Welcome to Wallyworld

I was reminded of The Shawshank Redemption today with news of the two prisoners who escaped from prison yesterday in a copy-cat Redemption-style breakout. Jose Espinosa, 20, and Otis Blunt, 32, fled the high-security unit of the Union County jail in New Jersey by using thick wire to scrape away mortar around a cinderblock in the wall between their cells. They then repeated the action on another cinderblock in an exterior wall in Espinosa's cell, jumped onto a rooftop below, and made it over a 7.6-metre fence topped with razor wire before legging it in opposite directions. And just like in the movie, they used bikini girl posters to cover the hole and laid out pillows and sheets on the bunks to make it look like they were still sleeping. A notable difference between this escape and The Shawshank Redemption was these guys pulled it off in a matter of weeks while the hero in Shawshank took 19 years to reach his goal. Nineteen years! Think about it. Its a long time to stay focused. I can draw some parallels between that and this blogging lark. Many a time I've thought of giving it away. Too much work for too little return. In fact not long ago I had this blog up for sale and someone offered me a grand for it. And that made me think. Made me think that it was probably worth at least twice that. So I found some new energy and here I am - blogging away. It's a bit like talking to yourself at times. Especially when you don't get any comments. So what are Some Things The Shawshank Redemption Taught Me About Blogging?

Never Give Up.
Nelson Mandela didn't. How long was he incarcerated for? 23 years I think it was. Likewise the character in Shawshank - Andy Whatisface. So it might take you years to get your blog noticed and appreciated. But so what. If you enjoy it - just do it. The rewards will come in time.

There's No Such Thing As "Overnight Success".
All the great artists - the actors, musos, dancers, writers, painters - have honed their craft over years. Just because they suddenly got noticed doesn't mean they haven't done the hard yards. Same goes for athletes and sports people. And same goes for you, the blogger. Know how many blogs are out there now? No, neither do I. But at a guess I'd say it's well over 100 Million. That's a lot of chatter.

Lay a Proper Foundation.
Well its kind of the opposite in the Shawshank movie - but you get my drift I'm sure. Andy Dufresne didn't go at it like a maniac and attract attention to himself. He just slowly and methodically chipped away at the wall. That's what you gotta do here. There's no magic formula, no silver bullet to having a popular and successful blog. You just gotta do your thing and make sure you do it well. And like Andy Dufresne, find your groove.

Don't Get Too Comfortable
Yeah...just when you think you've got it down and you're in a nice comfort zone - blam - the figures drop off, the Adsense revenue freefalls, no-one's coming to your blog - no-one's even commenting. What to do? Know what I do? I take time-out. I go do something different for awhile until I have some new energy, some new ideas for the blog. And I'm sure it comes through in the writing. There's a great piece of dialogue in Shawshank -

..these walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, it gets so you depend on 'em. That's 'institutionalized'...They send you here for life and that's exactly what they take, the part that counts anyway.

Yeah. Don't get institutionalised. Break out of your comfort zone. Take a risk. Change your template. Change the tone of your blog. Rattle the cage a bit. Just like Andy Dupresne did when he broadcast this music from the prison P.A. system -