couple of visitors that leave comments, I know nothing about the other readers.  There is no connection with them – they are just bodies without souls.  No different then the hundreds of bodies I walk past everyday on the streets.

Do Successful Blogs Truly Care About You?

Successful blogs are run by kind people.  People who care.  Their posts offer free advice in a pleasant and loving way.  The bloggers care about their readers – they want to help.

But do they truly care?  Or are they just good at giving the impression that they care?

Obviously they are just pretending to care and are very good at it.

Just like the vacuum salesman who arrives at your door worried about your children.  You open the door and see a man holding a vacuum and beaming a smile.  You say, hello, may I help you? Suddenly with a  worried look he proclaims:  there are a lot of bacteria in your carpets, bacteria that can make your children sick, your children!  Like you, I care about your children – I do not want them to cough and sniffle,  poor little things.  Please buy this vacuum so that your children will not be sick.

Being a vacuum salesman is difficult.  You have to look sincere when you talk about ‘the children!’.  The best salesman are those that can form a little tear at the edge of their eye as they speak.  How could you say no to somebody caring so much.

You cannot sell vacuums if you do not care about the children.  To be a successful vacuum salesman, I mean blogger, you need to appear like you truly care.  Be kind to your readers.

How To Test Whether a Blogger Truly Cares

Probably there are successful blogger that truly care.  To test whether a blogger really cares is easy.  Write the blogger an email and ask them a question.  Be easy – do not make them work hard.  Ask them something simple like:

Hello.

I have really enjoy your blog and your style of writing.  Just wondering how long does it take you to write a post?

Thanks,
You

After you send this email there are three possible outcomes:

1. No response.  Does not care.
2. A quick response.  No hello, no punctuation, no capitalization, poor spelling.  For example: it takes 2 hours.  Does not care.
3. A well formatted email response with greeting, punctuation, correct spelling and capitalization.  Truly cares.

Of course, if you email me my response will belong to the ‘Cares’ category.  But that is only because I am not successful and I need to appear to care even in my emails.

The concept is simple.  Buy an empty lot, build a little office,  toss in  a desk and two chairs.   Go through the newspaper classifieds and buy a dozen used cars.  Hose the cars down, put on a fresh layer of wax, buff and shine, vacuum the carpets, Armor-all the interior and kick the tires to make sure the car holds together.  Get a bright shiny red pen and write a price on the windshield – add an exclamation point and circle.  Then wait for the customers to arrive.

Had I been born 30 years ago I would have tried being  a used car salesman.  I understand cars, know how to fix and clean them.  Nothing about the prospect of selling cars would of scared me.  Just like blogging – easy money.

But this website has taught me that I would have been a terrible used car salesman and would not of made any money – just like blogging.

A family walks onto the lot, I approach them.  They tell me what they want and I show them a car.  They like the color, it is clean and it runs.  Does it run well the father asks.  Yes, it runs well I reply with honest smile.  The man takes it for a test run.  Good acceleration, good brakes.  The kids like it too.  Daddy, buy this car.  The man looks at the price, then at the sky, then at his shoes and finally after a short pause at me.  The car is a little out of our price range.  What is your price range?  The man looks at his kids, then at the car and then at me.  He coughs out a price 40% lower then the sticker price.

The family drives off in their old car.  Another sale lost.  Haven’t sold a car in weeks.  I would have been a terrible used car salesman because I cannot convince people to buy at sticker price. That is why I am also not making money with this website.

It Is All About The Dazzle, Lights And Big Signs

Used car salesmen do not work with new content.  They are selling used cars, not making new ones.  Every used car lot has the same bunch of cars.  Being successful is all about how you present the used cars.

Successful  used car salesmen are flashy, fast talking, excited, and they can convince their customers that lemons are chocolate ice creams with rainbow sprinkles on top.  Their lots have blinking lights and neon sings.  Prices are crossed out, slashed and reduced.  They have the best deals in town.  Their deals will not last – limited time offers.  They have grand openings, clear out sales, end of years sale bonanzas.

They will do almost anything to sell you a car.  No restraint – it does not embarrass them to embellish.  The actual condition of the car is irrelevant.  It is everything around the car that matters – the salesman’s slick haircut, the sexy receptionist, the bright lights and exlamation marks.

Successful bloggers would be great used cars salesmen.  Especially the bloggers in my niche – ‘make money online’.  There is no new content in this niche (true for most niches except probably astronomy and Britney Spears)  – it is all used content.  Everything about making money has been said.  There is no new information – it is just repackaged information.

But there are good salesmen on the internet.  They can take used information, put lights on it, wax it, call it a limited offer, and make you feel like you need it.  They can take something that is free and sell it for $99.99.  It is not the information that they provide, it is the packaging they present it in.

Being a used car salesman is a talent.  Not everybody can do it.  Not everybody can get into the roles of adding value to something by making it sparkle and shine.

Becoming a successful blogger is the same as being a successful used car salesman.  It is not enough to just get a lot and put cars on it.  You need to get into character.  Your content is the least valuable part of the blog.  Everybody has content.  It is all about how you present the content.

Have a look at the successful bloggers.  There are some wild characters out there -  successful used car salesmen.  Cowboy hat, chest hair growing out in-between his top shirt buttons, proud father of a new baby boy.  A college football trophy on his desk.  You feel good around him –a friend.  All smiles and good news.  With all the lights and sounds of the lot every day is New Years Eve party.

Compare that with this blog – a parking lot with a bunch of old cars on it.  Someone approaches and asks, can I make money online?  In plain black unbolded text I reply, ‘ya maybe, but it’s a lot of work’.  No wonder nobody is buying cars from me.