Declining Value

[vartann]

WTF ---
if you like Steve's articles then you read them
if you don't like them (anymore etc.) then you don't read them (anymore etc.)


if you don't like the food then just move your a** to the grocery store and order something else,
there's no fussing like a sissy

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by vartann

WTF ---
if you like Steve's articles then you read them
if you don't like them (anymore etc.) then you don't read them (anymore etc.)


if you don't like the food then just move your a** to the grocery store and order something else,
there's no fussing like a sissy

Next time I'll know better than stating my opinion. This is starting to look like the wrong place for me.

[JoePike]

Ah, don't let vartann get to you Mounds. He was simply stating his opinion, and chose to be a bit more straightforward than some here. No big deal.

I would suggest to you and theoldtimer to check in on Steve's blog every 30 days or so, like on the 1st of the month. Look in the archives and scan the title of each post and see if any of them interest you. Skip the ones that don't (the travel ones for example). This scanning of titles process would take just a couple of minutes each month.

[vartann]

Originally Posted by Mounds

Next time I'll know better than stating my opinion. This is starting to look like the wrong place for me.

didn' t mean to offend

[Mounds]

No problem!

[theoldtimer]

Feeling shocked and disappointed at being treated like this. Feel like having gotten a raw deal after contributing to traffic, donations, purchases, referrals to friends and being a loyal subscriber since 2005.

All I did was to voice some genuine concerns that other members also share.

Anyway I wish everyone the very best!

[nutella2]

Originally Posted by theoldtimer

Feeling shocked and disappointed at being treated like this. Feel like having gotten a raw deal after contributing to traffic, donations, purchases, referrals to friends and being a loyal subscriber since 2005.

All I did was to voice some genuine concerns that other members also share.

Anyway I wish everyone the very best!

As for the 'raw deal' part, that kind of makes sense around here
Otherwise I get the impression that it's a question of 'like it or leave it'.
There are other cool places on the web. Steve may be one of the first but he's not the only source of prolific blog-based PD stuff.

Actually I think it would make total sense to graduate from Steve Pavlina if the principles are actually applied correctly. You'd just be using them, and that would be that. Kind of like an instruction manual that you can ultimately leave at home when you go out and about doing your thing because it's become a reflex.
Change is hard though....

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

In the future you can save time by using template #1 from this 2005 post:
My Favorite Feedback

When you have the opposite impression, please use template #2.

Also go outside.

Thanks.

So touchy...

[escapeplan]

There isn't a business in the world that can survive long term by taking a "couldn't care less" approach to customer service. Eventually someone will come in and do a better job, and provide better value.

Taking a "couldn't care less, take it or leave it" approach, will isolate customers and create bad feeling. No customer wants to feel unvalued by providing constructive critique, and then simply be told "if you don't like it go away". Just because this is a PD site is no reason to take this approach. All this assumes that the value IS declining- which it may or may not be. To lose sight of the fact that this site is a business, and needs repeat visitors would be a mistake.

[escapeplan]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

In all seriousness... if you no longer find enough value here, don't linger around and post general complaints. That's silly. Simply move on and seek other sources that align with what you desire. Recognize that it's utterly unreasasonable to expect me to go back and crank out more content on topics that interested me 5 years ago but that no longer inspire me today.

If you need help letting go, I could give you the "It's not you; it's me" speech. Blame me for not living up to your expectations if you think that will help.

Also recognize that I frequently receive the exact opposite feedback from yours. What annoys you delights someone else, and vice versa.

That 2005 feedback article still applies today.

We've grown apart. It's OK. Let go.

Steve, you are of course correct. I just think from a business perspective this may not be the best approach to take. Why not try to find ways to re-connect with those who you once related to with such clarity. If there are people still coming to a PD site, they still need or want some helpful input. Why shut out such a large amount of the population? This site is your business, and while it may reflect your personal growth, it is not ABOUT your personal growth- it's about helping others- something you claim to be passionate about. That's how you enjoy providing value. Now maybe your idea of how you want to provide that value has changed over time, but does your inner voice really want to turn its back on the "grass roots"? Is your work on this section of the population complete? Is there a better way to re-connect, rather than disconnecting with smart-arsed quips?

[siryessir08]

Lol. There's a lot of tension in this thread.

[newmark]

Originally Posted by theoldtimer

Feeling shocked and disappointed at being treated like this. Feel like having gotten a raw deal after contributing to traffic, donations, purchases, referrals to friends and being a loyal subscriber since 2005.

All I did was to voice some genuine concerns that other members also share.

Anyway I wish everyone the very best!

Relax! You are being too touchy [as is Steve] to this. Sometimes I enjoy the articles, sometimes [juice feasting time ] I go somewhere else. No problem.

[catalyst]

This is Steve's site, so he is free to do whatever he wishes with it - that is his prerogative, but I share the same feelings as some of the other posters here.

The quality of blog posts, imo, has gone down dramatically.

[pyrogen]

Steve's focus has changed. It doesn't mean his site has declining value. It means that it has different value to different people.

I personally have less interest in his personal life, and could care less what he is doing in his bedroom with what, how how many and to whom or for that matter what he is eating.

I could see how people who've been here the entire time might be either dismayed or delighted by his shift in focus, depending upon their interests and why they initially came here.

I'm sure though that there are plenty of people just coming here for the first time who are either interested in his new discoveries, want to vicariously experience his adventures, or learn from his mistakes and don't have as much interest in the PD stuff he used to write. In fact I have a friend whose primary interest in the board seems to be in raw food, and the fact that Steve is a raw foodist.

Nobody owes anyone anything when it comes to writing a blog. As much as we like to talk about value, when it comes down to it, a blog is a personal journal that the author has chosen to share with the world.

A blog is not a classroom in which you have paid to take a class, and in which you must warm a seat even though the teacher has stopped saying anything you find personally of any use.

You can always choose to stop reading, or only read the articles which are of relevance to you.

If I haven't actually paid Steve for this service, then he doesn't owe me anything.

[roxyruby]

He has already given people what, hundreds of helpful articles? And a book? And a workshop?

What more do you want from him? He has given a lot more already to help a large amount of people in the world than many others could or would do. I think he deserves to take a break or do whatever he want. Everyone also should follow what interests them, not what other people want them to do. I don't think people are inspired to write because of pressure from other people or other people wanting them to.

If you want him to write more articles, the best thing to do would be to recommend or send him an excellent and helpful personal development book to make his life better.

I find that reading is one of the best inspirations for writing your self, so maybe it's the same with him. His interest and thought in personal development has to be stimulated for him to write, not "Write more, I want more!"

[Anna Conlan]

Originally Posted by roxyruby

He has already given people what, hundreds of helpful articles? And a book? And a workshop?

What more do you want from him? He has given a lot more already to help a large amount of people in the world than many others could or would do. I think he deserves to take a break or do whatever he want. Everyone also should follow what interests them, not what other people want them to do. I don't think people are inspired to write because of pressure from other people or other people wanting them to.

I agree!

Oldtimer I can see why you might feel attacked BUT I can understand why Steve doesn't care about it as well. I know I would feel a bit touchy if people were writing to me telling me my content is declining in value.

It's like saying: Don't write this stuff. Write for me instead please, like you used to. Write what I want. It has a sort of entitlement about it.

Yes blogging is a business but in the end you have to be true to yourself and write about what inspires you in the moment, otherwise you're faking it.

Steve is under no obligation to satisfy our desires in terms of what we want to read. It's his blog, not ours!!

[Plays With Life]

Yep, I'm with roxy and Anna. Threads like this always sound like this to me: "Hey - you're not doing what I want you to do! Stop what you're doing, and do what I want you to do!"

As though Steve's purpose is to do what you want him to do.

[escapeplan]

@Plays with life...

I would agree 100% if Steve was running this site out of the goodness of his heart or on a charity basis. Now it is true that much of the information is free, but don't lose sight of the fact that this is the business model he chose to adopt.

What I am saying is that no business (and this site is a business, and we are the customers- make no mistake about it) can ignore customer feedback completely. This site is a PD business, and for everything Steve does, be it CGW, product recommendations or one to one coaching, he needs status, visitors and a sound reputation in the field. Simply saying it's his blog and he can do what he likes, is true but acually does a disservice to all involved in the long run.

[Anna Conlan]

Originally Posted by escapeplan

@Plays with life...

Simply saying it's his blog and he can do what he likes, is true but acually does a disservice to all involved in the long run.

Really? I personally think it's the total opposite. I think it's doing a service to all involved to follow what you feel inspired by, as a blogger. After all, if you're asking Steve to write about life purpose, but his heart's no longer in that topic, then he probably wouldn't write a very inspired article about it. He might be wasting his time, and yours.

I would agree 100% if Steve was running this site out of the goodness of his heart or on a charity basis. Now it is true that much of the information is free, but don't lose sight of the fact that this is the business model he chose to adopt...What I am saying is that no business (and this site is a business, and we are the customers- make no mistake about it) can ignore customer feedback completely. This site is a PD business, and for everything Steve does, be it CGW, product recommendations or one to one coaching, he needs status, visitors and a sound reputation in the field...

Hmm, I believe it depends on what kind of business you want. Steve doesn't owe his readers because they go to CGW, or buy his affiliate products. The transaction is that they pay money and they get something in return. They get the blog articles for free (nobody technically pays for the articles) and I bet a lot of readers have never bought anything at all. Some people have donated (out of their own free will). Does Steve owe them something? Should he keep writing to satisfy them? Not in my opinion.

Depending on what your intention is, I don't think there is any obligation with a blog to serve your customers at all. Maybe if you're starting out and you really need readers and need to make money, then yes. But it totally depends on what your intention is with the blog. I can't presume to know what Steve's intention is at the moment but it doesn't sound like he wants to serve people who are saying that they don't like the content.

Stevepavlina.com has a load of good content already and people will continue to find him from the search engines. I bet that if everyone on the forums stopped reading his blog, it probably wouldn't matter all that much since it'd still get a load of traffic from Google and a load of new readers each month.

I run a blog and I do not see my readers as customers. I see my clients and people who buy my courses as customers. Some people who have been reading my blog for the last two years have never bought anything from me, which I don't mind at all. I don't feel like I owe them anything though. Nor do I owe anything to the people I've read for, or the people I've taught.

If they no longer want to buy from me, because they don't like my website anymore, then I think they should feel free to move on. But if a reader I didn't know at all wrote to me and said 'wow your content is really going downhill' but I didn't agree, I'd find that impertinent. I personally would never send that kind of feedback to someone I'd never paid a penny to. I'd just go elsewhere - after all, there are so many blogs on the internet, you can surely find another one you like!

It's a given that not everyone is going to like this (or any blog) for a long period of time. After all, people change.

[Andrew Brunelle]

If you don't like the blog, don't read it. Christ, people, you don't have to make this more complicated than it already is. If you liked his older posts, then read those over again. Personally, I've gotten a lot of value out of his older posts reading them again. He has enough to fill several books, so you are bound to have forgotten some of his older posts, and if his new posts just aren't doing it for you, don't read them and stick to the older ones.

He'll have more gems in the future. You can count on that. He's Steve.

[escapeplan]

Well, I see both sides to this and to be honest it has little impact on me whether this site works or fails. The site itself seems to operate on a similar basis to SBI, in as much as you draw in huge traffic numbers, and sell to a handful. Nevertheless, without the traffic, you don't make the sales. My logical conclusion from this model therefore is that visitors are important- they tell friends who may donate/ buy/ etc. Would SBI tell you not to worry about feedback or the quality of your site?

Maybe Steve has other interests or angles to pursue, but that's largely irrelevant when assessing the value of this particular site in relation to its target audience (those seeking PD). While some may like the new avenues, I think to an extent it would be nieve to deny that there is a change in peoples attitutes to this site, maybe not for the better. When was value even questioned back in say 2007? And was it to the same extent?

I think if you ran a sweet shop, and one day you stopped selling as many sweets but started to stock up on more veggies instead, your customers would have a right to ask whether you would be better changing the shops name to xxx Green grocers rather than xxx sweet shop.

I am also somewhat amazed at some people who believe Steve has given so much already. This is his business! We have in return for that, one way or another allowed him to have the life he does. This is not about how much he's given but whether the service he provides can be improved or maintained. Call it a blog, call it free articles, call it what you will- it's still a business at the end of the day!!!

[escapeplan]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

If you don't like the blog, don't read it. Christ, people, you don't have to make this more complicated than it already is. If you liked his older posts, then read those over again. Personally, I've gotten a lot of value out of his older posts reading them again. He has enough to fill several books, so you are bound to have forgotten some of his older posts, and if his new posts just aren't doing it for you, don't read them and stick to the older ones.

He'll have more gems in the future. You can count on that. He's Steve.

Totally agree! End of!!!

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by escapeplan

What I am saying is that no business (and this site is a business, and we are the customers- make no mistake about it) can ignore customer feedback completely.

Lol .. well .. I had never thought of myself as a customer of Steve's. If I had purchased something from Steve, I might think of myself as a customer in that moment. Even a person who sends a donation doesn't sound like a customer, to me.

I really don't think Steve ignores feedback completely. He always responds to threads like this, that I've seen. I think he means that this particular feedback doesn't give him a direction to go in. People come on and say "Write Something Better". Er - like what? Would you know what to write if someone said Write Something Better to you?

Originally Posted by escapeplan

This site is a PD business, and for everything Steve does, be it CGW, product recommendations or one to one coaching, he needs status, visitors and a sound reputation in the field. Simply saying it's his blog and he can do what he likes, is true but acually does a disservice to all involved in the long run.

This still sounds the same to me:

"Steve's purpose is to please his readers / Steve is compelled to please his readers (because it's a business)".

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by escapeplan

When was value even questioned back in say 2007? And was it to the same extent?

Well, Steve did link to his post about this from 2005. I've seen him mention it elsewhere, too. People have sent him vague feedback like this for years.

Originally Posted by escapeplan

I am also somewhat amazed at some people who believe Steve has given so much already. This is his business! We have in return for that, one way or another allowed him to have the life he does. This is not about how much he's given but whether the service he provides can be improved or maintained. Call it a blog, call it free articles, call it what you will- it's still a business at the end of the day!!!

I don't see what you mean to get at, here. Do you mean - because Steve makes money from his blog, he owes something to other people?

[roxyruby]

Idea: if you're one of those people that want more personal development articles from him, why not read his old articles and make recordings of yourself reading them out, then listen to that, on your ipod or whatever.

Hearing something will double the effect of the message on your brain than reading it.

Or just reread them. You could print them out and make a book or something.

If you want more content buy his book or save up money or make money to go to his workshop.

Or you could take him out to lunch and plan some questions to ask him.

Or just get some other good personal developments books out of the library or buy them. Look around at other blogs.

[roxyruby]

You don't own someone just cause you have donated money to them or bought products from them or read their blog. You don't become their boss because of that. You chose to part with your money in exchange for value. It was a one time thing. It wasn't a life-time thing of "buying" their business and the person for life so that you can guilt trip them into doing what you want because you gave them some money sometime. They already gave you the value in exchange for that money. It's over.

People should do what they are interested in, not what others want them to do.

& Peoples interests naturally change over time.

But what do you expect from his website? Yes it has a blog, but blogs can be updated every 5 years if the owner wants to. Where are the rules saying there has to be a new article every week or every month or something?

[pyrogen]

Originally Posted by roxyruby

You don't own someone just cause you have donated money to them or bought products from them or read their blog. You don't become their boss because of that. You chose to part with your money in exchange for value. It was a one time thing. It wasn't a life-time thing of "buying" their business and the person for life so that you can guilt trip them into doing what you want because you gave them some money sometime. They already gave you the value in exchange for that money. It's over.

People should do what they are interested in, not what others want them to do.

& Peoples interests naturally change over time.

But what do you expect from his website? Yes it has a blog, but blogs can be updated every 5 years if the owner wants to. Where are the rules saying there has to be a new article every week or every month or something?

Yep. It's like when you buy a magazine every month (for the purposes of this discussion, I won't address subscriptions).

Once you've already paid for and read last month's, you are not entitled to pay for this month's or even read it. Or even LIKE it. The authors can say whatever they want, and if you don't like it, you don't have to buy this month's.

[Mounds]

I agree with escapeplan that this is his business. SP is an entrepreneur and this is how he reaches his customers. His income is a result of people visiting the blog.

[Savage]

One of the reasons I wrote that 2005 "My Favorite Feedback" article was to poke fun at people's sense of entitlement. I can see why it develops, but it's a form of attachment that people would be better off releasing. The critical feedback in this thread is really no different than the feedback I received 5 years ago. It's the same pattern.

As I've been doing from the beginning, I'll write about what inspires me, and I'll write when I'm inspired to do so.

This year I've been very inspired by new things, including CGWs, traveling to different cities, and exploring a deeply fulfilling connection with my g/f. I've also had to adjust to life after marriage. So I'm spending less time blogging, and when I do blog, it's on different topics than what I've already written about in the past. That's intentional. I expected to be doing less blogging this year, so I could focus on other parts of my life.

As for those who want to complain about my choice of topics, how can I be more clear about it than I've already been? If you don't like what I have to share, go elsewhere. I won't be offended should you decide to leave. I have no interest in seeing you stick around out of some misplaced sense of loyalty to the past -- that's just silly.

Publicly complaining about my choices on my own website comes across as incredibly rude. It's like going into someone's house and complaining about the decor -- in front of the person's family and house guests. What kind of reception would you expect if you did that? Of course you'll be promptly shown the door and asked to leave. So I'm showing you the door and asking you to leave. Should that really be such a shock?

And then after treating me with such a lack of respect... to suggest that I should be grateful for your visit and want to do more to serve your needs? Come on... get real. You're more likely to receive a smack upside the head.

[dan1529]

I don't at all understand how anybody can complain about a site that offers literally hundreds of useful articles totally for free.

An intelligent person can quickly review any of the new content posted on this blog using a simple RSS feedreader, and easily ignore any posts that aren't of interest.

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