The other day Patrick sent an email suggesting that I link my blog email titles to my actual blog at https://www.turkeltalks.com . That way, readers could add the posts they're interested in to their InstaPaper accounts and read them at their leisure. Post my blog to my blog so readers can find my blog? Who knew?
Remember when I wrote that “I have no idea what I'm doing”? Well there's the proof. Lucky for me, Patrick cared enough to help me get this blogging thing a little closer to right.
When I was a kid, my folks had a copy of the Whole Earth Catalog laying on the coffee table in the living room and I used to spend a lot of time sitting cross-legged on the rug paging through the book. I loved the collagey, hand-assembled aesthetic that suggested anyone could do this. And no matter how many times I thumbed through the book, I always discovered something new to look at.
I also remember reading Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book and thinking about what great practical jokes his insurrection techniques would make. I was reminded of this the other day listening to NPR. One of the organizers of “Occupy Wall Street” suggested that consumers should take the self-addressed stamped envelopes they get with credit card applications and mail them back with weights in them to cost the credit card companies money. Hey!! THAT was in Hoffman's book. Clearly I wasn't the only one who read it and paid attention.
It dawned on me that today's Internet communications are just an amped up, over caffeinated, technologically powered version of what came before – a great sharing of information between people, most of whom will never meet each other.
Just look at this blog. While it appears to be the work of one person, it's actually the joint effort of an entire community that many of you have contributed to:
Patrick helped me link to InstaPaper.
Three different Davids, Stella, Mike, and Seth have suggested plenty of subjects for me to write about.
Gually keeps me typo-free. Werner keeps the blog operating. Eblis keeps the network singing. Zoila pays the bills.
Vilma, Seth, Henry, and Tim generate lots of comments and conversation.
Jeanna, Yvette, and Lyan post links on Twitter.
And all of you keep the blog's critical mass growing by reading the posts and forwarding them to your friends and coworkers (11,255 at last count) who then sign up to receive it as well.
Plus, all the notes and comments I get are a great impetus for me to keep on writing by reminding me that I'm not just yelling into an empty canyon.
Besides the operation of the blog itself, lots of people have been involved in activities surrounding the posts:
The blog has generated speaking opportunities. Luis, Mike, Andrea, Mark, Meryl, and many more have invited me to present my ideas on subjects we've talked about here.
The blog has reunited old friends. Susan and Bill read what I wrote and got back in touch years after we last spoke.
The blog has created new friends. Mike, Marcelo, Lisa, and Steve all started conversations based on what they read.
The blog has created business. Lisa, Stephen, Bern, and Jeff came to our agency thanks to what they learned about us.
And hopefully, besides being entertained, some of you have found useful ideas buried in these pages that you've used to make your business – or your life – better.
So while the blog post Patrick loaded to his InstaPaper account probably won't be around as long as the Whole Earth Catalog or Steal This Book, as long as you (and Patrick) enjoy the time you spend here then we've done good work together.
When people ask me what I'm trying to achieve with this blog, three words come to mind. I want my words – and everybody's efforts – to be useful, enjoyable, and valuable. After all, time is money. As my friend Randy Gage posted on Twitter the other day, “You know how you feel when someone steals your money? That's how you should feel when they try to steal your time.” I always want the time you spend here to be worth your while.