Follow Josh on TwitterHappy 1st Birthday
By Charlene Li
I've been a member of the blogosphere now for one year (first post was Sept. 24th last year). What started out as an experiement has become indispensible to my work and research -- I love the instanteous feedback I get from you and frankly, it's addictive! I write, you write back. Wow.
When my managers and colleagues at Forrester ask me why I blog, I go back to some of the core values of the company. If you happen to have one of my business cards, flip it over and you'll on the back the following: 4C 2Q 1S. These are the Forrester company values and two of them in particular -- Client and Communication -- have been at the core of this blog. Rarely a day goes by that a conversation with a client doesn't include a reference to a blog post. And Communication -- the speed and quality of the conversation on this blog -- is better than anything I've experienced at Forrester, short of face to face meetings. So why do I blog? Because it perfectly aligns with my goal of communicating better with Forrester clients.
Here are some interesting stats:
- 120 posts written in the past year, several by colleagues at Forrester
- Average 25,000 visitors a month (from SiteMeter, which you can now view, in the spirit of transparency)
- 973 Feedburner subscribers
In comparison, I've published 15 research pieces on forrester.com. Now, on the surface, you might say this makes my "official" research on forrester.com miniscule in comparison to my blog writing, but I beg to differ. From the outset, I envisioned this blog to be a supplement, not a replacement of my regular research stream. My blog posts are primarily my own thoughts and insights and don't benefit from the collaboration and consideration of my colleagues. In contrast, the research from Forrester goes through multiple drafts and rounds of editing (they are also much better written -- and shorter -- as a result!).
So thanks for reading this blog, and all of your encouragement and criticisms over the past year -- and keep those ideas and comments coming!
Congratulations and happy birthday :-).
Posted by: Jeff Clavier | September 27, 2005 at 05:25 AM
Happy blog birthday, Charlene. I've enjoyed reading your thoughts here for the past year, and look forward to another.
Posted by: Dan Dickinson | September 27, 2005 at 09:08 AM
Charlene,
Happy blog birthday! I know how many value your contributions. Here's to many more years!
Posted by: ae | October 16, 2005 at 12:22 PM
Happy blog birthday, Charlene!
Thank you for all information and devoted time! a pleasure.
Posted by: Pat | December 11, 2005 at 04:34 AM
Happy blog birthday! I know how many value your contributions. Here's to many more years!
Posted by: Dimon | December 28, 2005 at 11:44 AM
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Posted by: Sanji | January 06, 2006 at 09:51 AM
Site its great. Thank you for all information and devoted time! a pleasure.
Posted by: Veil | February 04, 2006 at 04:12 AM
Happy blog birthday! very interesting blog, I wish you most successes and the bigger popularity of your page next year.
Posted by: Bielizna Damska | February 23, 2006 at 06:36 AM