Monday, November 01, 2010

The Life Cycle of a Blog


Reference: A typical Sigmoid curve.

INCEPTION:
  • The Genesis- You develop your raison d'etre for blogging.
  • A time of discovery, mostly introspective.

GROWTH:
  • Building momentum- Fueled by your convictions, you blog straight from your heart.
  • The blog begins to creep into your life.
  • You start to make connections and form a network.

MATURITY:
  • Climaxing & Crescendo- At the height of your popularity, you gain a following. You have a community.
  • Your life becomes one with the life you live online. Reality and blogosphere is blurred.
  • It's quite a ride. (Vive la roi etc etc ad nauseum)
  • You might even make a small living out of it.
  • Eventually, your blog takes over. It becomes the driver for how you live your life.

DECLINE:
  • Ennui- Disillusionment will set in.
  • You whore yourself and become yet another ubiquitous celeb blogger.
  • You blog for the audience, for the $$$ and no longer for yourself. Tsk bloody tsk.
  • If you've got more going for you in your real life, you might take a "hiatus" from your blog.


The second coming- You pick up your blog again or a different incarnation of your blog for new reasons. The cycle starts all over again.


Is there a limit on how many times you reinvent yourself? Like Apple inc., you CAN learn from each product life cycle (think early Macs in the 90's) AND use it to grow stronger in your next (think Macbooks, iPod, iPhone). OR, like Madonna, each subsequent reincarnation is never as strong as its predecessor.



This is the easy part: the formula of success. The tricky part of course is realizing and recognizing where you are on this curve.

Know yourself, your business, your organization.