Later this week I’m leading a session for a client that’s being called “How to Write a Blog.” Actually I believe they’re calling it “Blog Training Writing” but “How to Write a Blog” sounds a little better. As I’ve been preparing for this session over the last two weeks I’ve been struck by the fact that the title is all wrong.

Initially I was all for leading a session called “How to Write a Blog” but now I don’t think it’s sufficient. A more appropriate title is “How to Be a Great Blogger” because the actual writing aspect of a blog is just part of the mechanics but being a great blogger is another thing entirely. Learning how to write a blog means you discover some tips, strategies, and thoughts on what to do…but you can know all of that and still be a really bad blogger with a really bad blog.

If your focus is on what to do, you’ll never learn how to be. If you want to “do” blogging you can start today. Go to Wordpress.com and get yourself a free blog and start blogging. But, if you want to “be” a blogger there are many other things you need to think about… things like tone, voice, attitude, style, and personality. Those aren’t things you really do. They’re things you are. They develop as you “do” blogging.

Sure, there are some things every good blogger should do…but in the end it’s not enough if you never cross the line to be a blogger. If you’ve been blogging for a while (or maybe you’re just getting started) ask yourself if you’re more interested in what to do or how to be. I recommend you keep your eye on how to be. The “doing” will come along the way.

This is a little different kind of blog post for me because I’m just coming right out to promote something to you that benefits me directly. This Thursday I’m launching the first of what I hope will be many new media marketing teleseminars at 8pm EST on March 27. The teleseminar is a culmination of what I teach to marketing departments and in one on one consulting combined with the things I practice myself when I’m developing new media marketing campaigns or marketing for myself and my business.

What I’ve found most interesting after having consulted on new media marketing for over a year now is that the same principles apply to you no matter what your context. What I mean is, the advice I give to a guy just starting a CPA firm or gunsmith business is the same as a well known author or company that generates almost half a billion dollars a year in revenue. So it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a side business you hope will one day become your full-time job or you’re working on the next great American novel or you’re a marketing director in a mid-size company. The fact of the matter is that the world of marketing has changed significantly over the last several years and it’s changing every day. The ease of entry into this kind of marketing is virtually equal for the guy with a $12 marketing budget and the lady with a $12 million marketing budget. There’s a new way to approach marketing in strategy and execution and that’s what I’ll be talking about Thursday. It’s one part new media technology, one part new media marketing, and one part tips and perspective that I’ve learned from now doing it day in and day out. We’ll talk about blogging, podcasting, social networking, online video, and other forms of social media and how all of them are just waiting for you to use them well.

I hope you’ll join me this Thursday…or in a future teleseminar. Here’s the link for more info and to sign up for the teleseminar.