What this Blog is About

Posted: April 16th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

I realized that anyone who looks at the different topics I talk about on this blog may wonder why it’s so varied and just what I’m trying to do/communicate. Basically, what kind of blog is this?  To that end, I figure I’d put together this post, saying what this blog is about. In order to do that, though, I’ve got to lay down some context first.

Reasons for starting this blog

When I started “blogging” in 2008, I really had no clue what I was doing. I’ve always been a rabid consumer of media, information, and pretty much anything that I thought could increase my knowledge base or enrich my life. Having reached a crossroads in my life, I can now say that I was probably using writing to replace the rambling conversations I would have with my friends during my “college years”. I wanted a way to express ideas I had bouncing around in my head, and putting them in a paper journal didn’t seem like a solution I wanted any part of.
This particular blog, RelevantWit, grew out of previous efforts on Blogspot and WordPress.com, including the very tediously titled “This Blog Needs a New Name”.  As I’m sure happens to most people, after I spent a while using the free utilities, I realized the value in having  place that I owned, so I got a hosting package from DreamHost (completely recommend these guys) and haven’t looked back.

Reasons for keeping this blog

First, an admission; I actually have multiple sites.  One for my gaming podcast I’ve been doing since 2010, one for my failed morning show, one for the local dining and food blog I’ve yet to get active, and this guy. That said, this is my primary site, and indeed the only one I wholly own myself. I’ve found that I enjoy collaborating, and indeed would not have any of my experience in podcasting, interviewing, hosting, or a handful of other social skills I’ve built up in the last 4 years I wasn’t working with others.
However, as much as I enjoy that, I still need a place where I set the pace, determine what goes live and what gets buried deep, deep below the mines of Moria. Sometimes I don’t update as frequently as I might like, and I can start to feel the ideas boiling over in my mind.  I’m sure those are the times I end up driving the lady of the house insane with my randomness. If I had to collaborate, I’d feel a responsibility to 1.) keep the momentum up and 2.) do my share to be organized and always improving the project. When it’s just me working on this blog, I can be free to operate much more organically.

What I plan to write about

Honestly, I plan to write about whatever I damn well please.

Hold on, let me take a stab at being more constructive with that one. While this blog is my personal, on-going writing project, there are a few genres I tend to gravitate towards, including:

  • localism
  • urbanism
  • television, movies and media culture
  • personal introspection (I’d call it “lifestyles of urban american male” but it really not that academic)
  • sports, maybe
  • professional development (but not industry specific)
  • whatever I’m reading and how it’s impacting my thought process at the time

Why this blog isn’t about Online Marketing

Years from now I may regret this decision. As it stands, there’s a probability that I should already regret the fact I didn’t create a marketing-specific blog when I first got into online marketing at the end of 2011. For the time being, though, I’m sticking with the current route and not hiding any of my disparate interests.  If, down the road, future employers or potential freelance clients look me up and are discouraged that I haven’t been devoting my energy towards blogging about online marketing and improving my author rank within that space, then we may not be on the same page already.
Plus, there are already so many great resources doing a better job than I could on my own. Rather than try to compete, I’ll be looking towards opportunities to contribute or collaborate.

What I hope to get out of it

When I get interested in a topic and have lots of half-formed thoughts or inspirations rattling around, I’ve found that the most constructive way to handle it is to come up with blog ideas. In doing so, I’ve usually been able to better sequence my true thoughts on the topic. Even if the post ultimately gets shelved or scrapped, at least I’ve figured out where I stand on the matter.  I’d also like to think that my writing style and my ability to develop written content have evolved over the years, and should continue to improve the more I use them. Sort of that Ira Glass quote put into effect. In the end, though, if all I get out of it is some peace-of-mind, then it’s still worth the effort.

What I hope you get out of it

If you’ve taken the time to read all this, or any of my other posts, I hope you find something of value. If I had to make a list of services I aim to provide, I’d include things like comedic relief, thought-provoking discourse, and at least an honest opinion for you to either stand against or in favor of.

Much like with my twitter feed, I expect there are some audience segments who will be more interested in certain content than others. Hopefully when I write about urbanism or localism, I can use my current setting as an example, or a setting, for my idea but not to such an extent that it proves to be exclusionary or disinteresting to any readers who aren’t in the same vacinity. Likewise, when I write about professional development, I can aim for things that are more universally applicable (such as how to handle disenfranchised teammates) instead of things that are only hyper-relevant to my industry (such as how to set the pace for a content-marketing campaign).

 

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2 Comments on “What this Blog is About”

  1. 1 RyanGPhx said at 10:14 am on April 16th, 2014:

    New on RelevantWit: What this Blog is About http://t.co/eBen5Vvunw

  2. 2 What This Blog is About - Revised - Relevant Wit said at 9:39 am on November 18th, 2020:

    […] on the masthead says, this is “an evolving space”.  About 29 months ago I wrote this post, outlining what I thought this blog was about at that […]