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Why I failed at blogging two years ago, and what I’m doing about it now

Tue, 01/31/2012 - 13:33

Why I Stopped Posting

The primary reason I stopped posting on The Strategy Blog two years ago was that the posts that were the most popular were the least fun to write. In all the excitement of launching the Blog in July 2009, I wrote my friend Taylor:

I intend to use the comprehensive financial modeling tutorial as Chris Guillebeau’s idea of “flagship content” and then relate many of the business strategies I discuss back to a module or modification that can be made to the financial model made in the tutorial. For example a discussion of search engine marketing would include a section on how you would create a module for the financial model to model revenue growth if you were only using CPC marketing. My primary goal with TSB in general is to develop a community that will drive name recognition, which may then lead to profitable opportunities.

[. . .]

Considering all of the people searching for financial modeling, I think very few will actually complete a six hour tutorial on completing a linked financial model, those that do probably would not make good customers because they have the patience to look for a free alternative elsewhere or would bargain you to death. Of the majority that skip to the end, I will have several niches (1) those that get it and can make use of it as is, (2) those that need help but are not willing to pay for it, and (3) those that need help and might be willing to pay for it. I think group three is a viable business segment that merits focus.

Given the psychological theory of reciprocity and that they have probably already invested some time in the modeling method I use, they are likely to pay me market value or higher to help me solve their specific problem that they cannot themselves.

I still believe the plan was solid, but I didn’t count on my own wavering interest (well documented Excel posts are time consuming and boring to compose, which leads to a lack of self-motivation), going back to a job in banking (live in Excel all day, why would I voluntarily spend all night too), and the limited overall demand for technical posts (Google Trends). I did attempt non-technical strategy posts, but they were less successful (see 2011 Top Posts as evidence). Regardless, both types of posts led to quite a few interesting public and non-public conversations, however as I was no longer consulting they were of limited benefit. Unintentionally, they also left me feeling embarrassed and demoralized that I hadn’t finished the promised tutorials and lacked the motivation to do so. On a positive note however, I found that while there wasn’t a great quantity of demand for technical financial modeling tutorials, the demand for financial modeling knowledge in developing markets (Southeast Asia and Africa) was acute. [Side note: this only reinforced the strong demand I saw when teaching an M&A course in Malaysia and (unsuccessfully) bidding to teach a credit risk management course in Africa, both prior to the start of this blog.]

What now?

As I’m back to posting, does that mean I have overcome the self-imposed demoralizing embarrassment? I mostly have, but you shouldn’t expect any technical financial modeling posts to appear on The Strategy Blog for the foreseeable future. I’m falling back on content I can reliably and consistently create: a reporting of what I genuinely find interesting in business and strategy. It will be closely related to what you see in my Twitter account. I also anticipate largely adopting the Project Argo blogging format:

At some point during our planning discussions for Argo, our project director Joel Sucherman borrowed the metaphor of the three-legged stool to describe the three elements we felt were essential to each site:

Strong original content. One surefire for a site to become a destination is to consistently provide distinctive, informative, enjoyable stuff. We encouraged the Argo editors to put most of their effort into reporting and writing enterprise posts on their beats. I’ve been particularly vocal about the power of the quest narrative as a wellspring for compelling reporting and storytelling, and about the importance of developing deep understanding of a topic to find the most important stories within it.

Community and conversation. In the age of social media, we all know that conversation is a powerful draw for people. Sparking conversation – being the subject of watercooler chatter – has long been seen as a primary goal of journalism. In developing Argo, however, we stressed the role of community and conversation not just as an outcome of the journalism, but as an aspect of it. We encouraged the bloggers to treat comments as content, to turn their sources into commenters, and to take feedback – both praise and criticism – seriously.

Smart curation and aggregation. As everyone becomes more and more flooded with information, people increasingly look to journalists not just as discoverers of new information, but as filters for all the stuff that’s already out there. Every good journalist is an avid consumer of information on her beat; the best digital journalists are just as ardent about sharing the best of what they find. We stressed the value of informative, well-synthesized aggregation to all the Argo bloggers throughout the project.

Each site placed a different emphasis on these three components, but they were all present.

[Note: fascinating detail on the Argo Project can be found here and here]

While I’m largely reporting or curating what can be found elsewhere (and adding a small amount of unique content), in the larger context I’m seeking to tell a story about the world we live in. I’ve often been told that I have a unique or interesting way of looking at the world, weaving disparate events and ideas into a single narrative, and that is what I want is best served in this blog format. The greatest value I can provide to others through this blog is by analysis and brining disparate ideas together, and see where that takes me. To quote Nieman Lab’s David Skok “The aggregators of today will be the original reporters of tomorrow.”

I can honestly say that I don’t know what direction the blog will take, or if the content of my new posts will be worth reading. But that is my drive – only by taking some personal risk will I continue to grow my own knowledge. Without the potential for personal development, there would be no real motivation for me to blog.

Okay… so what about financial modeling

I know there is an acute need for a clear, concise, straightforward how-to for financial modeling, and I haven’t given up on one day being that resource. However, I don’t think blog posts are the best format for teaching financial modeling. The modeling posts end up being too long, and the series of posts are incoherent. The benefit, however, is immediate feedback via comments.

In order to meet the demand for casual financial modeling, I have begun drafting a book on the topic. It is more detailed than the blog posts, and I hope to eventually have it peer reviewed. Realistically, I don’t know if I will ever complete the book, but it is a solid start. If anything I did not want my inability to opine about financial modeling to stop me from blogging altogether.

Conclusion

To sum up this overly-long, rambling post:

Future posts will be shorter;
Future posts will be more topical, rather than instructional;
Financial modeling will no longer be covered here, but there may one day be a book.

As always, I do appreciate and value those of you that read The Strategy Blog. Don’t ever hesitate to reach out in comments the comments or email me directly.

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