What Happy Gilmore Taught me About Blogging

March 4, 2011 - Last Modified: March 4, 2011 by Alex Whalley

We can learn a lot from Happy Gilmore. Granted, none of it applies to golf, or even living responsibly for that matter. But if you’re a blogger, there is more to this golf punk than you might first have thought. So, let’s take a look at your blog through the eyes of the Happy.

Swing and a Miss.

You know, if you’re not afraid of failure and you think that just having a go is the most important part – you are going to succeed online!

I know that’s a rather broad statement, but so many marketers are afraid of stepping ‘off the fairway’ and are so obsessed with dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s that they never see how great the actual game is!

I couldn’t hit the Ocean from an aircraft carrier.

If you hit the ball and it goes across three fairways (that’s supposed to happen right?) do you then hit another or do you go off to find it?
Chances are, because no one is watching (this is your home based business, right?), you will just get another ball and tee up again. But by doing this, you are leaving many potential opportunities on the table!

Back to Mr Popular (that’s me)

When I was a member at my local club, I was not the best golfer (I now play off 8 so I figured something out!), and because of this I spent the majority of my time on other people’s fairways and greens. Heck, I even took the wrong clubs down a fairway once (they all look the same!) and in the process I had to introduce myself.

The result of all this inconsistent and somewhat embarrassing golf was – a truckload of new relationships and a whole lot of relevant experience.

Relationships and Relevant Experience

Nothing should be more valuable to you as a marketer than relationships and experience, and mistakes made in your niche can only lead to finding relevant information and key players.

If I had chosen to not chase my ball across fairway after fairway and simply kept trying the same shot until I hit the perfect drive down the middle – I would never have connected with others in my niche (golf, in this case). I also would have lost any experience that might have come with ‘learning to hit the ball out of the rough’ or ‘hooking the ball around a tree’ or whatever…

They say that one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, and this is another reason why I choose not to keep repeating the same process. Sure, I am going to eventually get it right if I do it enough, but guess what happens when I finally do?

You Live and You Learn Have No Idea Why

If I keep repeating the process of swinging the club until I eventually hit that perfect shot, then chances are that when I do, I will have absolutely no idea as to what I did, right?

Living is a constant learning curve, and if you spend too much time focusing in on the small details, you will miss the game, the people, and the lessons that all of this can teach you. How on earth do you expect to grow?

Marketing Takeaway

Happy Gilmore may not be the perfect hitter, or the straightest driver, but at least he is taking action and moving forward. The game of life, much like the game of golf, is a tricky one, and mistakes are unavoidable. Take these ‘mistakes’ and see them for the opportunity they could potentially be instead of just pretending like nothing happened and simply ‘teeing up again’.

Be (more like) Happy and watch your blog grow exponentially. Sure, you might not look as good getting to where you want to go, but when you do finally get there, you’ve got a lot more experience and met a lot more people.

I’ll leave you with this quote from the movie. Apply the thought to your blog, and tell me you don’t want to incorporate a little Happy Blogging into your diet;)

“Quite a large and economically diverse crowd here at the Michelob Invitational. I guess it’s the new tour sensation Happy Gilmore who’s attracting all sorts of people to this beautiful course.”

About Alex Whalley

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Alex Whalley is the owner and founder of Build | Rank | Profit: The Niche Site Marketing Blog and the Principle Consultant at BuRP! Consulting, a Sydney based Search Engine Marketing Firm. Connect with Alex at the official Build Rank Profit Blog and learn EXACTLY how to Build, Rank, and Profit from Niche Sites today!

{ 20 Responses }

James says:

"I got into this tournament for one reason: money. And now I have a new reason: kicking your ass" I'd hate to be thought to be having a go at bloggers who are in it for the money. I blog and I'm in it for the money, but not as much as I used to be. Not even close. The thing is that bloggers who are only trying to 'make money from blogging' don't end up making as much as they could if they'd just get passionate about their niche instead. It's passion that inspires posts like the one you've just made and passion that will get you ahead. That's what Happy is all about anyway (and incidentally a lot of what the whole Adam Sandler/Happy Maddison train is promoting). I mean, there is no keyword tool anywhere that spits out 'Happy Gilmore' as being potentially profitable when combined with blogging, yet this is really the kind of information that is useful to people who want to succeed. So what's the result? I've subsribed to your feed, I've read your content and followed the links and I'm adding to your conversation. I wouldn't have bothered if your post title was a generic keyword stuffing exercise. Sometimes you've got to be willing to put something on the line to really get ahead. "Alright, now, if you get that puck in that net over there, I'll never bother you again. But if you miss, you got to give me a big fat kiss. And you have to pretend you like it too. "
Dennis Edell says:

Be wiling to make mistakes, own up to them, laugh at them and learn from them...you'll make it. ;-)
Johanna says:

Hi Alex, I like most movies of Adam Sandler, and Happy Gilmore is one of them. I agree with you on the part "Swing and a Miss". Most of us who fear failure end up not doing anything at all - which I think is a lot worse. We won't be able to improve the things we do if we always do it the way we only know how. Also, we are restricting any chances of learning new things. Sure, failure is a bad thing, but if I fail and don't learn from my mistakes, and end up doing the same mistake again and again - I guess that's shame on me, right? Thanks for this interesting post! :)
Sandeep says:

Pretty interesting the way you've presented it.... I've to go and check out happy gilmore to get a better idea of the whole thing :)
Alex says:

Hello Alex, You know if i think about an analogy between blogging and the movie happy gilmore, I think of jumping into something you don't know for sure that it will succeed, taking a chance and then persevere even if you don't succeed the first time. His, was a happy story, and I think he won the tournament (figures, like any other happy ending movie - if only life would be that way) but there is must be a limit to your perseverance, you also have to know where and when to stop, just like Gilmore did with his hockey carrier. By the way, your url (from your author box) which points to BuRP has something funky about it, because in the source code it points to the right url but when I click it or hover over it it points to some funky .xn-blabla invalid url. (I tested it in both IE8 and Mozilla Firefox)
Jon says:

Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss. It's fine as long as we monitor what we're doing right and wrong as well as accept feedback from better players (bloggers, business people). The more mistakes we make the more we learn and that's what makes it so exciting. It's the ups-and-downs of the improvement journey. Great movie and great way to deliver your message (is a blogging mentor a lot like having a reliable caddy?).
faissal alhaithami says:

great! we need to be patience! cuz we people always want to reach our goals very fast! but when we face the truth that we need to wait ! we feel like gave up ^,^ blogging is a long way but you are right cuz when we mentioned that when we reach our goals we will have massive of experience! thanks alot !!
Ryan Biddulph says:

Hi Alex, Sensational analogy here! You can only know what you're capable of by failing your way to what you're capable of. Unless you're willing to spend some time on the rough - or in my case on the links, a different golf course ;) - you won't become too successful as a blogger, or with anything in life. Everything is an opportunity. Sometimes opportunities don't work out like we planned, but there's bigger plans out there for us than we can even realize. Keep seizing the opportunities and you will eventually match yourself with the Big Dogs in your niche, and you will attract all the skills you need to become successful. Wonderful, how the whole process. Thanks for sharing your always clever take Alex. Enjoy your weekend! RB
AJ says:

Alex, you always write really original articles. It's an awesome trait many bloggers lack. I loved the comparison to the movie. It is so true. A positive attitude and motivation goes a long way. At the beginning it can be really hard to get your site up and the traffic you need to make any kind of a profit. And then once your site is actually up and "running" you most likely will experience "ups" and "downs" (especially in terms of traffic and google rankings). In those "down" times you need to keep just as productive and make sure to always pump-out solid work.
TJ McDowell says:

This article title caught my attention right away. Should have known it was you, Alex! I think you're right about not just continuing to tee off doing the same thing over and over and never following the process through to "get the ball in the hole". The ball belongs in the hole - that's it's home. "Are you too good for your home?" - love that line I think there's also a time to hit the driving range too. Take some time away from the game to get better at one part of it. Just don't think that the driving range is what golf's all about, right?
Tanya says:

Thanks for the article, Great tips.
Steve Roy says:

Alex, Any post that refers to Happy Gilmore is one that I need to read! I get your analogy to blogging and you're right, there is a learning curve just like anything else. If we are constantly trying to do things perfectly, we will miss out on many valuable experiences.
Vijayraj Reddy says:

this is inspiring article Alex Whalley, thx for sharing....
Tinh says:

Relationships rock in the blog sphere as it will build up trust with readers and there are more benefits to come then. Thanks
Patricia says:

Hi Alex You didn't expect me NOT to turn up on the green did you.....and I don't even like golf! LOL Great analogy although I will have to take your word for it with the golfing terms and an 8 being an okay score ;-) I sure have made heaps of mistakes along the way, but as you say if we didn't then we wouldn't learn anything and along the way I have met some interesting people....even met a few fellow Aussies, which can only be a plus :-) Patricia Perth Australia
Mani Viswanathan says:

Nicely Bridged article between Happy Gilmore and Blogging. Thanks :)
Kim says:

What an incredible comparison! In keeping with the Happy Gilmore theme, I would also say follow what you are good at even if it's not the path you originally thought you wanted. You may discover a completely different talent and strength. Like switching from hockey to golf, you just have to be open to opportunity when it knocks.
kira permunian says:

Thanks for sharing Happy Gilmore Blogging! I've learn something the way you present the article. Happy Blogging!
Navjot Singh says:

What an awesome, fantastic & extraordinary article Alex Whalley ! :)

What Happy Gilmore Taught me About Blogging

Swing and a Miss.