Sometimes it’s lonely being a blog…
I’ve been told that with popularity comes polarization ; you get your own set of naysayers and haters. But who would have thought that it would have come so quickly on this website, which gets very little traffic?
I could follow the rules, and ignore them (read rule #4) or I could respond.
To be fair, I understand it. This isn’t my first rodeo. The website before this taught borderline black hat tactics that focused on link building for affiliate sewer sites. So, I can only surmise that the hater isn’t coming from the few readers that read this website but a holdover from a time before when I wasn’t really interested in doing the right things.
Meet “Rick”, my #1 fan. When I first got this comment, I have to admit, I was a little hurt by the sharpness of it. But then I realized a couple things.
Someone was “reading” my stuff (even if it was just him).- He was too much of a coward to even use a real email address. Then again, what would you expect from the internet? Come on, dude, if you are going to be mean, at least commit to it and put a face to the name
The second time Rick appeared was yesterday. This time, what he said kind of pissed me off because he obviously doesn’t know what he is talking about and probably still thinks that people who blog are hanging their hopes on a best seller ebook and adsense earnings….
Now, I’m not sure what his problem is. I figure it must have something to do with his own failures, not mine, since he has taken the time to comment more than once. Perhaps his empire built on cheap links collapsed and now he is looking for a scapegoat? Who knows?
If you really had all the “clients” you say you do….
Rick, believe it or not, I do have the clients I do. It’s called retainers. Much of it is residual income. Here’s how it works- A business contracts out with me and when they need something done, I’m available. I started getting my clients through existing connections in the real world. Yeah. As in, NOT the internet. Go figure that real world networking works, right?
I also specialize. I mostly deal with artists and musicians but do do local businesses as well. And I prefer working with companies that have both an online and offline presence. Which means that I don’t accept work from affiliate based websites…which happens to be 4/5th’s of the internet marketing audience.. So, if my intention was to gather leads from this website, I would be SOL.
…. you wouldn’t have time to write all the posts you do.
Come on, Rick. Do you really think I put a whole day in writing posts for this blog? They are usually done in my off time, at night, when my wife goes to bed. 15-30 minutes max. And, they usually are the result of work that happens during the day.
Personally, I think you are a wannabe fake it till you make it kind of guy..
I don’t really know what that means to be real honest. I’m not some 20 something who is dreaming of yachts and mansions and girls ; I’m a married man who has a wife, a 4 year old and 2 dogs living in a suburb south of Memphis. I have a mortgage, 2 car notes and private school tuition to deal with. Oh, and I cut my own yard.
If that’s “faking it”, man….I really have problems.
And then there’s the issue with making it.
Once again, what does that mean? I gotta be real honest with you, if I was going to try to “make it”, I would probably write a book and start doing seminars. If you want to shill stuff to internet marketers, that’s the better approach. Ask people like Chris Brogan about that (for the record, that’s not a cut…..but it is how he sells books)
Because, regardless of what you think, blogging is not the fast track to success. It never has been.
Your blog gets no traffic and has no traction…you are just talking to yourself.
That’s rich. I guess that means I should fold up and give up.
This is really assuming a lot, Rick. You are assuming I have an agenda that goes beyond venting or recording my thoughts about marketing. You are assuming I am trying to build an empire.
Believe it or not, sometimes a blog is just a blog. If I really was trying to do something with this thing, don’t you think I would put more effort into guest posting, building links, doing on page optimization?
The problem with doing that would be that then that would interfere with my work. This blog is about connecting with people who feel the same as me. And personally, while the majority of people in the internet marketing space are still going to sleep with visions of a quick payday, I am betting that there are a few who think the same ways I do.
And maybe they may find me. And maybe they won’t. But regardless, I’m not going to lose sleep over it.
Now, I know that this may not be read by a ton of people. But, in the very least, I know that there is one person who will read it…..and that’s you.
Image attribution- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomvu/5371659662/
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Twitter: costafong
says:
Well Rick, I do read Leo’s blog. That should account for something..I think.
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Thanks Costa,
This guy apparently has a very limited view into why people blog in the first place. For instance, Mitch Joel from Twisted Image blogs because he wants to improve his writing. I think that it confuses people when there isn’t much of an agenda.
This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t like more readers. Of course, I would. It would be verification that there are others who think like I do.
These kinds of people are usually just projecting negative things about themselves. I love your content… keep it up!
Shaun recently posted..How A “Regular” Person Can Become Financially Prosperous
Twitter: GiseleNMendez
says:
(Sorry to disappoint you, Rick, but I also read Leo’s blog on a regular basis)
Gisele Navarro Mendez recently posted..Why social media is tipped to drive car sales
Reader No. 4 here
Twitter: AnaTrafficCafe
says:
I know for a FACT Ricky got at least one thing wrong: I DO and love to read your blog, Leo.
Ana Hoffman recently posted..What Is SEO? (Laugh. Cry. Rank.)
Guess who else reads it. Me. I agree Leo, some people do have limited understanding of the motivation of others. I believe the term for that may be narrow-minded?
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Hi Leo
I have been reading your new stuff. I enjoyed it less than your old blog. It was not because of the content but the approach. The old blog had more hands on or practical stuff even though they might not be relevant today.
Your new stuff is a lot of broad level advice, which frankly is quite common sensical. One thing interesting is to see if you can apply what you preach to this blog itself.
Show us rather than tell us :p
Aaron recently posted..Blogging my way to early retirement?
Thanks everyone for your support. I surely do appreciate it. I especially appreciate your candor Aaron.
Even though I’m not an active comment poster, I’ve always read your blog and enjoyed (and applied!) most of the tips and insights on the transition from the “passive income” business model illusion to real online business branding.
The lack of comments doesn’t really mean lack of readers or traffic. In the biz/entrepreneurial niche, people value their time and even though it’s all about networking and building relations, sometimes you just don’t have enough time to express your point of view of thank the author. But believe me, the simple fact that you click the link when you receive that email notification of a new article being live, visit his site, read the latest post, etc already means a lot for the website owner.
If you wouldn’t care about something, why not simply unsubscribe?
Leo is definitely someone worth following. The main problem is I believe he was addressing to the ‘make money online’ crowd from the very beginning with the intention to wake up people from the ‘passive income’ dream. That’s his main ‘sin’! lol
Well, what do you expect. When the EGO of your market is too big you can’t produce a lot of change, can you? Even if your intentions are humble and honest.
It’s difficult to tell people that what you’ve been doing for the last several years is partially wrong and you should shift out of your comfort zone, build a real business. Fear makes people stick to their old habits even if those are destructive and don’t produce any change worth talking about.
Some of Leo’s followers find it frustrating. They believe this transition is quite difficult. They still hesitate. That’s probably also reflected in the lack of comments. But it doesn’t mean Leo isn’t helpful with his postings. If he realized he wasn’t, this blog wouldn’t have been existed by now.
But believe me Rick, a lot of people read Leo’s blog. I’m one of them. Never skipped a post.
Thanks for writing this post Leo.
And don’t thank me
Cheers
Rick, Leo has taught a lot of people a lot of very good practices. I am the first to admit that at times I found his repetitiveness concerning certain apsects of this business frustrating.
Until it finally hit me……………….
Man, he is right! And it takes repeating certain things for some people to finally realize what they are being taught.
I guess you didn’t listen.
Times change, people seem to be commenting a lot less on certain blogs than they used to, it doesn’t mean we aren’t still here, supporting Leo in the background. And being grateful for his candor, and his many wake-up calls concerning building real businesses.
The bottom line is that a lot of people have not implemented much of his good advice and have floundered, I am not one of them.
Dave recently posted..Bruno
Afternoon, Leo
It’s all about people, I would rather have 100 people visit my blog in a month than 1,000 people that were not really interested or understood what my content was about. Sure blogs can be a lonely but that’s only when you sit in a room by yourself, if you interact with other bloggers then the room will quickly become a place of great discussions.
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Twitter: kbloemendaal
says:
You know you are doing something right when you start pissing people off, I guess you faked it long enough, now you have officially made it!