Post or Perish

So I received a little constructive feedback after last week’s post.

Just be mindful of the voices you aren’t hearing. For some with ill family members, homeschooling small children, navigating aging parents in place, on top of maintaining stable income — finding time to write is a bridge too far… and I speak from a privileged place.

Betsy Baum Block on Twitter

I’m in that group re: little ones at home (1 yr old). Trying to balance ongoing work demands with childcare is difficult. Working moms will likely be less heard.

Christina P. Gorga on Twitter

Being a working parent is tough enough under normal circumstances, and these are not normal circumstances.

So first things first.

It’s okay if you can’t post, publish, or present right now.

If it’s hard enough to get through the day, work through your must-do list, and get your family fed. Don’t worry about blogging.

Through an email conversation with Betsy, I think we came up with a lower burden alternative. Something that might not be as good as building your own digital empire, but could at least keep you visible.

Professional Visibility.

Chris told me to blog in 2011. I didn’t listen until 2012.
Since taking Chris’ advice:

50 to 50,000 views a month
Started my own company
Added team
Spoke in ~30 states & ~10 countries
Partnered w/ dream orgs
Got reports off Dusty Shelves

… & it started w/ a blog.

Ann K Emery on Twitter

Before Ann was leading workshops around the world, she was blogging.

Before Stephanie wrote her first book, she was blogging.

Before Shiela and Kim coauthored their book, they were collaborating through their blog posts.

I stand by the advice I have given to individual evaluators for years. If you can blog, you should blog. It’s one of the clearest paths towards professional visibility that I know.

And the world needs to see more evaluators.

A different kind of publish or perish?

But not everyone can blog. At least not right now, maybe later, and maybe not later.

So therein lies a problem.

In our digital world, if you stop posting and participating, you risk disappearing from view. The digital world craves content. So much so that it gives a boost to people like me who have the advantage of a couple steady contracts, lots of practice, and a spouse committed to homeschooling our daughter.

It’s publish or perish, but instead of academic administrators calling the shots, they’re being called by social media platform algorithms.

Today I wouldn’t get an academic job. It’s as simple as that. I don’t think I would be regarded as productive enough.

Peter W. Higgs

Announcing the FreshSpectrum Panel of Experts

Want to contribute to the web, but life experiences make you short on time?

Back in 2013 I wrote what I now call a panel post. And for a long time after, it was one of my top blog posts. I asked 22 bloggers a couple of questions, then compiled their answers into a single post.

It’s super simple, but it’s also incredibly effective.

Consider joining my panel of experts.

I’ll ask you a question a couple of times a month. You answer the question providing expertise from your unique point of view. If you can’t answer a particular question, for time reasons or just not feeling the question, that’s okay.

If you do answer, I’ll post your response in a cartoon illustrated panel post. I’ll reference your name and include a link back to your website (or wherever you want me to send traffic).

I’ll then share the post on social & email. It will also go out via Eval Central.

My hope, to spark increased digital participation from a wide group of evaluation experts. The experts who for all sorts of reasons, cannot spend enough time on social to reap the rewards.

So if you are interested, please join.

Join Ann K Emery on our next Eval Central UnWebinar

On Wednesday, April 29 at 1PM EDT/10AM PDT, we’ll be having our next Eval Central UnWebinar.

This week’s guest conversation facilitator: Ann K Emery

This week’s seed topic: Blogging as an Evaluator

Hope you can join!