Survey Results: Readers Want 2 Posts Per Week
On December 30th, 2008 I posted a survey so my readers could decide if 3 posts per week would be better than 2 posts per week.
Over 320 readers voted and the final tally I took revealed 202 – NO votes compared to 119 – YES votes. The Blog Dialogue survey result was a WIN-WIN for me because I get do less work and serve more of my readers.
Starts Immediately: So as of Thursday, January 8th, my blogging editorial calendar will 2 posts per week that show up every Thursday and Tuesday (every week in 2009) at precisely 8:44am Eastern.
One of my core premises is: “People support what they help to create.” And thesimplest way to get support is to “Ask.” That sounds simple, but it’s not easy.
The”Ask Principle” is what the Greek Philosopher, Socrates discovered nearly 2,500 years ago, which is now known as the The Socratic Method. It is what Gandhi insinuated when he said, “In order to G-E-T you must first A-S-K.”
And it is what George Gallup did for most of his professional life - assessing public opinion on political, social, and economic issues, including the hopes and fears of people around the globe, their leisure-time activities, their morals, beliefs, etc.
What To Do Now: In 2009, I want you visit and revisit this blog on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When you do, you’ll see a new blog post that appears at precisely 8:44am Eastern.
It may seem silly to you, but for me, having that level of consistent precision (Tuesdays, Thursdays at 8:44am Eastern) makes me more predictable to you. And predictability typically leads to Trust.
Tags: alex mandossian, gallup organization, george gallup, info publishing, marketing, mohatma gandhi, online, socrates, stephen covey
Nice, now we got a schedule :-) so our votes were counted.
I think less posts works great for helping people digest the info and act on it. Thanks
Looking forward to a Fine 2009 from your blog Alex.
– Pat & Lorna
http://PatAndLorna.com
Alex,
I was so moved by how you are going to serve your readers, that I talked to my management team and we decided to follow in your footsteps and do our blog on http://www.jasonmanwill.com on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s as well in 2009. Our time for posting will be different, we will post at 11:11am Eastern Time. We chose the 11:11am time, so that we could have 1-2 Prime Time Hours BEFORE the blog post.
I am taking 100% marketing responsibility and I appreciate the accountability nudge. In 2009 look for great training tips that can transform your participants whether you are a Teleseminarian or on a live event stage.
Ja’son Manwill
The Transformational Trainer’s Coach™
http://www.jasonmanwill.com
I don’t think it has to do with number of posts at all. When people are asked to “vote” for number of posts, most would mentally just say no to 3 because 2 would mentally require less effort on their part to read. But they’re not thinking about “quality” received at that point. They’re thinking about “quantity.”
The first thing I do every morning while on the bike at the gym is hit my blackberry to see what new posts have come up on my google reader rss. I get excited when I see “at least” one new post every day from ProBlogger because I know I’m in for amazing content every time and they’re the first ones I read. Am I “mad” at problogger for posting every day? Of course not. Because I’m not thinking about “numbers,” but “quality.”
As you’ve said before Alex, the customer is not always right. The prospect is.
The prospects of you reaching more people who don’t know you has been diminished by 33.33333% by 202 people with a scarcity and lazy mindset.
Here’s something I learned a long time ago: Never take advice from people who have no skin in the game.
Paid subscribers: Yes.
Readers of a free blog: No.
Looking forward to more of you inspiring me to take even more action in 2009 … not less.
The power of asking the market what it wants….what a simple yet powerful idea.
So many times I call a company and ask for something, and one of the underlings happily announces (as if it were a victory to turn down a customer) that they don’t offer it or just can’t help me. It sounds funny but I bet it has happened to you too! I don’t think I have ever had a business ask me what I want- they offer what they offer, hoping it is what I want to buy.
It seems to me there is HUGE power in asking our prospects what they want….and then giving it to them.
I am running several ‘ask’ campaigns right now with a Dr. who has two new products; one is for immediate & lasting pain relief for ailments such as arthritis and back pain, the other is to help people with stubborn weight loss. http://www.askdrberg.com. His products are fantastic but I am still training him that asking prospects what they want is important…that it helps build relationships and will lead to sales. He is slowly coming around…
Everyday I remind him of what Alex taught me:
“People support what they help to create.”
Anything IS Possible,
Jan
I agree with Mike Sigers and Website Waves Blogger. Less, in my book, is not more. I’d be pretty upset if someone valued what I had to offer so little that they voted to have a 3rd less. I think a better question to ask would be, what can I offer my readers that would be of such value that they’d want to see 4 posts a week rather than 3 and, to make space in their busy days, they’d unsubscribe to that other marketing guru they were following because they just weren’t as value.
This is like being happy that people are dining at your restaurant only twice a month instead of weekly. I mean isn’t the point of a blog to draw traffic in and get them to invest time so that perhaps they’ll buy something from you?
In other words, I want people visiting my store more, not less, often.
Nice template. Where can i download it?
Pretty good going, I’m going to post a quote of your content on my site (with a link back). I hope that’s ok?