Kent Newsome on technology, music and life

2/14/2006


Climbing Bloggers Hill: Scoble on Getting A-Listed

As a Valentine's Day present to those of us trying to scrape and claw our way up bloggers hill (and there are many of us), Scoble hands out some tips for joining the A-List. Obviously he knows what it takes to get on the proverbial A-List and he has some good ideas.

Here are a few of them, as always with my commentary:

1) Use a Clever Headline.

I agree with this, though the advice of the so called professional bloggers is mixed in this regard. Some like clever headlines, some don't. My newspaper-type article background (for the Houston Business Journal among others) almost forces me to try to come up with a clever lead in, as well as a tag (the lead out, not Technorati kind). I try to be clever or funny without going over the top.

Who knows if I succeed, but that's my goal at least.

2) Use Technorati, and with a Photo

I am still stuck in Technorati Ground Hog Day, so I haven't had time to figure out why my uploaded photo never shows up beside my outbound links. Maybe I'll get that worked out after I save my rapidly disappearing old links.

3) Be Different.

That's also good advice. But you have to make sure it's good different and not bad different. This I think is the key to any writing, be it a blog or a book. When you are speaking to an audience, it's easier to be good different by being excited, prepared, funny and modest. But when you're writing, it's more difficult. I try many approaches to this problem, but if I had to describe my approach in a few words it would be to aim for thoughtful analysis dressed up in humor.

Or perhaps someone could do a blog in latin, or pig-latin. I guarantee you some A-Listers would be all over a blog in latin.

Bad different is easy. Good different is hard. Try hard for good different. And link to Om at least once in every post. He won't link back, but at least he'll feel a little guilty about it.

Another good technique is to pick a fight with Dave Winer. He'll be compelled to scream at you and to do that he needs to link to you or at least go to your site and leave a comment. Mathew Ingram is the father of this approach.

4) Use graphics and good design.

I think this is actually a huge part of it. Most blog nerds like me read blogs via RSS feed readers, but approximately none of the rest of the world does. So how the page looks probably has a major effect on first impressions and a reader's likelihood of returning.

Having said that, I actually think I have a really good layout on this page and I'm not exactly shooting up the Technorati 100 list.

5) Use Tags

I agree with this one to. I tag almost all of my posts and around 15% of my traffic comes from Technorati. That's actually a lot from one page.

6) Make Friends with Other Bloggers

This is also huge. I have developed a great relationship with a bunch of other similarly situated bloggers. If not for this loose association, we would all be stranded alone out here at the end of the long tail. As it is, at least we have created some sort of wagon train to get us through the rough areas.

Having said that, I have genuinely tried to reach out to a lot of Scoble's blog buddies through links, comments, humor, etc. Scoble and Doc responded a little. I earned up to a link from Steve (thanks, Steve, and I mean it). But most of them haven't responded at all. So I don't know how realistic it is to expect a lot of these guys to truly involve you in their conversations, even if you write thoughtful posts. Candidly, I think hell will freeze over before Om, Mike and a few others will link to me, even though I write a lot about the stuff they're interested in. I don't even want Calacanis to link here any more. And trying to get a link from within any of the major blog networks is like trying to go hunting with Dick Cheney and not get whacked. Highly unlikely these days.

In many ways the blogosphere has been a humbling experience for me. Having written and published extensively in the old media and being a very active speaker on the seminar and convention circuit, it was a bit of an eye-opening experience when I started blogging and realized that so few of the established bloggers wanted to hear what I had to say. To be honest, it irritated me at first. But then I realized it was a chance to start over and try to earn my stripes again. And as someone who loves to build, that was a challenge I couldn't resist. The secret, I think, is to make sure you have fun along the way. If so, then the worst thing that can happen is you have fun.

As far as bloggers hill goes, I am close to concluding that the only way to actually get near the top of that hill is to form a wagon train with some people you like, set off towards parts unknown and have fun along the way. If we do that, we just might make it.

After all, time and history are on our side.

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Posted by Kent @ 2/14/2006 10:16:00 PM | Permalink

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12 Comment(s):

Don't be so down on yourself. It's like any start-up business - you just have to keep plugging away with quality content (which yours is because you're honest) until you reach the tipping point.

You're not alone either. we're all in the same boat here.

By Blogger pundy, at 2/15/2006 4:27 AM  
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I like this wagon train idea. You may be on to something there. I'm not longer sure that quality content is enough.

By Blogger Alfred Thompson, at 2/15/2006 8:45 AM  
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FYI, I found this blog post via Steve Rubel's blog, so you're obviously doing well with #6. Regarding #5, enjoy a game of TagMan when you need a break from blogging. ;-)

By Blogger Richard, at 2/15/2006 8:55 AM  
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"And trying to get a link from within any of the major blog networks is like trying to go hunting with Dick Cheney and not get whacked. Highly unlikely these days."

Totally disagree. Some of them have tip lines, have you actually tried sending them a tip with a link to your best material? It works. Also if you comment regularly on their blogs, take an interest in what they are doing, they will notice you.

It's like anything else, just keep at it. It took me a good 18 months to gather any significant steam in this blogging stuff and I'm still a long, long ways from where I'd like our blog to be.

By Blogger TD, at 2/15/2006 10:47 AM  
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Thanks for the tips!

By Blogger sheree, at 2/15/2006 11:07 AM  
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TD,

My statement about the blog networks was based on the following:

1) I have seen the network bloggers link around out of network blogs pretty regularly. Not all the time and some are better than others, but I think the trend is there. Mostly because if you're in a blog network, you're probably a "blogging as a business" blog (see my prior posts on that), which leads to a conscious or subconscious sense of competition for the eyeballs that (they hope) lead to dollars.

2) I don't know this for a gospel fact, but I'd wager that the formal or informal network rules for some of these networks suggest and perhaps even mandate that intra-network links take precedence over out of network links. I know from experience that some old media websites work that way, so logic tells me it's likely the same in this context.

3) I thought the whacked by the VP line was funny and needed to find a context to use it.

By Blogger Kent, at 2/15/2006 11:49 AM  
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Kent,
What are your goals in blogging? I have been at it a long time, but my goals have changed significantly (this last year especially).

Just curious.

By Blogger Jackson, at 2/15/2006 12:00 PM  
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Jackson, that's a good question. How are things in Nashvegas? I lived there from 82-85.

My blogging goals are probably harder to define than they should be, since my blog is only tangentially connected to my day job. I see a fair amount of tech-related stuff via my day job, but confidentiality rules and other lawyer-specific regulations make it important to separate this from that. That's why I rarely, if ever, mention my "day job" and why there are no links to my firm bio, etc.

So let's start out with what is not my goal. If someone throws some money at me, I won't be offended, but this blog is not about making money. In fact, I have turned down the opportunity to have some "house ads," meaning directly sold ads. I may one day have ads, but as of now, it's not a priority for me.

So why do I do it?

One, I understand and embrace tech thanks to some of my prior gigs (shareware writer, game designer, website developer, etc.). So it's fun to talk about, and I think my experiences give me a perspective that adds at least a little to the conversation.

Two, I did catch a little lightning in the bottle back in the nineties when I developed several previously huge web sites, primarily message board sites. All but one of them have been sold or shuttered, but I believe blogs are a natural evolution of the citizen media movement that, I believe, actually began with message boards. So I am interested in blogs for that reason.

Three, I just like to write. I do it all the time in old media. Newpapers, journals, a couple of boring books that nobody reads, etc. Through writing here and getting a little exposure, I get to talk to people about all kinds of really cool stuff they're doing. For example, last night I was simultaneously talking to the guys at Qoop about all the cool stuff they are doing and planning to do and interviewing Kevin Burton via email about Tailrank for a piece I am writing. I think that's big fun.

My plan so far has been to try to leverage my experiences and whatever writing and thinking skills I have to build a web presence that will allow me to listen and talk to other people who share some of my interests.

I guess if I could sketch out my fantasy blog story, Newsome.Org would become a Top 100 blog, I'd have some sort of loose affiliation with some other bloggers I like (the Wagon Train Network perhaps), and we'd have a bunch of fun and invite others to come sit at our campfires.

It's no business plan for sure, but this is not really a business for me.

By Blogger Kent, at 2/15/2006 1:25 PM  
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A campfire would be great, Kent -- provided no one gets out a guitar and starts singing Kumbaya.

Nice work on getting links from Scoble and Steve Rubel, by the way -- and not just links but a subscriber too!

Maybe I'll have to reconsider my strategy of pissing off Dave Winer as a means of getting traffic :-)

By Anonymous Mathew Ingram, at 2/15/2006 1:38 PM  
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At our blog network, Know More Media, our authors are completely free to link to whereever they wish, whether it be internal or external to the network. We want them to link to what ever source provides the best experience and information for the reader.

Come leave a comment on one of our business expert blogs and I bet that they would respond with either a post or a link. They are a friendly bunch.

Best of luck, future "A" lister!

By Blogger Tim Stay, at 2/15/2006 1:38 PM  
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Mathew, I have to admit I made myself laugh a little when I thought up that line.

Tim, thanks a lot for the props, but if I do become an A-Lister, it will be because I ride on Mathew's coattails. I have nothing in my arsenal as powerful as his "fighting with Dave" approach.

I will definitely check out some of your networks' blogs.

By Blogger Kent, at 2/15/2006 1:45 PM  
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I wasn't trying to get 'in' with the 'A list' when I originally emailled Scoble, and he wrote that post about my blog.

I think its important that the 'little guys' keep plugging away with good content and help each other out. Here are my suggestions, based on Scoble's.

[link]

Let's keep linking to each other. My gut says that quality content will always win out, no matter who you are/work for.

In addition, I am really starting to think having a federation of bloggers who have similar reasons for blogging might do a lot better than each of them individually...

By Blogger Dan, at 2/20/2006 1:17 PM  
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