I’d characterize myself as a fairly ambitious guy. I’ve either started or been on the ground floor of about 6 companies (not including the two I tried to kick off in high school). At present I have my about-to-be-named consumer technology product marketing consulting business (that’s a mouthful), two Web services startups, this blog, my not-so-biweekly Engadget column, and, most importantly, my wife and new baby to take care of.
Pruning that list somewhat still leaves me with no fewer than four, and as many as six, recurring writing outlets (here, Engadget, the aren’t-I-clever-by-using-hyphens-to-mask-my-unnamed-company blog, and at least one of the Web services startups’ blogs). Additionally, a lot of the client work I do has me writing numerous documents.
So the question comes down to how to prioritize and focus on the blogging. I have a bunch of ideas or even half-written posts about gadget marketing issues and suggestions – but I now want to keep those on ice until the ok-the-hyphen-thing-is-now-annoying company blog goes live. I’d like to do some writing here on “what it’s like to build consumer electronics” but I don’t really have enough topics to keep me going, and I don’t know how compelling that is as a reader anyway. I have a backlog of gadgets to review, but they are extremely time-consuming, and these days there are so many others doing the same thing, I feel it’s harder and harder to stand out. This leaves the ol’ LD in a bit of an awkward spot – any suggestions from the crowd?
With all this writing, it’s somewhat ironic that I got booted out of the honors English classes back in high school, don’t ya think?
I know the feeling. Too many things to write, and not enough time to do it. This week, I tried podcasting, and figured out I can talk faster than I type. I may try this to cover some of the topics more efficiently, and avoid the backlog.
For me at least, I’d rather see quality content (and wait a while) then see random tidbits on a daily basis. So far I like the new direction of the site. And, yes, I wouldn’t mind reading about how one brings a CE product from an idea to a working device that’s ready to be sold and distributed — sounds fascinating.
I’d like to see you name your company Live Digitally and this would be your blog of industry insight and periodic product reviews.
I’ve been thinking more about this. Assuming your company name is not Live Digitally, I suggest for you forward all posts and RSS traffic to your new company site and just maintain one blog of industry insight and periodic product reviews.
In addition to “whither” it’s also a question of “when”, which is why I often find myself happily blogging away at 6 a.m. with a quiet house and a large cup of coffee. That’s the beauty and danger of blogging; you can do as much as you want – only time, ideas and energy stand in the way. 🙂
Mark