Although I was happy not to have talked myself into a corner on the show there were some things I would have liked to have said differently, explained, or expanded on.
First off, sorry about the bit about asking if you wanted ketchup or relish on your hot dog. I removed my head set and held it away but James' voice apparently came through even though he was a good ten feet from the microphone.
Sometimes being extremely literal is to my detriment (it also has advantages but that is a different story). When Caleb asked which blog posts I was most proud of I did not include The Jews In The Attic Test because that isn't a blog post. That is a web page on a different website written long before I had a blog. Caleb didn't let me get away with not mentioning it however and posted a link to it in the chat room. See also Breda's post about the other bloggers "greatest hits".
In the last few seconds of the show Caleb asked what we bloggers would like other bloggers to do differently. I could have spent a minute or two on the topic instead of 15 seconds (or whatever it was). In fact at Gun Blogger Rendezvous II (October 2007) I had asked for an hour for a discussion of that type. Mike said I could bring it up during a particular time slot and when the time came he pressed me pretty hard and I declined to elaborate. I just didn't have the idea whittled down to it's essence in a way that would come across as coherent. The basis of my thought is this:
- We all have something that we do well in the blogosphere--most likely because we are passionate about it
- Each of us have a niche that is at least somewhat different from everyone else
- If we can recognize and articulate what it is that we do well and want to accomplish we that will probably enable us to do what we do better
Microsoft used to have the mission statement "A computer on every desk and in every home". It is now "At Microsoft, our mission and values are to help people and business throughout the world realize their full potential". I've also heard it expressed as "Your potential, our passion."
I think every blogger should have a mission statement. It doesn't have to be posted on the banner or part of the name of the blog. It doesn't even have to be written down. I just has to be something that the blogger refers to when he or she is thinking about when they are working on that "really great post" or when they are searching for something to blog about. "What is my mission here?" should have an answer that can be articulated even if it is done silently and rarely.
I made some suggestions on the show and here they are (perhaps modified a bit) along with some others. Can you guess whose blog they might refer to?
- Be the best aggregator with minimal fluff and maximum coverage
- Educate people on the philosophical foundations and practical reasons for liberty
- Make the Brady Campaign the social equivalent of the KKK
- Mock the arrogant, the pretentious, and the criminal
- Have no shame but shame those that need it
- Proselytize the shooting sports and self-defense
- Preserve our future through knowing our history
- Politics are complex so explain and enable people to be effective
- America's most aggressive defender of firearms ownership (from an existing website--guess who)
There might be multiple mission statements for a given blog but with more you increase the risk of not being able to succeed in any one of them.
Think about it. And just because I might have suggested something you think was for your blog doesn't mean you can't tell me I'm way off base that your blog is about something entirely different. My perception, my error.