Everyone say hi to new branding blogger Mark True. To paraphrase his first post, "does the world really need another branding blog?" In his case, I think so. He wrote a really insightful comment on one of my recent posts and I clicked through to see what he was all about. Only a week's worth of posts up right now, but I found some smart, well-written stuff.
For those of you who are looking to promote your blog, follow Mark's example. Write something really smart on a like-minded blog. If they like your comment, they'll click through and read more. Blogging is the perfect real-world example of how branding and marketing works: it's not about promotion, it's about the experience. If you offer a smart, insightful blog that's well-written, people will come. If you're promoting and people aren't coming, then you're either 1) pissing them off with your email promotions, and/or 2) you're not writing what people want to read. Or you're not writing well enough and your posts are difficult to read.
Unfortunately there are people out there who would make it seem like blogging is easy. Sure it is, unless you actually want someone to read it. Then it's hard. It's why I don't post very often; it takes a lot of time to sit down and think of something smart to say, organize your thoughts, write it well, edit it so it's readable, add the links and post. This is not a 15-minute exercise.
Last comment: I think it's a fallacy that "you must post at least 3 times per week." If you're a news-oriented blog, it's a must. But if you're writing original content that people want to read, write when you're inspired. People won't abandon you; that's the beauty of RSS. But when you're first starting out, you do need to populate your blog with enough content that people want to subscribe. And it takes time to post smart comments on other people's blog to get noticed in the first place. You can start easing up when you've got enough inbound links to get the Google Juice flowing.
If you want your blog to grow, visiting other blogs is a must. And not just to 'get your name out', in fact that reason should be secondary. The primary reason you should visit other blogs is to simply see what other people are talking about. And not only that, but look for new blogs, there are so many incredible blogs out there that no one has ever heard of.
Unfortunately, I think so many bloggers subscribe to the 'if you build it, they will come' theory, so they publish incredible content, and never leave their own blog, so no one knows they exist.
As I've said on BMA, the great thing about blogging is that it rewards the bloggers that contribute to the community.
Posted by: Mack Collier | January 21, 2006 at 07:44 PM
The last comment is a spam? Well doesn't matter. I just wanted to say that I agree with your thoughts about making a blog. Right now I'm reading a good e-book by Seth Godin - you can take a look at it here http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/09/whos_there_the_.html
IMHO it's interesting.
best regards.
Posted by: Dmitry Linkov | January 12, 2006 at 05:41 AM
Hi Jennifer,
happy new year and and a warm welcome to your first set of 2006 postings ;-) Thanks for another authentic and ecouraging posting! I've been following your blog for more than a year now (even without RSS ;-) and I've admired your courage (and the according explanation why doing so) to temporarily step out from your blog. By the same token I'm happy to see you back in the blogoshere.
I'm running my blog on design management for almost 3 years now. Since June 05 I've entered stage 2 in terms of the version status. Therefore I've named it: Vol. 2: design-management.de -> http://www.design-management.de While I haven't been writing too much on the intersection of design and branding recently, I'm happy to donate a cookie on your browser ;-)
With the beginning of a new year I'm also in the process of re-evaluating my "blog strategy" for Vol. 2 since I find it almost overwhelming how much good stuff is being created by the daily growing group of newbie-bloggers. While it is clear to me that I don't want to become an as you call it news blog I can truly confirm the "blood, sweat & tears" it sometimes (or very often) costs to write a good, authentic and relevant posting. What clearly helped me to focus has been the following posting/document: the nonist blog depression pamphlet (I'm not sure where I've found the link; maybe here ???): http://thenonist.com/index.php/weblog/permalink/a_nonist_public_service_pamphlet/
And finally, yes my best posting ever has been written on a late Friday night just before going to bed in a mood of personal flow without any particular intention to write something of impact ...
Please keep us posted, Ralf :-)
Posted by: Ralf Beuker | January 12, 2006 at 01:56 AM
Wow, Jennifer. What a pleasant welcome to the blogosphere.
I really appreciate your comments about the content on my blog and the style in which I write. I've been writing, creating, and communicating for more than 20 years now and I've learned to keep it simple. I think that's why I like brand management as a business foundation so much.
It's a really easy concept to understand when we don't put a lot of jargon in the way. It's a difficult trick to stay disciplined, however, and use brand to drive your business.
I'm going to try to keep it simple on my blog too, highlighting those who get it and pointing out those who don't.
Speaking of simple, I've not yet figured out to link to specific posts in my blog, but you might be interested in a piece I just posted about Jim Weir, the man who said "no" to Wal-mart. There's a link in the post to read the full story in Fast Company.
Thanks again.
Posted by: Mark True | January 11, 2006 at 09:03 PM