The Chops Index and the Power of the Silent Majority for Bloggers

The chops index is a metric I use to judge all business bloggers.

“Chops” describes how talented of a business person I perceive somebody to be.  Often there is a disconnect between the results somebody has achieved online and their chops index. Some people that really know their shit haven’t yet had enough time in the game, haven’t gotten lucky yet, or haven’t managed to get recognition for their work.

To illustrate the extremes, people like Jason Calicanis, Mark Suster, and Matt Bellemare would all receive a 10 on the chops scale, whereas most bloggin’ advice affiliate “watch me blog!” bloggers would rank somewhere around 1 or 2. Chris Ducker is an example of a lifestyle design blogger with a high chops index. Rob Walling and Mike Taber are examples of solopreneurs who score highly on the chops index. Joe and Justin have impressive scores as well.

Many people in the blogosphere conflate ‘popular’ with chops. I try not to do this.

That’s not to devalue the ability to become popular. Getting eyeballs takes a brand of chops. Surprisingly to me, getting paid and getting popular have less overlap that I initially suspected.

Bloggers who conflate popularity with chops tend to cohort with anyone who has eyeballs. That can work! But be careful, it can hurt your chops index.

The Power of the Silent Majority

Richard Nixon is famous for appealing to the silent majority of Americans who felt overshadowed by a vocal and over-publicized minority.

I mention my chops index because it’s possible that your readers have an agreed upon perception of you, your chops, and your blog that have largely been un-expressed to you.

Bloggers are often taught to forget about the silent majority. Focus on the ‘believers’ and screw the rest.

Fair enough– but if your ‘believers’ are just commenting, emailing, and visiting– not buying, dealing, and meeting, they could be leading you astray.

The silent majority could hold the key to why your blog isn’t taking off or why nobody is buying your products.

If you are struggling getting off the ground, it’s an interesting question to explore:

What does the silent majority think of you?

Cheers,
Dan

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