Shoemakers kids

We've all heard the expression, "The cobbler's kids have no shoes." Many Internet marketing companies try to use that as an excuse for why they haven't promoted their own services. It really makes me question whether or not they believe in their own product. If you believe in your own work enough to practice what you preach, why should I? Perhaps we all need to remind ourselves of another famous expression, "Charity starts at home."

My rules to live by:

• Never buy a car from a guy who rides the bus to work
• Never hire a CPA that files their own tax return late
  
• Never go to a doctor that smokes
• Never hire web company that doesn't have a great site
  

Inspiration

A good friend of mine has a blog, and like nearly every blog I've ever seen, she started off with regular updates, then trailed off into nothingness for an extended period of time. Recently, she started posting again, and I am reminded--inspired really--to pick up my blog again.

Why start again now, after months of ignoring it? I make a living of advising people not to start a blog if they are not going to keep it up to date, since nothing looks worse than a "current" news section most recently announcing a trade show from last year--a blog with few posts, and even fewer followers. On the other hand, blogs are not born with hundreds of articles and thousands of subscribers. Everyone starts climbing this ladder at the first rung.

When I first started this blog, I had a determination to provide only long detailed articles of high interest and perfect form. I think the problem with this goal is the same thing that keeps you from calling to talk with your mom, or your best friend from high school so many years later. You realize it has been a while since you last spoke, so you call and spend the entire evening catching up on old times and everything that has happened in your life. The next day, relative to the conversation you just had, you have nothing new to report, nothing at all to say. So you skip a day. And the next. And the next. Days become weeks. Weeks become months. Eventually, even when something significant has happened, you don't feel comfortable calling to talk, since it has been so long restarting the conversation will feel awkward. Eventually, mother's day, a birthday or some other guilt takes over and you pick up the phone and spend 4 hours and whatever battery you have left in your cell phone catching up, starting the cycle over.

So what will be different this time? Perhaps nothing, only time will tell. However, my goal will be to keep up to date by posting more frequently, with an understanding that not every call needs to be four hours, and not every blog post needs to be a thousand words.