How Publishing is like Growing Pumpkins… don’t be afraid of imperfection

I wanted to do things a bit differently this week and decided to attempt a Vlog. Have I ever done this before? No. Do I have the technical expertise to make it perfect? Again, no. But when I committed myself to learning social media I decided from the beginning that I wasn’t going to be afraid, or scared into immobility. I was going to jump in with both feet. You should have seen me the first time I opened twitter, and I still can’t get off page one of Tumblr, but I try. I realize that if I make a mistake, which I will, I’ll just fix it next time. So many of us stall in social media because we’re unsure of what to do and fear we’ll make fools of ourselves. I spoke to one woman earlier who hasn’t touched twitter because it overwhelms her, and another that won’t even get on Facebook and another that gives me a blank stare when I mention Stumble Upon. These authors are missing out on a goldmine of opportunity out of their fear of the unknown.

The issue is, if you never take the plunge, how will you ever learn?

So here is my Vlog, with its glaring imperfections. I suggest you “up” the sound because there was a lawn mower in the background (that I never heard until I stopped speaking) and in the copy I pronounced it V-Log instead of VLOG (so commence laughing at me). I did a few other takes, but this one was the best. It’s not perfect by far, but I did it and I really believe that no matter what task you’re trying to accomplish, you must make the effort. I could have waited and done a bunch of more takes. I could have changed my clothing, I could have waited for a sunnier day. But nothing is ever perfect and I was afraid that the longer I waited for perfection, the chances of me actually posting this would lessen dramatically. You might make mistakes and you might get a few snickers, but do it. Because if you don’t get out of your comfort zone, you will never learn. Doing this process taught me how to make a Vlog, it taught me how to upload it to Youtube and it taught me how to integrate a video into my blog – so you see, win-win all around.

So click the you tube link, put up your sound, feel free to comment, and enjoy my pumpkins!