Why Bloggers Matter to the Publishing Industry

What makes a blogger? A penchant for the rant? A crowd hustler with sticky offers? A spirited journalist, an observer of life, a thought leader? And what about the rest of us, scratching hard to make (not even a) living? Is it all for nothing or is there a future for us? The answer is absolutely. The titanic publishing industry is mobilizing, and we need to upgrade our strategy.

The Myth of Make Money Online

For the obscure blogger aspiring to the privy rank of ‘problogger,’ chances for commercial success are [Read more...]

Focus on Being You

mermaid1I was recently perusing one of those free downloadable viral reports and discovered a very interesting line of copy. It was a simple yet profound statement that summed up everything about the web content niche I don’t believe in:

Today we are going to show you how to appear like an inspirational, creative, buzz generating genius, with almost zero effort.
Hmmm…why would anyone want to merely appear genuinely inspirational and creative? Why not just be genuinely inspirational and creative? Well, to answer that question look at the end of the sentence: with almost zero effort. Standing out from a crowd takes effort, no matter who or where you are. Bloggers need to be brilliant, innovative and patient to realize a payoff. However, it’s very common to see the most eager and ambitious bloggers quickly get derailed by the artificial promise of the quick and easy payoff. [Read more...]

Articles vs. Blog Posts: What’s it Going to Be?

I read a very interesting AlertBox article by Jakob Nielsen the other day entitled “Write Articles, Not Blog Postings.” While I tend to think that there is a gray area between what’s an article and what’s a blog post, Nielsen presents a valid point: there’s a limit to the value you can provide if the blog post is “just another comment” on someone else’s work (gee that sounds like this post). Even someone who demonstrates leadership within their specialized niche is bound to produce some crappy or at least quasi-crappy blog posts, claims Nielsen. “Blogs are also fine for websites that sell cheap products,” he adds. So here’s my plan: to produce quality and value 100% of the time no matter what. [Read more...]