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STOP! I’ve had enough!

May 27
Posted by DaveOlson in Business
I’ve had enough already.

I am fed up with page rank, technorati, google search, subscription count, and unique visitors. I’m okay with trying to figure out if I’m successful, but I don’t think it’s as important as some people do. And I am definitely sure that someone is going way too far in trying to make money on their blogs. Dawud nailed the issue pretty good with his no-follow post.

Most blogs that I read talk about blogging… a lot. But that’s not why I read them.

I hate marketing myself. Can’t it be more simple than that?

“If you knew me, you would love me”

Simple.

I don’t get my value in page rank or technorati authority. That’s not what this blog is about.

It’s about people. People like Vivienne and Jonathan who join in on most conversations. Rory who has been my fellow traveller on the blogging journey and let me in on some of the inside workings of the blogiverse. The enigmatic Liz who always introduces me to someone new. I think her greatest gift might be connecting.

I benefit from the developing relationships with Dawud, Aaron, Adam, Wendy, Alex, Ben, Phil and others who have added great value to my life. Tammy, Robyn, Greg, LaurenMarie, Jeff, Rob, and so many more who have contributed to the conversation here.

In fact now that I think about it. I’ve got more friends than technorati authority and more places to call home than my subscription count.

Oh yeah… in case I’m not clear. This blog is about people… people… people!

If you’ve stopped by today, I’d love to meet you. Take a moment to say hi and introduce yourself.

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  • http://smartwealthyrich.com/ Jonathan-C. Phillips

    Hi Dave, my name’s Jonathan and i read your blog! :)

  • http://lenski.com Tammy

    Well said, Dave, and hurrah for saying it. Site optimization is useful, but there comes a point all that stuff begins to get in the way of what we’re really here to do.

  • http://hamelife.com Rory

    A rallying cry, Dave! SHOUT it from the rooftops! This kind of thing can’t be said often enough.

    Some excellent call-outs, here, too – some I’ve heard of and read, some I haven’t – and I’ll sure check them out.

    And some lovely words, most heartening.

  • DaveOlson

    Hey Jonathan… you’re no stranger here. :lol:

    Tammy… always glad to have you join in. I know you don’t write for Google either. :smile:

    Rory…. my friend, my friend! I can always count on you to read the whole thing. :grin:

  • http://makeitgreat.typepad.com Phil Gerbyshak

    Dave – you’re plenty successful if you ask me. Don’t get me wrong, page rank is nice, and so are the other things you mentioned. But if you’re writing just to make money, then you are missing the boat.

    Zig Ziglar said it best: If you help enough people get what they want, eventually you’ll get what you want.

    If success is what you are after Dave, you have achieved it my friend, because your posts give me what I want: inspiration, humor, and insights I can’t find anywhere else.

    And all in an authentic, non-commercial way. Well done.

    Don’t stop being you!

  • DaveOlson

    Phil… awe… geee… thanks! :oops:

    I guess I’m stuck just being me. I haven’t figured out how to be anyone else. Now if I was someone else…. who would I be… hmmm. I may have to think about that! :grin:

  • http://monkatwork.com Adam Kayce : Monk At Work

    Hi Dave (and everyone else) — I agree; it’s fun to see my Alexa rank grow, and sure, there are tangible things that these page ranks mean… but like you said, it’s about the people and the relationships, and our businesses (for those who are business bloggers).

    I’d much rather have a great connection with one person online than see my technorati scores go up because of some arbitrary keyword efficiency (or whatever does the trick) and not have had the chance to serve.

  • DaveOlson

    Adam.. you got it! CONNECTION! Now that I’ve been blogging a few months that’s my goal. Say it together now to the tune of “kumbayah” — we love people. :lol:

  • http://www.versacreations.net Vivienne Quek

    There’s a few things I got out of the Technorati Exchange that’s priceless. First, is to know people like you. Second, is to have fellow bloggers and total strangers telling me that my blog tells them a thing or two about marketing and advertising. Third, I have more confidence in writing. Allow me to elaborate …

    Dave, you don’t visit my blog often. That doesn’t stop me from knocking on your door everyday. Your wisdom is my daily diet to my mental and emotional self. I have no intention to starve. By the way, I saw at least 2 visitors from your community visiting my Feed The Children post. Enlarging a social network allows me to contribute further to a greater cause.

    By sharing my marketing & advertising knowledge, I learnt a great deal in return,. This exchange enriched me wonderfully.

    Coupled with the new found confidence in writing, I might just be able to put together a book, workshop or seminar in the future.

    Without blogging, I would not discover all these in a short 3 months.

    Keep up this marvellous blog.

  • DaveOlson

    Vivienne… I had forgotten that we met through the technorati exchange. Okay Dawud there is one positive thing that came out of that.

    Note to self: visit Vivienne more often… :smile: I love what you bring to the conversation here.

  • http://monkatwork.com Adam Kayce : Monk At Work

    Yep — connection the rallying cry of the relationship-focused blogger conversation architect.

    And if that’s the goal, then the strategy becomes less of a focus. So, ‘technorati-memes/ranks’ need not be shunned, just de-emphasized (at least on the basis of this idea of moving more towards connection).

    :smile:

  • DaveOlson

    Adam… you had to go and bring up SOBCon again so that I would feel jealous one more time. :mrgreen:

    I agree with de-emphasizing those things. If it fits into the rallying cry of your blog — then go for it. Oh… and by the way… I tag you for the face behind the blog project.

    Show your face! :grin:

  • http://monkatwork.com Adam Kayce : Monk At Work

    I’m working on it, I’m working on it… :razz:

  • http://www.JibberJobber.com/blog Jason Alba

    I agree with you, even though you put a link to my post right after “I hate…” :shock:

    It is ALL about the relationships – I used to check my metrics multiple times a day but now I might hit them once a week. Some things just don’t matter – content and quality do, though :)

    Jason Alba
    CEO – JibberJobber.com

  • DaveOlson

    Jason… thanks for coming over to my place. Sorry about how the link got placed. I didn’t mean any connection between hating and you. :eek:

    The wonderful thing about blogging is it really is “ALL” about the relationships. I’m happy to meet you and really glad you stopped in.

  • http://www.sbishere.com/ Greg Balanko-Dickson

    Hi Dave,

    When I started writing online in 1998 I spent a lot of time and money trying to get SEO traffic. Fed up, I decided to forget about it and just started writing to record what I was learning. Then in 2001 I started to show up on the first page of Google. Then I became enamored with SEO again and finally I decided I needed to get back to writing for the sake of writing.

    My message is, if you write meaningful articles and posts they will come. It just takes tremendous patience, your PR will come somewhere between 6-9 months depending when Google decides to release a database update.

    Keep doing what you are doing and thinsg will work out just fine.

    Thanks for the kind words.

    Live Large! Because the best reason to believe in yourself is that you will discover what you are truly capable of achieving.

  • http://www.versacreations.net Vivienne Quek

    Greg is right. Write with integrity, sincerity and passion, and the result will come. I don’t deny that I write sponsored posts from time to time. However, whatever sponsored post I wrote must have at least, at least one marketing and advertising angle so that I stay true to my blog’s theme. I will lose my readers if my posts lose values. I spent lots of time, effort and resources reading, researching and thinking to make my posts informative and fun, I’m not prepared to surrender integrity for small money and I certainly don’t want to lose readers that I built up from scratch.

  • http://www.JibberJobber.com/blog Jason Alba

    This is a great thread – I should mention that one of the best things that happened to my blog was when google kicked me out of their $ program for click-fraud. I wasn’t responsible for it but they didn’t care. It did, however, make me focus more on the quality of the blog rather than the placement of ads.

    Jason Alba
    CEO – JibberJobber.com

  • DaveOlson

    Jason… did you get reinstated with Google? I hear the process can be quite difficult. It’s a good thing that you saw the positive side of it though. If it improved the quality of the content then maybe Google should kick a few more. :evil:

  • http://www.thefreestyleentrepreneur.com Jeff Hunsaker

    Hey Dave, thanks for the shout out! Over at TFE, we’re trying to help folks out with their small business/entrepreneur endeavors and make a little money doing it but mostly, it’s about making a connection with others–such as yourself.

    I absolutely love reading and contributing/commenting on blogs. Wish I could find a full-time gig doing that! Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy making friends online and continuing to improve/enjoy the journey.

  • DaveOlson

    Jeff… isn’t it fun to get connected with people all around the world. I absolutely love the globality of the internet. Making friends is THE deal!

    BTW… I wish your picture was on the front page of TFE too!

  • http://dmiracle.com/blog-marketing/should-i-begin-billing-you-for-nofollow-links/ Dawud Miracle

    I’m with you, exactly Dave (of course, how could it be any other way when you’ve linked to my post as an example).

    For me, blogging is about conversation and relationship. And as a business owner, I know that relationships lead to business. That’s how I’ve built three of them.

    Of course, I’m not monetizing my blog to make a living from it. But even then I wouldn’t use such tactics. It would still be about the conversation for me. So how I monetize my blog would fit in with conversation and relationship.

    Thanks for carrying this on. I’m enjoy this conversation because it gets, at least for me, to the root of why I’m blogging. And anytime I can talk about that it’s a good thing.

  • DaveOlson

    Dawud… well linking to the post could have come right after “hate” like with Jason. :grin:

    Would you say that your blog is your business or is more like the front desk of your business? I’m certainly not against monetizing… I guess I’m just glad that at this point it’s not part of my plan.

  • http://www.JibberJobber.com/blog Jason Alba

    @DaveOlsen – I did not get reinstated. Google did evil, and I’m not sure if I’ll go back. Other fish to fry, and focusing on core and quality are more impt than making a few bucks a day.

  • http://dmiracle.com/better-your-site/the-face-behind-my-blog/ Dawud Miracle

    Sorry for the delay in getting back here. I’ve been digging out of huge work hole. I’ve almost replaced all the dirt now.

    I’m not against monetizing either. Though I want my blog to first be about content, conversation and relationships. I’m guessing I’ll monetize more in the future – though not at the expense of content or conversation.

    For me, blogging is about growing my service-based business. I see a natural progression from conversation to relationship to client or referrer. Not manipulation, just a natural progression. My entire business has been built on giving first. That’s where I see the blog…give first and the return will happen.