Exclusive: Interview with Jackson Miller

I just skimmed a post on lifehack about how to better brand your blog (Branding Your Blog for Success). I am not really very interesting in better branding my blog, but the post had a set of questions that I found interesting. So, I decided to answer those questions here.

So here you have it: K. Stone (sort of) interviews Jackson Miller about Jaxn.org. (Note: This may be the closest I come to a Why I Blog post.)

1. Who Are You?
   The hardest part about this question is to answer about the human BEing, not the human DOing.

   I am a Technologist. I am a Father. I am an Entrepreneur. I am a Liberal. I am an American. I am a Nashvillian. I am a Philosopher. I am an Alcoholic, but not really anymore. I am a Nice Guy, but I am also an Ass Hole. I am a Leader. I am a Free Thinker.

2. What is Your Blog About?
   That depends on the day. I have not been very disciplined about staying on-topic. I have actually been more disciplined about staying off-topic. It is part of what helps me not take this blog too seriously. I mean, it is just a blog.

   So what is it about? Me. Mostly it is about my thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Sometimes it is about my actions. It is very rarely about my feelings.

   I think alot about technology, and how it can be applied to create value (which should result in increased of wealth). If I were to write about that almost exclusively then this might be a much more highly regarded blog. Of course, then I might take it to seriously.

   I go through phases where I frequently write about politics. Sometimes I write about my family. Maybe I should look at what I have written to see what my blog is about.

3. Why Does Your Blog Exist?
   I like to share my thoughts. I was a philosophy major for a while and I tend to think that I have insight worth sharing.

   Now, why this blog exists and what motivates me to write are two different questions. Sometimes I am motivated by money or fame or prestige. When that happens I usually end up writing some off-color post about politics and my dreams of world domination through blogging disappear.

   Other times I am motivated by the desire to figure things out or share ideas I am really excited about; that is the passionate stuff. Sometimes I am motivated by not wanting to go too many days without posting.

4. How Does Your Blog Work?
   Fairly well?

   I post full content feeds. Very rarely do I post extended content that doesn’t show up on the front page. I use tags. I do aggregate my flickr, ma.gnolia, and twitter feeds into my blog system, but those don’t show up on the front page or in my feed.

   Speaking of feeds. My feed is powered by statzen. It is a service I have been writing in my spare time. I am sure that if I ever finish it people will love it. That is why I haven’t released it yet. I am not prepared for the technical nightmare of scaling up such a beast without having the money to add additional hardware and bandwidth. Let me know if you know any angel investors; I just want $250,000 to be able to launch with my time and some resources.

5. Who Is Your Audience?
   A small collection of some of the smartest, funniest, best-looking people on the planet!

   Unfortunately, I feel like I am almost always alienating some of my subscribers. If I am talking about technology I feel like I am boring the tears out of most of my readers from Nashville. If I am writing about politics I think I am probably wasting everyones time. I am pretty sure almost all of the people who used to read my blog for posts on software development are gone.

   There are some really neat people who read my blog. There are others who just pass through from search engines. I don’t do very good at converting passers-by into subscribers.

6. What Makes Your Blog Unique?
   Me.

   I do think I could do a better job of letting myself shine through the ether on my blog, but hey, it is just a blog.

   I like to think that sometimes I have some valuable insights and thoughts as a result of my unique collection of life experiences. I mean how many other reformed drug addicts who spent several years trying to make amends by attempting to save the world through political activism who ended up computer programmers before doing analytics and system design for large companies do you know? Are they married with 4 sons? Do they own a family business on the side? Are they 30 pounds shy and a few teeth short of being stunningly good looking?

   (that last paragraph is either the best or worst bio I have ever written)

7. Why Should I Subscribe to Your Blog?
   If you made it all the way to this question without being bored to tears then you might not have anything better to do.

   Honestly, I hope you will subscribe to my blog if you are interested in the stuff I am passionate about and willing to ignore or put up with the crap that fills in when I am lacking inspiration. I recently heard someone say that if they have the best idea in a meeting then they are disappointed because they didn’t invite enough people to the meeting. That is how I feel about the blogosphere. I want to be around people who will point out the flaws in my thoughts and ideas. I want to be around people who have interesting ideas that make me think about things in new ways.