As I sat here reading over 100 RSS feeds, I just had a realization: I’m a hypocritical blogger.
I post regularly and expect hundreds of people to read what I say.
Yet, I read (scan) hundreds of blogs thinking: “That’s crap. That’s stupid. Oh that’s very interesting! Why’d that person post that? Why do people think that’s so clever?” I’ve been going through blogs lately wondering: why do I do this when so much of it is of little value to me? I spend a lot of time reading and at this point I don’t even know how much of that will continue…
But, at the same time I want people to come back to my blog and read what I’m saying, find it useful, and leave insightful responses. How can I expect bloggers to read what I say if I refuse to read what they’re saying?
I think the simple answer is (for me, not everyone): quality over quantity. This simple rule applies to my subscribers, traffic, links and –most importantly– content.
With that in mind I’m thinking I’ll be shifting my writing style…
..and reading style.
Some of the first to leave my reader? Sad to say but it’s the A-listers, like Steve Rubel, Robert Scoble, and Jason Calacanis.
Why get rid of these guys? They’re clever, sure, but:
- they largely point to content I can find elsewhere
- there’s just way too much stuff
- egos are a bitch and get in the way of a blog’s quality sometimes
You can tell the difference between those blogging for blogging and those blogging for an audience. Seth Godin is my favorite blogger becuase he’s short, sweet and his posts are full of greatness.
Guy has been dropped because, although he’s got good stuff:
- you can find it all in his books
- everyone else quotes his latest posts
- it takes a long time to read everything he says
But, hey, he got his link like he asked…
[tags]blogging, blogs, communication[/tags]
RE:
* you can find it all in his books
* everyone else quotes his latest posts
* it takes a long time to read everything he says
It’s not all in my books. A lot is, but a lot isn’t. Plus, I’m flattered to think you read all my books and can remember everything I’ve written! :-)
It’s not my fault that everyone quotes me. Should I write crap?
It takes a long time to read because I write long posts. My goal is to provide real content–not just rants or links to stuff you can already find elsewehere.
Guy
Hah, sorry Guy, I didn’t mean that what you write is all just from your books. I was indirectly referring to step number 1: “Look through my books and find a topic that I’d like to blog about” I certainly didn’t mean to imply I’ve read them all. In fact, quite the opposite: I can’t wait to get to them.
I also know it’s not your fault that you write re-bloggable entires. In no way was this a personal attack, I’m just saying that if there’s something really awesome to read… someone else will re-quote, summarize and link it. This was more a comment on how the blogosphere works rather than your quality of posts…
I like your blog, Guy. I retract my length statement because I appreciate the ‘top 10’ format of your entires.
Now that I think about it some more you are one of those must-reads. I’ve re-subscribed… and not just because you took the time to argue your side. I guess I really don’t appreciate the ‘rank me higher on Technorati’ comments. ;-)