Blogging Your Failures

As a blog writer and coach, I liked what Stav Ziv had to say in Newsweek about The Moth, a nonprofit dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling, now in its eighteenth year of bringing to the world “true stories told live”. Moth founder George Dawes Green believes the success of the organization comes from two elements:

• There’s no “wall of artistry” or stage curtain between the storyteller and audience.
• The storytellers share their own human failures and frailty.

Who are the storytellers? Over the years they’ve included big-name figures (Molly Ringwald, Malcolm Gladwell, Ethan Hawke, and Al Sharpton, to name a few).  What makes for great storytelling? Green learned early on that the most important ingredient is vulnerabililty. “There can be success in the stories, but they have to be grounded in failure.”

Millionaire entrepreneur Alexis Neely agrees, explaining why she shares her own failures, and how it helps others when she does. “If the person you are learning from doesn’t share their failures,” Neely cautions, “run the other way. Now. I want you to learn the truth from me,” she adds, “and then operate your business with your eyes wide open.”

Beccy Freebody of realisingeverydream.com agrees. It’s easier to connect to someone who is or has been where you are, she explains. Seeing YOU overcome the worst parts of your life will be just the thing someone else needs to make a change in their life.

So how does all this apply to blog marketing for a business or professional practice?  It brings out a point every business owner, professional, and freelance business blogger ought to keep in mind: Writing about past failures is important.

True stories about mistakes and struggles are very humanizing, adding to the trust readers place in the people behind the business. What tends to happen is the stories of failure create feelings of empathy and admiration for the entrepreneurs or professional practitioners who overcame the effects of their own errors.

Knock down that “wall of artistry” between you and your readers by blogging your failures!