2 years, 350+ posts, and just warming up

Sunday is my two year anniversary.

It’s been twenty four months since I sat down, said, “Hmmm. upstartHR sounds kinda cool,” and started on a journey that has been exciting and unpredictable.

Just… Wow.

What advice do I have for others?

  • Start when you’re at 90%. If you wait until you are 100% ready then you’ll never get going. It will be a bit unpolished. That’s normal. Just go!
  • Write like you speak. Looking back now, my writing style hasn’t changed much in two years except to incorporate more of the knowledge I’ve learned in day-to-day Trench HR.
  • Quantity of posts is less important than quality, to a point. If you only post once every two months nobody will read what you’re saying. If you post once a week with a really thoughtful, interesting idea or two, people will take notice. Here’s a great blogging example of that by my buddy Michael Brisciana. He posts once a week or so but it’s worthwhile to keep up with! And once a week is 50 posts a year, which isn’t too shabby. That’s how I got RocketHR off the ground while keeping upstartHR going simultaneously.
  • It will make you better in so many ways, some visible and some not. I think I’m a better husband and dad because I am conscious of my time and work to make it worthwhile when I spend it with my family. I think I’m a better employee because I constantly am researching and building my knowledge base. Can’t tell you how many times something comes up at work and I’m able to say, “Well, I just read the other day that you can <insert brilliant solution here>.”

What would I do differently if I started over?

  • Write more. Yes, I write a good bit, but I wish I shared more content by guest blogging. I wish I had more time and energy to write all the ideas I have in my head. See the screenshot on the right? I have 300+ drafts if I just had time to write them all!
  • Take more time for mechanics/fundamentals. I take care of the essentials, but I wish I spent more time on things to help more people find the content that could help them be better at what they do. SEO, partnerships, etc. Room for improvement, eh? :-)
  • More shout outs! I would spend more time working on promoting others and helping them to be successful. I try to do that now but when it comes to shoving an idea out of my head and onto the screen, that has to win or I end up going crazy.

Looking ahead

  • Ongoing projects: HRevolution, Project:Social, eBooks, etc. I’m going to keep participating in these things and offering support wherever possible. My life is steadily getting more complex and I’m not sure of the time I can dedicate to additional programs, but I’m willing to offer advice at any time.
  • More products. I have ideas for a handful of targeted, valuable tools to help HR pros in the trenches.
  • Mentoring other bloggers. Want to do it? Hit me up. I’ll be glad to help with the entire set up from the technical to the writing to the networking.
  • Speaking and consulting. I’m looking for ways to get out and talk with more people. I have spoken at local events, I’m looking at working with one of the state SHRM leadership conferences to do something with the Rock Your Chapter stuff, and I am going to be doing more this year.

If I had to list everyone I appreciate for helping me get to where I am, you would leave and never come back. I’ll shorten it to say that I am so appreciative of everyone who makes this experience possible for me. In the daily life, there’s Melanie (everlasting patience and letting me bounce ideas off her), the babies (learning a lot about managing people!), and my manager when I say “Ooh, that’s going in a post.” Outside of that, I have the opportunity to work with so many amazing people. Trish McFarlane, Daniel Crosby, Chris Ferdinandi, Cori Curtis, Dave Ryan, Victorio Milian, Curtis Midkiff, Anne-Margaret Olsson, Chuck Salvetti, Stephanie Walsh, Crystal Peterson, Bryan Wempen, Krista Francis, Stephen Harrison, and many, many more.

Here’s to yet another great year of blogging!

2 thoughts on “2 years, 350+ posts, and just warming up

  1. Trish McFarlane

    Little Bro! I just celebrated my two year recently and even mentioned that you were coming up on yours. I am so impressed at how you have grown over the last two years. You’ve become a better writer, a wiz at mastering WordPress for you, me, and others. You’ve partnered with me on so many things, the best of which is HRevolution. Ben, that is a highlight of my whole career, and I did it with you. You’ve become a better husband and now a daddy. You amaze me!

    Keep doing what you do: pushing the envelope, sharing ideas, helping others, and trusting that God will continue to bless you and your family as you grow. All my best to you and thank you sincerely for the mention. That was icing on the cake!

  2. Melanie

    Congrats on your 2 year anniversary of blogging…this was a great blog of advice…and I also enjoyed reading your goal section. This was definitely inspirational to me. I’ve been wanting to start blogging for awhile and I’m hoping your advice will get me started in the right direction….my goal will be to write my first blog within 6 months…wish me luck! :)

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