I had dinner with a couple of friends on Saturday night. While we were sitting outside on a warm Seattle evening, we spent some time talking about this writing project.
One of the things we discussed was how every day I write about my own stories, but I know very little about most of the people who read them. It’s all a little awkward, and I’m dying to know…
What questions do you have so far? What can I do better?
Here is my attempt to write to you, dear Firefox user or RSS reader over there on the other side of the screen. Are you ready? Here we go…
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A short letter to all of you nice readers out there:
Dear Silent Majority,
First, thank you for coming to my site and reading my articles. Wow! There are so many of you after just a couple of months of writing. I am amazed.
Some of you have sent nice emails, telling me how something here has helped you think or do something differently. That feedback is truly great to hear.
A few of you have disagreed with something I’ve said, and that’s cool too. I won’t moderate out any critical comments as long as you have something of value to bring to the discussion.
But most of you have said nothing at all, and that’s kind of sad.
You don’t call, you don’t write…
OK, you don’t need to call me, even though I do have my real phone number on the site.
But here is the thing… since we got picked up by the New York Times and a few nice bloggers who have been linking this way, a lot more people have been reading.
According to my traffic logs, at least 3,000 of you have been hanging out every day this month, which is pretty good for a new, non-commercial site. Some of the visitors are just passing through or checking it out, and that’s fine. The good thing about this style of writing is that I can post something up and you can read it whenever you want—immediately, the next day, the next month, or whenever.
I also know all about the 80/20 rule, which implies that the vast majority of readers will remain in the silent majority without taking part in the discussion. When it comes to blogging, it’s more like the 99/1 rule, and that’s OK with me too.
But so few of you participate that it all causes me to wonder: are we a good fit?
I know that my writing is not a good match for everyone… and the last thing in the world that I want is to write something that is so watered-down that it becomes relevant to everyone. Without a doubt, that would be a giant leap towards mediocrity.
So if we’re not a good fit, no hard feelings. Check out the LifeRemix network for other great reading. LifeRemix is kind of like the Match.com of personal development writers, so if you get tired of my style, you can probably find something better over there. Hopefully one day they will ask me to join forces with them.
But wait! If you DO like what you read, I need your help to make it better
My goal is to write for a group of passionate change agents who are committed to changing the world in a way that only they can.
I’ll tell you more about that with next month’s manifesto on World Domination, but before that comes out, it will be important to strengthen our community by building up the user base. I don’t want traffic for the sake of traffic—I want more of the passionate world changers, and I’m wondering if you are one of them.
So here’s the thing. I would really love to hear from you through the comments section for each post.
Sorry if I’ve given the wrong impression before, because…
I Do Not Have all the Answers about Anything…
If that is not clear from some of the mistakes I’ve written about so far, it will not be difficult to tell you about more of them. Trust me. There’s actually no shortage of mistakes, so I won’t be experiencing writer’s block on that subject for a while.
I have learned about life, work, and travel through sheer persistence. If I have done anything right, it’s because I have continually questioned the expectations that other people have had for me, and then I kept going even after making a lot of mistakes. That’s it. The rest is trial and error.
…So Here’s How You Can Help
- Read anything you like on this site. It’s for you.
- Click the little comment link at the top of any article, or just scroll to the bottom where it says “Leave a Reply.”
- Tell me what you think about the post, provide your own perspective, or ask any questions you have
- Write your name and email address (the email isn’t published, and you can just use your first name if you want).
- Include a link to your own blog if you have one, because lots of other people will visit it
Questions and Answers
To kick off this new celebration of participation, I’ve decided to open up a freestyle Question and Answer section.
You ask the Q, and I’ll provide the A—with the same disclaimer as above, that I don’t pretend to know it all.
You can ask anything you’d like in the comments section for this post, and I will answer as many questions as possible in a follow-up to everyone next week. Don’t be shy.
Alright, that’s all. Sorry for writing so much. It’s just that we haven’t talked in such a long time!
Please post your questions below.
Thanks, take care, all the best,
Chris
P.S. Oh, one more thing… You can also get these updates through your RSS feed (410 of you did that yesterday, thanks), or sign up for reminders when new posts come out.
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