Too Sexy For My Books

We have a problem with this blog . . . a few really but the big one is lack of motivation. What is a blog without content? A few months back I had a number of ideas of where I would like to see this blog go - or rather other people had ideas as to what should be written about. I had done up some bits and pieces of entries to release over time but now, now all that planning and creativity has gone. The lack of direction and focus of too sexy really came home after reading this post about desire, need and man flu when it comes to blogging.

With the stigs there was no lack of desire, dare I say need, to blog. In terms of too sexy it seems more of a chore that is lurking in the back of my mind. I need to find that desire to inflict my rambling ideas upon the unsuspecting again. I admire those who are doing the 365 blog thing, I know I couldn’t (because 1- I am lazy and 2- I have nothing to say).

It seems we are constantly being told that to be a blogger it has to be a passion, a desire, a need. It has to be informative, compelling and and pull 2000 hits a day. Is this really the case? Surely not. Surely it depends on your motivation and aims. For me a personal blog has always been a personal thing, even one such as this which is attempting to move away from the more journal style of entry (obviously not succeeding with that one). To be honest I really don’t care about getting a world-wide following on too sexy. Some of you may be thinking ‘Come on! SEM/SEO is what you want to get in to!’, yes it is. The concept of  getting results makes me dizzy and reading and analysing stats makes me giddy but that is in terms of my (future?) employers online presence - not mine.

According to the topics that go hot on Sphinn this is not a good attitude to have. We are constantly being bombarded with posts such as ‘10 ways to get further reach on your blog’, ‘Cunning ways collect comments’ and ‘6 sexy stylin’ tricks to pimp your blog’ (is it just me or is it in danger of becoming the Cosmo of the search world). Posts giving tips on ‘How to Hire a Hott SEO’ even go as far to tell you to Google any prospective SEO and if they come back high on the SERP well then they must be a rockstar. I can see this, I can see what they are saying here but do you really want a ‘rockstar’ working for you? If the job description included the criteria of -

* experience in destruction and demolition of hardware (including but not limited to: drum kits, guitars, keyboards, stacks, amps and cabs etc. NO destruction of basses though - the bass is sacred)

* ability to whine insessantly and take offence at any comment or suggestion

* Must have demonstrable EGO

Then yes, a rockstar is what you need. As with most industries the people who tend to get respect and longevity are those who are the antithesis of the ‘rockstar’ - those who quietly do what they do and do it well. They will challenge and question people and ideas, rather than tell and say ‘this is how it is done because I am telling you’. Guess you could call them the Gurus (not the self-appointed ones of course - rather those who truly have served their time sitting on lonely mountains being sustained on nothing but yak milk). Yet the point of SEO is to achieve a cult, rockstar status is it not? Yes . . . and no.

Yes, you want your product, brand, service, whatever to achieve monstrous high-profile success - thats the whole goddamn point. You want so much traffic that the servers break (of course you will need to fix this at some point). At the same time though whilst this is great for whatever you are pushing, is it so great for your own integrity? Personally I would rather be known (regardless of profession) for being someone who is a damned good worker, who gives everything they have, and above all gets done what needs to done - and more - but without having to go out and tell everyone how bloody awesome they are. In all seriousness, if your work cannot stand up for itself over time without your having to be continually reminding people of your status then you are in trouble. Reputation is of vital importance but in terms of personal reputation it needs to be built from what is consistently achieved, not what is constantly told.

I am all for every kind of promotion when it comes to my work but not when it comes to myself. Professionally, yes I want those top spots. Personally, no I do not want to be ‘rockstar’ and am happy for too sexy to be read by a only a few.

I am sure, nay, I know some of the readers of this blog will vehemently disagree with this. Some will agree that the goal of a blog - any blog - is to be read and read widely. The more hits you have and the more subscribers the more success you are. I agree, it is a measure of success - a very good one and as a metrics geek I love analysing my stats and seeing patterns and so on but is it the only measure? Is there more to a blog than being in the top 4 of the SERPs? It all depends on what your goals are, what your motivations are.

I seem to know what my motivations in terms of too sexy are not, yet am struggling to determine what they are. I know they will shift and change over time but actually having some to start with might help!

Right now though I am going to try and find direction in a block of dark chocolate with orange - truly the prince of combinations.

“Side of the Road”, Concrete Blonde