Dizzy Gillespie is more than just a trumpet legend. He left his inimitable mark not only on the world of jazz as one of the fathers of be-bop but also as an incredibly intelligent thinker and, in many respects, a futurist.

Even though Dizzy could never have foreseen the creation of the internet and the stratospheric rise of blogging, one of his many pearls of wisdom should be considered required reading for any blogger who desires true success.

Dizzy understood the positive side of selfishness in creativity, proposing that jazz musicians should play for themselves first, their fellow musicians second, and their audience third. This, he argued, was the only way for musicians, or any creative individual, to be true to themselves. When doubters suggested that putting the audience last would result in ever decreasing ticket sales Dizzy explained that audiences weren’t stupid and could tell when an artist was only putting on a show and not playing from the heart.

He was right. He remained true to himself above all else and his audience, despite some initial problems with his uncompromising stylistic approach, grew and grew.

The blogging parrallels are there for all to see and, hopefully, understand.

If you write from the heart, in an open and honest fashion, your audience will reward you with traffic that increases steadily over time.

If you write in an obviously crowd pleasing way, without integrity, your audience won’t trust you and consider you nothing more than a glorified online shill. Sure, you’ll get handfuls of traffic here and there, but real lasting success only comes with genuine integrity.

Dizzy’s audience wasn’t stupid and neither is yours.

Blog for yourself first and your traffic will grow. And success will be just around the corner.