"Words. Concepts. Strategies.," which was sometimes called the Copywrite, Ink. blog started in 2005, was the same year the first blogger received White House press credentials, The Huffington Post was founded, and YouTube was launched. It was nine years after the first blog was created by Justin Hal in 1994, which meant I was a latecomer to blogging but still an early adopter.
I remember telling students about the blog in my Writing for Public Relations course at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Many were working professionals in the field, trying to navigate how to write a decent news release that wasn't automatically filed in the trash can.
My company wrote scores of news and feature releases in those days, which populated many newspapers, magazines, and trade journals. It was relatively easy work compared to advertising campaigns, mainly because I always approached the business of public relations (in part) like a journalist. Simply put, journalists want good stories, so public relations practitioners should be keen on providing great ones.
They understood the point, but not the next one I made in 2005. Even then, I saw the writing on the wall.
"The importance of business blogs shouldn't be underestimated," I told them. "While you can sometimes get your message out through the media, you can always get it out on a blog."
They laughed in 2005. Nobody laughed in 2010. Nowadays, blogs have become so integrated and essential for websites that some people wonder if standalone blogs matter anymore when compared to the more common methods of engagement—social networks like Facebook, Threads, Instgram, BlueSky, X, etc. or video platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
What's The Takeaway After 20 Years of Blogging.
Admittedly, sometimes I wonder if it's fair to say I've been blogging for 20 years here, given how sporadic I've been with any new material. While this used to be a daily between 2007 and 2010, I've struggled to meet the minimum — one post-every-month goal — that I set in 2016. Maybe this will be the year I hit it!
It's not for lack of creating content. I'm engaged daily on social networks and produce two or more videos a week across multiple channels. I also write blog posts for other companies — most of which read like articles with varied degrees of formality.
Most of the other people I used to engage with on blogs have moved on, too. If they write anything, it's likely to appear on LinkedIn or Medium instead of a blog. And, more likely, they mention whatever they used to write about in podcasts and vodcasts, having abandoned their blogs long ago.
I even wrote about that one. For all those who once dreamed their words of wisdom would be permanently etched into the Internet, it turned out that all they really created was a 404 crisis — thousands of once interlinked posts now lead nowhere. On occasion, I'm even asked why I bother, given that I could probably put my url to better use as an author website. Except ...
This blog has about 3.8 million views and about 30,000 visits a month, whether I add new content or not. The traffic is primarily the result of more than 1,700 posts, many of which are more akin to articles. And for everyone who visits and opts for the way it looks on the web, they can easily find other ways to connect or find my books. In sum, it would be crazy to give it up. It makes much more sense to add to it, here and there, when I have some time. And when it makes sense.
What are some of the top most-read articles on this blog?
Knowing When To Post | 17k reads. This was one of my first living case studies on why not everybody was right for the blogging world. Every now and again, the post surges when someone wants to understand the early social media crisis sparked by one company.
Signing Books: Five Places I Visited For 50 States | 16.6k reads. It's a story about the bookstores I visited during my first year as an author. I still need to write one up pertaining to the national book tour I took last year. Who knows? Maybe next month.
The Elephant In The Room Of Banned Books | 15.3k reads. This post remains relevant for two reasons. First, because people keep banning books, which is as stupid as it is sad. Second, the point of the article was to illustrate it isn't a red-blue issue. Everybody is up for banning what they don't like.
Writing Books: Third Wheel As A Debut Novel | 11.7k reads. This post should answer the question many authors ask regularly. Would starting a blog be worth it? Granted, this blog is 20 years old. However, seeing that two of the top five posts are related to my books, I'd say there is something to it.
Being Steve Jobs: Where The Open Forum Got It Wrong | 10.7k reads. My well-read rebuttal to an American Express article continues to be read and referenced as I made the case that, yes, business owners do want to be like Steve Jobs. Sure, they don't want to be exactly like him. But there was plenty to learn.
Incidentally, the Steve Jobs and Third Wheel posts are among the top reads in the last 12 months, with 5.45k and 3.29 reads, respectively. Others that always get traction include If 80 Percent of People Won't Change, Why Force Them?, Revealing Weakness: Brian Solis On Authority, and Understanding Viewers.: TV's New Consumers. The latter is one of many articles I wrote about a television show called Jerico, which was canceled only because it had the misfortune of being launched during the dawn of streaming services.
Nowadays, networks and streaming services would love to have that audience. (The same could be said for Veronica Mars and The Black Donnellys, too). And that brings me to another reason I'll keep this blog around. It is a a written history as it happened — personal, global, and within the blogosphere.
And with that, I will end on one final point. I miss the days when banging out a post in an hour to start my day was part of the routine. It was fun and exciting to see them catch people's interest. But more than that, there was a note of civility and sometimes even chivalry during the golden age of blogs.
Words weren't so easily tossed about like quips and clubs and weapons, nor were they so easily thrown away. Reputation seemed to matter, and responses were well reasoned. I think we could use a bit more of that today instead of always shooting for the soundbite. Alas, that, too, is part of history.