My projects seem to be heading down the Long Tail

Over the past five years, I've launched project after project. I love each one and put equal effort into each. And each is successful in its own way. But I can't help but notice that my interests are getting increasingly narrow, and as a result the monthly audiences for each project are falling by an order of magnitude with each iteration.

1. Wired: tens of millions of people
2. The Long Tail (book and blog): millions of people
3. GeekDad: hundreds of thousands of people
4. DIY Drones and BookTour: tens of thousands of people

I must break this cycle lest my next project fall below Kevin Kelly's 1,000 True Fans limit.

Somehow I think FREE will do the trick ;-)

Comments

[Comedy Blog]

Quality not quantity ;)

[Comedy Blog]

Quality not quantity ;)

[Comedy Blog]

Quality not quantity ;)

[Comedy Blog]

That is hilarious. I hit the back button 3 times and it posted it thrice. And i was just talking about quality not quantity.

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[Anton]

It appears that GeekDad is into the million people range. Maybe your projects are gaining popularity on some fronts.

[Chris Anderson]

It's true that GeekDad is on fire at the moment, but that's because I passed the baton to others. When I was running it, it was decidedly niche ;-)

[Stefano]

I have a feeling that the 1,000 true fans limit, are 1000 people who act as multipliers of your work, therefore they will promote you in the end. Just keep the good work and they'll do the rest.

[homer]

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[Ted Murphy]

Tell me where to invest in you -- I bet you knock the next one out of the park. Added your RSS, good luck.

[Eben Carlson]

You're growing more focussed and are going to regress for the market? Sound like cheap and free content isn't doing much for mature producers like yourself or mature consumers like your readers. Just when you've gotten the attention of your core, you're forced to water down to attract eyeballs and make money.

I've said it before and will say it again, free is not a business model--it's advertising. I can't understand how people who call themselves rational can look at the history of economics, see that fixed and arbitrarily low price systems have failed around the world and somehow end up saying that free will work better than cheap.

Let alone deliver something as important as a meaningful culture.

Free and cheap are for stale, old content--lower prices discourage the creation of new, relevant content.

Would a mechanic working another job get your car done better or faster?

Would a stock broker who had to sell t-shirts and tour to make ends meet give better advice or take care of you 401K more efficiently?

Would a successful CEO or engineer do better living in sub-standard housing, worrying about rent, spending evenings fixing the plumbing, having no insurance and running up credit card balances?

Try to find an hour of content on YouTube more meaningful than even the schlockiest Hollywood movie (hell, even try to find SNL's last Sarah Palin skit among the sea of amateur commentators and attention starved teenagers). If you can I'll listen to arguments that free will somehow do something that cheap can't.

Cheap begets cheap, free begets worthless. You find decent stuff on blogs because so many people are trying to escape their 9-5 and don't mind advertising themselves--for free.

Get the whole scoop at whiteg.com. I don't comment for free--this is advertising.

[cartouche d'encre]

Oh thats gr8 that both of your project was succeed, congrats you dude.. Nice post, you have good dedication towards your project.. All the best for your next project, i hope your dream will come true to break the record of Kevin..

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