from perfect to pluperfect

To perfect something, you must focus on it, bring all your mental strength to bear on it.

I have often said that you must "hate" your blog. I mean you must not always gaze at it lovingly and accept it the way it is. Sometimes you have to critique it harshly, without mercy. What vulnerabilities does your blog (product, company, project) have? What is the worst thing an enemy could say about it?

This blog is new. It's in the process of being perfected. But perfect is not enough. It must go beyond, and become "pluperfect".

Perfect is often what we call something that fulfills our own vision of what a thing can be. Pluperfect is what I call something that is not only perfect from your point of view, but also is perfect in the meeting the needs of your readers, fans, users, or customers.

It's so easy to think a blog is perfect, because we are expressing ourselves completely in it. We're being transparent, bold, and honest. We have a unique viewpoint. We spot trends. We know a lot about a subject, and we share our insights.

But...what about your blog visitors?

If your blog's purpose is to showcase your expertise, in hopes of gaining new clients, fans, or customers, is it accomplishing the goal? Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. Is your blog really meeting their needs, as best you understand them?

My blogging has always been, or was supposed to be, mainly about web usability, music marketing, and social media. But I lost some focus and began polluting my blog with too much personal material, self-promotions, and tangential issues.

Successful blogs stick to just a few topic areas, and rarely deviate. I am working on a blogroll that will list blogs on marketing, web usability, and related issues. These blogs will reflect what I am calling "pluperfect". They will exemplify the principles that have inspired me to abandon my flagship blog of over 4 years, and start anew.

Perfectionism is for slackers. We can do better than that. We can focus not only at what we have to share, but also on what our audience needs to know.

Let's go from perfect in our own eyes...to pluperfect in the eyes of others.