Comments on: 100 Blog Posts On, My Number One Lesson

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:26:50 +0000

Trey – in 4 weeks, you'll be here again!

By: treypennington

treypennington — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:50:11 +0000

Golden photo. What the photo represents, or embodies, illustrates your point beautifully.

The eight month lead up to that photo had it's genesis in one tweet between two people who were looking for gold (both discovering and developing gold). That tweet was followed by a determination to get together face-to-face and involved some risk—both willing to risk some time and money. It's obvious the initiative, time, risk, money and effort were all more than worth it.

It's interesting to note: the value is obvious…in hindsight. There was faith in value in the beginning, but no way to anticipate or measure the value in the beginning. The value came in the doing.

PS. 100 posts. Congrats.

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:09:02 +0000

Hey Ed

As we discussed a while ago, the future of publishing seems to be in personalised news streams – high connection – higher value, less volume.

I think the reality is that when your aim is gold – and not greatness – then forging connections will always be second place to you. Even companies that are wealthy by providing value strive for greatness first – they love their work – think fashion houses, Apple, etc. When you read the biographies of their top guys, they are all striving for greatness.

Turn to many companies, and there isn't this striving for greatness. And without it, I just don't think connections and value will matter to them more than the short term hits of volume.

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:06:21 +0000

Hey Robin.

Totally - volume is a chasing game. Value lasts through fads and fashions. I agree.

So - gold or greatness? In order to deliver on greatness, the next thing we need is a project to work on.

S

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:04:28 +0000

Hey Alan,

Go for it! Let me know when you start it and where it is so I can read!

By: Ed Oldfield

Ed Oldfield — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:18:22 +0000

Hi Scott, great post, right to the central issue of online relationships.
I'm interested in how your thoughts apply to media brands. We need the volume connections to compete in a highly competitive market, particuarly to achieve decent search engine rankings. We need the audience to make the ads pay.
But I absolutely agree that creating deeper connections will add extra value to the relationship. And it may also offer an opportunity to pull in more revenue. The more you know about your audience, the better you can target niches. I'm talking about with consent, not just pushing ads at people.
After all, without revenue, news from trusted reliable sources – i.e. created by paid journalists – is unlikely to propser.

By: Robin Dickinson

Robin Dickinson — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:26:36 +0000

Excellent, Scott. Man, we've talked our way around this topic.

I'm with you on 'value' before 'volume'. Give me a lean, tight group of cooperative team-players who understand each other's needs and help them get it, and I start to get very excited. This is a group who can have a major impact.

The trouble with volume is that it comes and goes, ever chasing the headline-hugging fads, fashions and trends.

A volume-strategy is two miles wide and two inches deep. Think pizza.

A value-strategy is two inches wide and two miles deep. Think gold-mine.

The key is to choose. Make a decision as to what strategy you are going to focus on and stick to it. Avoid mixture at all costs.

And congratulations on the 'tightening' of your post layouts. Top shelf.

Best, Robin

By: witneyaccountants

witneyaccountants — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:15:20 +0000

Thanks Scott – you have inspired me to start writing my blog – it will follow soon. My wife has also ready David Allen's book – getting things done – I now am more organised!