Steve's 2008 Attitude vs 2010 Attitude

[Andreas]

Hi Steve!

Today I stumbled across an article you wrote a few years ago called "Blogging For Money", and I realized that your attitudes on how to best spend your time growing your business has shifted dramatically since then. This in itself isn't shocking since businesses go through stages. But I'm really curious about how your attitudes toward entrepreneurship and blogging have changed considerably since that article was written in 2008.

I'm curious which attitude you'd recommend in building my own site's traffic. I realize the entrepreneurial subroutine in your brain's "software hasn't entirely changed since 2008, but I'm curious about the parts that have.

For instance, in the 2008 article, you stress how important it is to stay up on feedback and making careful decisions regarding figuring out what articles to write next (including writing articles that rank well in search engines.)


Yet in 2010 you killed your feedback form, so clearly your values on this have shifted.

Also, in one of your 2010 articles, you mentioned how you don't plan articles in advance anymore, how you dumped all of your pending article ideas. Now you simply write when you're inspired.



My question is: Which attitude is more optimal for growing a younger site? The attitude of Steve O.S. 2008, or Steve O.S. 2010?

Or is it that, early in the game, the rules are just a bit different, and paying attention to feedback is more important. But what about writing spontaneity vs planning upcoming articles?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this, Steve.

Thanks

[Andrew Gubb]

I don't think his values have shifted. I think he gets feedback from his forum, and also from the survey which he just made on his blog, for instance. He just found the volume of email overwhelming and, he said, repetitive. Maybe it's best for him to get feedback on articles from few sources than from thousands.

[Fred Tracy]

I think a mixture of both mindsets is needed, but I'm curious to see what Steve has to say about this.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Andreas

My question is: Which attitude is more optimal for growing a younger site? The attitude of Steve O.S. 2008, or Steve O.S. 2010?

Best to ask Steve 2004 about that.

He'd probably say it's easier to grow a site if you make it your full-time occupation, don't have a job to distract you, and need to make the site successful in the long run if you want to keep eating.

Steve 2011 is learning to simplify. Steve 2008's approach was effective but too complicated. With that approach it was easy to maintain a certain level of results, but difficult to progress very far beyond it.

Steve 2011 has no Facebook page and no online contact form. He prefers less frequent communication and with fewer people, but at a deeper level of engagement. Less volume, more substance.

Steve 2011 is shunning new JV deals and speaking engagements and even new workshops. He intends to blog less this year as well. His main work focus for 2011 is to design, develop, and release some kick-ass products, starting with the topics that show the highest level of interest. Doing the survey was one step in that direction. The first 2011 product is already in development and will likely be released in the Spring.

Between product releases he intends to travel. So his intended rhythm for the year is: make and release a product, travel, repeat. That's an oversimplification, but it's the basic plan.

The reason for making products is to go much deeper into certain topics than can be done through the medium of blogging, as well as to branch out into different media, especially audio, which is much more expressive than text.

Content-wise a "product" will be roughly the length and depth of a book.

[Andreas]

Your points are well-taken, Steve. Thank you very much for answering some of my questions. Your advice was and is much appreciated.

I certainly need to make the site successful if I want to keep eating, and that form of "encouragement" certainly helps.

I had noticed that you were systematically simplifying your life, and I'm very excited to see how this shapes your contribution going forward. I think we've already seen a taste of this in the clarity that came across in your latest article.

The thing is, I have that desire to keep a lot of simplicity now, relatively early in the game. I don't have any plans to maintain a Facebook presence, for instance. So I'm curious...


Do you think your site would have grown as fast if you adopted this simplicity mindset sooner? Or would it have perhaps grown faster?

Or could the simplicity mindset be something a writer should indulge in once they reach a certain level of reach and traffic? (deciding to forego facebook, for instance)



I also want to say that I'm really looking forward to your first product. Still crossing my fingers for video ; but if it's only audio, I'm sure it'll still be impactful.

[Brutha]

Worry about increasing the value that your articles provide instead of worrying about whether or not to have a facebook page.

Don't focus on growing your traffic but focus on growing the value of your articles.

[Andreas]

That's an excellent point, Brutha; but that's not what I'm curious about. Facebook is just an example. I'm far more curious and interested about how different attitudes and modes are more effective during different stages of a site's development.

The Simplicity question, especially.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by Savage

The reason for making products is to go much deeper into certain topics than can be done through the medium of blogging, as well as to branch out into different media, especially audio, which is much more expressive than text.

I'm glad to hear this. I enjoy hearing your audio.