Goodbye Human3rror.
It was great while it lasted.
As you can see I just finally put the official request to transfer a long-standing blog, Human3rror, to my new-ish personal branding page. It’s been a painful process, besides taking a long time to migrate content.
This is partly why I’ve been a bit sparse around these parts – I technically haven’t blogged since Friday, last week, and it’s the longest stretch of non-blogging I’ve done since I’ve started TentBlogger. In fact, I’ve technically never missed a day, ever.
But Steve Jobs’s Biography has seriously challenged me and I’m not that guy that’s going to sit idly by and tell everyone that I’ve been changed without showing anything for it. You must put your inspiration into practice, make proof-positive that the change is real – it is not good enough to say “I’ve been inspired!” and then do nothing about it. Don’t cheapen the impact, don’t fool those that follow you.
Click to view.
The blog Human3rror has a long-standing past and a rich history. That domain has been on reblogged on GigaOm, LifeHacker, TechCrunch, Mashable, Kotaku, and much, much more. It’s been listed with PageRank 10 sites like CNN as well.
Beyond the blog the brand “Human3rror” also was very rich and it was one of my first serious attempts at branding myself online through various social media properties and outlets. It was the Twitter account that first broke 1,000 followers – at the time it felt like I was a rockstar and I can remember distinctly the night that it passed the mark. Seriously great memories, but it’s time to move on.
It’s hard to imagine that I would even consider taking it down – it’s got an incredible amount of organic traffic boasting more than 1,000 organics every single day without me even doing anything but put pictures on it (mostly randomly). It’s SEO was rich and really deep – and it provided a significant channel of personal income.
But it was one of the very necessary things that needed to happen so that I could serious focus my time, attention, and emotional capacity on the things that will change the world (or at least the more important things). I’ve had to even eat some of my own advice and see if was truly able to keep multiple blogs alive in a state that was respectable and decent.
So ends a significant era of my online identity and past. It’s been even a bit emotional as I swapped out .htaccess files and began re-routing traffic. My wife was astonished that I was going this far into my plan of re-focusing but she agreed that it was the right thing to do. That’s all the encouragement I needed to pull the trigger.
So I pass it on to you: What are you doing with your inspiration? Are you just letting it sit and fester and not doing anything about it? Or are you practicing the change that you tweet and blog about all the time?
Go do it – you have very little to lose.
I don’t quiete inderstand. Of it was a significant source of traffic why not leave it!
i 301′d it.
Such a brave thing to do John.
I also stopped blogging on my graphic design blog mid year which was growing rapidly, but I discovered I simply couldn’t do that and my marketing and branding blog that I focus on now.
So I pulled the pin and stopped blogging on it. Best thing I ever did. Helped me focus all my energy on what I do day in and day out.
I’m interested in what you spoke about actually means for us non tech types who could do the same thing on old blogs.
steven,
thanks man. what do you mean “spoke about”…?
“You must put your inspiration into practice, make proof-positive that the change is real – it is not good enough to say “I’ve been inspired!” and then do nothing about it. Don’t cheapen the impact, don’t fool those that follow you.” ~John Saddington
I am trying very hard to practice what I preach. I went full time at my business on October 8, 2011. I’m doing everything I can to make this a SMASHING success!
But I know i can do more. I push harder. Work smarter…
I especially need to improve my efficiency and establish a more concrete plan. I need ALL my actions to be intentional and focused.
I CAN do better!
Thanks John, again, for inspiring to push myself.
~Ivan
work smarter. that’s what i’m talking about!
I made the decision last month to end the very first radio show I ever started. It was on AM 1030 in Raleigh, NC and has since transitioned to an online podcast. It was called Past Due Radio and is where my twitter ID comes from.
But it was a crowded space and many other resources existed. Time to move on. We recorded the last show about 2 weeks ago at http://pastdueradio.com.
I’ll leave the website in place for all the links and resources available for free, but we’re not putting out new content.
Like you, John, tough decision to make, but the right one.
it is. definitely the right one. thanks for your encouragement justin!
sad.
.ness.
Powerful way to lead by example. Well done.
thanks daniel. my intention is never to “prove” something or “show someone” how to do something… it’s just to do what i know I need to do!
Gutsy move, John. I have a personal blog just sitting around… Your move has inspired some thinking on my part. Thanks.
let me know how that goes!
John,
So much respect man. I’m looking at my list of URLs right now and trying to decide on a direction. Thing is, you know you have to do it, to focus. Having the cojones to do so is a whole other thing. Even though you know its got to be done. Hats off to you for taking these necessary steps and for inspiring the rest of us.
sure thing mike! let me know how it goes!
congrats John, great example of stepping out in faith, He has great and amazing things in store for sure!!
i hope so chris! i hope so!
John, I so appreciate this post.
It’s interesting to me that you wrote this article just a week after I sent you a DM on Twitter about how (and whether or not) rebranding negatively affects Alexa and other SEO rankings (or starting from scratch).
Here’s what you wrote to me: “Not entirely from scratch but it’ll start at 0. This isn’t a bad thing and I’ve done it before. Long-term thinking!”
And so I’m glad to see that your money is where your mouth is, so to speak. Thanks for heart for all this, John. Madly encouraging!
PS: I did rebrand my blog last week. My new Alexa came out today (27,451,291) and it’s totally disappointing. Ugh! But hey, it can only get better from there, right? It’s all about “long-term thinking!”
it’s about long-term thinking for sure…! recovery starts from step 1.
As a wise person once penned, possibly thinking about Human3rror.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
Glad to see you take it in stride John.
“Tomorrow is another day.”
tomorrow is another day. and it came, and i was fine!
end of an 3ra
……. LOL
But… It’s scary!
all good…..!
Love the move, John. Sad though. I remember being captivated with that Twitter handle when I first saw it on Twitter. And then I met you at a Derek Webb concert at Eddy’s Attic and asked the ridiculous question, “Uh…are you Human3rror?”
HA! but this is going to be good. i know it…!
What am I doing with my passion? I have entered a contest on Rockethub with a creative project to help foster dialogue about creating new jobs. http://rockethub.com/submissions/3889-nowjax-a-creative-symposium-for-new-jobs
awesome! checking it out!
Smart move! It often seems that the hardest part of dealing with somethings is ‘letting go’. Yet, at times it’s invariably harder to just hold on!
yes. and i think holding on holds you back.
I’ve thought about taking down JamSmooth.com as well. I need to find a new focus. I don’t have a specific topic on that blog and I’ve had challenges posting new and consistent content. I also have a new idea for a new site as well.
and…….. any thoughts? will you do it?
John I realize that you are a blogger but I am currently going though a stage in my life that does not pertain to blogging as much as it does with choices and decisions in my life. I can honestly say that I do many things and I do them all very well. After reading your blog, I have been “inspired” to make a decision to focus exclusively on only one of them but not too sure which one.
Thanks for the inspiration to walk across the decision making line.
dale,
you must be a gifted person to be able to do a lot of things really well…!
Nice post John.
I was in the same spot last week…having 3 blogs in tumblr, 1 in posterous and my main in Virb, I felt something was wrong, too many distractions. Living in Peru and having friends in spanish & english I felt like I need to have a lot of blogs in both languages …Well, I just keep 3 right now:
My virb blog (the main one) …there I post mostly in spanish with some nuggets in english (plus the google translation tool) and all my photos
1 in tumblr, with all my pics from the iPhone, and
the Posterous one, with a little project called “The Q” (AKA My life with the Pentax Q)
I love Virb, I’m waiting for their new blogging tools…wordpress and I don’t mix very well.
BTW: You are an inspiration, even for a guy living in SouthAmerica…Lima, Peru
Cheers!
sure thing!
simplifying will save your life. literally. it’s tough to have so much going on!