Or welcome to the new Luis, for that matter! I guess there is nothing better than honest, constructive, candid, helpful feedback about your blog and blogging style, specially when it comes from people you respect and treasure for what they have taught you over the years in one of the areas you feel very passionate about; in this case Knowledge Management and blogging.
Yesterday afternoon my good friend Jack Vinson shared the following tweet across with me:
"@elsua I know I have mentioned this before, but consider getting an editor 🙂"
Of course, he was referring to this, my personal business, blog and my own blogging style, which some times tends to meander in and out quite a bit and become perhaps too verbose, making it almost impossible to go straight to the point at times and get people confused in the process.
Check! Guilty as charged! If you have been reading this blog for a while now, you would reckon it’s been one of those on-going challenges I have been wanting to address and fix, specially for those folks out there who can’t afford to spend lots of time reading through lengthier blog posts to then have difficulties finding out where the golden nuggets are. Yet, it’s been such a complex challenge to fix that Jack suggested, for the second time, I should look for an editor to help tame that storytelling flavour my blog posts seem to be permeating from all along.
Well, this is it, folks, this is a new beginning for yours truly, Luis Suarez (a.k.a. @elsua), as I am about to make one extra effort in order to accommodate that potential audience out there wanting to read and grasp those knowledge nuggets in the shortest time possible and move on. Not sure how it is going to pave out in the end; it will be, I guess, another on-going learning experience, but, if it helps, I’m surely willing to give it a try and then see how it may conflict with my usual self.
Earlier on this morning I had one of those wonderful and rather educational Skype calls with another good friend of mine, David Tebbutt , who saw my Twitter exchange with Jack yesterday and who kindly offered, during our conversation, some tips on what I could do to change some of the flavours that may be coming from those blog entries. I do know I just cannot pretend to be someone else I am not; I do know I am someone who isn’t too preoccupied with getting thousands of reads per article published.
I do know, however, I am someone who cares a great deal for those folks out there who may be following this blog (Or bump into it by pure chance) and who candidly provide lots of constructive feedback as a token of gratitude to help improve the overall content from this blog. So I decided enough with the meandering in and out, let’s cut to the chase, go straight to the point with what I would want to do, or say, because, after all, that’s what constructive feedback from folks you care about is all about: a continuous learning experience that helps you become better at what you do, i.e. that helps you become better at who you are!
So hello and welcome to the new @elsua! Feel free to drop by, say "Hi!" and leave a comment if you would want to improve that overall learning experience from yours truly. It will be very much appreciated… And a big thanks to both Jack & David for triggering something I should have done a while ago. Hopefully, it won’t be too late 😉
Tags: Blogging, Metablogging, Renewal, Blogging Style, Blogs, @elsua, Feedback, Learning Experiences, Jack Vinson, David Tebbutt
Hi New Elsua! 😀
Hiya Marilin! Oh, and there was something else that I didn’t mention on the original blog post… be more responsive to comments, so here I am! Thanks a bunch for dropping by and for the “warm welcome”; let me know whenever you are in the island again and we can share a drink or two 🙂
Good on you Luis for being prepared to make the effort, and good luck!
Thanks, Mike, for dropping by and for the feedback! Well, yes, I think I’m prepared for it, but we will have to wait and see; this is not about changing in a single post or anything, but more change along the lines of a new blogging style: sharper & more straight to the point. We shall see what two weeks would do with this experiment… Thanks for the feedback!
Luis,
Since you are involved with the use of social software/Web 2.0 apps for the enterprise, I would like to get your opinion about HyLighter and whether you think it has any value for internal use at IBM as well as an application for large enterprises in general.
We have talked to many people at IBM and perhaps because IBM builds Web 2.0 apps it is harder to get attention.
I would ask you to review our website as well as try it out with other colleagues either within IBM or external people.
We had at one time an earlier version on the TAP server but because we were external to IBM no one ever championed it & it was eventually taken down. We have since then revised the application significantly to make it much easier to use.
I hope you will take some time to look at HyLighter and provide your feedback and would like to help us should you see merit.
Thanks,
Ben Minsk
VP of Sales & Business Development
Phone:508-925-0456
Luis –
The truth is that I don’t know a single blogger (including myself) who could not benefit from the assistance of an able editor. Good for you for actually doing something about it. I do hope you’ll pass on any tips you learn!
Good luck!
– Mary
Hi Mary! I really appreciate your great comments and feedback and glad to see I’m not the only one with this sense that their own blogging could be “better”; I must say that I never saw your blogging style as needing an editor; quite the opposite. Your blog is one of the ones I can take up to on this new blogging style. Always lots of golden nuggets and straight to the point! That’s a little bit of what I needed, too! 🙂
I will be playing around with this “new style” for a couple of weeks and see how it feels and will then follow up with a new blog post where I will share what I learn … Thanks much, once again, for the wonderful feedback; it’s greatly appreciated!
Luis,
I think when some people follow a blogger they become comfortable with the person’s “voice” – So when I read you or Dave Pollard, I look forward to a zillion thoughts and your writing style lets me know how you reached the conclusion.
When I read Seth Godin on the other hand I really don’t know how he has reached the conclusions he says he has.
When I read you I learn with you.
But it’s good to try out new styles 🙂 Maybe your enormous number of readers will increase 2-3x times 🙂
I agree with Gautam — don’t change too much from your natural voice!
As another long-winded blogger, I am keen to resist the notion that blog posts are always short and pithy. (Although there are some excellent ones that do that well.)
WOw! Wonderful comments, Gautam & Mark! I am surely glad you guys dropped by and share that great feedback! I agree with you both that’s going to be difficult, and a challenge, to let my old blogging style die off into the new one; in fact, you would still expect plenty of the former, trying to combine itself with the latter.
I am surely going to give it a good try and see how I can blend best both styles, but one thing I do realise about and which I mentioned on the blog is that I just can’t pretend to be who I am not; so I don’t expect my old style to die off any time soon! 🙂
And I surely agree with you as well, Mark, that some times it is worth it expanding on longer blog posts to give a little bit more context. That’s fine. I’m not going to let that go any time!
Gautam, well, we shall see about the tons of readers … so far getting similar readership as in previous days, so perhaps it won’t affect my overall readership much; we shall see 😉
Hiya Luis. Wow! That was quick. We want both the old Luis and the new one please. Hope that’s not too greedy of us.
The new Luis for when we’re pushed for time – enough to grasp the message and tag the post for reading the old Luis later. (I have a kind of ‘must read later’ bookmark folder for exactly this. I call it ‘fodder’)
I’m sure you can pull this off without at all cramping your (what did I call it?) “meandering charm”.
You know where I am if you need me.
Hi David! Many thanks for those lovely comments! Yeah, like we discussed yesterday, I don’t think the old Luis has vanished; more he has tamed himself a bit more and turned himself into that new one; so I think a combination of the two would still be at reach! Fear not 😉
Indeed, it was “meandering charm”, which is an expression that I still love and which I am not ready to give up on it just yet, my friend. I think sometimes it will still be needed. I will reach out for you in a little while to see how I may have evolved… or not 😉 heh
Thanks a bunch for the lovely conversation yesterday! Like I said, very enlightening!
As long as you will have the same nice personality I don’t mind you will be renewed ! 🙂
Hi Sjaak! Well, that’s key, in my opinion. Like I said earlier on, I cannot pretend to be who I am not, so that won’t change much, to be honest. It’s just trying to perhaps find a new direction on my blogging style after 7 years giving it a go. We shall see how that goes…
By the way, I had a great time at Lotusphere in Orlando and great to finally meet up with you in real life! Look forward to the next one! 🙂
hi, new Luis. 🙂 though i did like the storytelling style. cheers …
Hi Atul! Awww, thanks for the kind comments! Don’t worry that storytelling style will not vanish that quick just yet, I am afraid; it’ll become much sharper, but will still be there, for sure; that’s part of the essence of who I am and how I see blogging, so there is no chance it will go away any time soon. It will just bit a bit more tamed 😉
Let’s see how it will go …
Great, now I can’t have the excuse “well Luis’s blog posts are longer and more rambling than mine.” Don’t set the bar too high! (Just kidding.)
Hiya Gil! LOL!!! Actually, I have always enjoyed your own blogging style of providing lots of superb background with a nice finish and thought-provoking conclusions in most cases that surely make you think twice about things! Really nice example of what I try to aim as well with some of my blogging!
Thanks for that leading example, my friend! And surely hope to see you soon again! Thanks for dropping by and for the lovely feedback!
I hope you all aren’t looking at me like I am crazy. I truly enjoy Luis’ insights – my comments to him were that I cannot always get what those insights are.
Let’s hope we don’t lose anything essential due to my tweeted comment!
Hi Jack! Thanks a lot for dropping by and for the feedback comments! I actually don’t think you would be missing out on anything essential; perhaps the only change I have introduced up to this point is sharing some of those insights in a much more straightforward pace than before, so folks can cut to the chase sooner, rather than experiencing that “meandering charm” that David referred to above.
So far, not planning on changing my blogging style drastically, so I would think those changes are somewhat limited… Let’s see how things go from here for the next couple of weeks …
Thanks again for the kind feedback and speak to you soon! (Hope you had a safe flight back home!)
I can see the point re conversational drift or unproductive verbosity, but I don’t believe these are major issues with your blogging.
PLEASE do not succumb to sound bites and Twitterist stylings! We need some people to speak in-depth, to explore a topic fully. I would prefer to see someone fleshing out their thoughts and considering multiple angles. Your column would certainly be less interesting were you to substantially embrace brevity for the sake of it.
Hi Wilson! Many thanks for dropping by and for the great feedback comments! I greatly appreciate your insights and hope that I haven’t cut off too much from what things used to be a few weeks back; must confess it’s been a couple of interesting weeks where I myself am starting to see some changes on that style without sacrificing too much of the original style I doubt would disappear; it’s who I am and how things go and somehow to me it’s all part of an evolution of blogging styles, but still with the core of it right where it should.
Hopefully, I haven’t deviated too much into that brevity you mentioned above and which, I agree, is good for things like Twitter and Facebook, but maybe not for blogging 😉
Thanks again for dropping by!
Just don’t be like me, Luis. I think I re-read emails at least three times before I’m prepared to send them. I suspect it slows me down a tad, but I’m kind of obsessive about spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Of course, it bleeds over into my blogging as well. I have always found your style of blogging interesting and provocative, so don’t beat yourself up too much.
Hiya, Rick! Funny enough I’m pretty much like yourself; although I don’t send emails anymore, I do get to read a couple of times the blog posts, re-edit myself a few times before I can post it and all of that before I do a final read out loud, so that it makes sense; perhaps an obsession, I just can’t help it, probably pretty much like yourself… Either way, I still think it’s a healthy exercise to share the best of what it comes out.
Thanks much for the kind comments on my blogging style; glad you find it interesting and somewhat provocative; that’s been the intent all along and doubt it would change much any time soon… unless I go through some drastic changes myself as to who I am. Yeah, not likely to happen any time soon! 😉 hehe