The Slow (Feed)Burn and How Patience Wins on the Web -
No huge swells of change, no massive influxes of traffic. Not very exciting, is it? Just a slow, (surprisingly) steady uphill climb which enables me to (hopefully) build long-term relationships with fine people like you. Nothing flashy. Nothing newsworthy. Not even a lot of traffic in the grand scheme of things. Then again, sustainable relationships take time, effort and hard work, and those things aren’t nearly as sexy as big stats.
But they’re way more valuable.
It’s easy to measure the success of a project/blog/website by it’s initial launch. Movies are deemed successful by the box office numbers from the first weekend. The first week of CD sales either make or break a good album. And often websites rely on the Techcrunch-effect to propel them from a fledgling idea into a killer product in a matter of days.
Easy come, easy go.
There is an alternative: building up a committed audience over time. Developing a voice, writing with passion, and continuing with commitment. Sure, it’s hard work. Sure, it’s not always easy. Sure, you won’t get brownie points. But it’s definitely more valuable than quick, unloyal, unfocused traffic.
Take a look at the stats of MM.com since it’s inception in January 2008:
Nothing sexy about those stats at all. But I wouldn’t trade the people I’ve met, the things I’ve learned, and the relationships I’ve made for anything. You see the subscriber spike in March? That’s when my site got popular on StumbleUpon and Reddit. Hundreds of thousands of people clicked onto my site, crashed my servers, and left. Senseless traffic gets you nowhere.
Take a look at your stats over the past couple months. It may not cause your jaw to drop in amazement, but there is nothing more rewarding than slow, consistent, steady growth.
