Two-time Cy Young Award Winner Tim Lincecum is experiencing a horrible 2012 season
I made a joke about my Ad Age Power 150 ranking a while back, but when I found out how low my score was last Spring it seriously upset me.
I used to be a top-ranked blogger! What happened?
De-listing became a serious thought for a couple of days. After all, publicly quitting networks and such seems to be the fashionable thing to do amongst bloggers these days.
Plus I get zero traffic from the Index, which primarily serves as a vehicle for top marketing bloggers to claim influence bragging rights.
But, in the end I decided to remain listed for a few reasons.
1) Losers quit, and I am not a loser.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won a major since 2009, and is he quitting? No, he fell because of poor personal decisions and took time off to get himself back on track.
Now Tiger is competitive again. I guarantee you Tiger Woods will win another major some day, you can feel it.
I have been in the top 100 on a couple of occasions with two blogs, but not today, and largely because of my own actions and some lifestyle choices. I need to either address those matters or accept a lesser rank.
The real question is will I invest the time necessary to have a top-ranked blog?
Today, I value parenthood/family, running a profitable business, and maintaining physical health above this goal. Writing/social media success is fourth on my totem pole. Important, but probably not enough to deliver the necessary effort.
2) I practice what I preach: Lists don’t matter.
Ryan Zimmerman readies for a pitch
What matters are the relationships you cultivate as they relate directly to your business, and the people who are attracted to your way of thinking. If you serve them with great content and value their presence, they will be happy.
I may not be the most popular marketing blogger.
One of business goals with this blog is to put myself in position for big projects that can impact society and Fortune 500 opportunities. I’m getting what I want.
So what mattered most, being highly ranked or focusing on targeted outreach?
3) Competing matters to me.
Stephen Strasburg battles Buster Posey
Frankly, I liked being a top-ranked blogger. To get there, I had to beat out many peers.
Other people like to compete, too.
For an ecosystem to have quality and merit, you need top performers, poor performers, and everything in between. Good sports continue playing even when they don’t win.
Again, because of choices I made I am not there right now. But I think I can still write a good blog post, and serve people.
So if bloggers like me who used to be top ranked sit in the mid 200s, then fine. I have a lot of friends who used to be in the 150 who are right next to me. Welcome to the senior circuit.
All the better for the those who remain on top. My hat’s off to them.
What do you think?