I wish it were just so simple. But the point’s been missed, you’ve made a mess, and who would have guessed that it’s as simple as it seems.

-Katy Perry ‘Simple’

As I was driving in to work the other day, I listened to radio station Kiss 103.5 in Chicago. Usually, I don’t make it a habit to listen to Kiss because it embodies everything I don’t like about the music industry. Kiss is owned by a large company that basically dictates who is successful and who is not on mainstream radio in America. I do like good songs, however, and you do get a nice blend of songs on that station. A new song caught my ear as I was getting out of my car. It is by an artist named Katy Perry and the song is called ‘I Kissed A Girl’. As soon as I got to my computer, I headed over to MySpace and took another listen to the song. It was catchy, but nothing groundbreaking. It will probably be a hit. It has a few controversial lyrics and a terrific beat. Katy is attractive, and an excellent singer but my first impression is she is a cookie cutter pop singer. Watch a bit of the video below, it will help prove a point later in the post.

I Kissed A Girl

I headed over to Wikipedia to a little more investigation. There was very little information about the singer (which has changed in the last few days as the song has started to make it big). One thing that struck me as odd was she released an album when she was 16, back in 2001. Then there was no history until 2007 when she digitally released the single “Ur So Gay” on iTunes.I have been struggling in the music industry for the past 10 years. If Katy Perry was a true artist, there would be a history. No one just starts playing music, stops for 7 years, and then comes out of nowhere with a new look and sound. I just figured her new label buried it. Record labels like to do that from time to time.
I started doing a little web surfing and stumbled upon a handful of YouTube videos. Katy has been working for many years at becoming successful in music. She has starred in other peoples videos (Cupid’s Chokehold by the Gym Class Heroes), and she has been honing her craft for years. You watched the first video, now check out this one. It is called ‘Simple’ - It was on a movie soundtrack released by Java Records in 2005.

In 2004, Katy was listed in Blender magazine as the next big thing. She has been dropped by several labels, and has encountered many a hardship trying to get that big break in the music industry. She has been open in discussing this, especially at shows. In need of a change and, perhaps, better luck, she took a risk and reinvented herself. Ever since unveiling this new, more grownup ‘look’ and sound late last year, it has been full steam ahead for her music career.

I like to incorporate things I have learned in the music industry and apply them to blogging.

If you feel your talents are being overlooked, there is no shame in reinventing yourself. Evaluate what you are trying to accomplish and make changes when needed, even if it means adopting a new persona. As long as you are true to your personal vision, reinventing is a great way to get a fresh start at something you love.

This week was a rough week for me personally. If you follow my twitter, you know my mother passed away from a long battle with lung cancer.

I took a week off from everything just to clear my head. There were many points where I wanted to rush to my computer to crank out a meaningless blog or two to make sure my web stats on various sites were up where I wanted them to be. I thought better of that as I feel the quality of my work would suffer if my mindset wasn’t clear.

So I have opted to take a few more days off. Blog readers are a kind and caring bunch, I am sure everyone understands.

Cheers until next time, and thank you everyone for the heartwarming comments on my facebook, myspace and twitter accounts.

Today I will be starting a weekly series which I call Applied to Blogging. Each week, I will be profiling a superstar and how their work ethic and skills can be translated to blogging and generating profit off of your blog. Today I will be focusing on one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, Michael Jordan, and how he overcame adversity to become the one of the most famous and decorated athletes.

Everyone comes from a meager background.

Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina and by no means was a standout. He was basically just another kid. His family wasn’t poor but of a modest background, and Michael was a middle child. No one could have predicated such greatness. Every professional blogger comes from a similar background. The stories might be different, but no one is born a professional blogger. Don’t be discouraged if your blog doesn’t attract traffic right off the bat. Every single blog and blogger has been in that position.

You still need the natural talent and tools to succeed.

There is a famous story that has been told countless times about Michael. As a sophomore in high school, he was cut from the basketball team during tryouts. He then worked twice as hard during the summer to enhance his skill and made the team the following year. Television networks always tried to make this story about Michael’s hard work and sheer will to make it. They said it predicted his future greatness. While part of that is true, they usually omit the main reason he was cut from the team. Michael was a 5 foot 11 inch sophomore. He wasn’t tall enough to make an impact at the varsity level. Over the next 12 months, Michael shot up an additional 4 inches and was now tall enough to compete. If you are attempting to complete in the blogging world, you must have the natural talent to succeed. Everyone can improve, but if you do not have natural talent for writing and promoting yourself, you might want to look for another way express yourself.

Ask for help when needed.

When Michael came out of college as the number 3 pick in the NBA draft, they expected him to be good. They didn’t know he would be great right off the bat. But he was shunned as a rookie all-star by those who felt he was being praised too heavily. He continued to put up gaudy stats but his teams toiled in mediocrity. It wasn’t until he received help that he was able to raise his team to a championship level. There is no harm in asking for help. If you need assistance with a post, or an idea, ask you fellow bloggers for help. They will be more than happy to oblige!

Don’t stop at one goal and be determined.

When the Bulls won their first title in 1991, they said it redeemed Michael’s career and placed him among the best ever. So what does Michael set out to do? He wins 5 more. He cemented his place in history by staying fiercely determined. Even if you reach your first goal, make new ones and strive to make your own place in history!

I am going to be on a short break until Weds night, have a few baseball games to attend to tomorrow

I did find this interesting post from Max Davis, author of Blogging Experiment. He is offereing a class on how to buy and sell websites. Pretty interesting stuff. I would consider the class, but I still want to take more time to get to know his style through his blog. But it may be of interest to you.

http://bloggingexperiment.com/archives/training-class-open-now.php

Weds I will finish my traffic buidling post, and I have an interesting one about how you can related street vending to blogging.

Cheers!

Review Chicago is my new website endevour. It is going to be a Chicago based blog so if you are from Chicago please check it out!

http://www.reviewchicago.com

I  have been surfing from blog to blog reading about all the different ways to monetize your website. Roughly 99 percent of theses types of blogs suffer from the one single element that can doom a blog.

Horrible writing.

I know I am not the best writer in the world,  but I am definitely not a slouch. I learned how to articulate at an early age, and continue to hone that skill.  I am constantly amazed at how people who can barely speak continue to tell me the benefits of certain techniques and how I can make a million dollars off website monetization.  Writing is a passion. Whether or not you are blogging about your preferred topic is fairly irrelevant. If you are a good writer you will be able to generate income from a blog or website if you are writing about a topic that generates enough traffic.

SEO optimization, spamming your blog, commenting other peoples blogs, taking out ads, and any other of the ‘traffic building’ exercises will, in the end, prove pointless if your blog has poorly articulated content.

If you feel you are not a strong writer but have expertise to share, there is no shame in hiring a writer to properly articulate your thoughts. If you are an expert in your niche, your profits will dramatically increase as the reader will find your advice more convincing.