Why Blogging is So Friggin’ Hard
If you read the post I wrote earlier this year, I swore to you I’d be more diligent about updating this blog. And guess how that’s worked out?
So I wondered to myself why blogging is so hard.
I think blogging is hard because, especially for me, I’ve been so beat down by irrelevant blogs and content. I don’t want to be responsible for more useless drivel to invade the interwebs. So whenever I think I want to write a post, I do a quick search and find that someone has already blogged about what I want to say. Have I become that shallow?
I recently spoke at Ignite Dallas (and I totally bombed…video to come) about an (unoriginal) idea I had that I dubbed “Emotional Investment”. The point of my presentation was that there are too many outlets of good and bad content on the web, that we’re becoming shallow. One exact quote that I used was “…we’re becoming casually interested in many things, rather than passionate about a few…”.
I started to realize, while looking through my Google Reader, that I’m falling in to this trap just as much as everyone else. How can I really believe that I can skim through 1000 blogs and actually come out with some good information. The truth is, I can’t.
I’ve also wondered why I haven’t been as happy lately. Is it a quarter-life crisis, as John Mayer so eloquently put it? Actually, I think this phenomenon is partially to blame. I remember when I was a cub, listening with wide-eared wonder to Joseph Jaffe’s podcast, feeling that social media really was going to change the world. There were a few outlets that I read, including Seth Godin, David Armano, and Hugh, and the knowledge-base of social media as advertising phenomenon was still new. It was easy to keep up with what was going on in the space, because there were so few outlets that devoted time to it.
And those outlets wrote with passion. I mean, Joseph Jaffe moved me, man. He started in on the Across the Sound podcast, and I started digging what he was saying. I bought it hook, line and sinker, because I saw what he was talking about, and it was truth.
Fast forward to 2009, and C-Suite executives are asking ME about social media, not the other way around. There are more blogs on social media strategy than there are on important topics, and Twitter is over capacity almost all the time. Is there knowledge being added to the space? Maybe, but I can’t seem to find it anymore.
I remember when I began to move away from Joseph Jaffe…I started to realize that he had said his piece and counted to three, and he was moving on to selling the ideas he created, rather than creating them and giving them to us for free. I began to be angered by his audacity to STOP moving the knowledge-base forward, instead focusing on speaking engagements and selling books. I later realized that my anger came from the fact that I didn’t feel like I could look up to him anymore as a social media guru, but only as a social media talking head. And good for Jaffe…he sold his company to Powered, and now is part of the largest social media agency in the US. He achieved every “social media expert’s” dream, right?
It seems that no one is really passionate about the space anymore. There is passion, to be sure, but it’s not around the growth of the media or what real people are doing to really change things. Now, it’s around how to make money, or how to gain followers, or how to make money, or even how to make money with social media. If I want to learn about what people are ACTUALLY doing in social media, I’m now relegated to the same resources that have always given me useful, actionable information about old media – Nielsen, Forrester, and the other research outlets.
I guess my point in all this, is that the world is moving. And I guess I haven’t moved fast enough.
I guess it’s time for me to find my passion again. Then maybe blogging won’t be so hard anymore.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:22 am
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March 10th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Sean –
I agree that there is a lot of drizzle out there. It seems like the same game, but a new subject. Years ago, Internet speakers would try and “out expert” each other by having more social proof, more quotes from big names, pictures with well-known SEOs, guest publishing pieces on sites which held more notoriety. Basically, they needed more flair. It’s a pissing match and I understand that more now that ever. I’ve decided not to play or base my ego on any of this. Just because someone is talking loudly, doesn’t mean we should listen, or he/she has anything good to say. I used to read 100s of blogs, but you’re right only a handful were the beacons, the signal coming through all the noise. I’ve decided instead of saying I know social media and trying to prove to my peers anything, I’d rather just do it and make it work for me. It’s a means to an end, but the end has to be decided by you. I own 70 something domains, most have industry-related terms. I got tired of it. For me, constantly writing about the industry and publishing news about the industry is a snake eating his tail.
I tried to dive deep into myself and find out what my true interests were. I started a Texas travel blog (www.TexasTravelJournal.com) as a true test to myself. Instead of reaching out to others who are interested in Social Media, I decided to reach out those interested in Texas, more of a loyal and patriotic niche. I don’t know all the answers, and anyone who claims to is just trying to sell you something, or an arrogant prick. I do report on social media, but it’s not what I know, it’s what is quoted from others (socialmediadallas.com). This is a rant, and I don’t really know where I’m going with it, but I do have monlithic bloggging tips post with sort of a blogging formula post, with a structure which has amassed lots of SEO traffic and high pass-along-rates on Social Media soon to be published. I’m hoping it will be my M.O. Thanks for letting me rant on your page.
March 10th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Sean – how are you my friend? It’s been a long time.
Dude – you are SO wrong about what you said and I don’t say that with any animosity or anger…but actually with empathy and affection.
I’m as passionate about the space as I ever was…I’m also a business man…and the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
“Monetizing” one’s IP, contributions and participation shouldn’t have to be a swear word. It also hasn’t stopped me from giving away IP via blog, podcast, JaffeJuiceTV etc.
That said, I’m also a little older, more mature…have a family to support and am a little more selective in terms of how I package my IP. For example, is paying $20 for the kind of passion and knowledge you say I stopped giving off/out excessive or exorbitant? I’d say emphatically no.
In fact, I’ll give you a free copy of any of my books. Or all three if you want.
Or how about the $20,000 I was able to send to the Red Cross to help Haiti recovery? Where was the sinister motive there? Instead of putting $20K into my back pocket I was able to send it to a better place. One could also argue that this is BECAUSE I’ve been able to be successful elsewhere and by selling the company etc., I’m now freed up to think in a less constricted way.
People go through tough times. I understand. I’ve been there. Perhaps you’re going through a funk right now. You’ll pull through I’m sure.
And in the interim, let’s connect next time I’m in Dallas or even in Austin if you’re going to SxSW.
Peace my brother. I’m still the same guy, I assure you. Whether you look up to me or not.
And I’m no “Social media guru, expert or talking head”. Never was. Never professed to be.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Joseph, thanks for responding on my little outpost on the internet. I hope you didn’t take my rant to be a negative on you. I was trying to articulate that, as I started progressing in the space, the new, interesting and original ideas started to become harder to find. You are extremely generous in giving away your IP, and I’ve never discounted that.
What I was trying to say (and you reiterated in your comment) was that you began to monetize the ideas you had. In the beginning, it was about the idea, and now it’s about the monetization. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But for me, going from the “fuck the system” mentality of Life After the 30 to the “let me help you build your social media” of Join the Conversation, and even the customer retention gospel of Flip the Funnel was bittersweet. Of course I want you to succeed, but it’s also like seeing your favorite band “sell out” by becoming wildly successful…
I’m going to be in Austin this weekend, and I’d love to get together so I can buy you a beer. And you know I’ve already got all of your books…you still are an important “guru” in the space, whether you want to be or not.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Niel, thanks for responding! It was actually our conversation at the last SMC Dallas event that got me thinking about this. Your exact quote was, “I’m not going to be arrogant about this stuff…” and I realized that I was another arrogant prick who thought he knew what was what.
I think you have the right idea though…my Ignite talk was about building a base around your passion. I think I’m going to need to dig a little to find out what that is exactly; then it might not be as hard to blog.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Sean – actually one really important point to add: I was *always* trying to monetize what I did and speaking was always a part of my “solution set”.
When the book came out, it was just a little more formalized, structured and visible.
When I founded crayon, even more so…
When I sold crayon, even more so…
The point I’m making is that attempting to get paid in order to pay the bills was always paramount. Perhaps the “early” days of building *anything* are just perceived to be more “pure” as they are still in a formative stage and by definition, monetization is premature.
I could also turn the tables on anyone who has a full time gig (read: job). For them, they don’t need to try as hard as they get a paycheck irrespective of whether they call in sick and/or go the extra mile to make the sale.
I know there’s a lot of arrogance out there. And a lot of misdirection. And a lot of snake oil from self-proclaimed self-help social-media gurus.
I’m not one of them…but you still owe me a beer in Austin
March 10th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
I see a lot of passion, and respect, and introspection here.
Finding your passion? What do you do, that you loose track of time when you’re doing it? What do you do, that leaves you with more energy and exhilaration afterwards than you had when you started? THAT is where your passion is. If you’re lucky enough to make a living at it, you are truly blessed. If you can’t make a living out of it, you can still enjoy doing it whenever possible.
For the record, I enjoy what I do for a living (print production), but my passion lies with Toastmasters, because it changes lives.
Thank you for sharing!
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