It’s All About Numbers (or is it?)

by thelfrich · 10 comments

I am excited to have Jared Latigo guest posting today. Jared is a husband, father and Christ-follower, whose passion is doing things right, doing things intentional and growing every day. He believes that we were all put here for an incredible reason and that our passions are a gift that allow us to fulfill a particular life plan. You can check out his blog or follow him on Twitter.

We hear all the time about growing our blog traffic or increasing our follower count so that we can impact more people.

That has some truth to it and we all know that leaders require people to follow them.

But they are ultimately just numbers. It’s like how money is just paper with numbers on it, it’s only worth the value we give it.

Photo credit: Creative Commons

In Recent News

You may have seen me blogging all over the place lately. That’s because I was on a tour to get some traffic to my site and share my message with new audiences.

I love my message. Maybe you do too? And it’s that very message that has allowed me to connect with people from many different walks of life but whom all share a common dream.

We want to change the world.

Easier said than done, I know. But it only took one person to start rebuilding Jerusalem before many others jumped in.

So like I said, I was out to reach new audiences. The response has been great and I’ve found a few people who might as well be clones of myself in terms of our dreams. That’s the really neat part.

What isn’t so neat is the fact that I placed too much emphasis on the numbers…and I’m ashamed of that.

It’s okay though, I’ve learned my lesson so life can go on as it was before.

The Realization

In light of those numbers, I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t always take a ton of exposure to get recognition from someone. It may help, of course, but professionals typically see the person not based on numbers but based on their message, drive and character.

Just because you have 20 people reading you, doesn’t mean you’re saying things less effectively than the guy with 100,000. It just means you haven’t been around as long.

And this is where all the people jump in talking about those bigger people having more knowledge or experience or a more public-facing job…that’s no excuse for any of us neglect the use of our gift.

In realizing this, I want you to understand that anything worth doing takes effort. It takes time. Patience. Perseverance. And a slew of other things.

This is a hard lesson to learn. It’s hard to accept too even as we grow a little bit at a time.

But you never know when someone with tremendous value and clout will recognize you.

 

The Takeaway

That said, we aren’t looking for recognition from this world but we still want to find people who think, act and dream like we do. That’s the value of a community and of real connections.

I’m not concerned about what the world thinks of me, but it certainly does make life easier when I find people who share my dreams. Then, and only then, will we recognize the value of each person reading, watching or following us.

The takeaway from this is to remember the value of each person. You can impact them immensely.

How do you let your community know that they are valuable to you?

 

  • http://JaredLatigo.com/ Jared Latigo

    Thanks for having me Tammy!

    • http://www.tammyhelfrich.com/ Tammy Helfrich

      Thanks for being here!

  • http://www.lincolnparks.com Lincoln Parks

    I do by engaging them and connecting with them outside of my blog. I feel if I serve and help and do what I should do as a friend and community is all reciprocates.

    • http://JaredLatigo.com/ Jared Latigo

      Good point Lincoln. It’s definitely important to extend the friendship elsewhere.

  • http://dsargentblog.us/ Darin Sargent

    Jared,
    To me it all boils down to showing respect. Each of us were given unique gifts by our creator that are valuable in the overall scheme of life. What I learn from you can help me impact someone else and vice versa. I have to respect and appreciate what someone in my community can bring to the table.

    This was a great post – Thanks Jared and Tammy!

    • http://JaredLatigo.com/ Jared Latigo

      Very true about the gifts! I whole heartedly agree with you there!

  • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

    I think both relationships and traffic matters, however If I had to pick one I would chose the relationship over gaining traffic. I make it a point to add value, help, and encourage those I come in contact with(on and offline). Great post Jared.

    • http://JaredLatigo.com/ Jared Latigo

      Yes they do both matter…I guess that was my point. The relationship is worth more.

  • http://kimanziconstable.com/ kimanzi constable

    I think I would take it a step further and say don’t focus on any traffic, you have to focus on the right kind of traffic. Most bloggers don’t really know who their target audience is so they do what they can to get exposed to a large audience but those people just come and go and that’s it. When you know who your true audience is you can then write posts or create things specifically for that audience and those people will buy and listen to those things because it applies to them.

    I heard someone ask Darren Rowse about getting traffic and he said he would much rather go over the top for the readers he already has then focus on more traffic. When you do they will bring the traffic to you and some.

    As far as relationships, I don’t know where I would be today without the relationships I’ve made with so many amazing people, yourself included Jared and Tammy :)

    • http://www.tammyhelfrich.com/ Tammy Helfrich

      Thanks Kimanzi! You’ve been a great example of this. Can you share more about how you found your target audience? I’m with you, and don’t look at traffic at all. I never have and have focused on relationships. But, I think it can be difficult for people to find their target audience. Would love to hear more from you about this.

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