Posts filed under 'Blogging'

Simplicity is hard work

A quick addendum to the earlier post about business investment in blogging . You will recall that a Washington Post journalist suggested anyone who “sells” blogging services is a conman, on the basis that blogging is a simple concept . Of course, I disagree with that line, so I was pleased to see Simplicity Is Hard Work by Gerry McGovern in Marketing Profs today. The article is not about blogging, rather the importance of simplicity in delivering competitive advantage, and the investment required to achieve it:

To achieve simplicity, an organization needs to be genuinely customer-focused. Extra investment will be required, as well as a special commitment from designers and management.

Is it worth it? Certainly, organizations such as Apple and Google are showing that simplicity can become a genuine competitive advantage.

Business blogs can help organisations be more customer-focused. They make conversations between business and client simple. Investment and commitment will be required. Competitive advantage? Absolutely.

1 comment August 24th, 2005

Are bloggers really selling bottles of air?

This really burns my toast. Robert MacMillan, staff writer on washingtonpost.com, wrote a piece this week on the Blog Business Summit entitled Blog-Oil Salesmen . He suggested that WordPress superstar, Matt Mullenweg , in particular, and business bloggers, in general, are somehow taking advantage of “companies from Hewlett-Packard to Wells Fargo.” He writes, Rushkin -like:

It’s pathetic — as well as amusing — to watch representatives of multimillion-dollar corporations shell out their hard-earned cash to buy what amounts to bottles of freshly packaged air. The concepts behind blogging are not difficult to understand, nor is it difficult to throw one onto the Internet. I’d be ashamed to charge for my services so I’ll offer them for free. Want a blog? Go read some. Do what they do. There’s your Blog Business Summit.

Sure, corporates who rush into blogging because everyone else is doing it , or who pay big fees to ad-agencies with no blog experience are fools. But to characterise Matt as a conman is something else entirely. WordPress is an Open Source project which has brought blogging to nearly half a million people for free . If Matt and Co. can now eke some money out of deep-pocketed corporates, while providing something valuable in return, then good for them. Bloggers put massive time and effort into their craft, for little or no reward. Our experience gives the best of us an opportunity to sell our services to corporates, who want and need what we have. As Johnnie Moore put it back in April :

I know a lot of bloggers are in what may be a self-imposed poverty trap. They think because this stuff is easy ( for them ) they shouldn’t charge much for their advice - and nor should anyone else. I wouldn’t agree. The point is blogging is potentially hugely valuable to corporates and if they’re willing to pay someone to make it easy for them, then good luck to whoever is smart enough to get the gig. I hope sometimes it will be me.

Make no mistake, Mr McMillan, our concepts may be simple and our tools may be lightweight, but our experience is real and valuable.

Update: Shortly after posting this, I read on Silicon Beat that WordPress.com, the hosted WordPress aimed at the corporate market, will be available free of charge. If Matt is really conning those naive corporations, he is going about it all wrong.

10 comments August 20th, 2005

James Governor joins 173

He’s a good man, that James Governor . We invited him to be a guest author at 173 Drury Lane yesterday and within scant minutes of our sending him his Typepad login, James posted this on “Food Solutions” then moments later, this on Sainsbury’s blogging strategy .

He even appears to have polished up his punctuation, perhaps because he knows that I care about that sort of stuff. Like I said, he’s a good man.

Add comment August 18th, 2005

We are all connected now

I never cease to get a kick out of the links I get here, especially those from people I don’t know. I just got linked by RecordMyTeleclass.com , an outfit based in Athens, Georgia. I live in Essex, England. Isn’t the web great?

Thanks for the link, Joe.

Add comment August 14th, 2005

Blogging takes 4 hours a day - or does it?

Debbie Weil just did an of MicroPersuasion about his blogging habits. Steve spends 4 hours a day blogging! Bert at Open Loops summarised Steve’s approach as follows:

  • He monitors 350 blogs daily

  • He scans, links, and posts in “one motion”

  • He “writes” longer pieces once or twice per week due to the time and intellectual requirements

  • He does all this throughout the day and then dedicates a few hours in the evening to blogging for a total of 3 - 4 hours per day

A commenter on Bert’s post wonders what Steve is “getting in return to make it worth spending so much time on it.” Well, if I needed blog PR, the first name I would think of is Steve Rubel. For many people, Steve’s is the only name they would think of. That powerful a personal, international brand can only be established and maintained with a lot of effort. 4 hours a day seems reasonable to me.

Bert also commented that maybe he needs to “kick it up a notch” to match Steve’s pace. Not necessarily. If your business is blog marketing or PR, then, sure, Steve sets the benchmark. But what if your main business isn’t blogging? I take 3 things from this interview:

  1. Dedicate set times to your blogging. Establish a routine.

  2. Focus your reading and blogging. If Steve can monitor 350 in four hours a day, you or I could monitor 40 or so in half an hour a day. 40 is not a lot if you want to write about everything under the sun, but it’s perfect if you focus on one area.

  3. Adopt a GTD approach. Your RSS reader is your inbox. If you can respond to something you read in 2 minutes or less, post to your blog right now (that’s the equivalent of Steve’s “one motion” scan/post process). If it will take you more than 2 minutes, write your intended post title on your calendar (if it’s time-critical), or on the appropriate action list if you can post any time.

PS Debbie’s is also worth a read.

Add comment August 13th, 2005

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