“Kumbaya is the future, because it’s how we’re wired. We’re social monkeys, and we’ll form a community given the least excuse to do so.” So says Sonia Simone, social media guru at Remarkable Communication. Her life’s mission includes “making marketing less gross”. Her post 10 Things Every Kumbaya Blogger Should Know outlines the spirit that matters most in a new environment in which communication is proliferating much faster than our attention spans can handle.

“1. You’re on the right track
You put your audience first and you spend more time listening than talking. You know it’s not about you, except to the degree that you can help foster connection . You’ve seen how powerful (and complicated, and messy) community can be, and you respect it.

Kumbaya is the future, because it’s how we’re wired. We’re social monkeys, and we’ll form a community given the least excuse to do so…

2. You have a tremendous advantage
Ad Contrarian Bob Hoffman has a great description for what’s happening with advertising — it’s metastasizing. In other words, communication is proliferating much faster than our attention spans can handle.

Kumbaya folks know how to cut through the clutter. You know how to create inviting small spaces where you can actually be heard, and where you can give others a voice. You know how to shut out the noise so we can actually say something meaningful…

4. Small is beautiful
A lot of people look at big blogs and think they’re the holy grail.

I’ll take a small, involved community any day over a big, unresponsive one. There’s nothing inherently wrong with getting big. Big has certain advantages, especially when you can maintain a real sense of connection.

But engagement matters a lot more than gross numbers…

9. You don’t help anyone else when you put yourself last
Honoring and respecting your community doesn’t mean you don’t get anything out of it.
If you’re in a relationship and you’re always last (or you’re not in the equation at all, except as an unappreciated servant), that’s a pretty horrible relationship. That goes for your community as much as it does for your family and friendships.

Martyrdom sucks. It’s not helping you or your community.

10. The best way for a Kumbaya blogger to make a living is by helping people
When you solve actual problems, even if you (yikes) make a buck on it, you’re doing good work.

There’s no shortage of problems on planet Earth, so the opportunities are endless. Find one that pulls at you, figure out a solution that really helps, and learn enough business techniques so you don’t make a mess of the whole thing.”

Read her whole post here.

Image of Provincetown Harbor Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla swimmers by Sean Black.

This post first appeared on Here it is Tomorrow Again, a blog I posted between 2009 and 2011.