REMEMBER, NO ONE READS BLOGS IN 2024

If blogs are dead, explain this. I mean, someone is reading it, right? This isn’t some lead magnet, and I’m certainly not getting brand deals from it, but this is pretty cool.

Like, legit – I get maybe a few emails per year about anything I write. Nothing is moving any needle here, but… it is so delightful to be able to click back through 2020, during the pandemic, and see where the heck my head was at. And it’s been fun to mine some old photos from Flickr and put them on here, or unearth old text files I have on external harddrives and republish them here.

But remember, no one reads blogs anymore.

Have you seen what John Gruber is charging for ads on his blog?

My response to anyone who says “no one visits websites anymore,” is always “well, no one visits your website!”

BENCH GOES DARK

I used Bench to manage my books and take care of my taxes the last few years. They charged about $430/mo, too. Not cheap. And then I see they charged me $528 on December 24th, and today, three days later, they completely shut down.

Apparently I can download my data on Monday. Gee, thanks.

I swear, these online platforms are poison. Today I clicked around and talked to some people, and signed up for Wave. We’ll see how that goes.

Around the web:
Vancouver fintech company Bench Accounting announces sudden shutdown

“They still haven’t finished my books for the year. And I paid in advance.”

Long-time local tech startup, Bench, shuts down and lays off all its employees.

TALKING ABOUT THE WORK

Talking about the work is just as important as making it

Lots of truth in this statement, not just in a big “PR SALES!” sense, but even in how we talk about what we do with friends, and other people in our creative orbit.

Many artists would love for the “art to speak for itself,” but that’s not the world we live in anymore. There is simply too much art, music, news, drama – EVERYTHING – for things to speak for themselves.

Everything has its volume cranked to 11, and it never ends, and there’s more being added every minute, every hour, every day.

We get better at talking about the work by talking about it, not by trying to scream just as loud as everyone else.

Posting on social media can be like screaming, since we all have to scream to get attention on those platforms. We have to dance, or use the right trending audio, or hashtags.

Talking, though, is a lost art. How many people do you know that don’t even like talking on the phone with friends? Let alone creative directors, or booking people, or potential clients?

Talking is a lost fucking art, but it’s exactly what we need to get back to.

AVOID THE ALGORITHIMS

Instead of posting something on social media tonight, email an old acquaintance. Text someone a photo or link. Tell them about a book you’re reading. Send an email to someone you admire. Ask someone how they’re doing. Write a letter. Call your bestie.

In getting away from the algorithms and the walled garden of social media DMs, we return to a wide open world of possibilities.

THE RIGHT PEOPLE

A client who has worked with some big names wanted to build their email list, and I gave them this idea:

Think of the amazing people you worked with throughout the years, and think of all those stories you shared, and the memories you’ve made. They’ve got to have dozens of those stories to write, right?

So write that post, with that one person in mind. Then email that person a link to the piece.

This gets you around sending a boring email to “all your contacts” saying, “hey, I have a newsletter now, you should subscribe.”

Write a post that will resonate with the person you’re emailing. Yes, even if it’s just that one person. Email the person the link. Maybe they subscribe, or at least reply and you two catch up, and who knows where that leads?

It’s not always about striking it rich and getting 100 new sign ups. Sometimes the right message to the right person at the right time is all you need.

GOOD LUCK

“More music is being released today (in a single day) than was released in the calendar year of 1989.”

Lowering the bar to entry into the music world has been a wonderful thing. Along with the internet, it’s made it possible for anyone in the world to hear your music.

The problem is that every musician is doing the same thing. Everyone competing for the same listens and streams and downloads.

(source)

RETURN TO THE BLOGS

The only people who said blogs were dead were the corporate overlords who bought them all up, tried to lower costs by cutting staff, and realized 18 ads on every page turned readers away.

Trust me, I know. I worked at AOL from 2006-2011 or so. I was around the whole “let’s just make a bunch of sites, throw ads on them, and link to them from the AOL homepage” and holy shit, it worked until it didn’t, I guess.

RE-SHARE YOUR OLD STUFF

Bands have been re-releasing albums for decades.

So yes, you should re-share that post you wrote 8 months ago.

Talk about your first show 20 years ago, the award you won 10 years ago, that feature you had 5 years ago.

Celebrate your year old music video with a quick interview with the director.

Celebrate the five year anniversary of your favorite song. Favorite gallery. Favorite photo.

Everything doesn’t need to be new new new. Most everyone has never seen any of your work.

Show it to them.

BILLBOARDS ARE BORING AND SO IS YOUR WEBSITE

If your website is just a billboard, remember that no one gets on the highways to look at billboards.

If your website’s contents are just embedded content from other platforms and links to social media, it is a billboard.

I come to your website, and the only option is to… leave your website.

Imagine if I drove to your restaurant and it was just a billboard, with links to Google Maps, DoorDash, and your Instagram account.

It’s not just about the food when I go to a restaurant. Sometimes you strike up a rapport with the wait staff. You find something on the menu that becomes your favorite. Maybe the seating is extra nice, or the crowd on a Tuesday night is your vibe.

You don’t get any of that from a billboard. A billboard is for shouting HEY HEY HEY. DETAILS! WEBSITE ADDRESS!

Stop putting up billboards and expecting people to get excited.