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Max Hansen, in his ripping little read entitled ‘Unfashionably Late: Why every book about blogging written before 2009 is already obsolete’ (pdf), suggests that those who consider entering the blogosphere now are likely too late to the party.
And in one sense I agree with him.
Those who got in early* have set themselves up nicely in terms of audience size.
*Early would include folks like Shel Holtz, Neville Hobson, Allan Jenkins, Trevor Cook, Josh Hallett, Steve Rubel, Jeremy Pepper, Eric Eggertson, Eric Schwartzman, Robert French, Stuart Bruce inter alia.
Those who have joined later have had to work especially hard to garner an audience, no matter how good their thoughts are. Which I am sure you agree is a tad unfair.
But where I respectfully disagree with Max (and also here) is that it is seemingly pointless to start your own blog up now. Max cites his own experience as a third-time blogger. It matters not that his posts are erudite and wise; he is unable to garner the same size of audience as he once did in the ‘good old days’.
As Donna Papacosta (aka ‘Donna PepsiCola’) once commented in a trans-global hookup for one of Allan’s clients, it doesn’t matter if your audience is measured in the tens of thousands or the tens of ones, what does matter is who they are.
If they are your clients or those who are quite possibly likely to be clients, then that is all that matters. You want decision makers in your audience, people who are likely to use your services and value your advice.
Don’t focus on the numbers of subscribers, focus on WHO those subscribers are (and the beauty and frustration about RSS feeds is that you will probably never know who they are, unless you also use an rss-to-email service such as fine folks like Feedblitz or Feedburner offer.)
As for Max — go subscribe to his blog. Now. He’s a damn fine writer and a damn fine fellow. You should be reading him.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Donna Papacosta 03.14.07 at 10:28 am
Right, Lee. It’s never too late! I still believe what I said in that presentation to Allan’s clients. I am happy blogging to my audience, even though my numbers will never touch Scoble’s or Shel’s or even yours. Thanks for kindly including my thoughts in your post.
Max Christian Hansen 03.14.07 at 6:51 pm
Lee, thanks for reading UL. Your points are excellent.
I didn’t actually say it is pointless to start a blog today. I only laid out a number of ways the blogosphere is deteriorating. I don’t believe it has deteriorated to the point of futility, nor do I think it will reach that point soon.
But, as I re-enter consulting this summer, when I advise clients to blog, I want them to be as clear-eyed as possible about all the ways it can become a time-sink. I also want them offer them ways to avoid same. Which is why, in writing UL, I started to think through where the traps are.
Note, too, that I offer some constructive suggestions for improvement. I don’t know who can implement them, although I more and more believe Google could build the bloggerscope I describe in the last pages.
BTW, I’m very grateful for your hearty recommendations of my blog. I myself follow your recommendations, which is why I’ve found Heidi Miller and let her turn me into a shameless self-promoter. I’ve been avidly promoting UL, because I really want some new cool tools to be built. Any suggestions (from anybody out there) as to how to get my ideas into the hands of Google would be greatly appreciated.
And another BTW from shameless me: Seth Godin stopped by my blog to leave a comment yesterday. Am I bragging? Well, duh, of course I am! It’s like an audience with HRH.
Stuart Bruce 03.14.07 at 7:31 pm
Of course it’s not too late. One of the main benefits of blogging is the ability to have a conversation in your own speciality or niche. There are still thousands of niches to explore.
Robert French 03.14.07 at 10:47 pm
I agree, too, Lee and Donna. It is the quality of the audience, not the size, that matters. If you are reaching key people in your target audience(s), then you’re doing well.
Goodness knows, I don’t have that many readers, but the ones I have represent many of the ones I want.
I’m reminded of Richard Edelman’s post about the “multiple stakeholder world” aspect of communication. If we can get to some of the key stakeholders in each of those audiences, the effort is likely worthwhile.
Lee Hopkins 03.15.07 at 6:55 am
Hey everyone — thanks for commenting. Actually, I did a slight disservice to Max as a way of stirring the pot a bit. I know you didn’t say ‘don’t bother’, Max. My apols for slightly misquoting you in the interests of stirring up some of my clients who *should* be blogging but won’t take the leap of faith.
As for the Sethster stopping by, MAx, yes that *is* big news and should be trumpeted!! [grin] I’d rather have an audience with Seth than HRH!!