Wow -- three years of blogging this Sunday. Since I do not plan to write this weekend, I want to take a moment now to reflect on what the past three years have meant to me.
First and foremost, blogging has been fun and educational. I truly believe that, thanks to reading more, writing more, and interacting with pros in the business I have become a better adviser to my clients. Yes, the technical lawyering and drafting and stuff is very important. But I have learned much by trying to put on the glasses of your client and thinking practically, while also keeping that lawyer hat on. That said, I know I am not the business guy, but I also think I can give better advice while at least keeping in mind that side of the coin. You just do the best you can.
I have also changed as a blogger, and hopefully for the better. I get more news and posting from Twitter now than I do from the news or from other blogs. I do not know whether that is good or bad, but I know it is the reality of the situation. I am posting less, but I hope there is more to quality than to quantity. Just as I would rather have 1000 good readers than 10,000 not so good ones, I would rather write a meaningful post once a week than spew out garbage daily. I respect all of you too much to do that.
I've met, in person and virtually, some really great people in the field. I am still amazed that people read this blog or even give a darn about what I have to say. I have gotten a little bit of recognition -- or perhaps notoriety -- in the field, be it good or bad. Most people seem to like what I write, although you always have detractors. You just learn to be true to yourself, write what you feel and say to yourself that no one has to read the DLB. And I am okay with that. And for that matter, not everyone should read this blog. Yes, I said it before and I say it again: we have a self-selecting audience here of people who are commercial real estate pros. As I have said before, I do not dumb down what I have to say, even if what I say is sometimes dumb. There are plenty of blogs and news sources out there.
Has this been a great money generator? Frankly, no. But it did not take me long to figure that out. I decided not to worry about that, to keep writing anyway when I had time, and to use social media as a learning and networking tool, not to mention as a conduit for my creativity in addition to my music. It has been suggested that I find ways to brand myself better and I expect that will be a future goal. I may not be the most successful dirt lawyer on the planet, but all in all I am one of the happier and friendlier ones, and there's something to be said about that. After all, life's too short, and no one ever said on his deathbed, "Gee, I wished I had worked more."
Last but not least, my thanks to all of you who take a few seconds or minutes from time to time to read my musings. I sometimes wondered, a la the musical 1776, "Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see?" In the music business we call performing to an empty house "playing for the walls." And yes, I've done that. While I sometimes felt that way here, too, I am reminded regularly that it just isn't the case. I hope you will continue to visit, and I look forward to meeting more of you in the months and years to come.
Best to all,
--David Stejkowski
