A year ago, I started a marketing blog…

…but now, I think it’s time for something new.

There’s nothing really wrong with the blog.

In fact, I think it looks pretty sharp.

I spent a lot of time writing the articles.

But when you consider the details…

…it’s sort of hard to justify the time investment.

The Daily Grind The Big Picture

…the average article required over 1,000 words for me to make my point.

Over 150,000 words in 150 full-length articles – almost twice the length of a standard business book.

…I spent at least an hour a day writing articles (and sometimes longer).

At least 160 hours in writing time – the equivalent of an entire month’s worth of working.

…I never received more than 100 visitors per day.

Most of my traffic came from search engines and bots, not actual readers following my blog.

…most of the comments I’ve acquired have been insults, irrelevant, or outright spam.

Many of the comments are from people I’ve somehow managed to irk because something I said popped up in their keyword monitoring.

So, why have I been doing this?

I started out with some pretty good reasons.?

1. I wanted to talk about marketing.

MY IDEAL I work in marketing research, but the field of marketing fascinates me. I thought a blog would be a good place to talk about a whole range of marketing topics.

MY MISTAKE

There are way too many marketing blogs out there, and the most widely-read are either about advertising or written by popular personalities.

2. I wanted to start some discussion.

MY IDEAL I thought if I offered some opinions based on my reading and knowledge, readers might be willing to chip in their own perspectives and we could have some interesting conversations.

MY MISTAKE

I picked a topic that isn’t very collaborative. When people are thinking about marketing, they’re generally working. Why would they seek out a blog to talk about work?

3. I wanted to talk about new media.

MY IDEAL I’d use a blog to help marketers gain a better understanding of new media without tossing around a bunch of buzzwords.

MY MISTAKE

The very fact that I tried to use an old media style to teach people about new media shows I wasn’t thinking things through too well.

4. I wanted to write articles with substance.

MY IDEAL I thought that if I looked at issues in-depth, I could offer readers something to chew on every day.

MY MISTAKE

I assumed that readers wanted daily in-depth content about marketing. Clearly, I should have done some research first. The most successful marketing blogs are short and punchy.

5. I wanted to keep myself thinking.

MY IDEAL I thought that if I commented every day on what I was reading and thinking, I’d keep my mind sharp and fresh.

MY MISTAKE

I was partially successful, but I found it far too easy to get lazy and to write articles that lacked substance or sources. Or not to write anything at all.

Which makes me wonder…

Is it worth continuing a daily blog??

My answer, for now, is “yes.”

But I’m going to try to do something different.

It all begins with this slideshow.

Every day, I’m going to update this blog with something new and different.

It might be an info graphic, or a slideshow,

or a video.

Whatever it is, I’m going to have some fun.

A new day is dawning…

…and I can’t wait to see what it brings!