WordPress
Makes It Possible
To Speak Up
Everybody has something to say. Not a few, everyone! Not the smart or attractive or advantaged or educated people but every person.
That includes you.
You don’t have to think or talk like an academic to have something to say or to share it clearly. No degrees are necessary. Sometimes study hurts. Degreed individuals aren’t always easy to understand.
What To Say
What you have to say isn’t difficult to come by. It resides within and gurgles up from the inside. It seeps whether you make an intentional effort to share it or not.
The point of this post is you might as well harness it and give it expression. Be intentional. Be deliberate.
One warning though. Initially, you may be tempted to say what’s already been said and repeating it is your way of adding endorsement. That’s OK at the beginning, but eventually you need to add your thoughts. What you think is significant.
Right Or Wrong
Before I mention how to share, a quick word about being right instead of wrong.
Having your say is not about always being right. No one is only right all the time, but you can’t know how right or wrong you are by living in isolation. Keeping all your thoughts neatly bound up in the privacy of your personal bubble only breeds stagnation.
Even if you aren’t absolutely right, sharing your thoughts can add perspective. Hopefully it’s a different point of view.
That brings us to the bigger questions: How can I say what I want to say? What is the best way to say it with impact? What is the best way to give visibility to my thoughts?
The good news is there are several options.
How Not To Share
There are many ways to make your thoughts known but some you shouldn’t try.
You can get a megaphone and shout your way down the street or you can get a soapbox and do your thing in the public park. You can print up pamphlets and pass them around or you might publish a book. People do these things all the time but all these approaches are limiting.
Megaphones and soap boxes carry your ideas only as far as your voice can project, except on the odd chance someone hears you and carries it a little further.
It’s rare when ideas take hold using these methods. Most people see megaphone and soapbox exhibitions as nothing more than interesting, free entertainment to be enjoyed on the fly?
Pamphlets and books may be better but maybe not. It takes a lot of work just to get your ideas into print and that’s before you try to circulate them.
Fortunately, there are better ways to share ideas.
Sharing Happens Everyday All The Time
We may not think of it in these terms but every publication is nothing more than someone sharing ideas and information. Every newspaper, magazine, newsletter and book is one or more people sharing ideas with as many people as they can.
It’s supposed to be factual information but these authors are slanting everything toward their own feelings on the matter. It can’t be avoided. Even fiction is laced with the authors philosophies.
Everyone is expressing themselves these days. Sitting quietly by is no longer an option. People who don’t speak up are tagged with ideas they may not like.
It’s OK to be wrong. It isn’t OK to be misrepresented.
The problem
So here’s the problem. You have ideas but you don’t have money lying around to invest in newspapers and magazines and you cringe at the thought of megaphones and soapboxes. You don’t mind writing your ideas out for others to read but pamphlets and books may be a dead end. Marketing is and another expense you really can’t afford.
It’s not a great picture. Your experience in sharing ideas is lacking. You converse daily, but writing is not something you do everyday and is usually no more extensive than a grocery list anyway.
There are many reasons not to get started but there is one reason you should: WordPress.
It is the solution to every dilemma.
How Much Will It Cost
Not much! Very little!
It isn’t free but it is well within the financial reach of even the poor classes.
Rounding figures off, here is what you’re looking at:
- Domain name: $10.00 a year.
- Hosting: $4.00 a month.
- Support: $0.00 (Google).
- WordPress: $0.00.
- Theme: $0.00 (what you see when you visit a website).
It will cost you time but you don’t have any less time than anyone else. All you need do is shuffle things around a bit. Spend less time on non-useful activities and more time on sharing ideas.
It will also take time to develop your style. We’re all different.
You’re going to spend the time anyway, you might as well spend it developing the skills associated with websiting.
Influence The World
You also have the opportunity to change the way people speak. Twenty years ago the word websiting wasn’t even a word. A French website company used it for a website design domain name about ten years ago but I don’t speak French.
I can’t say I came up with the word first but I’m pretty sure it came to me without external prompts. It was just me-speak. It came into my head and I wrote it down.
What words might you think of?
Versatility And Efficiency Matter
I’m hesitant to say WordPress is simple. If all you want to do is write, it can seem complicated, but of all the ways to publish yourself it is probably the simplest and most versatile.
I’ve published two books. It was a great learning experience, but I have to be honest. Every time I read through those books I find sections I would love to rewrite. That can be done, but not easily or cheaply.
The expense of changing just one word is mammoth, and that’s just for a digital format, Kindle. Changing hardback and paperback publications would be more.
Yes, I’m aware that you don’t need to spend money on digital formatting but I’ve learned that using free onboard formatting is limiting and it always shows.
If you’re experimenting with publishing, use the freebie. For real, pay for professional formatting.
If you’re interested in formatting, look no further than BookNook.biz. I’ve used them for both my books, Amazon recognizes them and they have many clients. Great people to work with!
But here’s the point. I can change any word on any article anywhere on my site with a few clicks. It happens in real time and costs nothing more. Books are static. Websites are dynamic.
Versatile, efficient and simple by comparison.
Learning Curve
Is there a learning curve? Will questions arise for which you won’t have an answer? Will you occasionally be panic stricken trying to find a coding solution for recurring problems? Will your hosting company use web-speak that baffles you?
Yes, yes, yes and yes!
Will you learn how to solve a problem today and then forget what you learned through non-use only to need that knowledge two months later? Yes!
But on the positive side, you’re using your head. You’re exercising your brain. And more importantly, you’re moving in the channel of your own personal flow and learning what you need rather than what’s been dictated.
You’re not following a preset curriculum. You’re creating one. There is nothing more individualistic than learning to express your ideas in your own personal way.
And like I said. Everyone else is learning to solve similar problems and sharing the solutions on the net. You’ll find your answer more easily than you think.
Keep learning! Keep thinking! Keep writing!
THINK!AboutIt
Leave a Reply