The ONLY 3 BLOGS that YOU will REALLY REMEMBER

I stepped into the blogging world in March 2010. In the past 2 years, I’ve read zillions of blog posts in the blogosphere. Today, when I asked myself which one’s I really remember, the number seemed to be abysmally small.. Somehow the math did not quite add up… I don’t think the issue is of memory or when I read the post, but it was something else…

After some thinking, analysis and soul searching, I realized that we (You & Me) REALLY REMEMBER blogs ONLY if they fall into ONE of the following THREE categories:
1) Blogs from which YOU LEARN
2) Blogs which make YOU THINK
3) Blogs which TOUCH YOUR HEART

In this post, I will illustrate the best examples of blogs which I remember in each of the categories above:

1) Blogs from which YOU LEARN
The posts which top my list are:
• Jeff Bullas post on 12 Important Steps some Bloggers Forget 
• Heidi Cohen’s post on How to make your blog stand out
• Danny Iny post on How I Became the Freddy Krueger of Blogging

And usually, learning can be in terms of new / radial ideas, interesting concepts, How To do something, Data and Facts, People, History, Companies, Life, etc. etc. etc. But most importantly, it has to be relevant in your personal context. My list above is a classic example of this – Since I am an active blogger, I usually look at learning the many aspects of blogging from fellow bloggers

2) Blogs which make YOU THINK
The posts which I remembered in great detail were:
• Chris Bogan’s post on 106 Excuses That Prevent You From Ever Becoming Great  [Of course, I did not remember all 106 reasons, but I did remember the excuses I usually give :)]
• Leo Babauta’s post on Your Top 10 Clutter Questions, Answered
• Courtney Carver post on Kill the inner clutter before it kills you

For getting anyone to think, you need to be able to plant the seed of thought in the mind. And for this, you need to have a powerful message and be effective in articulation. Many times, the most effective way to get someone to think is to ask a question. Hence, many bloggers tend to conclude their posts with a question – This way they make a conscious effort to plant that seed in your mind…

3) Blogs which TOUCH YOUR HEART
The posts which top my list here are:
• Lisa Petrilli’s post on What I learnt about networking when I asked a stranger for a kidney. Till date, this is one of the finest and more beautiful blogs that I have come across in the blogosphere
• Jamie Wallace’s post on 36 Things I Want My Daughter to Always Remember 

It’s usually hard to predict what evokes emotions in a reader as everyone is unique and have different trigger points for their feelings. Nevertheless, if you can get a reader to feel a basic human emotion like joy, love, surprise, etc. , they are likely to remember your post for a very long time…

So if you do the Math, I was able to recall instantly only 9 posts.. . And that’s really taught me some GOOD LESSONS….

Ending Diamonds of Wisdom:
• You tend to remember blogs in the long term only if
o They are contextually relevant in your personal scenario
o They make you learn, think or feel – for whatever reason!
• If you want readers to really REMEMBER your posts / you as a blogger then ensure that you write blogs through which a reader can learn something, think or feel an emotion..
• The REAL VALUE of your BLOG is if it has an IMPACT and LONG TERM RECALL for any reader, and in my view that is any blogger’s real victory and legacy in the long term

Ending with the Million Dollar Question – Which blogs that you remember and WHY?