Do you ever go to that favorite site of yours and say, ‘man, this site sucks!’? Or how about, ‘wow, another week and no new content!’
These are common problems you’ll run into when you’ve been surfing the internet long enough, or blogging long enough. See, you may not notice things like posting schedules until you have one yourself. You might not mind posts that say the same thing over and over, unless you’re trying not to do that yourself.
I run into these issues, and a lot more. Unfortunately, I’m running into some of them again now. These are situations like:
- Lindsay Buroker’s Blog: I went here again today and was just beside myself. One month and three days now since she put up her last post, something that clearly shows how important I am. This blog has been going downhill for some time, and it’s getting booted off my bookmark bar.
- Elizabeth Spann Craig’s Blog: I used to get a few tips on this site, and she does a good roundup of Twitter links on Saturday, but lately this site has just been one dull guest post after another. I’m sorry, but listening to new authors crow about how good they are isn’t something I care about.
- Terrible Minds: I’ve had Chuck Wendig’s site on my bookmark bar for more than a year. I usually visit once or twice a week and scan the headlines. Maybe once a month I’ll read an article, but most of the time I find his posts to be drivel. That was no different when I stopped in today. Yep, it’s time to free up that prime real estate and kick this author to the curb.
I’ve done this before, clear my bookmark bar. You can read about it in Taking Back Your Internet Bookmarks and Showing No Mercy When Organizing Your Internet Bookmarks Bar. I’m a firm believer in clearing out the dead wood, and I’ve cut content marketing sites, SEO sites, and author sites. Author sites usually get the axe the most often, and the reasons are simple – they natter on about the same things over and over, and if they’re not doing that, they’re trying to sell you the same old book over and over again.
That’s just my opinion, of course, but after more than two years of daily blog visits to various self-publishing and marketing sites, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the truth more often than not.
- First, you’re not sharing it there and you’re likely not sharing much at all on social media other than with your followers;
- Next, your followers aren’t sharing that content you’re producing, at least not in any area where people are actually looking.
Again, you see this with authors more than anything, and you see it with those three I’ve listed here. They don’t bother to do that stuff, mainly because they feel they don’t have to. After all, with such lofty blogs, those immense amounts of traffic, and the gargantuan number of social media followers they have, why would they need to do that? That time would be better spent writing crappy blog posts that rehash the same-old same-old, or better yet, posting nothing at all!
Maybe those blogs have those, and maybe I’m just angry that I don’t have them…fine. In that case, it’s best I just put them right back up there on that bookmark bar and continue to visit them. So what if the content is stale and it appears irregularly at best? Isn’t it my place to look up to these folks, waiting for their answers for the problems in my life?
No, no it’s not.
If you don’t like a site, or if a good site goes bad, get rid of ‘em. I’ve done this numerous times.
- I did it with Copyblogger, and wow, I saw one of their posts on Google+ the other day and was like ‘wow, I totally forgot about that site. I wonder if they’re still doing alright.’
- I did it with Hugh Howey’s site, and every once in a while I’d catch myself wondering, ‘are people still so blown away by nothing?’
- I did it with Joe Konrath’s site, and every…well, I haven’t thought about that droll soul since the last time I read my son Trumpet, the book about the dog that won’t shut up.
So ditch those know-it-alls that don’t really know it all, or if they did, it was probably in a bygone era. Go forth and find those voices that actually mean something to you, don’t waste your time, or make you think in a way that produces something of value, instead of eating up your valuable time.
You Might Also Like
Showing No Mercy When Organizing Your Internet Bookmarks Bar
I’m Taking Joe Konrath’s Site Off My Bookmark Bar
Mindless Followers and Thoughtless Leaders in Self-Publishing
Why is Your Website Telling Me to ‘Go Fuck Myself’?
10 Reasons It’s Time for You to Stop Commenting on Blogs