The "Fred Wilson School Of Blogging"
Tom Anderson, the Tom we were all friends with on MySpace, wrote a guest post on TechCrunch suggesting that there is a "Fred Wilson School Of Blogging." I'm not sure about a "school" but I do have some points of view and Tom mentions some of them.
Here's how I do it:
1) Have a long form blog on a domain that you own and that is permanent. Like Anil Dash says in the comments to Tom's post, this is about compiling a set of work that is substantial. Anil says:
Based on the past dozen years that I've been writing it, I expect that my blog will in some ways be one of the most significant things I create in my life.
I'm 100% with Anil on this. People ask me when I am going to write a book and I laugh at that suggestion. AVC is more than a book will ever be. It is live, it is deep (in terms of total posts), it keeps going, evolving, and ends when I end.
2) Have a short form blog an a different domain that you own and is permanent. Mine is at fredwilson.vc and hosted on Tumblr. This is where I put the things that fill out the story but don't belong on a long form blog.
3) Participate actively in the social distribution platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Build profiles, followers, and credibility in these communities. I use Twitter for broadcast to a wide group, I use Facebook for friends and family, and I'm still trying to figure out how to use Google+. These distribution platforms are great for getting your work out there but I don't personally want to use them as the place where my work is hosted.
4) Build community on your domains. In the case of my longform blog, Disqus is the tool I chose and after that decision, our firm invested in the company. I've seen and used all the various community tools out there and I believe Disqus is the best at building community on long form blogs. In terms of community on short form blogging, I think Tumblr has done the best job and that is why it is growing like a weed right now.
5) Engage everywhere. That means on Hacker News, other blog communities/comments, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. This takes a lot of time. Too much time. But I get so much value back from doing it that I make the time.
The most important part is to engage. The second most important part is own your online presence. Marco Arment has a great post on this point. He says:
If you care about your online presence, you must own it.
So if there is a "Fred Wilson School Of Blogging" this is it. It works for me and it can work for you if you are willing to invest the time and energy.
Comments (Archived):
Good to see you on European time zone :-)If there is a Fred Wilson school of blogging, I think it is real deep content and original ideas. Many big social media people/brands are just bringing people together, and moderating/triggering discussion without injecting much original ideas themselves. “I like Google+ so far, do you? Let us know in the comments!” Both are useful, but they are different schools.
i can’t figure out how to share my AVC posts into Google+ automatically
At the moment I manually scrape HTML and plop it in the share box. But inline links do not come out good. Waiting for proper HTML formatting.In your case, publishing on 2 platforms will fragment the discussion.a) It will be in 2 places for you to skim through. b) On Google+ the barrier for the “great post”-type comment is lower and with the absence of a Discuss engine this will become a mess quickly.Google+ needs a Discuss-style commenting engine 🙂
there are already three or four places for me to skim through (twitter,disqus, hacker news)one more won’t make that much of a difference to me
And I think that anyone that really follows you knows that most of the times the main discussion around your post is held here.
Yup. But you’d be suprised how vibrant the discussions of some of my postsare elsewhere. Particularly hacker news
I know, I said most of the times because I was thinking in HN.
Don’t think you can, as of now.
G+ needs an api.
That’ll probably come in the form of a blogging platform plugin, i.e. from WordPress, Drupal, TypePad, etc…I’m sure they are working on it.
“I’m still trying to figure out how to use Google+”I see that sentiment more and more lately. Some mean it as “how the hell do I do anything with this?” while some mean it as “where does this fit into my already-robust/crowded/saturated social graph?”Google is doing well on features and responsiveness. But for Google+’s growth to be durable, they’re going to have to nail two things that they haven’t yet: Make it obvious, and make it fit.
i will keep trying because Google+ is going to succeed. i need to figure outhow to use it.
Sure it will more than Facebooks lol
I really like Google+ – it’s just missing one filter for me and that is the ability to exclude someone from my main stream. (Twitter needs this too, more so in fact because there are no filters) So rather than just unfollow them completely I’d like to be able to just filter them out to a circle that I can dip into when I want to.
I agree, I’ve been wanting this feature in Twitter for a while now. I don’t want to unfollow someone, but there are certain people I just don’t want to hear from all the time.Somehow, creating lists isn’t entirely the answer for me either.
When I was on Twitter more frequently, I accomplished this with the groups on Tweetdeck. I had the A and B groups as the first two columns that I kept tabs on regularly. You can ignore the rest. I think you can do this with Seismic as well.Not sure if you can do this with the apps versions as well.
I’ve tried making groups, I guess I just need to more vigilant of the groups I keep.I still twitter should allow you to not see a certain user if you choose not to, w/out unfollowing. To make an entire group just to ignore a few people seems excessive.Thanks for the advice, though. I’ll give groups a second chance!
I’m frustrated looking for a retweet button for this post.
That’s good.
I remember using Myspace and then going to Facebook, and becoming frustrated because Facebook wasn’t like Myspace. I keep reminding myself of this fact as I explore Google +No doubt Google + will be successful, but for most people the issue is how does one use Google + in a Facebook world; its the learning curve that is the issue not the product.
I am with you here. I actually posted an apology to people in my Facebook community because some of them are in my Google+ Circles too and there is a bit of repetition in the content. I might end up using Google+ a little bit like Fred says he uses Tumblr, but I have no idea.
I’ve created an avc circle and am adding people from the avc community on an ad hoc basis.It’d be cool if you started a thread on G+ that people can add a comment to which would create a list of avc members.Be even cooler if G+ had public curated groups but I guess that will come in time.
I did that too. And OMG _ what would I do to share my circle with your circle so that I don’t feel like I am always recreating the wheel.
I made an AVC Twitter list and my experience with that made an AVC G+ Circle a “sure thing” to be created as well.
I’m hoping we can get a centralised list going
Mine still exists on twitter – it should be updated (it’s pretty extensive too)
moved comment
This is the hard part. Having to create the structure while still figuring out how to use it. It’s like having the opportunity to start over again knowing the things we didn’t know when starting Twitter and Facebook. But slowly as I find AVC people I am then finding the AVC people in THEIR circles so I can create my own. Wish it was already created.Agree with your comment too @ShanaC:disqus
Yeah as i said on twitter yesterday – ping me when Google + has crossed the chasm and I’ll jump on the bandwagon but right now, I don’t have time to figure out a new social network….
Then I retweeted your comment and shortly after that got an invitation to Google+ and went through the Looking Glass, feeling like a true hypocrite. I have to tell you I think there is something to Google+ even though I’ve barely done anything on it.Blast that Geoffrey Moore! He changed my life forever.
I’m with you on the notion that Google+ is going to succeed, but so has Gmail. Yet after 7 years of enthusiastic evangelism, I have still only converted the geekiest 20% of my acquaintances* to Gmail. Conversely, the other 80% of my social sphere dragged *me* into Facebook, by the sheer gravity of their collective presence. [*Well, and my mother in law, but I cheated & bought her an android phone to shortcut the process.]
ME, GRIMLOCK, GIVE IT 40% OF NOT FAIL.SHINIER, NOISIER FACEBOOK NOT A KILLER FEATURE.
Probably Google+ Apps will fill the gap? May be Google keeps the platform clean and wait for developers to fill the new space.
You mean like this (sorry for plugging this, but I only wrote it because I needed to vent: http://www.shanacarp.com/es…
I’ve just started my startup and blog adventure and the last sentence of point 5 make me really confident. Knowing that the time spent to engage will get value back motivates me when I see how much time it takes. Anyway I’m enjoing the trip a lot!
Nice post Fred. I think a lot of the decisions over where to engage online come down to a matter of preferences and goals. While some bloggers prefer short form over long form and vice versa, or to actively participate over social media streams as opposed to growing a dedicated domain – it seems a variety of formats actually corresponds most closely to how the brain processes information and so would be the approach I favor. It all seems much less of a debate about which approach is most effective across the board and more of a question about how effective is the individual to use the available tools to reach an audience. Julian
This is GREAT! Just what I needed. 🙂 And I am also hoping to understand Google+. Please keep us posted when you have ideas on that as well. Thank you
The success of the blog is due to the reader’s responses. The post regarding Need for Marketing is a prime example.Using the Biological metaphor, your blog lives due to everyone wanting to take a look and it may be what you wrote, or to see what a particular reader wrote. I forget how many responses you had on the Need for Marketing blog… but gaining over 140 replies is becoming more and more the norm.Google+ obviously needs to figure out how to achieve this because most seem to not know what to do with it.
One of the beauties of Twitter is that the ambiguity of “what to use it for” actually allowed the users to shape this and allowed some individualization/customization of how it was used. In some ways, I feel like we were all caregivers that helped to “raise” Twitter from infancy and then handed it back over to the parents after it had been shaped and molded to some extent.Then, there is Facebook and all the awkward stages we’ve lived through with that one! Which in part makes us think there has to be something better out there and more receptive to something new.Google+ is starting out ahead because at least there is now precedent to work with and some failures to learn from. Yet, its success will take a lot of work and some investment on the users’ part. But we are “older parents” this time around and no longer as mesmerized and enchanted by the social media phenomenon — or as needy since we have options. So how much work are we willing to put into raising yet another “social media child” even if it is an older child? Or maybe I’m just tired after a long day.
You’re right Donna. I’ve been bogged down with the day job over the past two weeks, unable to move into the ‘biological’ analogy… it is simple though.Over the next two years, you will have the “Our way, or no way” battle happening (Apple) with some push from the outside that will move Cross Vehicle. The key is to be able to do Cross Category at the same time.The ‘biological’ simply refers to being smooth utilizing forward looking tech that is not so linear, able to multi task, able to conform to end run user (my twin reference using tap forehead) interchanging info/product to the data end.Then it is not so much raising a ‘social media child’ that is very stiff but random users sharing info/product in real time (Context- breakdown of opinion) where you don’t have to be all Twitter or all G+.The maturing of the market applies here where the fad linked to “I sound smart because I Facebook” will diminish. Don’t force the user to ‘teach’ but allow the product and user to transform effortlessly. I mentioned @fredwilson:disqus blog’s success because of random exchanges between the readers. Back in the old days, someone’s blog had their opine followed by 10 comments (maybe). Fred’s has reached a point where 120-140 replies are more common.A reader may be just as interested knowing what tidbit @JLM:disqus is going to throw in, which is okay. This is assumption, but I bet Fred is just as happy seeing where discussions go vs. providing a real stiff financials lesson.Give me some time to go where this leads… I wrote out a ‘Plaza In The Clouds’ thing back in ’08 that pertains, but I had no idea what terms would be used in ’11. Through dissolving the walls, we can enable major growth to all ends of the spectrum via that proverb I borrowed from BradAcker22.
I’m not certain that it’s simply a been there/done that thing as much as expectations of value.Wrote a post yesterday on community and the implicit graph and realized that the mass market now (rightfully) demands real utility and/or satisfaction in short order from the effort we put in.This can be cool and fun and connections aka turntable.fm or implicit value that is truly useful as in Foursquare cracking the implicit recommendation code and giving me what I want without explicitly requesting it. (And they are getting there I believe.)Just building a party room is not enough.
How about LinkedIn?
Useful at times as a quick resource, not much more. And certainly not a community in any sense of hanging around.
agreed arnold. and be warned – all your clicks on linked in are visible to others. You view my profile – i know you have – thats a bit creepy if you ask me.
I’m at peace with this. The upsides are greater than the ‘creepiness’ factor at least to me.Way back during the Facebook privacy uproar, I wrote a post( http://t.co/LMAul4G ) that made me internalize that everything I create online is public property and that my actions themselves are on stage.I kinda moved on from there.
default to public – absolutely.except when someones passive surfing can get them in trouble for no reason
Agreed with that also and with Arnold’s subsequent response.
But you can change your settings so that the person doesn’t know that it was YOU who clicked on them. I sneak around there all the time.(I’m messing with you on that last sentence, even though it’s true.)
‘Donna sneaks around’ sounds like a bumper sticker. Since I don’t have a car might work as graffiti;)
Agreed.
I think that once I stopped expecting LinkedIn to be “social” I began to appreciate it more for what it is — a massive searchable, curatable repository of information and potential contacts.And if you are willing to invest the time in the groups, you can find people to add to your community(ies) and build your brand/online presence in a somewhat organic way.But the groups are one of the places (to @markslater:disqus ‘s point) that give rise to major spamminess if not carefully monitored. Of course, I am favorably biased since LI has revolutionized my work. Unbelievably so.
Well said. I wrote a post a long time ago ( http://t.co/fpJ4Vbg ) about the lack of community in LinkedIn and realize now that I just wasn’t getting what it’s true value was. Must admit though that when I see a LInked In profile as the major (or only presence) of someone on the web I loose interest quickly. Most every job requires an understanding of the social web in some way. If the only presence is on Linked In, can they really understand it?
I think the lack of community you refer to may extend beyond Linked In. In fact, the concept of any virtual community may be overdue for some. See Jonathan Franzen, commencement speech, May 2011, Kenyon College. You can find a link here: http://roughfractals.blogsp…
Checking out your link now Steven…thanks.The dream of community online has been aspirational since the first two avatars met in a virtual space to chat. It really does happen though and is a social business design goal that is always valuable to build towards.BTW…avc.com is one of those rare instances where community happens daily.
I would be very interested in your response to the Franzen piece. It may be that his humanist definition of community and the investing/user definition are different or it may be that Franzen is onto something – a kind of fatal flaw built into the DNA of the web that first seduces and then destroys its creators. Comunication by electronic “post its” may not, in the end, turn out to be a solid footing for most sustainable businesses and may actually erode communication. LIke fake food. Not sure that is what Franzen is saying but he is a smart guy and what he said just kind of rings a bell that has been ringing in the back of my head wondering about not only “bubbles” but somehtng even larger than that. It may also be that Franzen is just in such a different camp that the “techies” and he cannot communicate – I think they need to. Love to know what you think.
That was a great post, Arnold, with good insights. I know that it was influential in causing me to assess further what my expectations of LI were and to give it proper placement in my social media mix/online presence. While LinkedIn is not a community and is not truly “social”, it provides many of the tools needed to help me cultivate business relationships that are more “social” in nature — such as updates on what is happening in my contacts’ professional lives so that I can follow up accordingly. Not to mention all the ways in which it helps me cultivate my business.One of the most important things I’ve learned about social media is that they are merely tools. They don’t make us more or less social but help us to exercise more fully our social natures and/or our commitment to being social. Although I have found that some people who are social but quieter in their in-person presence can seem less quiet via social media. They find their voice in a way they haven’t before.
This is a really terrific and thoughtful comment Donna.I’ve learned from it and it’s challenged some preconceptions. This is a good thing. Thanks much for spending the time to write this out.
What do you think of Linkedin? I can’t find the emotional connection to it, so I don’t use it that much.
I think its really creepy. i changed something in my profile – and my brother in london who was working with a recruitment software company called BULLHORN (who have a tool called radar) – got a notification that i was looking for a job. Radar makes an assumption that profile change = work change and that “puts you in play?” linked in, and its ecosystem of rezzispammers are creepy.
Funny, I did a test run on Bullhorn yesterday and saw the radar function. In my case, it allowed me to reach out to congratulate a FB friend who recently changed jobs.The situation you experienced is not a LinkedIn function in itself but rather a way in which Bullhorn applied that information. Linkedin is pretty respectful — and protective — very permissions driven. For instance, if someone has not checked the box saying that they are interested in career opportunities and I send them an InMail about a career opportunity, I am penalized. I have found it to be a safe place. Of course, I am in the category of being one of the more opportunistic users of LinkedIn given my profession. 😉
yes – the radar function is bullhorn on the API i think
yes – the radar function is bullhorn on the API i think
Agreed Mark.
The internet’s resume database. A very valuable market position
I was asking because it’s on the Big Four Social Networks along with FB, LI, G+, yet it’s not visited daily by most users.
i don’t think of it as a social network in that way
Did you see Lab42’s recent infographic about LinkedIn? According to them, 35% of people do check into LinkedIn daily, and 32% check in a few times a week. I’d have to agree though, it isn’t a ‘social network’ in that sense. There’s no real flow of dynamic information.Makes you wonder if that’s something they could expand on…http://mashable.com/2011/07…
I check LinkedIn daily and several times during many days but that’s because I’m also carrying over many of my tweets as part of a continuing publicity/marketing campaign and so I’m also checking to see what else might be trending there including monitoring postings on various groups that I follow and sometime contribute to.But it is not a Social web site, per se.
Exactly.
From both a recruiting and business development perspective, absence on LinkedIn could potentially be costly. Perhaps more so than presence is valuable. I am not sure about this, but something to think about.And I’m sure this is relative. Especially after reaching a certain level of success.
It’s great to see a tip of the hat from a guy like Tom. I caught a couple of his recent comments in Google+ and was really impressed with how he views the evolving social scene. Here’s a link to his profile there.The best part about the Fred Wilson School Of Blogging, you don’t have to ask permission to sign up. Proud member since feb 2009.
Like the use of the profile link Mark – I can see that behaviour happening alot
Just curious, how do you define member? From the first time you posted a comment or the first time you started reading the blog? And have I known you for that long already?! Wow.
I was going from my first blog post. You and I crossed virtual paths in later ’09.
Thoughtful of you to share this link, Mark. Thank you.
It is a school. With each comment, I express things I’m at the edge of understanding, or an idea I’m new too and want to start developing thoughts around. I need to take my schooling farther with a blog. I also need to write faster, and think faster as well ; )Being on this blog, creating a blog, and engaging on other “schooling” blogs (such as Suster, Feld, and Hacker News, etc.) would give you more of an education around market trends, developing concepts, business know-how, and building relationships (if you took it seriously), than any university.Too bad you don’t get a degree, and none of this has much value on a resume. Could that change? What about a social network profile that really express ones strengths, beliefs, knowledge, and insights (in a succinct manner)?
I just mentioned you in an article as an example of a great blogger. As I meet with people looking to increase their own social capital, start an online presence or begin marketing themselves or a product/service – I always show the handful of bloggers I follow, and why I do, and why I think they do it.Fred WilsonGuy KawasakiSeth GodinOnStartupsPenelope TrunkThanks again for being part of my daily life, and for inspiring so many.
What are your thoughts on OnStartups?
Seth Godin rocks and he has his own way. Very different from me but it worksfor him
I’m a believer in the benefits of owning your own presence through aURL.It’s a great pleasure to send a URL as a representative ofyourself and your thoughts. These are the pluses of ownership.Fred–you inspired this direction for me early on. Thanks!
Its the best way. You nailed it
But our digital presence is more than one URL. It’s several of them. I think there’s a need to aggregate your “presences” into a curated space. That applies to a company, a person, or a topic. That’s the business model Eqentia is after.
Yes, but most people have a home spot? right?
True, but it’s becoming more difficult to manage the multiplicity of social & online areas. Linking out is one thing, but aggregating cohesively takes more effort. And for companies, it gets even more complex.
True. I still think we’re dealing with an architecture issue. it is like the difference between a kitchen and a spare bedroom in your house. Certain aspects are more home.
Do you believe in owning your name on the web no matter what happens (even if you don’t use it)? I’ve thought about taking certain friends names hostage for them.
Buying domains for people as presents is a fun thing and great gift.
I was thinking more hostage like, not for profit per say, but to make friends aware that I can buy their names and that is umm…Most people don’t believe me when I say it is really important to own their name as a domain.
#6 Post on a regular schedule. People won’t show up if they aren’t sure the band is gonna be there.#7….most important…. write something worth reading. Either be an expert, or funny, or SOMETHING of value to the reader.
My slogan is “write what you know about” or simply “whatever you say make certain it’s your own’. Not always a crowd pleaser but genuine is a great place to start,
I failed on #6 twice in the past week. I’m struggling juggling work,vacation, sleep, family, and blogging
Not being disingenuous at all here, but what does this approach buy you?Is it mainly business networking and personal marketing?Creative outlet?It seems that this takes a lot of your time, and the other things you mention in your list of activities are pretty critical: “work,vacation, sleep, family”
it has business value, personal value, and a lot moresee JLM’s first comment in this thread. he kind of nails it
sleep more, it will help with the other stuff if you feel refreshed.
You’d have to miss a lot more than a couple of days to undo the regularity you’ve achieved.Although I did comment “Fred who?” on one of your posts when you didn’t show up for a day or two afterward, then deleted it.
I started blogging a month ago and coming from a world where one does not share, one does not collaborate, it isn’t as easy at it seems. In the non tech world knowledge is power and so you hoard rather than share (or as I always say, if you keep your mouth shut no one will realize that the only reason you got where you did was because you played golf and are related to someone higher up).I do not play golf and I have no family within 600 miles….I think the biggest issue with blogging is one of audience; I started blogging because I realized that I was getting regular phone calls about starting a business, dealing with human resource issues, and a host of other problems, yesterday I spent 2 hours on the phone trying to help someone become educated on how to buy software. I think the biggest weakness of Linkedin is that this type of collaboration and information sharing does not occur within the groups.The key to successful blogging are the comments, because they bring together a variety of view points and as someone who has given advice in the past I always tell people that there is more than one point of view and they shouldn’t just follow what I advise blindly; with comments you get multiple points of view.Not real sure how to create a blog that is focused to attract a regular audience, an audience that participates, and without an audience that participates you basically end up lecturing….Based upon analytics if I post something about tee shirts, art, or screen print I get a bunch of new twitter followers who are independent artists attempting to start their own line of tees, if I post on Human resources then all my interest comes from LinkedIn.Then when I see that a post on my blog leads to a whole bunch of people in Silicon Valley rushing to view my Linkedin profile or when a post on human resources leads to visits to my Linkedin profile from Fruit Of The Loom and Gildan…well, you just give up on analysis.The value of blogging is determined by ones audience and if you cannot figure out who is your audience then what is the value of blogging?
I like Anil’s quote that alludes to self expression as the innate value of blogging. An audience is nice too.
That is how I have been valuing my blogging efforts. However, the bigger traffic days do always seem a little ‘better’ than slower traffic days.
It is true, though only to some extent. I’m always always censoring myself on the net. I’m at the point where I’m thinking of setting myself up with an alter-ego just so I can live louder. (Mostly to cover topics that I think @JLM:disqus thinks shouldn’t be spoken about in polite company…sometimes certain things need to be said).So i would say the web is self-expression with a grain of salt. it is the expression of some sort of aspect of an identity.
Use analytics like Google chartbeat Disqus etc to understand your audience
Hi Fred – have you tried http://gosquared.com for real-time analytics.Not connected with the company just FYI
Not yet
Life is so short and I am so old with so much to learn! 🙂
Well, as it happens, I’ve responded to at least one of your blogs Carl (and you replied to my comment) and that was because I found what you had posted to be interesting as well as relevant which is also why I read Fred’s and Arnold’s and Mark Essel’s and Mark Suster’s etc., blogs and also why I chose to add you to my tightly controlled group of tweepers.So I would suggest that for having started blogging no more than a month ago, you are already doing relatively well. Keep on keeping on.
Peter, Thank you and I read every one of your tweets.I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses…finance is one. I can make a huge profit and run great organizations, but that big area of finance and taxes are where I hand off….Then my other weakness…is technology. I know what I want, I know what I need, and I can paint the big picture and point to the future…but to make it happen, to even try to explain it, is tripping me up and frustrating me…and its the most critical part of my plans. I have to admit that these are exciting times and the opportunities that are opening are awesome….I set aside four hours a day to do nothing but research and analyze what others are doing…..but I still find myself a babbling idiot when it comes to explaining myself to someone who is knowledgeable.
Carl,You know I am already a fan of your blog and just added it to my reader the other day. I enjoy the old tech (used to be called old economy) tone that you mash with discussions and comments on innovation. I too come from”a world where one does not share, one does not collaborate, it isn’t as easy at it seems. In the non tech world knowledge is power and so you hoard rather than share (or as I always say, if you keep your mouth shut no one will realize that the only reason you got where you did was because you played golf and are related to someone higher up).”Glad you decided to buck this trend like I did too. I had been encouraged by a number of folks to blog & write but I ignored them. I agree the comments are important. However, I think they are important primarily from a community building standpoint. I believe there is significant value to an individual just in writing. And if that is the only value being sought then Comments are not a mandatory component. Significant value can be had by an individual in just expressing oneself, without validation or commentary by others. If the blogging exercise is purely commercial and/or intended to build community then my last statement does not hold true. I think it is all in what is trying to be accomplished by the author/publisher of the blog.
Geoffrey,Thanks for the support! I have no problem referring to the “old economy” and the “new economy”…I use facebook on a daily basis, but its realistically limited to friends and family, and I do wonder sometimes “would I pay $9.95 a month to use facebook?” That is an example of old economy thinking vs new economy thinking.I believe that one of the biggest issues I am having with financing is that I am thinking from an old economy perspective and seeking sources of funding that are new economy.I read all the stories of how retailers find advertising on social media to generate dismal ROI. The trouble is with their math of ROI not social media.For me there never was a trend to buck…some people view change with fear, they embrace it hesitantly, other people realize that change is the only constant in life…heck, change occurs whether we are aware of it or not. To many times we view change from a value judgement perspective and end up rejecting change because we value tradition…if you look at the future as “it is what it is” and deal with it that way, well, the future just becomes a lot less threatening.I learned very early in life that success is just a moment in time, you win a state championship enjoy it because when you wake up in the morning you have to start preparing for the next championship….I visit this blog and quite a few others because I am interested in the “big picture” as someone who operates in a niche I have to be aware of the big picture to be able to know what direction to head into for the future….I believe in sailing its called “tacking”
RE: “I have no problem referring to the “old economy” and the “new economy”…I use facebook on a daily basis, but its realistically limited to friends and family, and I do wonder sometimes “would I pay $9.95 a month to use facebook?” That is an example of old economy thinking vs new economy thinking.”Someone pays for it eventually. Personally, I don’t believe thinking about paying for social platforms is an old economy way of thinking at all. Eventually these businesses have to pay for themselves whether it is through sub or ad or some other monetization.{Update: and no problem on support.}
FACEBOOK NO MORE OLD ECONOMY THAN NETWORK TV.BOTH JUST HIDE WAY YOUR MONEY TAKEN.
Old economy companies using new economy marketing and communication skills overlays a huge vein of value.You have be chronologically old enough to be able to run a company well and nimble enough to harness the technology.Love the sailing metaphor as it is the story of life. Remember to duck so the boom does not decapitate you. Trim the sails in bad times, tack hard into the wind until the jib flutters and then run like hell — wing and wing — downwind when the good times roll.Going to be some considerable time before the good times roll but if you tack hard into the wind now, the fleet will be quite spread out when the wind changes.
I’m actually working on a project merging old and new – if you know any social workers/counselors/teachers/others who work with those with mental retardation (and family), that would be super helpful.
Reading all of these sailing terms JLM has me wishing I still had my Transpac Peterson Islander! Avast there me hearties; pass the rum!
I had a conversation with someone about this yesterday. There is a difference between branding and brand response. The classic example is that lots of men have heard of victoria’s secret, and when you go to their Herald square location in Manhattan, all the guys are sitting on the windowseats, they aren’t shopping there.The data driven economy will push social over the edge. We’re not so great yet at merging branding with branded response, so measuring how brand spreads to increase revenue from the people who actually have use for it is a new sort of advertising science. We’re still testing out tons of ideas in this space…
Blog address?
JLM, you can click through his name that shows up on his Disqus posts. That is how I discovered it initially. Hope all is well – stay cool ( I mean that literally, obviously your usage of ‘crushing it’ above indicates you are already in the the figurative cool camp) … sorry could not resist. Seriously, hope you all stay well down your way and get some precipitation.
It is so damn hot in Texas…..the Californians are moving back to California. Nah, not really.This is likely to be the hottest summer in a century as it is developing but funny thing is I don’t seem to notice it. I am doing a lot more water sports stuff.The whole damn country is hot.
Water sports stuff? Nice! I cannot play golf – I do not have the time anymore right now and, to be honest, I have never really found a decent swing. So, this summer I have been doing some kayaking at the lake. A recent pic of my lake escapades attached … and today is another rowing day over lunch.RE: “The whole damn country is hot.” agreed.
Cat on a hot tin roof kind of hot (I always thought that play/movie had a sweltering kind of attitude)
Reminds me that I tweeted a picture of our overcast San Diego skies at 65 F on Sunday morning to @i_jessica:twitter (Jessica Obermayer) in TX. It warmed up all the way to around 78 F by mid day. It was even darker and colder this morning getting again to around 78 F today: Perfect weather for Californians but not suitable for Texans!
I will be moving to California tom’w.
Shhhh…. They’ll all be flocking here! (Although, I guess if they are AVCers, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.)
#4. To be involved, respond and continue the dialog/conversation. That’s the ball game.This sounds obvious but some many bloggers forget this part and that the deal is 50/50 with the readers.Fred, is the Tour covered like the Super Bowl every day in France? I’m a big fan and was curious.
Yes. It is a national obsessionw
Intriguing post. I accidentally have taken this approach recently. I moved to a new hosting company and with that redid my site/blog. When I did that I took advantage of the move and split my blogging efforts in two. One blog is about the business (using music as metaphor); tone is always more serious – even with the rock music metaphors. These efforts support some of the micro eBook writing I do. The other blog on the site is VERY personal. It is more short form in nature. It is where I share joys, sorrows, things I am thinking about or that are kind of making me a bit perturbed. I found I didn’t like combining both topical matters as I had been doing before moving to the new site. I wish I had done this sooner. I am not familiar with all this discussion you mention above with Anil and Tom. I wish I had known about that before I started – and created two blogs from the start. Oh well. My setup is not for everyone I am sure, both blogs are still hosted on one site. But it is working for me now and it is a step in the right direction that I want to head with some things.I still do not do Comments. There have been a couple of reasons for that but those will likely change.Thanks for the post.
I’m just commenting here because you don’t allow comments in other places.
LOL but I have posted on my blog since May 31 Andy. 🙂
Only comment I can make today is, “I love it”. Thanks.
I’ve never understood why you need a long form blog and a short form blog – seemed based predominantly on the fact that one platform had better SEO (the reason why Fred told me in email a few years ago that he didn’t just move everything to Tumblr). Tumblr can function as a long form blog. Why send people to multiple locations to capture the “story”? Several years into the whole Web 2.0 and our social graphs and Internet brand and identity is as scattered as ever…
i’m assuming a lot of the AVC readers are less interested in the kind of things i post on tumblr
i never read your tumblr.
As I say to pple about my tumblr vs. blog – if you want to know how i think, my blog – if you want to know who i am (aka what i love) – my tumblr
you wouldn’t happen to know rasool verjee would you leigh?
Proof
That may be true but keep on posting snippets by Peter Gabriel with, most likely, Phil Collins on the drums by the overall sound of that track, and I’ll keep listening/reading. Your Tumblr pictures of Berlin and Paris also good to see
Fred’s separation of Tumblr and long-form blogging here is excellent. While Tumblr can be used for long form writing and have disqus comments as well, the tools are truly designed to serve different purposes and Fred has done a nice job segmenting his content to appeal to different audiences based on what they are best suited.The rhythm of one AVC post a day that everyone knows will be useful lets us know what to expect. If Fred was sprinkling this blog all day with the pictures/music/quotes found on his Tumblr, it might be more convenient for the set of users who read his publishing in both places, but it would be less ideal for those who are really just interested in one or the other.
Not sure you can claim credit for this methodology, since it’s really what most bloggers and tech people have been doing for years, but it must be really nice to have the adulation. I envy you.
i agree. that’s why i put it in quotations. i don’t think it is deserved
I like the fact that even with as busy as you must be, you seem to see the value of commenting and participating on other networks, and on other people’s websites. For me this is usually the first thing I let go, even though I should know better.I also like the fact that you both use different services, and have a good reason for everyone you use, from the full networks like Tumblr, to the add-ins like Disqus.Anil’s comment is great. Everyone who shares on the Internet could do a better job of making their blog their lasting legacy.
i get a lot of value from engaging in various online communities
I’ll go out on a limb and say that this blog is an indelible part of your investment fabric. As a long time (whats that? 5 years?) reader and sometime commenter I’ve witnessed you test a thesis, try a service in public, solicit comments on an area of interest and generally be as open as you can be regarding your professional life. Fred wilson the VC is Fred wilson the Blogging VC. A small measure of your recent (assumed) success is because of this blog.Could be wrong ofcourse!
I miss some of the random posts though that come from blogging about himself on occassion, alas.
i agree mark
you have to open the blog up to a google + discussion asap. there are so many questions and comments this community will knaw on and its a really important shift in the social glue of the web. I have that butterfly feeling when i am using it – just cant put my finger on why.
I’m not so sure what a Google+ discussion might add to AVC, except to increase the noisy signals. I believe that comments are more authentic in their native land. Reality is the minute Fred cross posts on G+, there will be a flurry of comments there,- then it will be challenging to keep up with both places. That’s what Kevin Rose did (point his blog to Google+) and it was contrasted to Fred’s approach which is to stay with his native blog.
I believe it would actually detract in a big way from the overall value Fred has created by “owning” his blog and containing it here.For an example of chaos and loss of value, look what happened at TechCrunch when they abandoned DISQUS and adopted Facebook Comments. Immediately two comment threads began to appear ~ some in the tail of the related TechCrunch post and some on Facebook itself. Rarely did anyone cross post hence much value of commentary was lost.
I agree – i am not comfortable putting my “work” stream in to my personal stream, and i would not want to read my friends either – stupid move.
Mark, I can’t put my finger on it either, but after one day on Google+ — and barely on it at that — I can’t shake the feeling that there is something to this. Something important.Well, if I’m wrong, only you will know.
I can’t figure out how to autoimport my posts. That would make it happen
All sorts of problems getting hangout to work too. I have 3 or 4 gmail profiles and + gets very confused.
IT OLD SCHOOL CROWDSOURCING.
Fred, as you know I am a huge fan for a number of reasons.I think you are doing much more than blogging. Let me explain. What I feel when I read your stuff and the comments is a “think tank” or a “salon” or a Cheers type community of folks whose collective wisdom is much, much greater than the original conversational gambit which launched the discussion.It is like a pebble — big damn pebble — cast into a still pond which sends out endless circles of knowledge, intelligent discussion and fellowship. These circles then rock the worlds of an incredibly talented audience whose comments are golden — tuition paying type golden.It is a particularly interesting and accomplished community with an incredible high level of personal comity and courtesy. I cannot say enough how much I respect and appreciate this audience. Hell, ya’ll are all invited over for a beer and a hamburger next to the pool tonight. I love you guys.What you have done successfully is couple intellectual generosity of an unfathomable dimension given the secrecy of your chosen profession with a constructive and welcoming tone. You have succeeded in often being the smartest guy in the room without having to prove that to be the case. A clever and cunning way to turn the energy of your audience to your service.It is not about your blog — which is just a tool — it is about your voice which is generous, genuine, instructive, constructive, consistent and steady.Even in those things with which you disagree, you are not disagreeable and that is a rare trait indeed.Last, you have made the price of admission — seemingly free — a cloak of admiration which cannot fail to burnish your image with LPs, entrepreneurs and the public at large. I wonder if you are this thoughtful or this is lagniappe and serendipity.You are crushing it, man. Keep it up.
Everyone appreciates your “comments” too.You have a vast warehouse of info in your head and always deliver it well. So thanks to you
We love you too JLM
i love you “guys” too!
Well said. Here’s another take:The “successful, passionate blogger” is a rare breed. It makes sense that an internet VC might be one, for lots of pretty obvious reasons.
Very well stated JLM. You have your own inimitable way with words and apply that well in describing thoughts, ideas and experiences.
Thank you, JLM. You have spoken for many of us in a way that few could.I can still vividly remember the very first time I read one of YOUR comments. I must say that as much as I love AVC — I mean truly love it — on that day, this community went to a whole new level for me.
You are too kind. Thank you!
Agreed
Be yourself and express it simply, concisely and Honestly.
Lie down on the couch, Freddie.To state the obvious — blogging feeds your soul. Don’t fight it.You are in love with the sound of your own voice — which is a very, very, very good thing because it is the only one you have.Nice thing is that a lot of your audience is also.This positive force is a critical element in your psychological well being. Mine it.
it is the only one i have except for my wife’s which looms large in my head too
Hmmm, after I read my own comment a second time, I guess it is OK sometimes to say “I hear voices in my head!”Officer, I am hearing voices.
You definitely must own your online presence. Agreed. I like the sentiment here but some of us (like me) screwed up when we were younger and are having a hard time being professional online. Now that I’m an entrepreneur I’m super happy Google+ is out. Its a chance to start over and build a personal brand from scratch. Facebook will always be out there but hopefully I can slowly migrate away or create a new profile there too.I also love the idea of long and short form blogging. I don’t totally get it but I think the short form is more fun and showing personality and long form is information others would find useful. All in all this is stuff I’ve been thinking a lot about lately and I’m glad someone wrote about it.
I think that title could be even renamed: “Fred Wilson School for a Digital Life”. It’s beyond blogging. You’re talking about your digital presence in your “owned” properties and the ones that are “managed” properties (e.g. Google+, FB, Twitter). Edelman’s @armano:twitter calls these “Digital Embassies”. But this creates a small challenge- how do you stay on top of these multiple places efficiently without clicking your way into each website? Something like this that aggregates your digital presence in one place, e,g http://portal.eqentia.com/f… as a permanent repository, snapshot, jumping point to you and what surrounds you, digitally.
i like jumping around. i could not imagine reading hacker news comments anywhere other than hacker news
Jumping around is great- I didn’t mean to shoot that down. The value element was around the “jumping from” and in seeing your content/content about you, not what you are reading elsewhere necessarily.
This feels an awful like dating – you need to own yourself and your presence to do well. You also need to be everywhere, because you don’t know where you will meet that person.
agreed
Most people don’t realize it is a ton of work for both either 😉
NOT DATING.ALL OF LIFE.
I don’t think you actually need to be everywhere. Anyway, you can’t.You just need to fully BE where you are. In my humble opinion.
I feel a bit cheeky, so I want to say “Shall I test this”
So would the Neoclassical School of Blogging consist of?
Sort of like the Neoclassical School of Economics – too much mathematical analytics to drive traffic, rather than understanding human behavior (I will snark, I volunteer for the U of C)
Analytics first, content second. :PDavid [email protected]
I really can’t wait ’til a bigger number understand you are on the money.
Great post, and 100% agree. What’s interesting is that even today six years after starting to blog, I still get asked whether I get paid for any of this. My retort is that for me at least, blogging is about brand, not bread (which perhaps confuses ’em more).I can not tell you how many times I have walked into a meeting with a prospective customer, co-worker, partner or investor, and they’ve felt like they “know me” based on such and such post.This speaks to a less obvious benefit of building up a body of work; namely, that when someone is going to meet you, they do a google search on you. A bunch of links come back, and what’s the one that they click on? Typically, the one that is closest to their area of interest.When you’ve built a body of work, those bread crumbs create all sorts of wonderful kismet moments for you (and others).
when i’m asked that question, i say that AVC is the most monetized content venture i’ve ever seen
Bingo! Yours is an absolute case of earnestness and generosity yielding returns in spades. Everyone who comes to this site is left feeling that they get plentitude for the tender morsels that they provide. 🙂
Fred, I am glad you point out that it takes time and energy. Thanks for sharing your model!Amanda
Fred,Just started following the blog about a month ago. As a recent college grad/aspiring sound financial mind I appreciate your posts. I try and emulate a sponge as much as I can everyday when I sign onto your blog. For someone in my situation trying to get my feet wet in the VC industry what type of advice can/would you give me?Thanks!
Solid advice, but I think proper platform usage is only a small part of the “Fred Wilson School of Blogging”.Here’s my take on it: A good blog can only accessorize a good life, it cannot make one. If you truly have passion about a topic (passion defined roughly as “a tendency to come back to a rewarding behavior day after day despite inevitable difficulties”) – then a blog will be of great value to others, particularly those who are following after. Readers learn from the solid core of really useful information (“really useful” = “acquired from sweat-and-blood experiences”), and connect with the occasional personal or tangential anecdote.It is a rare treat to read a blog by a successful passionate person. It is rare because successful, passionate people are usually too busy with their passionate interests to write about it. Aha! Now that I think of it, it makes sense that an internet VC would be more likely to be that white elephant, the “successful passionate blogger”: your passion (technology investing) is aided by blogging.
Deft stroke. Well played and insanely insightful. Thanks.
you cant fake it. Other VC’s do – and its painfully obvious. authenticity wins every time.
well said.
Alignment and authenticity. Hallmark of long term market support.
I’m a little late to the comment party — oh you east coasters, you get the jump on the market, and everything else :)But I’m really glad to see you go meta here, Fred. More than anything, my hopes for my techcrunch piece was just to raise some issues and give food for thought. By you posting a response, I’m sure that’ll happen even more–more people will think about why and how they post / create content online.In particular, I really like what you have to say about writing a book. I’ve been asked to do the same, and found it rather daunting. It seems like the main focus of books these days is to raise the author’s profile and to get the author speaking gigs. But I am pretty intrigued with the idea of a blog as a testament to your life’s work. I’ve had the same thought as you Fred–its better to do something online, interactive and revealed bit by bit. The perspective of your “story” always changes as you develop.I actually wrote my college thesis on “narrativizing the self” and how you create who you are through stories. Your perception of your past depends on where you are in the present, causing you to add and subtract details that don’t matter based on your present understanding. Blogging adds a rich layer to this sense of self–seeing yourself and your thoughts in points of time. Anyway, glad to see this community here on Fred’s blog. I’ll join in more often. 🙂
Happy to see you chime in Tom. Really appreciate the historic self in my personal blog (~2.5 years), and the blogs of others I follow. I’ve got a virtual backpack of thoughts and experiences wherever I go, and I adore being corrected by caring commenters when I’m off.I tag my meta blogging posts under mind, and can’t say enough positive things about the act of blogging regularly.
“I’ll join in more often.”Please do.And I sympathize with the “late to the party” syndrome being on the West Coast. Although, occasionally, if I work late enough, I get to see the posts when they are first published.
PARTY HAPPEN WHEN COMMENTS HAPPEN. GRIMLOCK NOT CARE ABOUT PUNY TIME ZONES.OR DAYS.
Don’t sweat the small stuff, eh?Anyway, it’s always a party when you show up, FG.
YES. SMALL DETAILS FOR SMALL PEOPLE. GRIMLOCK ONLY WORRY ABOUT DINO SIZE DETAILS.
BLOG GIVE OCEAN OF WEB REEF TO GROW ON.THIS CONVERSATION WITHOUT BLOGS VANISH IN WAVES, FORGOTTEN.WITH BLOGS IT BUILD SOMETHING.
The only blogging advice i could ever give anyone is don’t name your blog Blitherings because people may actually read your blog and then your stuck with it as a name 🙂
Why I follow AVC:There is just so much good information found here that you can run with.Technical expertise, tangential anecdotes. Good stuff.Gives my business (& sometimes personal) objectives perspective –
Speaking of G+ integration, here’s a great plugin from @crossrider:twitter that drops Twitter inside your G+ dashboard. I like it. http://crossrider.com/insta…
I read an article over a month ago about “Branding” ones self. Now, if you ever met me in real life you would find that I am actually very unassuming and quiet….I have no idea where the mouthiness comes from once I am behind a computer.I had sent out my proposal two three local companies that do invest in companies and heard nothing….thus I realized that I had become “deadwood” or irrelevant.Not real sure why, midlife crisis, or dealing with a partner that wants to keep me in court the rest of his life (note to all budding entrepreneurs: never partner up with someone in business who is over 20 years older than you are and at the first sign of mental/ego issues deal with them then especially if they occur immediately after a second marriage to a much younger woman!)I had sent my business proposal to three companies in town that I know invest in other companies, but I sent them with a return address of my company, not me).Anyway, after setting up a linkedin profile, posting to a blog, and twittering for a total of 46 days I received two calls today, after reading Fred’s MBA Monday post yesterday I thought that not only was I irrelevant but I was horribly out of touch, and I have meetings Monday and Tuesday to discuss my proposal….which they never saw.Out of the blue, two calls just because they came across my blog and they were surprised I was still in town! This is going to be so much fun…..when they “invest” in something they end up, as an old chinese saying goes, “….breathing through YOUR nose….” I proposed a “joint venture” once to them a long time ago and you would have thought I had talked about establishing a free love commune!The presentation will be short….but the details will be a real battle of wits! I think I need to show up in a tie dye t shirts and jeans….(Joke!)
Big congratulations Carl! It is nice to see the social moving from screwballs thinking the outside world really cares about their last trip to the restroom over to the unassuming guy getting response from potential money sources.
if your blog is hosted on wordpress or blogspot, how do you own the blog ? it is owned by wordpress or google. Also if you write everything in public on google+, you can still use facebook twitter to promote or to engage with audience. And it is searchable via search engines. Here is Tom Conrad saying google+ is more like a blog than a facebook or twitter killerhttps://plus.google.c…I think your point is more to do with concept of cloud computing and is against it.
The success of this blog also stems from honesty and transparency in an otherwise secretive industry that captivates people. You provide insight into the latest in technology that is defining the future. Whether you get it wrong or right, it’s always cool to see where you are putting your money.
@chrisbrogan also chimes in on same issue being discussed here,- http://www.chrisbrogan.com/…
I’m currently on Tumblr for both my short-form and long-form blogging. It’s been kind of a battle for me since I want to build up one blog, but have yet to find my voice amongst the photos, music, and occasional long-form blog post.I really like the idea of keeping your short and long form blogging separate. Thanks for the advice. I’ve officially enrolled into “The Fred Wilson School of Blogging” after successfully reading this post. 🙂
I’m in the same exact boat, Joe. Sometimes I write long-form (which is on a Posterous account) and sometimes I take pics/video/etc. which are housed on my Tumblr. Not to mention all of the other platforms I post content on.. I am personally sick of not having a strategy for myself, so from this day on I am also enrolling in the FWSB (see what I did there?).Good luck my friend.
I like the acronym (#FWSB). :)I’m definitely going to be separating my photos/videos/links (sharing) from the thoughtful posts. I think this will be good too since you’ll be able to brand yourself better within the thoughtful posts surrounding whatever you’d like your brand to be (i.e. business development, product, advertising, etc.)Good luck to you as well.
well said.
I think I’m going to be enrolling in the FWSB as well.
Anything that starts with “The Fred Wilson School of…” is bound to be rich! Thank you. While not fully exercising all that I know, much of my understanding of online identity and behavior has been learned here. There is a sense of having learned from the best.And I’m watching the “book dream” die a painful death. So, maybe, a movie?
I am curious to know if you read Jonathan Franzen’s recent Kenyon college commencement speech commenting on technology and society. What did you think of it? If you have not read it and would like to you can find it at: http://roughfractals.blogsp…
What a can of worms this is and it comes down to the divide in thinking (at present) between Coca Cola’s well-known dictum of “fishing where the fish are” and the perhaps less obvious but nonetheless tried practice of baiting and attracting fish (this is going to be the last fo my fishing metaphors – promise). The ultimate coin of our universe, irrespective of which camp of thought you belong in is data. Who generates it, who owns it, who gets to see it, who controls it. Your identity is data, your brand is data and your website is data. The success or failure of any company, presence or brand on the web, in the future will come down to the amount of data it generates and what happens to it (including who does what with it). In that sense it is not logical to hand your data over to someone (would you hand all your money to a company?). You can, and should, invest some of your data in high-profile platforms (like G+, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr) but you should never lose control of the data you have generated no matter how high the enticement of engagement may be.
Great post Fred. I found it very useful as I’m getting my own personal and company blog up and running. Question for you – why did you decide to split your content between a self-hosted long blog and Tumblr? Were there technical limitations of Tumblr that made you feel like something else (e.g. WordPress) was a better option? Or, was it a decision based on wanting to put the right content in the right place?
The School of Blogging is timeless 🙂