How would you live your life differently if you had one month to live?
It’s a question I was asked recently and while it’s one we’ve all heard before I think it’s something well worth pondering at different times. I also like to apply it to different areas of my life – like blogging….
If you had only one month left before you had to stop doing it or making money from it – how would that impact your blogging?
- how would it impact the topics that you wrote about?
- how would it impact the way you approached monetization?
- how would it impact the calls to action you gave your readers?
- how would it impact the passion and focus that it brought to your blogging?
I think I’d probably approach blogging a little differently if I were in my last month:
- I’d probably do so with more focus in the topics I wrote about
- I’d be thinking about the legacy I wanted to leave with my blog
- I’d be more innovative in how I monetize it
- I’d be focusing more upon the relationships I had with my readers
I’m sure it’d impact my blogging in other ways too.
The 2nd question of course that we need to ask ourselves is – why are we not blogging this way now?
How would you approach your last month of blogging?
Hi Darren,
This is an extremely thought-provoking question! What would that mean for people whose sole income is based on blogging? It might mean the end of the internet entrepreneur era. Now that I’m thinking about it even more, it actually feels a bit like the end of the world (brown paper bag, please!)
I think I’d do my best to make contact with as many people as possible and then write as if my life depended on it, because it probably would :)
Hi Darren,
my answer the answer for the second question is that we do something with great importance and care when we feel that we’re about to lose it. For instance, a man would enjoy his sight in all possible ways if he knows he’s gonna be blind tomorrow.
What do you think?
People realize the value of a person or an object only when they lose it or about to lose it. :)
Wise question, Darren.
I’d probably start blogging everyday or multiple times a day. Something I’ve been trying to make time for for a long time.
Also, I would find faithful readers who could carry on the tradition of the blog if I can’t any longer. That way, the blog continues even if I can’t continue it.
insightful question, Darren. Thanks.
All I can say is that it would be one extremely busy month.
You are quite right Darren. Each day that we put content out in the blogosphere, we are adding to our legacy. Will that be a legacy of quality, meaningful content, or crap?
I think that I would definitely make sure that I had a video and some audio before I went. I want people to know me on a more personal level.
However, although I write short posts, I do try to make sure I live that way each day, anyway. I don’t believe that a person is meant to spend 6 hours a day in front of a television.
I think that it’s critical for everyone to go out and live their lives to the fullest so that they will have a legacy to leave behind when they are gone.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Hey Darren,
That would be one busy month. Cranking out all the ways to monetize. Thanks for the mindset!
Chat with you later…
Josh
I think that I would try to write more frequently and (perhaps) monetize more.
I would hammer out the best content I possibly could, try to make that last effort to leave your mark on the world (the Internet)
Why should I worry at all if I had only one month left? I would rather enjoy that time…
If I had one month left to blog, I would probably try to crank out my best, most helpful blog posts ever. I would create timeless posts that would be relevant for years to come. I would pour my whole heart into my writing… wait a minute, I just realized that I can do that now ;)
Great stuff D,
~Mike
Darren, this question is very pertinent to my own situaton. I’ve been blogging on and off for around two years now and have yet to make it work. I’ve come up with what I think is a very good idea but I’m struggling to get traction with it.
I’ve pretty much set a deadline of September and if I haven’t been able to make it work by then, I’ll forget about blogging and return to being a wage slave.
In the mean time I haven’t given up and there’s still plenty of things I can (and will) do.
If this were my last month, I’d really shine a spotlight on my customers and make them feel they’d been looked after.
Hey you inspired me to write a blogpost about your blogpost. Actually it doubles as a THANK YOU for all the help you have given me. I love your blogpost today ! :)
Darren,
This is truly a thought provoking post. As far as how my content would change, I would try to bring as much passion as possible into everything I write. Not that I don’t do that now, but it would be my sole focus. I’d want to know what I was doing was making a difference in the lives of everybody around me. I guess I’d blog as if I had nothing to prove.
Relationships: The next thing I’d focus on is building relationships with my readers. I think one of the greatest things our blogs offer us is the ability to connect with people across the blog and form relationships with all of them. I’m realizing more and more that we should focus on building deeper more meaningful relationships with our readers rather than trying to get new ones.
Monetization: If I knew I had one month left, I probably wouldn’t bother too much with monetization. Maybe I’d write a book and donate all the proceeds to charity.
I’d do a “life lessons” series of posts and relate these all to blogging. They’d be filled with encouragement and inspiration to help others achieve their blogging goals and dreams.
Awesome food for thought. I’d blog more about the things I’m afraid to make public, for sure. I’d be less worried about stepping on toes and more interested in conveying a thought or a message.
I’d finish my novel and spoon out about 3000 words of it each day :)
For me, I think I’d be in people’s faces more, not caring who I offend, not caring what I sound like, not caring what client or future client might happen upon the blog.
I wouldn’t care about monetization–can’t take it with me–calls to action, who would take over the blog later and all that.. .
I suppose I’d write more along the lines of “this is what you need to know, this is what I know–here, have it.”
Hmm. Prolly ought to start that today since you really never know lol
Thanks for the thought.
Ummmmm. That is a good question. One that does require some thought. I think I’d have to dig deeper into my passion box and pull out all stops. You know, not hold back any secrets, etc and leave it all out there for your legacy to live on.
Brandon
If i only had 1 month to blog, i think i would just stop blogging. I might do a one last farewell entry for my readers, but that’s it. why do any more? During that month, I would rather spend time what my next chapter in my life would be. Start a new blog? Start a new hobby? Start a brand new business? That’s what I would spend thinking about during that month.
Interestant question, i think i will write more often and find others ways to monetize my blogs, i will give “gifts” to the readers… In the other hand, if i should die in one month, i will definitively quit blogging and go to live near the sea to die in peace. XD
Damn, that’s an awesome way of thinking,
I never thought about this, but it’s a vital question – I think I would make my blog as EPIC as possible – really putting my soul into it (like more) and make each post as VALUABLE and unique as possible !
If I only had one month to live, I likely wouldn’t blog at all.
And if I did, it would likely be a “really live your life, because someday you’re going to die” post.
Hey Darren,
Wow! That’s a deep thought. I would definitely do things different. I would do all the things I’ve been ‘thinking’ of doing so far and implement them asap.
Thanks for giving me something to think about!
Have a nice day!
Ilka Flood
This reminds me of a radio commercial.. talking about how every one is offering great deals and service in this bad economy.
Then he says, why havn’t you been offering this the whole time, why use a bad economy to offer great value.
Blog like just like you should live.. Like it’s your last day.
I would sell my blog network for six figures and spend a month wasting the money because if I had only one month left to blog I would have to assume the world was coming to the end or something.
It’s funny you posted this, as we’re doing a 6 week series at my church called “Live like you’re dying”. The whole premise is if you only had 30 days left to live, what things would you do differently?
Would you talk, respond, relate to people differently? Would you use your time differently? Would you see people differently? Etc…
So that’s a great twist on something to think about with your blog… I think all of those questions could apply perfectly well to blogging itself… by using your time more efficiently, making your readers a priority, and not seeing your blog traffic as just numbers, but actual people.
Warm regards,
C
Dearest Darren,
I’ve been reading your blog for years now and don’t think I’ve ever commented once. Until now – I had to!
This post is just awesome – it’s a great question, one I’ve never asked myself, and it has forced me to focus on *exactly* what I want to achieve with my blog, my writing, my photography, and my readers.
To add even more urgency to it, I’ve reworded it in my head to: What if my next post was the last post I could publish on my blog?
I’d also just like to say a big THANK YOU to you for all your help over the years and just to let you know I could have never achieved half of what I have achieved on my blog without your constant excellent guidance.
Very grateful,
Mowie
How would it impact the topics that you wrote about?
I would take a birds eye view of what I was trying to help people achieve and then blog continuously about the critical path to their success.
How would it impact the way you approached monetization?
I would try and create as much passive income as possible or leverage the instant cash as soon as possible
How would it impact the calls to action you gave your readers?
I would give them as much attention as I could to ensure I can literally drag them to where they need to go :)
How would it impact the passion and focus that it brought to your blogging?
The passion and focus would be immense. Minimum time to achieve maximum output.
What a concept to ask a question about. Puts things into perspective. I think I might implement some of this now.
This is a big question I’ve never throught first. I think I’d do my best to enjoy my blog in all possible ways if I know that I have one month to live.
If I Had Only One Month Left to Blog…
I would selflessly spread the word about worthy products I’m not affiliated with. Time would be too short to get rich online, so why not extend our help to talented people?
This is why instead of posting my blog’s address to appear when someone clicks my name, I posted a notice about a giveaway for a CD I keep listening to over and over again.
Go check it out, you can also learn about the giveaway of 3 autographed CDs from talented Brazilian singer Kenia on Twitter: http://twitter.com/keniasings
Legacy over currency ;]
I would abandon the blog. One month isn’t going to make a difference, nor would I want to put in the effort to try to achieve all my goals for my blog only to have it all end. I would find other outlets for writing instead.
I’d walk away from it all and spend the time with friends and family. Without a second of regret.
Money/Blogs/Job…doesn’t matter a lick. It’s the people in your life that matter and where the real riches are.
I probably would blog a little about what I’ve learned in my life and shut the computer down for good to be with my family.
This is simple. I would tell my life story. I would start from the beginning and work my way until the end. And I’ll document my final moments on earth.
And hopefully, I’ll be able to get one final word in on my death bed.
Good-bye.
I guess the reason behind the “only 1 month” would have an impact on the decision. If it was due to a terminal illness then I’d bail and spend the month with family and friends. If it was due to a new job/career then I’m not sure. It’s hard to imagine only having a month left when I have a choice.
As for the 2nd question you pose, that is an interesting one. I think that we don’t do anything in our lives as if we only had a month left to fit it all in. I don’t think we can for very long.
As bloggers, we’re in it for the long haul and we have to operate at a pace that we can handle or we burn out. That doesn’t mean that we won’t have bursts of time where we make that extra push — we just don’t push 24/7.
Anyway, that’s my $0.02.
With only one month to blog I would love my readers to share what I have learned. I would be much more stern in my messages and would hold back no punches.
We all are afraid to offend yet our call to action is timid.
I would stop being timid.
You know what, I will stop right now.
Darren can I write an article about my vision of Perfect Health for all your problogger readers to see?
Pierrette & I have much hope and need to share it with your readers.
Say yes and we will share the hope together.
Pierre
Thee Quest Perfect Health
If I had one month to live I would sign off my blog.
Gather up my family and create a legacy of memories with them. Sorry blogosphere. You would fall very far down the pecking order.
And in terms of monetisation. (Did I spell that right?) sigh. forget about it. Concentrate on who is important, not the computer.
I love blogging, I really like this blog, but seriously folks. Perspective.
This thought resonates with me “No man on his death bed ever looked up into the eyes of his family and friends and said, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office”.
It’s exactly the same for blogging.
I agree with Kate: why blog if you only have a month left to live? I’d abandon it. Seems like lots of other things, like visiting those you haven’t seen for a while, would be so much more important than putting more words into a Web that already has so much noise that it can be hard to find its nuggets.
It all depends on why I would only have a month left. Was I dying? Then I wouldn’t be spending any time blogging. Is the Internet going to die? Then why make any more content?
Though you do raise a great point, as usual. If I knew I had a limited time frame I’d find the time to complete my posts with more gusto and calls to action but for some reason the time I would find in a dire situation seems to fly by when there’s no sense of urgency. I like to think there needs to be a bit more urgency in our days.
My blog is so new and I’m so new at it that I’d probably do what I’m already doing which is writing my ass off, creating useful articles and developing products to eventually sell. And I’d keep making an effort to respond to every single comment because each and every reader is pretty special right now.
Thanks for the interesting questions because it reminds me to not waste time worrying about whether or not this thing will get off the ground…just do it one month (or one day) at a time.
If I had just one month left before wonderwebby was no more….
I’d like to say I would blog more regularly, with more passion, share more knowledge, try to help more people find ways to imagine the possibilities…
…but that would mean I’d have to give something else up, so that I’d have more time to blog. So it’s really not a question of what I would write, but what I would change in my own life so that I could write more frequently with more focus.
So for the first week, I’d find ways to free up my time. I could hire somebody to do my ironing :) I could get up earlier (yikes!). I could optimise the tools and techniques I use to blog. And I would sit down, have a cuppa, and think about ways to make the month of posts count, how to be more effective, and how to turn this into a fun activity. Who wants to feel overwhelmed with a daunting task of “work” in their last month of blogging?
Then – tada – I would have the remaining month left to create posts that would hopefully inspire, tell a story, and encourage others to find new ways to make a difference and start up blogs of their own :)
For me, I’ve been blogging that way for a while now. Initially I had plan to take a less mentally demanding job and then blog hard on the side, and when the earning equals, then I’ll just quit my job.
Maybe it’s my deep seated attitude about money- but at one time when I blog with the purpose to monetize, I know I am not writing truly from the heart and somehow, the need to push up the earnings stiffles my natural writing skills.
In the end, I made the decision to keep the day job to pay the bills and blog just to help others. I’ve had my share of experiences and have gone through some pretty bad patches in life, that I wished no one else will have to go through. After making that decision, I watched my health improve and there’s no more conflict inside.
If I have one month live to blog, hmmm, this is a very hard question. Okay, if I have one month live to blog, I have to post blogs everyday unlike the usual 3 days in a week post. I have to post blogs that I usually do everyday, like my hobbies I want to feature so that they will know the other side of me.
If I had only one month left to blog, I’d spend it working my ass off. If I had only one month to gather up everything, I’d want to make maximum profits/returns so that I wouldn’t go broke. I’d apologize to my readers, and head out at the end of the month.
Woow your words touched my heart. If i were in my last month first of all I would thank all blogger which helped me and my reader for their love. And would write some great posts which would have been read even after my death. Ankush, http://ankushwood.blogspot.com
Only 1 month left to blog? I would stop blogging and find another lifelong hobby that I could devote myself to.
If I had one more month left to blog, I would give everything that I have learned about blogging and making money online
Dareen ,
I am deeply surprised by 3rd option – that you will think about monetizing ..
I wonder – one month left to live – and I am sure that person will have altogether different frame of reference than monetizing.
With Regards
Santosh