Ke Bang Park Phong Nha Area Vietnam
During our trip to Vietnam we visited the biggest caves in the world.
One such cave measured over 5 miles long and 600 feet in height.
Imagine walking 5 miles into a cave. You and I journey perhaps a few feet – or brave ones venture dozens or hundreds of feet – into a cave. Journeying miles in seems nuts, if not an impossibility. Talk about being remote!Â
If you want to get away from humans, this is where to do it.
Look above to see a wee bit of the cave complex.
Some areas are large enough to fit a Boeing 747.
Tourists do visit the outer reaches of this other-worldly spectacle, something out of the movie Avatar. A fricking jungle flourishes inside of the caves. How many caves are big enough to house entire forests?
A fair chunk is remote (and dangerous) enough to be undiscovered.
Curiously enough, the Skull Island movie served as a filming location in Ninh Binh, not too far away as the crow flies. Same “off the grid” feel to that mystical home of King Kong. This network of caves feels not too different. New species routinely reveal themselves in this region.
Anyway, living in a cave works beautifully for a recluse seeking enlightenment.
But aspiring bloggers need to interact with the outside world to:
- drive organic traffic
- generate blogging income
Even though all originates in mind, interacting with externals taps you into worldly success. Traffic and money flows through humans. Running away from humans means running away from traffic and money. Distancing yourself from humans who co-create traffic and money for you makes no sense but is quite self-defeating. Self-sabotaging knows no bounds. Remember that before becoming a blogging recluse.
Cyber Caves Feel Comfy-Cozy
Bloggers typically fear pursuing this truth. Most prefer to blog in a cyber cave. Imagine the blog being the cave; almost no one ventures out into the world of traffic and income. It’s scary out there in the world of success! Being shy, retiring and cave-bound feels comfortable. But if you hide from the external traffic and external income you cannot generate much traffic and income, if at all.
Success flows through co-creating human beings.
Blogging is a team sport.
Blogging in a cyber cave is the solo act familiar to many suffering blogging souls, the old me included. Scanning 80,000 backlinks pointing to Blogging From Paradise reveals some co-creation courtesy of team-mates on a level, in most cases. Perhaps a handful of links flowed organically from sources completely unaware to me but most seem borne of partnerships.
Teamwork!
Do you see how a blogging team effort benefits all? However, most bloggers blog in a cyber cave of singular making. Peep the average blogger; most write and publish a blog post, promote the post in a few spots and do nothing else blogging-wise. Nothing happens because these individuals blog in a cyber cave.
Imagine sitting in a cave solo some 30 miles from the next human being. Picture yourself being dependent on humans – on some level – for survival needs. Perhaps someone brings you water or food supplies. Unless you leave the cave you will:
- starve or die of dehydration
- need to wait quite a bit until the supplier travels the 30 miles to the cave
Imagine a different scenario involving you living in town beside many neighbors and among a few stores. Food, water and caring neighbors benefit you, but you also provide some service through a job or business based on the idea of reciprocity. Life feels good based on people working together for all of our worldly freedom.
People working together for freedom is teamwork. Teamwork makes the freedom work. Working with fellow bloggers makes all of our lives easier. Blogging in a cyber cave makes blogging tougher, more painful and a boatload of suffering.
Stop Shying Away from Success
Think about all bloggers around the world who write, publish and share a post today in a cyber cave, refusing to interact with or help other human beings. I stopped by a Facebook Group for bloggers yesterday. One individual shared his latest blog post via a Group update. He also dropped the blog post via a comment link in response to the prior 5-10 bloggers who shared their blog posts via updates. He appeared to be interacting with fellow humans but since he did not:
- serve
- help
- add value
- connect through being generous and genuine
he blogged from a cyber cave, in essence, even amid the appearance of 50,000 or more Group members.
Among Humans But Alone
He appeared to be amidst thousands of users. But he was alone. Blogging lone wolves never get far before succumbing to starvation.
Crazy, right? Being among a ton of bloggers but blogging in a cyber cave is madness, when you think about it. Stop for a second. Take a deep breath. Relax. Observe how you blog (or blogged) in a cyber cave for a bit. Either in past or present, most bloggers make this common error here and there. Few see beyond the mistake into blogging teamwork. I learned this lesson the hard way; resisting teamwork hurt me big time for years.
Practical Tips for Leaving the Blogging Cave
- guest post
- comment genuinely on blogs from your niche
- publish content for X/Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
- reply to social media users who resonate with your content, via message/inbox or comments
Follow the bullet point list to get out there in the world.
Step into the Light
Leave your cave. Step into the light.
Leave your comfort zone. Love and criticism awaits one outside of the blogging cave. Most feel discomfort in embracing both emotions. Yeah; both! Few feel comfortable accepting praise; almost no one peacefully hugs and looks past blogging criticism.
Take it all in stride.
Freedom awaits bloggers outside of their blogging cave.
Conclusion
Blogging with teamwork in mind allowed me to enjoy blogging, build my friend network and experience greater success through the simple idea of leveraging. I can only do so much work solo. But 20 blogging buddies do much more work than I can do. What makes sense?
Work with, not solo, to accelerate your blogging success.
Leave your cyber cave.
Cease being a blogging recluse.
Get into the mix.
Thrive.
