Look at the image.
I snapped this photo during my month long trip to Doha, Qatar. I preserved this image outside of a store. I have absolutely no idea what the sign said – anybody who speaks Arabic can step in and translate – because Arabic characters look nothing like English letters. I learned a few Arabic words in Qatar, Oman and at my old security guard job. I worked with almost 100 Coptic Christian Egyptians in New Jersey. I did learn a few Arabic words and phrases but stared at Arabic writing mystified.
My confusion increased in Qatar. But goodness did I love the different, fascinating, fun feel to the place. I had to learn how to respect Muslim cultures and customs in Doha and 2 years later, in Oman. We lived in Muslim neighborhoods. My wife covered her hair, arms and legs, wearing a shawl, long-sleeved shirt and long skirts. I wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt in Qatar and Oman to respect the conservative Muslim culture. In essence, I learned their language and spoke in their language as far as culture. I did not hold my wife’s hand in Qatar in public; public displays of affection are frowned upon as a custom there.
I enjoyed spending time in Qatar because I learned how locals lived, respected their culture and played a different role than I play in a much more liberal United States. But I had to learn about the norms of living in a Muslim land to better honor their customs.
As a blogger, do you learn about your readers, their wants and their goals? Or do you NOT speak their language at all? Look at the Arabic lettering in the image. If you speak English, doesn’t that sign confuse you? Imagine if you are confusing your readers in similar fashion? Perhaps you are writing in English but you are covering topics they can care less about? Imagine if I wrote posts about tips for puppy care on World Writer’s Hub. You would feel incredibly confused because you follow this blog to get writing and blogging tips. Puppy tips are way out of the blogging and writing niches.
Drilling deeper; do you listen closely to the needs of your readers? I may cover blogging tips but if my Blogging From Paradise readers could care less about the blogging tips that I publish, I am not speaking their language and I lose them. Listen closely to your readers. Observe their problems. Pay close attention to their struggles. Listen to their dreams. Ask them questions. Wait for honest answers. Build all of your content on solutions to their problems and struggles. Speak their language. Serve them. Respect their voice. This is the simple way to become a successful blogger.
The tough way to blog is to wing it or to blog about ONLY what you want to blog about. Readers care less about you winging it or what you want to blog about because they are there to get their problems solved. You need to speak in their language to solve their blogging problems.
I felt more at home in Oman because the neighborhood we visited seemed home to many open, kind, generous people, inviting us into their homes for coffee and dates. I even talked to a few of the kids in the neighborhood. Some spoke English and knew of NYC, close to where I grew up. We spoke the same language on more than one level; we connected.
eBook
Do you have a tough time getting through blogging obstacles?
I wrote an eBook to help you overcome resistance.
Buy it here:
10 Powerful Strategies for Knifing through Blogging Obstacles
