Speaking of starting small

Ryan Battles commented about my most recent post on Google+:

Speaking of starting small... I noticed that you published your post just yesterday, and already your tweet count for the article is up to 84. Knowing that the weekend is actually slow-time for social media engagement, I'm thinking, "Geez, this guy definitely has some magic marketing sauce" (you should write a book).

And that's when I scrolled down the page to your earliest posts, back in 2008 (which is like the olden days in web time), and I see that you didn't quite have the same traction back then (hooray, you're human).

It's cool to see how constancy, dedication, and continuing to push forward pay off. I enjoy your blog, your podcast, and I'm excited to see your new book come together. I know a lot of developers will benefit from what you have to share.

It's true! If you scroll to the bottom of my homepage, you'll see my original posts were unfocused. I talked about random stuff (tech, TV, urban design), and didn't really focus in one direction.

It wasn't until I starting using amplification principles, that I saw traction. Specifically this meant focusing on an audience, figuring out their needs, and writing posts in response those needs.

For anyone else starting a blog: find your audience first. Decide who you're going to speak to. Don't write about everything for everybody. Choose a group of people you want to engage with, and write to them.

Published on April 1st, 2014
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