Milestone

Marking an anniversary is an effective way of tying together events from the past with current affairs.  This time is less of an anniversary and more of a milestone.  It is the 100th blog of Craig’s Corner.  It’s taken a little less than two years to hit this point.  Along the way “significant” issues have been tackled, some successfully, some less so.  On this auspicious occasion let’s look at some of the behind-the-scenes stories.
For a number of years friends (and foes?) have suggested that I take my opinions / perspective and put them on the web with a regular commentary.  I was dubious.  What was a blog anyway – some morass filled with gooey liquid?  I have not only found the process to be intellectually fulfilling, I’ve have quite a few nice things happen. 
You’re not alone:  thanks to all of you who generate 1,200 and 1,400 views per month.  It’s my Sally Field Moment (you like me, you really like me!).  OK, well, maybe like is too strong a descriptor.  “Toilet Bowl Sunday” from February 2011 which took a look at Super Bowl Sunday and the importance of advertising and branding and applied it to the political process is the most popular blog so far.  Well, truth be told it’s probably the most popular title I’ve written, but, still.  Stats don’t lie!
A reader asked me to read and write a book-cover review for their tome.  Of course the problem was that I couldn’t quite understand the two page summary the author sent as it seemed to be written in gobbledygook.  It seems that ended my potential side career as a blurbist. 
I have met with a variety of people – being asked by leaders of some major organizations to come and talk with them after a particular entry aligned with their goals.  Disappointment seemed to ensue when I had to make clear that I wrote things how I saw them and I wouldn’t be able to use the talking points I was being provided.  But it’s always nice to be asked.
This is ad supported content and a weeks ago I got my first payment.  $101 --- so that’s about $1 per blog.  It won’t quite replenish the 401K, but it’s a start.
Many marketing and branding experts have advised me to spend more time on getting each blog out to the public more so that more people could be following the entries and that there be more of an impact.   For a few months I cross posted the blog each week with a well known, well respected “progressive” site.  In short order the blog picked up quite a following and there was actually a fair amount of back-and-forth on the comment fields.  For a couple of weeks running by happenstance the subjects Craig’s Corner tackled mirrored the subjects the editor of the site tackled.  A number of readers began to support the perspective I offered.  I soon found the entries were no longer posted on the “highlighted” areas of the site, and shortly after that each commentary was suddenly rejected.  “Badly written” and “Poorly referenced” were reasons – though they were more justifications given that all facts are cross-linked to source material.  On the plus side I must’ve arrived – I’ve been censored!
Onward I go – opining on oddities, inconsistencies and things that catch my fancy.  Thanks for reading – and for clicking through.  Like, Share and comment…there’s more to come!

Comments

  1. RosalindMay 31, 2012 at 6:47 AM

    Congrats Craig, never easy to be consistent and you are. I know what it takes, I've been doing mine now for practically 5 years, blog number 248 published this week! Onwards and upwards!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Give me a break!

The idiom “give me a break” generally is used when you don’t believe something that has happened or been said. We’ve all muttered the expression a lot lately, especially around the 2016 Presidential race. I am going to use it here more literally. I started this blog in late July 2010. This is the 329 th iteration. At an average of 750 words that’s nearly 250,000 words. To compare that’s about three average mystery novels (at 80,000 words each), much less than the Bible (800,000 words) and nowhere near the IRS Code (4 million words). Originally Craig’s Corner was a way to keep me focused during a long stint where I was without work or income. With gainful employment it has become a welcome respite from the day-to-day tasks. I tend to focus on issues that are interesting to me but not necessarily a critical part of what I do day in and day out. My perspective isn’t unique, but I do look at the word with a different lens. I’ve tried hard not to be part of the echo chamber and been...
Read more

Hoping for Grace

I wrote this blog regularly for many years, 330 unique posts. Every Thursday I’d post my thinking for the week. I always strove to offer a perspective that wasn’t in the main discourse on a particular issue. It wasn’t left or right or even center – just looking at something from a different angle. There were some really great dialogues that happened with people who appreciated nuance and having a substantive conversation. I never sought for agreement from readers, just a healthy and respectful debate. The election of Donald J. Trump changed the engagement from polite discourse to flame throwing character assination if somebody disagreed. That wasn’t interesting or productive to me, so the blog no longer served its intended purpose. I return to the format because today because it seems to be a good way to explore an issue that I’ve been long committed to, but handled in a thoughtless way. Recently I made a thoughtless comment on a Facebook post that was undeniably racist, and demean...
Read more

Giving the gift

Image
The holidays are right around the corner. It’s a time of reflection, excitement and no matter one’s religious predilections a there’s a tradition of gift giving. Talking about the holidays before Halloween is usually met with revulsion and resistance. This time it’s different. While we can’t grant everybody’s #1 wish – that the 2016 U.S. Presidential election cycle be over – maybe we can do something close.   Let’s give Donald J. Trump what he’s been talking about. I’m wary of adding to the proliferation of commentary on the Grand Old Party’s nominee. But then maybe there’s something to the Trump complaints. Instead of dismissing everything that comes out of his mouth as made up, perhaps we should be doing is more of what he worries about, not less. The more recent complaints from the real-estate tycoon have to do with media bias. All “the media” does is lie, distort and never gives him fair coverage. This same media generated over a billion dollars of free brand and...
Read more