Generating one crappy post a day is a pretty easy thing to do. Generating one decent post a day can also be done, but takes a little more effort; something I might or might not have in between taking care of kids. I understand the importance of consistently generating new content on websites, but there has been a battle inside of me that Seth Godin really explained very well today in a post titled Getting serious about the attention economy
Everyone lives busy lives. From late November through mid January it seems that roughly 12 hours a day are eliminated from my schedule … magically. This has caused me to fight the urge to release something every day, just to have something new.
I know deep down that it would be the ideal, but I am also looking at my capacities to produce & know that there are roughly 10 unfinished articles, and at least 5 episodes of StartingCube ready to be worked on.
I’m taking the path of focusing on quality and minimum releases – you should too.
Here is something Seth says in that post, slightly altered for Stay At Home Dads & Moms:
If someone stood in front of your [house] and lit $100 bills from your [wallet] on fire, you’d call the cops. But people … waste the attention of their peers and your customers/prospects at the drop of a hat.
Every interaction comes with a cost.
I think about this with my posts on Google +, Facebook, Twitter, and other online communities I am involved with, too. It’s why I limit the number of links in articles.
The less words we say, the less posts we release, the less media can cause each to have more impact. The other side of it is that you do have to be consistent enough to get noticed in the first place.
Have you fought for the attention of your children? Does this same balancing act apply with the word “No”?
What have you done to balance the fight between a minimum amount of communication and keeping the attention of your audience? Your audience could be customers, friends, family, children, your spouse, or another community.
I’m sitting in a comfy chair in a corner of a library, waiting for my next appointment & typing this article on my smartphone. Over the past few years this has been common, not just for me, but for thousands of other location independent people. I’ve worked in restaurants, coffee shops, gyms, and parks.