How to Be Like Batman
Most superheroes are lame. They wear silly outfits, have terrible social lives, and frequently suffer with bouts of self-doubt and relationship problems. Batman, on the other hand, is a total badass. He parties by day and fights crime by night. He doesn’t have any natural ability like super human strength or lightning speed, but he’s still able to conquer the streets of Gotham City. He’s also wealthy, thanks in part to his business sense and the people on his cast. Sure, he deals with some minor psychological issue, but hey, don’t we all?
You might wonder how he does it, but rather than tell you about him, I’d like to tell you how you can be like him, as a blogger no less.
1. Develop a Trusted Inner Circle
If you want to fight crime, you’ll need some help. You just can’t go out and recruit anyone, you need to choose your circle wisely. For Batman, there’s Alfred (the butler), Lucius (the business manager and gear expert), and Robin (the trusted sidekick). All of these people act as trusted advisers and confidants to Batman, meaning that he can trust them with all of the family secrets.
In your case, you can do the same by recruiting fellow bloggers to form a mastermind group, one in which you can be completely and brutally honest with each other. You need to be able to share your deepest business secrets with your alliance so that you can get an honest opinion from an outsider’s perspective. Without a team, you are going to spend too much time inside of your own head, which isn’t healthy and will weaken your efforts as a superhero. Batman may do all the ass kicking, but he couldn’t do it without his team.
2. Use Technology to Your Advantage
Batman doesn’t have a superpower, but he doesn’t make excuses…he’s got work to do. To overcome his shortcomings, he employs technology that can make him faster, smarter, and stronger. He’s got more tools in his arsenal than Ironman, and he’s not afraid to use them.
The same should hold true for you. There is technology that can help you understand your traffic, improve your SEO, and spread your message to as many eyes as possible. Learn it, love it, use it. Just off the top of my head, there’s:
Google analytics
SEOBook (great plugins)
Yahoo Pipes
Twitterfeed
Social Networks
Podcasting and Video
Posterous
That’s just getting started. The point I’m trying to make here is that as a blogger, you need to understand the tools of the trade. Sure, you could go without them, but your potential is so much greater if you make the most of your time by learning the in’s and out’s of the technology that exists to help you. Unfortunately, I don’t have an example of bulletproof armor, but I’m working on it 
3. Do What Others Won’t
Batman does what everyone else in Gotham city either can’t do or is afraid to do. He’s not afraid to stand up to the toughest criminals or to take on a room full of lunatics. He does what the police don’t have the power to do, while still allowing them to take credit. Batman is the epitome of a servant to society. He works tirelessly to help others without asking for a single thing in return.
You can probably see where this is going, but I can’t drive this point home hard enough. If you want to be a superhero, you’ve got to raise other people up. You have to give without expecting anything in return. As a Webrepreneur, it might sound counter-intuitive, but the truth is that if you help others, they will come back to lift you up in return. There’s too much free content out there to try and compete on reputation alone. That’s why you need to give consistently, whether with communication, content, or expertise.
You can also think of this in terms of competition. You can either see competition as something to be feared, or an awesome challenge. Don’t shy away from taking on your biggest competitor, but when you beat them it’s important to remain humble. The recognition isn’t what matters…it’s the fact that no one else can do what you do. Embrace it.
4. Own the Night
Batman lives a double life. He’s got the Bruce Wayne thing going on during the day, during which time he takes care of the mundane and the necessary, like a day job or hanging with the family. This is his healing time. However, when it comes to the hours of darkness, no one owns the streets like Batman. The guy is tireless…he never sleeps. He is out when only the bad guys (competition) are.
This is where you have the chance to segment your life and create a business on the side. You can either complain about your day job and having too many responsibilities at home, or you can do what must be done during the day and then bust your ass at night. Will you be tired? Of course, but nothing great was ever gained without sacrifice. You are owning the night now so that you can quit your job and spend more time with your family. You are instilling a work ethic in your children and showing them how dreams can be accomplished.
Don’t allow yourself to use being tired as an excuse. We’ve all got an extra hour or two each evening which we can use to build a business. It also goes without being said that if you are doing what you love, then it really isn’t work anyway, so what’s the problem? Stay up late, get up early, and be a pillar among the darkness. You own the night.
5. Get Back Up
Here’s the deal, you are going to fail. I’ve failed hundreds of times (lost count after that), and unless you are lucky, you probably will as well. Batman can either lay down and die, or get back up and fight. We’ve all got to get back up.
10 years ago, I took failure personally and I used it as an excuse to sit and sulk. It took me another 5 years to realize how to get back up again. I’m convinced that the difference between the people that live their dreams and the people that do not is the inability to get up after being knocked down. Don’t get beaten into submission by the gatekeepers and boundaries that hold you back. Keep fighting, keep pushing through. If you’ve faced failure before, then you know what it feels like. You also know that the feeling doesn’t last forever. Redirect that energy and keep dominating.
Now you have no excuse not to be a superhero. While I’ll stop short of asking you to wear a costume, when you do work to build your business, think of yourself as a game changer. You are awesome and you can build a lifestyle business. Don’t look at the journey as a long road, take it one step at a time. I’ll be out this evening, will I see you there?
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