A few months Back Mimi in New York wrote an article in Journalism.co.uk on how to promote & sell your blog. As usual she was insightful and offered a well written piece. Her main points included:
- Controversy - having some for people to comment on. You want controversy from me? Wait until you hear about my 'noodle experiment' story...
- Fain Mail - Reply to your it (good and bad) so they keep coming back. After reading this I will try to avoid using logicalphilosopher@papernapkin.net for all further correspondence. Send me an email and you'll figure it out.
- Links - Send out links to both people you may know (or hardly know), while linking to many other blogs. I been thinking of linking to Microsoft and maybe they will do the same.
- Anonymity - works for some (Waiterrant, Opionistia, Grumpy Teacher and Clublife) and works well as opposite for others. Not sure where I fit into yet...
- Good Writing - That obviously never stopped many a hollywood script writer....Rocky 6 here we come. I have serendipitously come across many well written blogs, but for every good one, there's probably 1000 more that suck. Tucker Max, while funny, fits into that category.
- Perseverance - "Is it really a job if it counts as therapy?" I ask.
- Do it for the love - yep, you loyal readers can sense writing fear like a fat kid on a smartie. All over it and then *poof*, you're gone.
Mimi has hit on the tops for sure, but a few things she forgot to mention, particularly given the guerilla marketing tactics the new blogging generation is know for.
- Suck up to the geek sites - Get mentioned in Gawker or some other syndicated print paper, and *wham*, hits away. Of course, this may lead to the next point:
- Get Dooced - yep, sure fire way to get the attention you deserve...as you leave the company with an escort. I'm sure Mark Jen and Ellen Simonetti would probably agree. While I haven't been dooced yet, I came close to it one day but that was before blogs, so not sure what it was called then...
- Do some celebrity Hacking - You have to admit, hacking Ashton's Kutcher's phone or Paris Hiltons sidekick probably caused some attention...wanted or not.
- Get groupies - This is important to ponder on because bloggers are poised to be the next American Idol pop-stars of the digital generation. Unlike music and the news industry, bloggers trade not in information value, but in thought value. If one can promote thought then discussion and broadcasting just happens.
So, the question is much deeper than you thought - It's not
"Will I sell sex, blogs or rock and roll?", but rather
"How can I sell sex, blogs and RSS Feeds without selling out to the geek sites, getting dooced or put in jail for hacking. Of course, groupies are cool no matter way you look at it."
I hope you didn't notice the logo...oh well, 1 out of 3 ain't bad.
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