I’m excited to say that this post will bring my blog to a total of 200,000 published words. That’s the equivalent of four novels.
I started writing shortly after the pandemic started. I wasn’t sure what it would be about or if I had enough to say.
Apparently I do.
The blog would be a gathering up my of thoughts and my work and put them into one place so that I could begin a more official journey as an IRL Experience Designer.
The quality of the writing is definitely not perfect, but perfection has never been the point. Working on my craft was the point. Showing my work was the point. Learning more deeply by taking the concepts in my head and put them to paper was the point. Having a singular place to show people my work was the point.
I haven’t done much promoting of the blog. There’s a link to it in the FAQ of The Eureka Room’s website and some posts on a mostly abandoned Instagram account. I also updated my LinkedIn profile (barely). But from just those actions I’ve had people reach out to me seeking advice and possible partnering opportunities.
My top post continues to be the one where I explain how to add a border to WordPress images. That was a one-off I thought needed made because I couldn’t find the answer online. But it has little to do with this blog.
Traffic has increased to about a 200 visitors a week. Most of it to the “Weird Things to Do in Austin” page and the “Immersive Experiences in Austin” page. Again, those don’t have much to do with my craft. They are really just content pages aimed at generating traffic for The Eureka Room.
I’d estimate the total traffic to see IRL experience design content I’ve created is somewhere around zero.
Sure I’d love loads of traffic and zero readers is a bit disheartening after writing four novels worth of words. But it really doesn’t bother me as much as you might think. Partly because I know if I keep it up (and perhaps promote a little more) the right people will start showing up. And partly because.. holy sh*t I’ve written 200,000 words on my blog – I’ve impressed myself. Look what I can do! Dang!
And that is something I hadn’t considered at the beginning. The power of scoreboarding (I write every day and post 2x a week) is far greater than I had dreamed. And it just adds to my confidence and willpower. Who knows what else I can do? Let’s find out!
Today is New Year’s Day.
It’s really just a coincidence that I hit this number today, but it seems somehow fitting – milestones, turning the page, and all that.
So what’s on deck for 2022 for blog?
I have no doubts I’ll keep it up. As of this writing I have 859 post topic ideas in my spreadsheet and I’ve only written on 218 of them. I’ve thought about promoting it more, doing more book reviews, maybe even interviewing people in the industry. Maybe that will happen, but right now I’m really happy with the path I’m on.
So what’s on deck for my journey of being an IRL Experience Designer?
With the success and popularity the Eureka Room has had the last couple months, I am more determined than ever to get it into a permanent space. If you know me, then you know that has been a goal for a few years now. But this year is the year. No matter what.
