Day 5 of 365: Why Do The 365 Project?

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][custom_headline type=”center” level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”true”]Why Do The 365 Project[/custom_headline][text_output]Brent asked me why I was doing the 365 Project, and I sort of blew off the question.  The answer isn’t really that simple – like many things in my life, I’m not doing because of something I can encapsulate in a single, easy answer.  Like an ogre, it’s got layers:

1. Because I Can.  Seriously, never underestimate the value of this.  Sometimes I do things just because I can.
2. I like blogging.  I’ve never figured out why, but, I like blogging.  I think it may have started as my inner writer trying to scratch it’s way out back in the early 2000’s, allowing myself to begin to express “me” in new ways.
3. It’s both fun and cathartic.  It’s not that I don’t talk to my wife and my friends about the stuff that appears on here, but, sometimes putting it down on virtual paper still helps further.
4. I like having a record.  If I could, I’d write down every story I know.  Seriously, I’m some sort of personal-history packrat.  I don’t mean just my own, either – the stories of all the people around me, too.  However, I have a rule that I don’t tell other people’s stories (most of the time, there’s been a few exceptions.)

So, there’s the personal side of it. There’s also a business side to things, too.  Blogging, even if it’s somewhat fluff sometimes, provides a business advantage that I try and teach others about.  I’m horrible about doing it myself, unfortunately.  During the Jumpman Forever Kickstarter I was pretty aware of the fact that I wasn’t connecting with the people backing it enough, I wasn’t blogging about it enough, and I wasn’t providing enough updates on the Kickstarter page.  (Though, eventually I did get up to speed on posting on my own Facebook, Google, and Twitter accounts about it.  I felt annoying doing it.  And, I didn’t bother updating the Midnight Ryder Technologies facebook or Google pages.)  Even though this is my personal blog, it does serve some business functions to do the 365 Project:

1. Get in the habit.  I used to post on the average once every 3.7 days.  Then, slowly, I got away from doing it.  Posting daily is like working out – building the habit helps me continue the habit in other areas (for instance, on the Midnight Ryder Technologies website.)
2. Google Fodder.  Google finds the new content all the time, and indexes it (actually, that’s not completely true – I TELL Google it’s there, and Google indexes it.)  It gets echoed on my Google+ account, too, which helps with certain search rank features.  The more keywords with content that matches the keywords, the more likely someone is to stumble across this place.
3. I sell three books, with more on the way.  Keeping new content added to this place all the time helps people find those books.  The site doesn’t currently properly link to the books yet – that’s still being worked on in my spare time, but, getting everything arranged for it, and keeping new content here helps that process.

Brent also asked – why do bother posting it on Facebook, Google, and Twitter?  Well, Google+ helps search authority for various keywords.  Twitter and Facebook offer a little traffic to it, and potentially helps it’s rank also.

And while it’s a personal blog, it exist somewhere between a personal journal and a public discussion area.  Brent was right about something he mentioned – even though I find it great to have a record that I can scroll back through time and look at things (heck, I really wish I would have started back in the early 1990’s!), it’s still written geared towards an audience.[/text_output][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][line][custom_headline type=”center” level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”true”]Today’s Stats[/custom_headline][text_output]

• Workouts:  30 minutes cardio, first upper body workout (a nice easy one, to make sure space, equipment, and my body were prepared to
• Cigarettes Smoked:  Uh, forgot to count!
• Healthy Eating:  Ate fairly well.  Good breakfast, overate a bit at lunch, good supper.

Projects Worked on:

• (Still Un-named) Android / iOS app
• Jumpman Forever Ouya integration work

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