Twenty Years on Typepad Seeking Agency

I'VE BEEN PUBLISHING on Typepad at least once every fortnight since July 2002. I'm motivated by the thought that I'm creating agency in the process.

I'VE BEEN PUBLISHING on Typepad at least once every fortnight since July 2002. I'm motivated by the thought that I'm creating agency in the process.

This has not been an easy row to hoe. Five years after I switched from Movable Type to Typepad, my average daily readership of Inside View fell below 1000 daily visitors. The downslope happened in mid-2007, even before it won "Best Technology Blog" in Ireland. Its peak viewership happened in late 2005, when all my work (i.e., photos and audio) emanated from my Typepad hub. Twenty year later, I still attract more than 1000 daily instances in aggregate but you have to count Flickr photostreams (around 400 a day), my YouTube channel (100 a day) and my podcasts (150 a day). Add 550 different people viewing my tweets and Instagram content and I'm back to 1000 daily impressions.

But I know my voice has faded in the mix.

The Grit of Blogging

Keeping my personal blog ticking over is a challenge but when I update it on a daily basis, my voice is heard. When people hear that you say or what you write, you create agency. Personal blogging generates agency. Being consistent as a content producer increases your online social area. When I blogged more than once a day, I made an impact. But blogging more than twice a day takes grit.

Blogging That Pays Off

I remember going to Reboot in Copenhagen and meeting Web 2.0 bloggers, some who were cashing in with their new books and others who found financing for social networking initiatives. All of the men and women I meet under the smoke stack of Reboot were articulate writers and they were open minded thinkers.

A decade later, most of this eclectic core of bloggers has moved up in the world. Some cashed out with their technology, banking millions of dollars. Others continue sharing items through freely available subscription services (no apps required).

I know that had I stayed on the blogging bandwagon by sharing ideas twice a day, I would have been able to (1) publish my first book, (2) create my first oversubscribed online training course, and (3) developed more than one Irish company.

It's not too late for a minor course correction. In fact, with a threatening recession bearing down on Europe for the rest of 2022, it's appropriate for me to change gears, blog more frequently and become more visible in the networked economy has real value.

Talking to the Tribe

Based on Statcounter's count of "returning visitors" to my blog, I know there are no more than 12 regular readers. Another dozen probably get my musings by RSS feed. A handful will drop into my blog when I offer a link on an Instagram story.

That means I've a small tribe that would fit into a minibus in Ireland. That small and cozy number makes personal blogging seem wholesome and generative. It's like being on an executive coach headed on a pub crawl. And knowing that everyone in the minibus is good for their shout around the bar counter.

What's NextI'm setting a Note to Self that reminds me to figure out a way to embed content from my Topgold Microblog into this blog post and to finally kick off my Substack. If you want details about these two major initiatives, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter. You'll get text and photo snippets once a day that way. Or just keep listening to Topgold Audio Clips where I talk about getting this important iteration on track.
Resources

Angela Duckworth -- Grit

In this must-read for anyone seeking to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth takes us on an eye-opening journey to discover the true qualities that lead to outstanding achievement. Winningly personal, insightful and powerful, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that - not talent or luck - makes all the difference.