My Blog Is on the Verge of a Major Breakthrough

Blogging, humor, lessons learned, writing 1 Minute

Well, at least according to Seth Godin.

Here was one of Seth’s posts this week:

“Well, that’s a dumb idea”

As dumb as selling shoes, an item that comes in 100s of sizes, over the internet.

As dumb as expecting people to find a date or a spouse online.

As dumb as building an encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

You get the idea. Electric cars with 100-mile range, vegan hamburgers, milk made from oats, free college courses…

The next breakthrough is almost certainly going to be something really dumb. Or perhaps merely obvious and unoriginal.

And as I read that last line, a smile came to my face. There it was, confirmation at last.

I’ve been blogging about nothing for over 2,100 straight days. For probably at least 1,500 of those posts, there were 0 likes and 0 comments.

I think such pathetic numbers point to one thing – my blog is really dumb.

Which, if Seth is right, means it’s ready for its breakthrough.

I may even start to dumb my posts down a bit further as a way to speed up the process.

And I’m guessing many of you are thinking it’s not possible to dumb down what I write any further.

All I can say is, hold my beer…

*image from dictionary.com

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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42 thoughts on “My Blog Is on the Verge of a Major Breakthrough”

  3. I can’t imagine you ever having zero likes or comments except for your first week of blogging when nobody knows you exist. I’m glad you’re not going to “dumb down your posts” for your suspect followers.

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    1. I’d say for my first four years of blogging I might have gotten a total of three comments and three likes, per week! My posts probably can’t get much dumber 🙂

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  5. This from the guy who had over 5400 views in one day? I agree with Pete. If you are talking about your early years, then I can believe that the stats did not meet your expectations or did not feel commensurate to the work involved. But you have come too far now, my friend, to go back. And know matter how “dumb” you make it, I will show up every day and learn something anyway!

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    1. Yes, those early years were a bit discouraging, and it is nice now to have met people like you and Pete and many others. Feeling like you are part of a community makes it much more enjoyable. And I’m not sure how much dumber my posts can get, they are pretty much there already 🙂 Thanks for your support, Brad!

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    1. Reminds me of the classic commercial “Dumb Ways to Die”. I should write a post – “Dumb Ways to Spend Your Time”, one of which would be blogging every day to an audience of one, which I did for the first few years… Thanks for your kind words, Michael!

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  7. i feel your pain, jim. when i first started, i remember a seasoned blogger telling me that no one would read it for a while, (except for maybe a family member who occasionally dipped a toe in under duress). it took a while, but i refused to go away, and slowly people found it and either joined in, or rejected it )

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  9. This goes hand in hand with the last post of creativity / weird. A genius move before the world is ready for it may seem dumb. Sometimes it stays dumb, sometimes it moves to the clever side. Hard to say which side your dumb posts will end up on so just keep it up!

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  14. Dear friend,
    Might I encourage you with this one small thing? Do not write what you think others want to read or hear. Write what YOU want to say, write YOU….and others will follow. Writing what you think others will want to read is a losing game as no two can seem to agree on anything…what one likes another will despise. Write you. This is what you share with the world and what we leave behind. Oddly, it’s the most attractive thing to others…that authentic, brave vulnerability, multifaceted wonder that is uniquely us.
    Remember every rule has an exception. Dec 10th is my 14th wedding anniversary with my husband that I met online.
    Be exceptional. 😊💕

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    1. thank you again for the encouraging words. I rarely write with anyone in mind, it is usually stuff I find interesting, or something I have experienced. I think I read somewhere that over half of relationships today got started online… Congrats!

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