I have never tried to push my brand in order to get free things, and I probably never will, but I have always secretly hoped that all my hard work would be noticed by people, and in turn they would want to help me out, even in some small way. Most of the time, I am unfortunately disappointed as people say they are going to do something, but instead disappear off the face of the earth.

I have always found that online people over promise and under deliver, but recently, I have had two examples of people doing quite the opposite.

WordPress Wear

Back, earlier in the year, I attended Moosecamp and Northern Voice in beautiful British Columbia, and I met up with Matt Mullenweg and got to see Lloyd Budd once again. I mentioned how I would love to get a WordPress shirt at some point, but the cost of shipping made the whole thing prohibitively expensive. I had found it sort of ironic that I talked about WordPress all the time on various blogs, and podcasts, and didn’t have anything to show for it. I was honoured that Lloyd had me help out with his session about WordPress at Moosecamp, and he sweetened the deal by offering me a WordPress shirt.

He said that it might take a while, but I would get it, and since then, I had totally forgot about it. I never really expected to get a WordPress shirt, and amusingly enough, a week after my transition out of being a full time blogger, a package arrives and inside is a WordPress hooded sweatshirt.

Up to that point, I had been a little bummed out due to some personal life complications, but it felt like a sign that things were turning around for me in a very positive way. I also found it ironic that the only blog where I now had access to post about WordPress related content was here on Xfep, where I haven’t given WordPress as much focus as I have elsewhere.

Problogger Book

When I first heard about the Problogger book, it was already completed and Darren and Chris were already promoting it. I immediately signed up for their newsletter to get the sample chapter and was really impressed.

I contacted Chris, and jokingly pointed out that he should be handing out copies to all his buddies, and interestingly enough, he said that he would send me a copy. After hearing how other people were grabbing copies of the book, I almost went out and purchased a copy, thinking that Chris had forgotten. Promoting a book is much more important than spending the time to make sure I got a copy, and so I wasn’t frustrated or annoyed with him at all.

Today, a truck pulled up and handed me a small package. Sabine, my wife, looked at me and asked what it could be. I didn’t have any clue, and so before even signing for the package, I opened it up to reveal a small soft cover book including in large bold letters, Problogger.

I have been reading and re-reading the sample chapter and gaining a little more insight each time, and now I can’t say that I am not distracted by having the book in hand to pour through and review. I can’t explain how excited I am, and I still plan on buying a copy or two to give out to some blogging friends of mine, as well as maybe a few to give away here. Chris and Darren deserve all the support we can give them with regards to the success of the book.

Live Up to Your Word

Chris and Lloyd didn’t have to go above and beyond to fulfill the small mentions they made with regards to helping me out, and yet they did, and in doing so they made me feel very special, and appreciated, something that far too many people forget to do. I hope that they feel, in some small way, responsible for my happiness, and in turn feel happy themselves. They are great people, and deserve special recognition.

And now, to close out this post, here is me, with a goofy grin, excited about my WordPress shirt and my Problogger book.

Originally posted on May 16, 2008 @ 4:38 pm