Michael Jackson, 1958-2009, inspired millions, if not billions, of people around the world with his music, including me. This is my tribute to the King of Pop, in a form of Top 7 Michael Jackson songs and some life lessons and blogging hints and tips I pulled from them..
7 Lessons for Bloggers (inspired by Michael Jackson)
- Beat It (Ask for help and offer yours to others.)
- Bad (Strive for being number one. The Best.)
- Billie Jean (Develop your own, personal style and let it show in your blogging.)
- Thriller (Consider adding video to your blog.)
- Smooth Criminal (Go cross-media, think printed publications, press releases, video, audio through podcasts.)
- Heal the World (“Heal the World”, post by post.)
- You Are Not Alone (Don’t be selfish, think about others and share the love.)
Beat It
The lyrics of Beat It are about defeat and courage, which is a life lesson on it's own, but what makes this song special, is the distinctive over-driven guitar solo that Eddie Van Halen added to the song. And that's what you should do, ask or hire expert help to do things you cannot do yourself or someone else can do better, whether it'd be writing, technical things or marketing. One example to do this is guest blogging. Enhance your blog by asking for guest bloggers to write to your blog, or offer to write guest post for someone else's blog. Guest posting has benefits everyone involved, including the traffic and exposure the guest blogger gets from the other blog and the blog gets great content with little effort.
The lesson for bloggers: Ask for help and offer yours to others. Ask for guest bloggers to write in your blog and ask to write guest posts to other blogs yourself. Remember that to write a guest post yourself, you don't have to be as good on writing as E. Van Halen is with guitar, to have a great chance to offer your expertise to wider audience via guest blogging, as long as you provide great, unique content that fits the other blog's topic.
Bad
'I'm bad, you're bad, who's bad, who's the best?'
Like in the streets, which the song is about, in the blogosphere you should try to be the best in whatever you do. When you're strong and good, you're Bad. When you're bad, good things will happen to you and you will succeed.
The lesson for bloggers: Strive for being number one. The Best.
Billie Jean
Billie Jean is a dance-pop R&B song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones for the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982). The song's lyrics refer to a real-life experience, in which a mentally insane female fan claimed that Jackson fathered one of her twins
It's unlikely that a blogger will become a super-celebrity because of blogging, at least to the degree Michael experienced, but it's not unheard of. So the day when you receive weird fan-mail or someone gets too interested in your personal life, you should have the mindset and tools to handle such behaviour. On a lighter note, the song has very distinctive bass line and Michael's well known vocal hiccups. And this is what you should incorporate in your blogging, personal touch to make it stand out.
The lesson for bloggers: Develop your own, personal style and let it show in your blogging..
Thriller
Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 13-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson. The mini-film music video was broadcast on MTV three weeks before Christmas 1983. It was the most expensive video of its time, costing US$500,000, and Guinness World Records listed it in 2006 as the "most successful music video", selling over 9 million units.
Thriller, while begin a great song, is on my list because of the massive, groundbreaking video. The 13-minute video gained massive publicity for Michael, the song and the album. I believe the reason for the commercial success of the whole Thriller album (still one of the most sold albums) was largely built on the foundation of using music videos as promotional tools.
The lesson for bloggers: If your blog, website or business isn't pulling the attention you want, consider adding video to your repertoire!
Smooth Criminal
Both the style of the clip and the clothes and mannerisms Jackson portrayed in the music video of Smooth Criminal and the short film Moonwalker, were reused in the arcade, the Sega Master System, the Sega Mega Drive and the Sega Game Gear adaptations of Moonwalker. The song itself serves as the soundtrack for the first stage, in a mobster nightclub, in all versions of the game.
Smooth Criminal was the centerpiece of the shortfilm "Moonwalker", which later was adapted as a game. Perfect example of cross-media production, which is something to consider for us bloggers too. I'm not saying you should go on and turn your life, blog or something, into a arcade game, but consider taking the most out the media available for us.
The lesson for bloggers: Think printed publications, press releases, video, audio through podcasts, etc.
Heal The World
In a 2001 Internet chat with fans, Jackson said Heal the World is the song he is most proud to have created. He also created the Heal the World Foundation, a charitable organization which was designed to improve the lives of children. The organization was also meant to teach said children about how to help others.
We should always pay attention to the world we live in, and keep helping others. Even if I don't have plans or means to literally heal the world, in a way this is one of the reasons why I blog. I share my experiences and knowledge by passing on the information to benefit as many people as possible. If my blog or information helps just one individual at a time, I have accomplished enough.
The lesson for bloggers:: "Healing the World", post by post.
You Are Not Alone
You Are Not Alone, released in August 1995, is the second single from Michael Jackson's album HIStory. The R&B ballad was officially written by R. Kelly in response to difficult times in his personal life. He then forwarded a bare demo tape to Jackson, who liked the song and decided to co-produce it with Kelly.
The song itself is a song about love and isolation, but the lesson to pull from this is the song's name. Whatever you do, remember that there are others around you.
The lesson for bloggers: Don't be selfish, think about others and share the love.
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