If this sounds familiar, you need Thicksole.

Is it too late to start a new site?

I get this question a lot, and I’ve faced it myself when helping professionals “position” themselves. Should you bother? So, is it too late?

Yes, if:

• you plan on repeating what is already found on established sites.
• a condition of success is 150,000 subscribers by the end of the month.
• the topic is interesting to you on most days.

No, if:

• you’re the best at what you do.
• you’re obsessed with a topic and have a unique voice to put behind it.
• it doesn’t matter if you’re catering to 5 people or 500,000.  Either way you’re going to want to cover your topic.

Walk the Line Between Jerk and Invisible

Seth Godin had a post titled “Fitting in vs Standing Out” and I had a tough time getting it out of my head.  Here’s my take at a visual of the article:

Your Site as a Supplement to Your Book

The traditional time that it takes to publish a book is extraordinary compared to the general news cycle we all live with today.  Plus, your book will probably live on a few years before a new edition is produced.  This makes for a perfect opening for a professional blog/website.

When authors ask me, “what should I blog about,” I just tell them to stick to what they know best, or what they are learning about.  What they’re obsessed with.

A well run site will help:

• Apply the content of your book to today’s headlines
• Share the advice in your print book to challenges in the news.
• Create new, relevant case studies pulled from the leading stories
• Breathe new life into your title and build the relationship with your readers
• Stay current and make your “backlist” title “frontlist” again

General Neglect

Have you ever emailed a writer/blogger to never receive a response?  How about a small business?  A major corporation?  Me too.  Really, nobody expects a response anymore.  It’s a known fact that people are overwhelmed with email.  They’re “swamped”.  They’re “buried”.  They seem to be constantly “digging out”.  There are even consultants to teach you how to “process” your messages.

In reality, these non-responders are mediocre.  Their lack of response is expected. They’re unremarkable.

If someone takes the time to email you, do you respond or do you do what 95% of folks do?

Yesterday I sent Seth Godin (who I never met and he couldn’t pick me out of a lineup) an email  regarding the new iPod Shuffle.  Apple’s product page shows a Shuffle with “Small is the new big” engraved on it.  I shot it off to Seth, and, true to form, he replied.  Two lines and I wasn’t looking for anymore than that.  Actually I was expecting less.

He’s a remarkable guy that writes remarkable books.  Plus he walks the talk.

Do you?

Blogging Lesson from Jimmy Fallon

There was a lot of commotion around Jimmy Fallon’s first late night show.  Who were the guests?  How were his interviewing chops?  Does this show have a chance?

I think that’s how people look at their websites/blogs.  They get so caught up in that “first post” that it never happens.  Jimmy Fallon’s show will succeed or fail not because of his first show or first week, but because of the next 200 or 300 shows in the weeks (years) to come.

Your blog will succeed because you work on it everyday, not because you had a spectacular first post.