Daniel Johnson, Jr.

It was January 2002. I had some down time on a project at work and was given permission to do some outside stuff. So I signed up and started my first blog, entitled Journey Inside My Mind. I later spun that blog off to a few more niche sites; among them were QuotesBlog and Get That Job!

I’ve launched other blogs and have put several up on the shelf over the years. I migrated many of my sites from Blogger’s Blogspot platform to WordPress.

One thing I’ve noticed in myself and others, especially as sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus have become more popular, is that we’re not blogging as much as we might have in earlier times.

I don’t think this is entirely a good thing. No, not at all.

Why aren’t you blogging more?

I cannot speak for you, so I’ll speak for myself.

Feedback-loop-general (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a blogger one thing I’ve always craved is feedback from others. Even when I was podcasting much more frequently some years ago. We always wanted to know that what we created wasn’t sent out into some void that no one paid attention to. Social networking sites provide that feedback, even if it is only a Like, a Reply, a Retweet, a +1 or something else. My circle of connections is defined, and they more readily know when I’ve done something on those platforms. So it’s easy to post there.

But a question like the one posed in this post begs another: why blog at all?

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Have you ever wanted to attend a conference but couldn’t break away from where you are to attend? Last year at this time, I shared the first ever Pixelated Conference That Changed My Life.  This conference let’s you attend from the comfort of your computer whenever you want. The only cost is your time and attention.

In this post I present Pixelated Conference II: Targeting, Positioning, and Brand Strategy. I’ve been teaching a Marketing class at Antonelli College this term, and we’ve been talking about these concepts recently. Grab a pen and paper, and get ready to take some notes. Let’s join the conference, already in progress… (more…)

It is so easy to sit back and consume without giving much back. Turn on the TV, Netflix, Hulu, play a DVD, watch a video, listen to the radio, podcasts, read content like this on the web. It takes a different sort of person to create something instead.

A few years ago I first heard Garr Reynolds quote Guy Kawasaki, who said, “Eat like a bird; poop like an elephant.” Birds consume bits from multiple sources; when elephants do their business, it’s something… big.

I know for me that some of this tendency to overconsume stems from an insecurity I have about whether I know enough to be relevant to my target audience with the expertise I have to offer. I’ve had more than one friend in this space tell me, “You know enough, and you’ll figure out the rest along the way.”

As I read what I’ve written here, I’m reminded that my high school English teacher would not really appreciate the way I write. He’d call much of what I share “diary” versus “journal”. I don’t know if I’ll shake that or not in my personal blogs; part of my voice involves discussing my journey of learning as I go.

I don’t know if what I share here means anything to anyone. If that’s the case, I’m fine with it. Miles Davis said, “An artist’s first responsibility is to himself.”

I’m going to find ways to create more, even if it means opening up the blog page and typing what comes to mind. There may be misspellings or grammatical errors. The formatting may be off.

Image via Wikipedia

And that also means I’m reading less blogs, unsubscribing from more email newsletters, and possibly not reading as many books as I have been.It won’t be perfect. It doesn’t have to be. The main idea is to get it out.

I encourage you to reach out if you find I’m not offering more content. This is also part of my aim to Serve more in 2012.

Let’s get to it!

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Resolutions are not my thing. Since 2010 I’ve used three words to set the tone for my year. That year it was “Be more helpful.” Last year the theme was “Focus, Intention, Deliver.”

This year the words are (more…)

Image via Wikipedia

Welcome to Dump Go Daddy Day.

I’ve moved my domain registrations over to Namecheap. Today only, for every domain transfer, they’re donating $1 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and their fight against SOPA.  If you’re interested in becoming one of their customers, I’d love if you’d use the following affiliate link:

Background

I think it was 2006 when a couple of other podcasters contacted me to say they had bought domain names for me. (more…)