In the digital world so much changes so fast, and then some things never change. Today one of the most influential institutions of what is called Web 2.0 just turned six years old. ProBlogger, the vision of Darren Rowse, is without a doubt the resource for all things blogging. We wanted to wish Darren, and his great team of collaborators, a super big congratulations and thanks. Where would social media or any of the rest of Web 2.0 be without people like Darren?
All too often, and Darren would confer on this, we are so busy building our own little empires to acknowledge and/or revisit even the best resources – friends, ideas, sources of all we have learned. ProBlogger is one of those places for me. Sadly, as Darren expresses in his video recap for the anniversary below, even though we have become expert in all things blogging and Web 2.0, all of us act irresponsibly sometimes. Detatching ourselves from logical and intuitive, authoritative basics which places like ProBlogger (people like Darren) taught us in the first place? Well, you get the idea.
Veneturing back to PB for the first time in many weeks, it did not take me long to recognize ripened fruits right at the front door or Rowse’s adolescent now creation. An abtly titled post, How to Romance Your Readers Like a 5 Star Restaurant, reminded me of what my sribllings became popular in the first place, I had a knack for serving up tech articles in 5 courses – Darren’s kind of “real person” genius helped me back when too. And too, the 5C’s Darren refers too are more important now perhaps, than at the onset of this social web experience.
Content (value), Community (value), Connection (value), Cash (rewards), and Contributing (rewards) are Darren’s 5 C’s for successful blogging. If you look at the ratio there of reader value to editor rewards it is clearly Darren’s methodology to give more than take – at least where quality content and professionalism is concerned. Most strikingly for me personally, the contribution my endeavors make to people’s lives – this is the pinnacle of achievement. Sure, this sound idealistic, but when the goal is set at this level, so much more flows positively toward our endeavors. No need to get to ethereal here, but I know Darren would agree.
So, I guess this is just an impromptu “thank you” to Darren Rowse, who probably still never grasps how much he has helped, how many he has affected, I for one should have said so before. Darren, thanks for all you taught me, I promise to visit more often – your latest advice on “posting the wrong things even though we know they are” being my latest nugget from ProBlogger. Wishing you 60 more years man.