Here it is, the 1,000th published post on this site. And I’m just as fired up as I was the day I started.
My first post – Accountants – a Hard Sell – is seriously cringe-worthy. I hardly had any comments for months. Looking back, I can see why. Now, most posts attract at least one comment. And I’ve been really fortunate. To date, I’ve only had to ban one IP address because the Asshole chose to engage in a vicious personal attack. None of the vendors who read my stuff abuse my trust and blatantly pimp. I’ve never had to refer any vendor to my Ts & Cs. I’m not even sure anyone’s read them. Self-regulatoin can work. So I’m happy I’ve managed to survive intact, considerably enriched by the conversations and with a clutch of renewed acquaintances plus a whole bunch of new ones.
I still have my favourite targets I like to riff at from time to time: SAP, Sage, HMRC (though I’m softening my views there) and ICAEW. Not because I can or because I’m exercising my right to be a cynical pillock. It’s because as leaders I expect more from them. SAP and Sage are gracious enough to tolerate and respond, correcting and adding more to my knowledge store. ICAEW is living on another planet. At least one person at HMRC reads my stuff pretty regularly.
I expect the list will change as the SaaS meme dives into Gartner’s trough of disillusionment. Then we’ll find out whether the promise of alternative delivery models is real or imagined. But maybe the SaaS boys see the hype cycle as a ski-slope and will sail effortlessly up to mainstream adoption? Now that would be interesting.
Recently I’ve received fantastic email feedback a little of which I’d like to share:
- Emily Coltman suggested making a stint working at an SMB mandatory for qualifying for a practicing certificate. Nice
- Steve Checkley talked about tearing up the audit handbook. That raised a smile. And while we’re at it – Steve deserves a big hand for helping students achieve great results in AAT exams (results out today). Too few of us actively put something back. Steve’s a living example.
- Graham Salmon said he knows of a firm that profiles clients. Smart.
- Bob Harper talked about client inductions as an education thing. That’s a flyer in my book.
And of course I’m grateful to my sponsors for sticking with me. But here’s the reality. Content has to be paid for somehow. 99% of bloggers have day jobs. I don’t. Or rather very little of it. Without support, I’d have to go pimping for work. I’m following in Tom Foremski’s footsteps and take his advice seriously. But here’s the paradox.
When I was a partner I lived an entitlement lifestyle. When I was a freelancing hack, in my best year I churned out a third of the copy I do today yet was paid 4 times more than I make today but travelled in excess of 100K miles a year with one airline alone.
So is what I’m doing today a definition of passion? Insanity? pigheadedness? Is it the definition of new media – slaves to the machine for less-than-minimum-wage? I dunno. My friend David Tebbutt counsels me to watch out for the treadmill effect. I keep an eye out for that one.
The ride’s been fun and I’m sticking with this. Too much to say, too little time. Thanks for your attention.
Technorati Tags: 1,000 posts, accounting, innovation, training
