- So how are you?
- Fine. I answer.
How is it okay. It was fine until you screwed up. You always pick a very bad moment. That's why I hate you, you bastard.
How is the article? – you asked with malice.
- Fine. I don't want to go into details, to be honest.
- Is it okay?
- Exactly.
Why does she have such a low rating?
- I didn't go.
- Again?
- Again.
- So maybe that one?
- What is it?
- Well, you know...
- Нет.
I take out a cigarette and light it up. The dog roams in the grass, looking for something. I never understood what she found there. Sometimes dead birds lie in the grass, but now the grass is sparse, and there is definitely nothing in the clearing. I take care of cleanliness.
— Why not? Can you be honest with yourself? You continue with a serious face. - Your articles are shit, and no one needs them. This is reality. Everyone hates you. You are just a scribbler. Admit it.
- What for?
- What why?
Why should I admit it?
- In terms of?
- Are you dumb? - I'm getting a little carried away. “What, you decided to arrange a court for me? Why do you need this confession?
- Well, yes, by the way ... So admit it for yourself.
- Ok, I admit it. Shit article. I am a graphomaniac. I already wrote an article where I confessed this.
“And you are also a infogypsy, if I used the word correctly in the singular.”
Yes, I am an information gypsy. All?
- No. You feel like your mood is getting better. - I just began. You are nobody. You can't do anything. You are unable to create anything. You will never sell anything to anyone. Your life is a dull shit, and nothing will ever change.
“I know all this. I look you straight in the eyes, trying to understand what will happen next.
- Here you go.
- Here you go. - I repeat. - All?
— What is it?
- And what do you expect from me?
“If I knew… I want you to stop trying.”
- And what? Lie down and take a breath?
- No. I just do not know. Don't try anymore.
- Почему?
- I want it.
“Hmm…” I smile. “And why should I care what you want there?”
- How…
- Well, like this. My life. My articles. My developments. My job. My unemployment. My progress. My failures. What's your business?
- Well, you listen ...
I've been listening to this crap all my life. And from you, and from those like you. You will not make it. You are doing nonsense. You will never succeed. But life proves otherwise.
So what does she prove to you?
- Absence of the absolute.
“Again, deep philosophy…” you smile condescendingly.
“No deeper than the poop that the dog piled on. Be careful, don't step on it. When I finish my smoke, I'll put it away with the cigarette butt.
“So what is the absence of an absolute?” You stepped back a little.
— There are no authors of good articles, for example. No one. More precisely, not so - the author of good articles can only be the author of one article. Anyone who writes a lot gives out shit at times.
- Well it is clear.
"Then what's your claim on me?"
Your articles are crap.
- Everything?
- All.
- How do you judge? What are the criteria?
Do you think criteria are needed? After all, it is clear to everyone that shit.
- And then who puts the pluses? Who writes personal messages with questions on the case? Who is signing?
- Subscribed by those who want to instantly respond to new publications and put a minus.
- There are some. I nod. - But I'm looking through all the subscribers. The majority do not have the right to vote. Many even signed up just to subscribe. This can be seen from the date of registration.
- It's still shit.
- You look like a boy from a joke who listened and listened, and then said: and I ... and I ... but I still give you all in the face!
You are silent for a few seconds, obviously choosing words and arguments.
- All right, let's get down to business. Have you noticed that the rating of your articles is a comb?
- It's hard not to notice.
- What do you think it means?
“That means two things. First, there are articles in which I write what I want and how I want. They are almost always in the red. Second, I don't know how to write in a way that will please the public. Therefore, a high rating is more likely an accident.
Isn't that a reason to stop writing?
- Нет.
- Why not?
- Why yes?
- Well, it doesn't work! Are you dumb? If it doesn't work, don't write!
- What doesn't work? Get high ratings?
- Yes!
- And where did you get the idea that I write for the sake of ratings?
— I want you to write for ratings!
- We kind of discussed already how I feel about what you want there. In part, I agree with you. But I can't write for ratings.
- So drop it!
- Yes, what did you do! I exploded. - What kind of mania to throw what you do not know how to do?! I told you - in this world there is nothing absolute, everything is permeated with probabilities. If one article has gone, another will come. If the second one doesn't go in, the third one will. Fifth, tenth, it doesn't matter. It is pointless, even harmful, to set yourself a plan, criteria, rating expectations. Here you don’t have Mutko and the Olympics to draw up a plan for medals. You have to understand how the world works.
Well, how much do you understand about how the world works? – again this sly smile.
- No. But more than you. If I had listened to you, I would have died long ago. As long as I know you, you always say - it didn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. After the first failure, you always say that you need to quit. After the tenth, twentieth, hundredth failure, you are right there.
- A hundredth failure? And you think I'm wrong?
- I'm sure you're wrong. Because the hundredth failure is preceded by ninety successes, and nine more failures. You think only in absolute categories, you have a strange binary brain. And the world is built on probabilities and funnels.
- What other funnels?
- As in sales. Always, no matter what you do, there is an input - traffic, flow, people, calls, it doesn't matter, and there is an output - the result for which everything was done. Pros, money, offers, projects, etc. Remember, and don't bother me with this already. There is always a funnel. There are always people in the world who don't care what you do. They just don't need it, they're not interested. Just like I'm not interested in... Well, I don't know... Stones, birdhouses, asphalt, space. These people will always pass by, but may enter traffic. Accidentally stumbled, read, and immediately forgot.
“What, you think I'm an idiot and don't understand it?
- You understand very well. But when you see such a person who is not interested, you will always say - yeah, you did another shit! Look, the guy walked by and didn't even look! Everything must be thrown away! You can't do anything! And the next person who came up, became interested and moved to another stage of the funnel, you won’t even notice, because you are too busy with your hysteria.
- I'm not a hoot...
- What a hoot! All that makes you happy in life is failures and failures. You look for them carefully, thoughtfully, and when you find them, you rejoice! And you expose it as your own achievement - they say, it's me, I found and understood! I said it won't work! And when it does, what do you do?
- What?
- Well, tell me.
- Never mind…
- That's it! Nothing! Success does not interest you, from the word in general! You are sick of success. Your whole model of the world turns upside down, you start to get depressed, the only way out of which is to look for new troubles, even in success! Remember how you react, for example, to a successful article?
- Well, I say that she ... I don’t know, even ...
- I know. Or - it happened by accident. Or - just the audience are idiots alone. Or - bots are used for cheating. Or - normal authors on vacation, so you slipped through.
- Well, it's true! you cried. – It cannot be otherwise! You yourself, without your show-offs, compare your opuses with normal articles! After all, the difference is obvious! Everything is bad with you - the topic, presentation, structure, examples, you are too lazy to even look for pictures! It doesn't take much intelligence to see the difference!
- Necessary.
- Do not!
- Necessary. Only it is necessary not to see the difference, not for this the mind is needed. Mind - in order to understand that the difference is not necessary to see.
- I.e?
- So like this. Like in music. Every song and group has fans. And there is no point in comparing two bands or two songs. Yes, there are some metrics - someone gives a lot of concerts, someone - a little. Someone managed to make money on his work, while someone continues to play in the evening, after work. But I equally like the successful Metallica and the little-known The Dartz. Do you know The Dartz?
Yes, you turned me on.
- Here you go. Try to find the difference between them.
- What is there to look for something ... Almost nothing in common.
- Do you like both?
- Well, how ... There are good songs both there and there.
- Are there any bad ones?
“Probably it’s wrong to call them bad…” you say thoughtfully. There are some that I don't like.
- That is, if in your terms to speak, both groups have a comb?
- Yes.
- Well…
- What? – you are perplexed.
- I have a comb - I have to quit. Metallica has a comb – should they quit too?
No, they have already achieved success. The whole world knows them.
- Okay ... Young performers - they also have a comb, don't they?
- Yeah, it's flat. - you smile. “No one listens to them at all.
And should they quit?
- Of course not. Well, that is, it’s not for me to judge, but I understand that time must pass before they are noticed, and skill will increase, they will find themselves, the style will be formed ...
- How? - I am amazed. - They can't do it! Just like mine! Let them immediately leave and go to the factory to work! There is nothing to try, try. Is that what you want? Stop trying?
I don't want to, but I suggest. You. And what do you propose?
- To whom?
Well, beginner musicians.
“Keep trying and expanding the funnel.
- In terms of?
“Damn, you’re really stupid… I explained it to you. There are probabilities and a funnel. Roughly speaking, let's say, imagine... The whole world listened to the songs of this young group. Well, that's what happened. He who has ears, let him hear. How many of them will want to continue listening to this group?
- I do not know…
- I do not know either. Let's imagine that this is one person out of a hundred thousand. So, they listened to seven billion, and became fans ... Seventy thousand?
- Like so. you nod.
- It seems so ... To the bottom of the funnel, i.e. to the result, it reaches 0.001%. What does it mean?
- What should be dropped.
— No, stupid head. This means that there are two areas for work. The first is to increase traffic to the first stage of the funnel. With current efficiency, you need to bring one hundred thousand people to get one fan. Tryndets hard, I must say. Imagine - you posted a video with a song or a video, and you need one hundred thousand unique users to watch it.
- Unreal.
— Well, it's not that unrealistic... But the task, let's say, is ambitious. The second direction for work is to improve the funnel. To make sure that more than 0.001% reaches the end, the result. It is not difficult to calculate a specific target figure - you can go from traffic. That is, it is easier to understand what kind of traffic you can attract, and to realize the goal by the result. You divide one by the other, you get the efficiency ratio of your funnel.
Is it like Zen?
- Yes, something like that. It’s convenient in Zen - impressions, clicks, reads and likes are separately visible. The funnel is more detailed. And you understand which text is written so that it is read, and which is not.
— What are you working on?
- Both over traffic and over the effectiveness of the funnel.
— What exactly do you do with traffic? Strange, your tone has changed.
- I try to write on different topics, with different methods of presentation, from different angles of view on the same problems.
- It turns out?
- It seems so. At least for every article there is a reader. I see.
- By the comments?
- No, according to personal messages. Comments are not an indicator, there is a completely different logic at work.
— And how do you work on the effectiveness of the funnel?
— To be honest, quite chaotically, without a plan. I need to sort it out somehow, but I don't know how.
Or quit?
- You again?
- Yes, again. It should not be. Either it works or it doesn't. You must do what works, what you were born for, what goes easily, freely, with constant success. You can not do both, and the other, and the third. You are spraying.
— This is not atomization, but synergy. One helps the other.
- Come on? - you are surprised. – And how do your opuses help, for example, programming?
- Awesome, to be honest. The main thing is that the skill of writing texts greatly helps in promotion. I talked a lot with programmers - smart, talented, with interesting products. Do you know what their main problem is?
Well, enlighten me.
They can't express themselves. As in the old Google ad - Vasya is very smart, but no one knows about it. For them, writing an article about their product is a nightmarish task, which is even scary to approach. They can spend months preparing to write one publication. And when they write, they sell a couple of copies, it comes to them - one article is not enough. Now information lives in a different way - in a stream. It is impossible to put something into the stream so that it stays there forever. The flow blows any information into oblivion in a few days. We need constant nourishment, mentions, links. To do this, you need to constantly write something.
- And what to write constantly about the same program?
- You see at the root. I nod. – This is the second aspect of the connection between texts and the product. Roughly speaking, when developing a product, you must understand what you will write about it next time. You have to plan the release so that there is something to write about. And not two paragraphs, but a full-fledged publication. Such a publication works like a defibrillator. Your product is already dead, everyone has forgotten about it, only occasional sales are possible. And here is the rank! - and again all the attention to the product. From a new angle, new opportunities, new application practices, rethinking, cases, etc.
- Well, how much did you sell with your defibrillator?
- You know the statistics. Almost two dozen already, on some "bit" publications.
— Is it a kind of know-how?
- Like yes.
- Okay.
You stop talking, but the expression on your face says not for long. You're obviously looking for something more nasty to say. Look at me You suddenly smile.
How are things going with weight loss? you ask triumphantly.
- Everything is fine. I confidently answer.
- You, like, wanted to save the world from obesity.
Yes, I did. Everything is ahead.
- Seriously? you ask sarcastically. How can you save the world if you can't save yourself?
"What makes you think I can't save myself?"
Well, you haven't lost any weight.
- Minus ten kilograms almost.
“It was like that a month ago.
- Yes it was. I spent a month on additional running-in of the model - I examined the loose weight.
- And how are you doing?
- Wonderful. It doesn't really stick around for that amount of time. So, you can pause and eat like a horse. And then reset again, and pretty quickly.
— How fast?
- In a few days, reset what has been accumulating for a month.
- You're lying.
- I'm not lying. I take out my phone and show the chart. - Take a look yourself. That's minus three for the day. That's minus five for the week. Here is yesterday's point - look, exactly the same as a month ago.
You shut up. You can see that you are tired and do not know what to say.
"So you're going to keep trying?" Finally, you ask.
- Yes. Will. That's the whole point. The last thing I will do is give up and stop trying. Even in retirement I will try, I already have a plan. It's more interesting, it makes sense.
What about failures?
- What about failures?
“They are… I don’t know… Terrible. Hands fall from them, I don’t want to live, vile thoughts run in my head. I want to quit everything and ... Just live, work, watch TV shows and drink. Without responsibility, aspirations, plans and attempts. So right?
- So. But it’s not the failures themselves that deliver, but you, who comes along with them. If not for you, the failure would have passed unnoticed. I would just move on without wasting time talking to you.
- Oh, okay. - you smile. “I don't take up much of your time. I come only in the morning when you walk the dog. Just a few minutes a day.
- I know. I'm used to you, and I'm not afraid anymore. I have already prepared answers to all your questions. After all, you can’t come up with anything new - just “don’t try”, “nothing will work out”, “you need to live easier”, “know your place”. Even boring.
"Then why do you keep talking?" I would ignore it, that's all.
I can't ignore my subconscious. And I don't want to. In a way, you help me. Especially in moments of success - you do not let fly into the clouds. Well, like King Solomon's ring. I have been wanting to do this for myself for a long time ... So, thank you.
- I am glad to help! You smile sincerely.
- Come on, see you later.
- Tomorrow? At the same place?
- Yes.
Don't forget to clean up the poop after the dog.
- As always. Bye!
Source: habr.com