The Future of Online Publishing: 4 Experts, 6 Principles (FS030)

Where is blogging going? What will it look like in the future? And while we’re on the big questions: what is “blogging?”

Your answer to these questions change, not only what you choose to work on, but how you go about doing that work.

We invited four successful online publishers to share their answers with you. The conversation resulted in 6 principles of online publishing.

Our Expert Guests

Leo Babauta — Leo built Zen Habits into one of the world’s biggest blogs. Check out his recent Habits of Entrepreneurs series.

Nathan Barry — Nathan’s amassed a whole slew of killer services, books, videos and other training stuff on his site. Checkout his super helpful post-mortem on his latest launch: $36,297 in 24 Hours: Behind the Scenes of the app Design Handbook Launch.

Barron Cuadro — Barron built Effortless Gent into his full time bread and butter. And boy does that bread and butter look fashionable! Check out his Dress like a Grown Up book.

Scott Dinsmore — Scott’s built Live Your Legend up to a massive site full of engaged people reaching higher. Check out his awesome Ted X talk. (almost a million views!)

It’s inspiring to hear how these guys are developing their businesses and planning for the future.

Note: This is our 30th episode! You made us a #1 business podcast all the way in the beginning. And now we have over 10,000 listeners every week! If I knew how to find you (and if this podcast made any money) I’d totally buy you a beer.

Note: this conversation was recorded during a live event. Also, Scott wore pink pants.

Note: we tried hard to get female perspective on the show and we apologize that none of those guests were able to make it. Please know we tried, and, in the end, the best we could do was Scott’s pink pants.

6 Principles of Online Publishing

Discover yourself: “blogging” is just “writing” is just honing and communicating your thoughts. Writing regularly will uncover who you are and what you’re here for. Even if you never build an audience it’s a powerful tool for self growth.

Be valuable: solve someone’s problem. Make something useful. Or, as we like to put it: make something for someone’s butt (you’ll have to listen in for the crucial context on that one).

Big isn’t necessary: you don’t need a big audience to have a profitable business. Going deeper for a smaller audience is a viable business model.

Learn and teach: don’t wait until someone calls you an “expert.” Learn something small and meaningful and immediately begin sharing your insights with others.

Don’t rush it: building an audience online is a viable way to earn a living. Be willing to invest some time now to learn, apprentice under someone, etc., and build up skills and relationships for a long career.

Get offline: if you want to make something important and successful, connect with people in meatspace, in person. Remind yourself it’s not about numbers — it’s about names, needs and transformation.