The gray lady herself comments today on the stress of blogging: intense competition to be the first to break a story, the seemingly relentless need to be on top of all the news.
There is a cost to this:
Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.
The article admits, of course, that “the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic.”
My thoughts? There’s more than enough stress in my life already, thank you very much, so I try to make sure blogging doesn’t add to this. I’ve gone several weeks without posting when things just get too busy. I find blogging in modest doses — say, 30 minutes per day — to be therapeutic. I like writing, I like reading, I like the camaraderies and interaction.
So here then is my modest blogger manifesto, part serious, part humorous. Tell me what you think! Any more we should add to the list?
- From Saturday at 6pm until Monday morning, no blogging. [Present post excluded.] There’s really nothing so important that it can’t wait till then. [Again, excepting this article.]
- No vendor pre-briefs less than 48 hours before the news embargo lifts. I need time to digest the information and come up with a cogent response.
- Once a month, I will prune my feed reader. If I haven’t read a blog in a month, off it goes.
- Many of us in real estate tend to be perfectionists, and our motto traditionally is, “Only perfect is good enough.” Let’s turn that on its head and say: “Good enough is perfect.”
- If it’s starting to be a drag, then it’s time for a break. A one week moratorium.
- I will not take it personally when somebody in real estate says they’ve never read my blog, or they don’t know what a blog is.
- I will not nickname any of my kids “Zillow” or “Trulia” or “Redfin.”
- I will not obsessively update Wordpress to the latest platform. Two upgrades per year are enough.
- I will not tatoo my subscriber stats on my forehead.
- Above all, I promise not to take myself, my blogging, or my blog more seriously that I need to.
Add your suggestions below…
Tags: Blogging, Industry
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8 responses so far ↓
1 matt // Apr 6, 2008 at 1:42 pm
actually “redfin” is a pretty cool nickname. Little geeky and a little gangster, perfect for just the right amount of street cred.
2 Kevin Boer, Broker Owner, 3 Oceans Real Estate, Inc. () // Apr 6, 2008 at 3:35 pm
The LAST thing I want is to have a kid who’s a “little geeky and a little gangster.”
Glenn Kelman — if you read this, would you name your kid “Redfin” ?
3 Flat Fee Realty Louisville // Apr 6, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Wow, I didn’t know that Om had a heart attack. I guess it’s been a while since I read his blog though.
4 Kris Berg // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:11 pm
#2 - Amen! I consistently get the briefs at 8:00 pm on the evening of the embargo lift. No can do, and thus no Zillow Mortgage blog from me this past week.
#7 - Another hearty “Go Kev!” My husband, a backpacker, used to threaten to name our children after favorite haunts. I initially envisioned little Whitneys and Sierras, but I woke up in a cold sweat one night realizing that my next offspring could very well be going by the name Half Dome if I didn’t put the kabosh to his obsession. A little Half Dome (or Redfin) is just begging for someone to steal his lunch money.
Nicely done, Mr. Boer.
5 landflip // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Kevin,
You have really set some high standards for yourself. Are you sure you are not going to be tempted to blog on the weekends…just a little.
I do agree that sometimes you need time to just digest the information before you respond. I think that is the problem with some blogs. Also, it’s important to get the facts right not first.
6 theFrontSteps // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:26 am
Nice post! As a result of the very stress of blogging, I just announced last week that the sfnewsletter as a paid service for Realtors will be terminated indefinitely. Time to regroup, rethink, and relax!
Of course that is not the only reason, but one of them. Great post!
7 Dave Blockhus // Apr 10, 2008 at 7:59 am
Kevin,
I opted to have my heart attack immediately before I started blogging. That way I got it out of the way and could focus on writing. I have to say, blogging has actually been somewhat therapeutic. It has helped in my recovery when I couldn’t get out and do regular real estate stuff.
8 Athol Kay // Apr 10, 2008 at 3:06 pm
All my comments are shorter.
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