Blogging is Not a Numbers Game- Or Is It

October 9, 2008 · Comments

numbers Today marks a milestone in my RSS subscribers. I just crossed 10,000 people reading me (or at least getting my feed in their reader) on a given day. I’m flattered and excited at the same time. No matter where you are on your journey with making media, if part of your goal is to reach more people and have more conversations, then you DO watch your numbers. You might not talk about it, but you do. They day TechCrunch crossed 1 million RSS subscribers, a bunch of us knew before Mike Arrington posted about it. We watch those things.

I mentioned crossing into the Technorati Top 100 last week (or the week before; I’m losing track of days). That’s another one of those milestones that I was pleased by, but also mostly silently counting. A year ago, at the first Blog World Expo, I went to the Technorati booth, where they were handing out stickers for your blog rank. I was 3,274. So, it took me a full year of blogging my head off and getting mentions from other bloggers (that’s how Technorati decides rank) to move up.

I’ve been complaining for days that Compete.com hasn’t updated their stats for month-ending September. Of course I watch, and so do lots of people who want to know if their message is gaining wings.

Do the Numbers Matter?

Not in and of themselves, or not directly. I’m not making any more money today then when I had 3,000 readers or was ranked 4,598 in Technorati. Nothing directly changes when the numbers go up.

I guess if I had paid advertising all over my site, it would be good. Lots more impressions or whatever, but that’s not how I chose to roll.

What happens instead is this: I think the numbers are social proof. I think that they act the same way seeing people in a cafe makes you feel that the cafe is a decent place to eat. If no one was in there, no one would “go first” and start it off. I think that by reaching these accomplishments (is that what they are? I’m still not sure how to talk about them), it just means that you’re in good company (you, not me).

But, I’m happy about them. I’m proud. I’m glad that you’re all part of the game. Your comments, contributions, riffs, and expansion on my themes makes it all worth doing.

It STINKS when you don’t get comments or when you feel like you’re putting your heart out there and no one’s really picking it up. If you follow my twitter stream, I love pointing out people doing great work, because I want them to get attention, and I want their amazing ideas to be found, too.

So, in the end, thank you everyone. Thanks for coming here all the time.

Something more useful to you coming up later. I have work to do on the New Marketing Summit, and then I’ll get back to filling your heads.

Last chance to tell me if you want to come. Drop me a line: cbrogan at crosstechmedia dot com.

Photo credit, Robbie1

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  • Hi,

    Your post focus a true social meaning and not social as getting a big number of visitors; of course that getting lots of visitors is also good.
    I guess that blogs may reflect somewhat how people are relating nowadays and lets hope that bloggers may have some power to influence things in this world to make it a better place.

    Take care,

    José
  • Congratz Chris. Keep putting out relevant content. You are a great resource for all of us who participate in this ongoing conversation through social media. Thanks
  • Congrats on your achievements. "Numbers" matter but it is important to keep in context and not focus on them (or lack thereof). They also take time to acquire, so I'm glad you mentioned how long it took you to reach your milestones.

    For example, my newest blog, nickyjameson.com started last month doesn't have many comments yet though vists are climbing - slowly. But i don't expect it to at this point.

    The reason I am not bothered is because I've been here before. It's my second blog so I know what to expect. My first blog, where I blog on a niche area gets approx 11,000 hits/month, gets on average of 24 comments per post and, more importantly has a very strong community that, even though I blog once a week (down from 3 times a week) keeps growing. My biggest concern is that I'm so busy I'm not able to get over to my readers blogs as much and comment more there.

    It's got to a stage where I can't answer every single comment now and yet I keep getting new readers. I have no advertising on, nor do I want it. I don't even have pictures ;)

    Considering I started blogging by accident I am happy with my results. But my point is this... it has taken hours of consistent blogging for over four years to build what I have now on my personal blog. I cared about comments yes.. but I care more about my subject matter and my readers who shared with me. My topic is also rather controversial which doesn't hurt.

    It takes time, it takes great content, patience and persistence, and incoming links from others linking to you. Reciprocity. And it also takes commenting on others blogs.

    I know what it feels like to blog on and get little reaction but I tried to show some comment love on interesting posts on others' blogs, especially if they commented on mine (I'd always follow the link). Again, reciprocity. So, though my comment count may be low, on nickyjameson.com my focus is really on providing stuff that my audience will enjoy reading, but saying what I want to say.
    Hope that's some encouragement to those who'd like more numbers. Don't give up.
  • Great job, I heard you were going to be on Duct Tape Marketing Podcast soon and John had already interviewed you. Did you know about the 100 then?

    I am celebrating on a lesser stage but it is kind of fun keeping score.
  • @Alan - That matters more than I can put into words.

    @jon - you have ways of making me think so much better than I do on my own. A gem.
  • Chris--as important as 10K readers, is *whether* they read or skim..personally I follow a lot of blogs, but usually find myself reading yours. Also, it is one of the few places I've jumped in to comment. Keep it up, you do us all a great service!
    ACEdge
  • jon
    i was skimming the comments and misread milestone as millstone. That's partially true, too.

    10,000 subscribers is as large a pool as many trade magazines have. With 30 posts a month, you are giving away more information with one (mostly) author, than most of those magazines. Many of them end up being free because advertisers cover the cost.

    So you as writer, with us as crowdsource, with you as the underwriter (and the firm of KV&H), are contributing a trade publication worth of thinking.

    That is significant.
  • @Chris "it’s opportunities to get even closer to better situations" a great way to put it. The good news here is that it doesn't take long before you start seeing the seeds of those opportunities. It is not easy though. The key is not to get frustrated by not seeing quick progress on the explicit front. Congratulation!
  • Good job Chris. Score one for the big guy. ;)
  • The numbers themselves may not mean much, but as one who is new to this social media, simply knowing that many people have been impacted by your work does. we have just passed 90 followers on Twitter after just about 6 weeks, and I feel like that is huge. I am a big fan and devotee of you and a handful of others that inspire and inform. Your willingness to share what you know and spotlight others so they can become more well-known is the main reason you are so popular.Congratulations!
  • call it an accomplishment or something else, it's still a milestone, so congratulations. Your blog and otherwise ubiquitous virtual presence are guides to people like me who are starting to find their own way.
  • @Keren- you have, of course, made a vital point. The implicit is the heart and soul of things. It's not cash in pocket: it's opportunities to get even closer to better situations. And then, there's cash over there. : )
  • Let me join the chorus of "congratulations!"
  • Two points:
    Explicit value
    1. I think that advertisers are somehow behind here.
    Can they "see" how successful this blog is? Can they tell how supportive the community around it is?

    Can a "big" sponsor find Chris's blog?

    I'm not sure. I think that advertisers don't have the full picture.
    In my opinion if advertisers sees ChrisBrogan.com blog's success measures they should bid using this stage for their message and pay for it, more than few cents a click.

    Implicit values
    2. Chris, you are having a great stage here reaching a lot of us through your blog. When your book is out there, I'm sure that it will be way easy to hear and find it. I heard and bought Gary Vaynerchuk's book only because of his vast web presence.

    I think that blogging has a lot more implicit values that we don't always see now. The numbers only helps us to track if we are making general progress.
  • It's funny how relative numbers can be; I'm up to averaging about 17 readers per day, but that's up from the zero readers I had for a long time, so I personally consider it a triumph. The cool thing about blogging is the way you can literally create something from nothing. I'm not a professional writer, consultant, marketer, author--yet in the eight months that I've been blogging, I've had comments from David Meerman Scott and Penelope Trunk, and my blog just got selected for inclusion on Alltop’s social media category. Not a bad deal for basically talking to myself about social media.
  • Thanks for the post Chris. Very encouraging. Everytime I get a little discouraged, I read posts like this from the "big guys and gals" and it keeps me going. That and the fact that I LOVE blogging and I don't want to give up! :)
  • I agree with what you said, I think anything worth doing takes time to cultivate it. I compare my blogs and one is apart of a large network so the traffic comes a lot easier where the other one, I have had to build it up. It's nice to know that if you keep plugging away and learning that you can get there! Thanks for the encouragement.
  • Congrats - not only are rising numbers an encouragement that people are appreciating what you do, but some stat tracking is also good to see which articles etc appeal to people, and which ones might not be good enough in quality or appeal.

    And by that, I don't mean you necessarily have to write to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but it can provide a prompt to see if there's a reason people aren't enjoying it or commenting on it - maybe there's not enough quality linking or resources included, or perhaps the end question isn't open enough etc.

    It's easy to get seduced into constantly watching stats, but unless it's just for fun, or for a defined reason, it can be a bit dangerous....particularly when stats like Technorati can vary wildly at times!

    Funnily enough, I've finally started getting a list together on my blog of all the free and paid-for stats and monitoring tools.
  • Chris, I'm glad to be part of the 10k before it reached that number. :)
  • Know what's funny about the empty cafe thing? I'm writing this in an empty cafe. Know why it's empty? Because the new owner is a goof and has NO idea about community.
  • My good lady wife always says "It's not the size but what you do with it" - not quite sure how to take that... ;-) But what I think she means is that while numbers are important, the quality of these numbers are more so.

    In a nutshell, congrats Chris - you have the numbers because you deserve them for all your ongoing sharing with the community. So in that respect they're both important and quality-led. :)
  • Congratulations Chris,

    Numbers matters, but I'm sorry I'm not one of your RSS readers.. lately I decided to read all my post via Twitter (well get notified when a new post came via twitter)...

    So you have to add to your RSS readers the ones that follow you via twitter (like me)

    Side note: When a full Cafe can attract visitors, but you need really good coffee and ambiance to keep them inside!!
  • Chris, congratulations on the numbers. Also, I like your idea of social proof. I've heard a lot of people talking about qualitative and quantitative stats. Interesting discussions. And the other question around that issue is, of course, how do you measure engagement. Your post pushes that discussion forward. Does anyone know of other good posts on these issues?
  • Congrats Chris. I think numbers make us feel good, help with paid advertising for those who pursue it and social proof.

    I wouldn't mind going in the empty cafe, you might get quick service when you're in a hurry. :) But, you never know, at least you'd have a story at the end of it - good, bad or outstanding.

    It's great to see all the content you've created over a long period of time and it's nice to know we have time to shape/grow our endeavors.

    Great stuff. Thanks.
  • Hey Chris, thanks for the honesty on this one...I too, though a newbie find myself checking analytics daily, looking at my feedburner numbers (passed 10 yesterday!). Where I discovered my relationship to the numbers was with twitter grader. Two weeks ago I ranked in 51%. I had counter attack. It wasn't good enough for the effort I was applying. So I studied their formula and realized that they were right, without being further out into the stream and connecting to more people, I didn't deserve a better grade. So now my practice includes inviting and following folks and things have changed dramatically. Last night I passed my goal of cracking their top 1000 and my practice has improved because of it...and visitors to my blog keep growing as well...
  • andrewcareaga
    Congratulations, Chris, on this significant milestone. I'm not so sure numbers matter, but measurement and goal-setting do, and those are both represented by the numbers. So what's the plan from here? Where do you see chrisbrogan.com in a year, how will you get there, and how will you know when you've arrived? These are the questions I ask myself about my social media presence and the social media presence of my employer.
  • Chris, first congrats, its next to impossible to get where you are in the rankings; second, we have been trying to make sense of the numbers for a long time.

    From an marketing perspective, I attribute a great blog with lots of readers to a great billboard with lots of passers by (function, not format). May sound odd, but its hard to measure the effectiveness of either for the Brand in question. The numbers don't necessarily dictate the effectiveness, just that it's a great place to integrate your message because there are lots of people around it who may see it, (not everyone clicks their RSS reader daily).

    It's nice to know we have readers, and its nice to know that they click the ad, but there is more to it than that.

    We are working on an algorithm that ensures our clients know there is value with or without clicks to their sites. Good old PR metrics in an internet world. Combined with web data, they can quite impressive.

    We want them to be good citizens of the web, concerned with conversation and association, not always plugging wares through old style ads.
  • Great work Chris! You are right in saying that the numbers are social proof and they are also a sign of your value in the community.

    You are talking about 10,000 people who has chosen to invite you into their lives & that is, in my opinion, an accomplishment :)
  • Hi Chris,

    Great post as always and personally thanks for your help in these last few hours :)

    I think numbers do matter, but as you state not directly. I think your social proof idea is true...no one wants to eat in the cafe with no one in it.

    In the end, I actually think the real wonder of numbers is in the shared succes "we got x number of views!" with the people close to you, and acts as validation that you talk about good stuff.

    I'll also give www.poprl.com a plug cause I just found it and it's amazingly helpful with tracking the impact your fav tweets/outposts are making.

    Cheers,

    Steve
  • Congrats, Chris. Since I often feel like I am blogging in a vacuum it's encouraging to get your take. I am relatively new to the blogging game (March '08) but I see the value and I am dedicated to making it work. Defining that is the critical component for sure. Based on pure numbers I suck but based on feedback I am on the right track. Numbers may matter some day but right now it's about activity and getting sharper and providing real value for those who choose to read my stuff. Keep up the great work both here and at Dad-o-Matic.
  • Leo
    I saw some of your twitter about how long it has taken you to do this. Congratulations inspiration for us all.
  • Numbers matter in aggregate. They measure trends. Look at 7 and 30 day moving averages and you'll know whether your work is successful or not.
  • Congrats on yet another great milestone.

    For me the numbers mean everything. I've always been a stats man. What I lack is actually using the information I have to help make my audience grow. I need to work on that.
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