Interesting how blogs take shape

I have to admit, I never intended to blog.

I started off this site initially to help myself understand my previous job better.  To be good at one's job, you have to be completely immersed in the environment.

There are plenty of bankers out there who can go through the motions and understand the legal documents, valuation, and negotiation of online mergers & acquisitions ("M&A").  Ironically, very few individuals actually really understand the dynamics of an online website, and what makes a web site valuable.  Even the self proclaimed giants of the industry don't know very much about how a website ticks, or how to really dissect how well an user monetizes based on their demographics.  In short, most online marketing media M&A and Corporate Development folks rarely go into the realm of Google Analytics, and if they do, they usually only as far as to figure out how many visitors go to the website every month, and maybe a couple keywords if they fancy to be diligent.  These Corporate Development and M&A individuals usually rely on the expertise of the business units.  But even then, who's going to sanity check their assessment?  This is why I started a blog.

One key thing about starting a blog is I needed content.  Without content, it's next to impossible to understand how websites work.  I started to re-purpose the content I previously would have posted to Yelp.com, various forums, and ultimately Facebook.  Because Google frowns upon duplicate content, I started to delete my original content posts from those other sites and began religiously posting on my blog.

Once I started getting traffic, I started playing around with Google Analytics and Google Adsense.  Actually learning how to put the tracking code onto my blog was very informative, and reviewing the Analytics everyday helped me really understand the mechanics of how a web site works.  By playing around with Google Adsense, I understood how the site was monetized, and how easy it was for Adsense to ban an individual user.  Because Google is not a democracy, they can unilaterally ban anyone that does not benefit their clients or help them monetize.  I admit, I also played around to see how much I can push Adsense -- the answer is not very far.  My last company would frown upon anyone who's banned by Google (and unless you have connections or have a very large website Google likes, the ban is lifetime), but after realizing how easy it was to be banned, I decided this should not be the only red flag we use to decide if we want to pursue an acquisition or not.

As I started developing my online knowledge, I started realizing that blogging would be a great way to anonymously "vent".  I value my anonymity, and many time with other venues, such as Facebook or forums, my opinion can be easily tracked back to who I am.  In addition, I have the possibility of being banned and losing control of what content I would like to remain online and what content I would like to remove.  Many times, my blog serves like an angry letter that someone may right but never mail.  The "letter" allows me to vent and release my frustration without offending others that may know me.  As for the rest of the World Wide Web and their associated readers, too bad. ;-)