Know Your Audience

When you blog on Google, they offer a feature where you can track pageviews for each of your individual entries. Now, I don't know how accurate these "stats" are, but who am I to argue with Google? I'd rather pick a battle with Facebook, especially since "The Social Network" was released into theaters, making them look like selfish bastards.

After studying the most pertinent data, I came to several very important conclusions. First, my viewing audience is only slightly larger than a jury at the high end, as big as the band members of Green Day on the low end. So, I don't think I'll be selling advertising any time in the future, unless the client was looking for a very small, targeted, private audience who all live in the same neighborhood. The second point of interest was seeing which of the blogs was most popular with my loyal audience.

The three most popular topics were (are you sitting down?), Pets, Celebrities, and Garage Sales. On the surface, this shouldn't be that surprising. After all, who doesn't love their dog, celebrity sightings or the sheer excitement of negotiating the price of items that by all rights should be taking center stage at the garbage dump? I have to admit. It was a little disappointing. I thought some of the other blogs would have peaked a little more interest. I've written about politics, children, health related issues, and even movies, but somehow they haven't seemed to strike the right chord.

I asked a few friends who also blog on a regular basis, and they told me that the problem is that I don't focus on a single topic. In essence, I'm a jack of all trades, but a master of nothing. And that does have a certain element of truth. But I never wanted to be a one trick pony and put myself to sleep by writing about the same thing every week. However, it seems in the world of blogging, diversification isn't the most prudent advice.

I also noticed that I have a following in Denmark, Canada, and China. I've always wanted to go international, but I wish I knew what the attraction was. Could it be that the Danish of Copenhagen like to read about dogs? Perhaps the Canadians like to break from hockey and read about celebrities or maybe the Chinese are fascinated by the archaic concept of selling old merchandise from our garages. Whatever the reason, it's nice to know that blogging has no borders.

So, it looks like I have a decision to make. If I want more readers, I'll have to stick to a single subject. I'll also have to focus on the lowest common denominator which will preclude me from discussing anything that I'm passionate about. I need to leave politics to the cable news pundits, allow Rotten Tomatoes to monopolize reviews and comments about film, and give Disney and Nickelodeon exclusivity on telling children's stories. Conversely, I could roll the dice and continue writing about what interests me, even at the expense of readership.

After giving this some thought, I chose the latter. If you can't write about what really interests you, then what's the point of writing at all? I know this may disappoint Denmark and Canada, but I think they'll get over it. So expect more commentary on traditional subjects, but from a slightly different angle. And your vantage point will always be from the front of the line, rather than in back.

I'm curious to see how many views this post receives, although my expectations are low.

After all, who really wants to read a blog about blogs?