The Day I Learned What I Know
A turning point in my blogging history was called “An Open Thought: Please Take the Keys.” I knew when I wrote that piece that something was wrong; I even had a feeling what it might be. I had been looking for a way to bring it up. . . .
When I did, you were there. You stepped up and told me what I was doing wrong. It was the coolest thing. That was the day this blog became a community.
I’ve always been grateful for the day that you took the keys.
Relationships grow and change.
Last week at BlogHer I overheard someone say something. It’s something I’ve heard in passing on this blog. I’ve also heard the same thing inside the compliments that you give me and in the apologies that come when we talk.
The person at BlogHer said, “If they post more than once a day, they’re banned from my feeds.”
You’ve been more tactful than that, but you’ve been sort of saying the same thing.
Blog Post Fatigue? Please Take the Keys
Not to worry, it’s no longer about me being brave. This time it’s me asking you what you think, what you need, and what you like to read. I can tell from your comments a few things. I’m also perceptive enough to read a bit of what you’re not saying.
On the other hand, I’m as blind as every other human. No one knows that better than this human being.
You’re the people I trust and the people I serve. So, you’re the ones I’m coming to. I’ll lay out the problem, and I hope that you’ll tell me what you know.
The problem: I’m about head and heart, business and life, information and relationships, so I post twice a day at least. When I add in the projects I want to keep up with, references lists and resources, 200 outstanding blogs, and the questions/photos things I like to throw in for discussion, I’m feeling like I post way too frequently.
It’s not like anyone’s advice is going to change who I am, how I write, or maybe even what I do. I’m still the one who has trouble walking in a straight line. . . .
But you took the keys one time and you didn’t steer me wrong then. I’d be downright stupid not to listen now.
I’m many things, but stupid ain’t one of them.
Please take the keys.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Is your business stuck?Work with Liz!!
Liz,
I like having my thoughts provoked at the rate you do. I can see how people might feel overwhelmed if they felt they had to pay close attention to, and comment on, every single post here. To me SOB is like a great party or that neighborhood saloon of your dad’s: I can’t be part of every single conversation, but the variety and volume of them keeps the place ever so engaging!
Mike
P.S. I also tried to think of individual features I wouldn’t miss if they disappeared, and didn’t find any. Sorry. 😉
Hi Liz
Not sure what to say to this. How do you feel about publishing more than one post per day?
Everyone is unique, hence every blog and every blogger is unique. If we would compare it to a ‘work-situation’, some colleagues like to ‘gather’ around the coffee corner twice or three times a day to discuss work – thoughts – ideas, just short bursts of conversations. Others only do that in one big go during lunch-time or in ‘official’ meetings.
Some coffee-corners sometimes join the lunchers, some lunchers sometimes join the coffee-corners.
But everyone does what ‘feels good’, does what makes sense to them and is in the end the most effective for the conversation.
BTW, I’m a coffee-corner one 😉
Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business
Hi Mike!
Thanks. It’s feedback that I need so that I know that I’m not deluding myself. I’m as good at doing that as the next guy. 🙂
I appreciate you taking the time to chime in with your thoughts. I still want to know if you think of something I’m doing wrong or doing too much of. 🙂
Hi Karin!
I’m just checking, because I tend to be an “interrupter” at work. I like to attend to an idea when I have it. Not everyone is the same way. I thought this was an opportunity.
Hey old pal – I remember the day you threw us the keys to this joint, seems like a long time ago. 🙂
I got blog post fatigue from blogs in general – hence I’m now a heavy rss reader user, I’m more prone to simply dump a feed (never yours though)if it doesn’t do it for me and I comment less. I also found myself a niche – it’s either all that or I’d get nothing done.
Nothing wrong in posting once, twice or thrice a day as long as the headline speaks to me and the opening paragraph grabs me.
Personally, I know that the day I decided to slow down on blogging was the day I started to enjoy it more.
Liz -I was good getting to know you a little better on open-mic last night. I have two thoughts on your question. In no way do I think these are what you “should” do (I HATE doing what others think I should do … that’s not being true to myself!); but they are here for you to ponder.
1. Consider splitting your BLOGs into more niche-specific BLOGs, then post as often as you are now, but get closer to once/day on each BLOG. People can then subscribe/read all of them or some of them depending on how much Liz they want per day. Your readers are more able to control it then.
2. Sometimes there are great people who simply aren’t a good fit for me, my company, my product, my service, whatever. Doesn’t make them right and me wrong … it just is. If you want to post more than someone wants to read, who knows, maybe it just isn’t a good fit.
In the end, you know you will come to the right decision …. just stay true to yourself!
All my best,
Dave
Hey Martin!
I wondered when I wrote the title to this post whether I might see you. Certainly you were on my mind. You were instrumental on that day. You were the first to break the ice. I’ll never forget that. 🙂
Getting things done is darned important to having a blog to come back to or a house to blog in. And enjoying it is a big part about whether the darn thing is worth reading. I know what you’re saying there.
God, it does seem like a decade or two ago, doesn’t it? 🙂
Martin – Very well-said. I agree with you. RSS has made my Bloig-reading much more in my control.
Damn, sometimes I wish I could write the way others do *sigh*.
I’m glad I played my little part in the juggernaut that is the Successful Blog today. I guess the ice just had to be broken, right. It’s blogging. It’s about conversation.
As long as you’re happy with your output, are not burnt out then keep on, keeping on … posting to your heart’s delight.
One day we’ll have a reunion for old times sake. 🙂 I’d say when SB turns 3 we should have one hell of a party.
Hello Liz, sorry I’ve been absent for a while, not because you were posting too much but ‘cos i was away on holiday (bliss).
I wouldn’t worry too much about there being an ‘ideal’ number of posts or that more than one a day is “considered” too many. What you’re doing here is very different to what other people are doing. As you taught me before, the secret is to climb down from the feedreader to read what someone is “saying” and find out what’s going on in the conversation box…
I guess the signal to do something different would be if you thought those conversations weren’t working in the same way, with fewer people, different voices, less fun… whatever it is you’re hoping to get from it (and give to it)
Hope this helps
Joanna
Martin!
I’m glad you were there too! You just said something like “Okay, I’ll take you up on that.” and the rest is history. 🙂
Hi Joanna!
Thanks for your perspective. I can’t help doing something different, as you might guess. 🙂
I’ll take your advice and keep an eye and an ear to the conversation.
There are stats and there are perspectives.
On the stats side, most people spend less than three minutes in a blog session. On my blog, there are days when it is less than 30-seconds and I know my “One Post” that day didn’t make the cut.
So one of the criteria on how often to post is: how long to people spend on the blog? If it is higher than average, that’s a good thing. If it is less than average, one of the factors could (could) be the number of posts.
A second number to consider is the number of subscribers. You’ve been doing multiple posts for a long time; is your subscriber base the same? Going up? Down? One of the items could (could) be the number of posts per day.
A third number is traffic to the site. Is it going up or going down? One factor could (could) be the number of posts.
By the way, I’m not expecting that you would share your numbers, Liz, but these things might be useful for others reading as well…
Now, perspectives.
Most blogs that post a lot (Life Hacker comes to mind; not because they are a poor blog, but because they post a lot) I don’t read. The reason is because most of the “multi-post” blogs are true to their area of expertise (which they should be). Consequently, I get five posts a day on the latest cool productivity tool. Every. Single. Day.
Like I could implement any of them before they are relentlessly replaced by next 5,000 productivity tools trotted out the next day.
I read blogs to learn more from others about getting myself better.
What is different here (OK, that was a preamble to THE POINT…) is that you have a variety of interests that you write about that are all aimed at making people better.
Whether it is through personal insights, Successful Outstanding Bloggers, One2One, Inside Out, or getting a community together via a Tuesday Night Comment session on different topics, the content varies but the focus is the same: helping people be better.
If it was a relentless five-posting a day deal on the Law of Attraction or Getting Things Done or rants on Management’s Mismanagement, it would get old pretty quickly.
But, the projects, as you call them, actually provide the overriding themes to the site and regular readers can comfortably walk right into or out of them because they know the type of content they will be getting from them.
Perhaps for new readers it might make some sense to tell them what the overriding themes to the blog might be, but I’ve been reading this blog a long time and know what the themes are right off the top of my head.
Post away. There are even times when I’d like you to post faster on particular projects because the content is that good. (Readers can be sooo pushy…).
OK. Here are the keys back.
Post…Post…Post;
What rules have you to break?
I am but a novice here and yet, the one rule for this blog has always been, “be nice”.
Everyone makes there own rules..on blogs and in life.
Do what you feel is right.
Best,
John
Hi Scot!
So, I can see what you’re saying. It’s the difference that makes the difference. Ooooh how nice. I think. 🙂
I’m pleased to say the numbers are going up. I’m also going to say as much as I understand that they would be fun to study, my dad had a rule about numbers that I found made sense . . . keep the family business in the family. He also never said where he bought his car or what his causes were.
What I mean by that is that this blog has never been about numbers and it never will be. The numbers didn’t define who I was anymore than the marks on my tests in school — as fine as they might have been, and it took me a long time to learn that. I’d like to keep that learning. 🙂
I know you weren’t asking me to, Scot. You’re not that sort of guy.
Sometimes I wish I could get ideas out of my head faster too. 🙂
Thank you for telling me what you think. Perspective is so important for all of us. On this post the most valuable content is in the comments for sure.
Hi John!
Thank you for reminding me of my own rule. We all lose sight of what’s obvious sometimes. I’m so smiling.
Yep. What you say makes total sense.
Liz – I think we are all (inclluding you)saying the same thing – be true to yourself. Life just isn’t any fun living it the way someone else wants us to – that’s for sure!
He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. ~Raymond Hull
Liz,
It’s funny – because I was just asking myself this same question today.
I must agree with many of the comments already made…Stay true to yourself! Of course, it’s always good to get reader feedback about what they do and don’t like, but as you can see we all seem to like your style of blogging – so don’t stop!
In my experience with my own blogs – I’ve found that my business blogs have readers who like short, pithy posts spread throughout the day…They seem to like the latest “breaking news”. However, on my personal interest blogs I have readers who like more content-filled posts.
I think the remark made by that person says more about the person than about the bloggers. It’s a quasi-popular statement for self-preservation in a society that has to deal with information overload, combined with feeling compelled to read every darn thing out there. If this is the rule for her to deal with it, regardless of the quality of the information, than too bad for her.
Personally I choose to follow a lot of blogs, no matter the posting frequency. After a vacation (when my reader explodes with new posts) first thing I do is mark them all as read, and then scan through the list view of the blogs I enjoy most to see if there’s something I want to read. Marking it all as read takes away the need to get the “job done”.
Keep it up, I like your writing and your ideas.
Dave,
I can’t believe I didn’t answer your comment earlier. I answered it in my head and didn’t type it here. How clueless is that?!!!
I was so fun to meet you last night.
My son has taught me a lot about myself. In watching what we have in common I have found out there is not a chance that I will ever lose track of who I am — even when I try to be someone else, the “meness” has its way of leaking out. A bad facsimile then I’ll admit.
Still I wanted to know what folks found comfortable when they come to visit. 🙂
Hi Maria!
Like you said, it never hurts to check in to see what everyone is looking forward to. 🙂
Now that I know I can be sure that I’m serving folks as they want to be served. God knows, I could have dropped something someone really liked a lot. Thinking “no one cares about this.” I used to make silly decisions like that. 🙂
Liz – They find YOU comfortable *S* …
and oh gawd, seeing ourselves reflected in our children can be scary can’t it … I haved raised ten kids and over 25 foster kids … there are reflections every single hour! *sigh* …
Oh Dave,
Thanks. That’s a cool thing you said. 🙂
I learned a lot from watching my son . . . the biggest thing that I learned? Humility.
yep – agreed.
And thanks for being YOU … I’d hate to have to go find another you somewhere else!!! *HUG*
Dave,
You’re not a stranger anymore!
To be terribly unhelpful, if you feel like you’re posting too much, slow down. Your only obligation is to do what you think is best for you.
I agree with Scott in that there are a lot of blogs I don’t read regularly just because they post too frequently for my taste on the same subject. You post two or more times a day, but there is a variety and what you talk about is interesting to me. And, as HART says, half the show is in the comment box. You have a lot of smart, informed, readers. For similar reasons, I subscribe to Jerry Pournelle’s blog. A lot of interesting, useful, and thought-provoking things come from the community you’ve both built up over the years.
ah good … I’ll get my own beer – I know where it is *L* …
Maybe you can have a community picnic at the water park near Merrilville … just a hop-skip & jump from me.
Hi Rick!
I’ve never known anything you’ve offered as unhelpful . . . I’m not sure that I think I’m posting too much. I was just thinking that other folks might be thinking that I was. I wanted to be sure I was hearing as well as listening. 🙂
So it’s the variety that counts. I’m sure hearing that. 🙂
Variety counts for a lot – and the smile on your face. 🙂
Some people probably do think you post too often, as shown by the remark you heard at the conference. But to paraphrase – You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all the time.
Dave,
Help yourself to the beer.
The picnic is SOBCon08. It’s in May in Chicago . . . 🙂
Yeah, Rick,
You sure are right about pleasing people. I’ve never figured out how to do that. I’ve always managed to screw it up. [shrug]
Oh and that conference remark, I really did overhear it. I was walking down the hall. Those things just jump out at me. I think on them until I talk them out. 🙂
Hey Lodewijkvdb!!
Welcome to the conversation! Sorry you were stuck in the moderation queue.
It sounds like you and I have the same approach to reading blogs — that trying to read everything is a silly cause. 🙂
I’m delighted that you stopped by to add your opinion to this comment thread. I hope you’ll chime in again. 🙂
checking in*n) here :)it’s a marriage of head, hand and heart. Number is irrelevant , if the posts are on purpose and targeting what you want to get across and not blah, blah, just for hte sake of posting… a non-issue with you.
For me one posting a day works, unless something occurs impromptu which i think will entertain, and inform.
Returning inn…
gp in montana 🙂
Hi GP!
I’ve learned a lot just by checking in. You’ve given me a different big picture view. Though you all see what I put here, you see it from the other side and it sounds somehow just a little more . . . right.
Hi, Liz!
Well now, you have a nice variety here so we can each choose what we relate to… I don’t think about the ‘quantity.’
You are q-u-a-l-i-t-y. You make me think. And you *always* leave the light on. 🙂
Perhaps whoever said that just doesn’t *get* lights and relationships.
You just wouldn’t be Liz if you weren’t doing what you love, when you love, because you love.
(Dave, is there any beer left?) 🙂
Hi Dar!
Yep! The light is always on for you! 🙂
And the beer’s right here. C’mon and sit down. . . .
Liz,
I think the volume, more or less is irrelevant as long as you stay true to you blogging goal like your father in his saloon.
Share what you know and who you are and you will make a difference in people’s lives.
This is an irrefutable truth. I know, because you already did.
And if people grow tired, they’ll get up, walk around the block but they’ll always return back to the place where everybody knows your name because you’re only a stranger once.
Vern
Hi Vern!
I hear you. I’ll do what I think works. It may mean walking now and then. 🙂
Of course, we know your name. That’s what friends are for! [grin] 🙂 🙂
Great post, as always! Taking care of oneself is a critical part of continuing to serve your audience. Without you, they are not an audience, or at least, not the same audience.
Hi Liz,
no problem, my reaction showed that it was waiting for moderation…
It’s definitely not about reading everything, it’s not even checking it all out. If you miss out on something, too bad, but no loss. If it’s hot, it’ll come back to you anyway.
I’ll definitely be back here (and commenting). I’m in the fourth month of blogging now, and I find a lot of advice here 🙂
Hi Mark!
I like this audience. What other audience could possibly be as cool or fun to talk to? 🙂
You’re not a stranger anymore!
Hi Lodewijkvdb!
I’m still so heartened by the fact that you don’t feel some unrealistic need to see every movie and read every book in the library. Whew!! 🙂
Blogging four months already! Where does the time go? If you’re hanging out now, you’re a blogger for sure. If you weren’t, you’d be bored and looking for a way out. . . .
Wow! Lots of comments! I have no doubt they’ve been useful to you, Liz. I don’t have time to read what everyone has said so far, but here’s my two cents:
I would rather read one post/blog or less per day (i.e. posting every other day or so is ok) BUT if the second post is short, I don’t mind two. You have so many wonderful ideas I would hate to think you’re not sharing all of them! I want to be able to act on all your great advice, too, so give me enough time to do it!
Hi Lauren Marie!
I’d rather read one post a day myself. I’d probably rather write only one as well, but that wouldn’t get all of the ideas out. There’s so much that needs talking about. We meet here for coffee and it doesn’t matter if you miss some. It’s like a conversation, jump in when you can . . . 🙂
I am of the max one post per day type. I haven’t unsubscribed and I won’t. I would however be much happier with less and more consistent posting.
Sometimes life interferes and I need to do something else. When I come back to look as I did today I was faced by 20 new posts. That is just too much.
I guess I could simply run quickly through them and comment on one or two, but that is not how I read your blog. I like taking the time to actually reading and reflecting about what I read.
I do not comment on everything as you know I try actually adding something when I do comment, but I read everything as if I would prepare myself to comment if you know what I mean.
This would perhaps be the perfect opportunity to reflect about what belongs where. You have more blogs so I am sure some of the things I consider somewhat off topic here would fit perfectly somewhere else where it wouldn’t be off topic and thus just what the people reading that blog was looking for.
As you may be able to tell am I these days going through similar thoughts as I found myself straying off the path that I had decided to take.
If you cannot help writing so much dividing it up so that everyone finds their favorites and every post their readers would thus be my advice.
Since there is no partial feeds you have to split it up. Everyone who loves all of it and have the time to read it and enjoy it can then simply subscribe to more of your feeds.
If all fails am I sure I can set you up with a guest blogging gig 🙂
Hi Jan,
Thank you for your perspective. I’m sorry to frustrate you. I try to label what I write so that folks can focus in on their favorites and pass by those they find less to their liking. I could guess which are the one that you might suggest most away.
I am so honored at the way you read my blog. It is a writer’s dream to have a reader who wants to reflect and ponder her thoughts so deeply. I understand the time it takes.
What I’m hearing from this thread and what I’m feeling from this experience is that I should show up with all of me. Head and heart is who I am and I feel the need to have all of me here.
I think labeling me as frustrated is over-interpreting what I said 🙂
I admitted being overwhelmed and explained why, but as I said do you not get me to unsubscribe that easily 😉
It may however be a good time to reflect a little more about things. I think I made some good suggestions that could work for everyone.
However, since you seem to have made up your mind is all probably well again. Does that mean I should be returning the keys now? 😀
Hi Jan,
I didn’t mean to label you as anything. My thought was only of a momentary frustration. I get frustrated when I don’t have time to react, perhaps my choice of words was too strong — I don’t know another.
I do find your suggestions excellent. I’ve been reading all of the suggestions in this thread and hoping to serve the needs of readers without taking away convenience.
A man I once worked for told me, “be careful when you add something to a product, not to overtax your customers. Be strictly biased not to take away or move something they love.” When in doubt don’t change what has worked in the past.
So you see, if I choose not to change the status quo, it’s not because I don’t see the wisdom of your logic. 🙂
As always your perspective makes me think and I so enjoy that. 🙂
To me “frustrated” just sounded somewhat labelish that’s all 🙂 (yes I know labelish isn’t a real word and I am alright with that)
Whatever makes you happy makes me happy as well. I apparently misunderstood your post and thought you were looking to better things for yourself.
I am sure I can adapt. Especially if it is to nothing changing 😉
Hey Jan,
You are a wonderful “reader-partner.” I enjoy learning from you. The happiness “factor” goes both ways.
Thank you for your patience with my curious behavior. 🙂