(Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes)

Heather over at Happymaking has been pounding away at her blogging goals for 2010. Her quandary is like mine: so much to do, but so hard to know what’s most important. Our discussion, pursued in the comments and email, finally boiled down to

Dave:
>> From your comment to Helene:
>> “I want to build something.”
>> What do you want to build?
>> And how can I help?

Heather:
> A good foundation of mutually-supportive contacts, and writing skills that will translate to paid writing gigs.
>
> You can help just by being you! Thank you!

Now we have something here, something I can wrap my classically trained, hyper-analytical mind around:

1. What, exactly, is a “good foundation of mutually-supportive contacts,” and
2. What, exactly, are “writing skills that will translate to paid writing gigs.”?

(Long time readers [bofem] know… this is me being me.)

Let’s take a look at each of these worthy goals. I don’t have any answers, so I’ll pose some questions.

Foundation of mutually-supportive contacts

We blog. We make contact with other bloggers and writers and readers and other miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam of the internet.

Which of all these contacts are part of our foundation?

What is a “foundation” anyway? Is it like a mastermind group? Is a foundation more or less than a mastermind group, or something completely different?

I’ve had some experience with mastermind groups, and I can say one thing: getting a mastermind group going can be hard. You need to know a lot of people, and find those very few who are willing to absolutely commit to a vision. I’m betting that regardless of how a foundation of mutually supportive contacts is defined, it’s going to be the same kind of effort as building a mastermind group.

Let’s move to “mutually-supportive.”

What would be involved? Editing other people’s writing? Guest posting? Reviewing and linking? Retweeting? Or activities completely different. For example, a friend of mine occasionally brings over a couple of bags of groceries when I’m in the thick of it. That’s being pretty supportive! But not quite in the “blogging sense.”

And would there be quid pro quo? Formal or informal. Who would keep track?

I’m awful at keeping track, myself. I’ll go overboard with people while they’re in my mind (you know who you are), while completely ignoring others. So I tend to avoid such arrangements.

Marketable writing skills

I’m not sure I have any idea what “marketable writing” means.

I strongly suspect deadlines might be involved. At least some of the time.

Does it mean writing about certain subjects in a certain style to a certain audience?

My professional writing experience is limited to really high end consulting. “Just the facts, ma’am” kind of writing. Reports that have to be accurate and timely, but probably nobody ever reads. (Sometimes I feel high end consultants are really just professional scapegoats, brought in so that somebody else, outside the company, can carry all the blame away.)

Taking action

What in all of the above is actionable?

My take is the conversation has just started. There’s a lot more to be worked out before goals, tasks or anything S.M.A.R.T. gets put to paper.

I’ll be working out some of these answers out-of-band, with my own little mastermind group. Watch for an update after the start of 2010.

But really, this post is yours. Do you have any answers to these questions? Do you have any relevant questions to add? Go for it!