I was mean to someone tonight, but it all worked out and I made a new blogger friend instead.
He’s Jun Loayza from Living the Startup Life. I noticed him after one of his posts came up on the Brazen Careerist homepage.
When I clicked over to his blog to leave a comment, I was pretty shocked by his original title.
The editor for the Brazen Careerist network (of which I am a member) decided that “In My Experience, Sex is Probably Overrated” was a stronger title than the original “Sex is Overrated.”
Really, Brazen Careerist editor? Really?
For one thing (and correct me if I’m wrong, gentle readers), “in my experience” is already implied. The Brazen Careerist is a network of personal bloggers. Just about any post on the network could theoretically be prefixed with “in my experience,” but that adds no meaning or value. It only adds extra wordiness to an otherwise eye-popping, attention-grabbing title.
But the bigger crime is the “Probably.” What a surefire way to sound like you lack confidence! In the edited title, it sounds like Jun is unsure of his central thesis when in fact he is opinionated and articulate.
However, this isn’t an attack on the Brazen Careerist editor(s). (Even though they never feature my witty, witty posts… grrr.) I’m sure they’ve got a lot of blog posts to deal with and didn’t give this title much thought at all.
This is a life lesson. Really.
The lesson is this: Other people do not care about you. Not as much as you do. At the end of the day, you’re the one who looks dull when your article/report/blog gets edited into mediocrity.
Is this particular an example a big deal? No… well, not to me. But that’s the point: Maybe it’s a big deal to Jun. What if this blog post had been his personal shining moment of glory?
I run into similar scenarios nearly everyday at work, where I help our clients develop websites. There are generally two types of client.
- The “you deal with it” client
- The take-charge control freak
Guess which one ends up with the awesome website?
It’s the control freaks, of course, but not necessarily because they have undiagnosed OCD. They’re the ones that care about how I’m crafting their online reputation. They’re the ones that argue with me about their sites.
It’s not that I purposefully don’t try as hard for the lackadaisical clients. I try to build everyone the best website possible—but the client’s business is not my business. I can’t possibly know their businesses like they do.
It’s the same with you and the middle-men with which you choose to associate. Every time you join an organization, get a new client, or start a new job, you’re handing over the keys to a little piece of your personal reputation.
Sometimes it’s not such a big deal. Sometimes it is. Either way, it’s your butt on the line when interlopers muddle your own personal brand.
