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: American Idol Blogging Mentality/Bright Ideas Blogzine Feb '09
Sent Saturday, February 28, 2009
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Bright Ideas Blogzine Issue #7 - February 2009 Publisher: http://heblogssheblogs.com/ ****************************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE ****************************************************************** 1. Playing the Numbers Game 2. Links to Popular Articles 3. Upcoming Speaking Gigs 4. Turnkey Business Blog Packages 5. 'Blogophobia Conquered: Overcome the 7 Most Common Fears & Create an Amazing Blog 6. Share Bright Ideas 7. Linky Love ****************************************************************** 1. Playing the Numbers Game ****************************************************************** 91,346 subscribers... and growing! What was the first thought that popped into your mind when you read that Bright Ideas Blogzine has over 91,000 subscribers? Were you in awe of us? Happy for us? Jealous of us? What if we told you we don't really have 91,346 subscribers? What if the opening line said: * 9,134 subscribers... or * 913 subscribers... or * 91 subscribers ... or * 9 subscribers? Would your confidence in HeBlogsSheBlogs.com decrease if we told you our e-zine has nine subscribers? When it comes to perceived value, many of us revert to what we call "American Idol Mentality." We cheer on people we perceive to be winners - those who have the most charisma, the best stage presence, the glitziest costume. We're influenced by the contestant's raw popularity. But in the end the best singer doesn't always win: Season 2 of American Idol: Clay Aiken? Solid success. Ruben Studdard? Who? Season 5: Taylor Hicks? Huh? Oh yeah, he won season five, didn't he? Chris Daughtry, season five third place finisher... multi-platinum album. Season 6: Jordin Sparks? Okay sales. Blake Lewis? Dropped by his label. Third place finisher, Melinda Doolittle? Just came out with her album. The latest issue of People magazine says, "The result leaves no doubt that Doolittle, third in season 6 of Idol, should have whupped Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis." Brian Clark, founding editor of Copyblogger (www.copyblogger.com), calls this phenomenon "social proof" or "informational social influence." Most of us know it as "herd mentality," the "bandwagon effect," or "self-fulfilling prophecy." Is Perception Reality? If Jim and Laura's blogzine has 91,346 subscribers... * ...It must be good. I've gotta subscribe right away, and get all my friends to subscribe! If they're that popular, perhaps I should be doing business with them. * Wow! Jim's blog post on marketing got 137 comments! HeBlogsSheBlogs.com must have a ton of readers. Jim must really know his stuff. I'm bookmarking his post on Delicious and Digg right this instant! * Look how many Diggs Laura Christianson's post has. Who is she? I don't know, but I'd better read this article and find out more about her. But if their blogzine has only nine subscribers... * ...Hmm, they probably don't know what they're talking about. * No one really is paying attention to what they're saying, so it probably doesn't have much relevance to me. * Gonna pass on that one... Clark notes: 1. Blogs that display high subscriber counts attract more subscribers faster. 2. Content is often viewed more favorably when recommended than when found independently. That second point is the key. Even though American Idol Mentality doesn't evaluate the true merits of the article's content or of the person who wrote it, it's reality ... at least for the moment. In his seminal book, "Writing the Breakout Novel" (http://tinyurl.com/autz9k), Donald Maass says that 80 percent of a book's sales come from word of mouth. Eighty percent! That's a staggering number. So all the Twittering and Facebooking and reviews and endorsements--and if you're fortunate--full page ads in magazines--will account for only 20 percent of sales. But wait. In this day and age, Web 2.0 is word of mouth. Radio ads? TV ads? Big spreads in People magazine? Not much help. But having someone on Facebook you trust telling you to check something out? Big help. In January, we wrote a post on the best sales book of all time (http://tinyurl.com/a5aa7u). We Twittered about it. The owner of a widely-read blog saw our tweet, read our post, liked it and posted it on his blog. Voila! Big bump in our readership (now we have over 9 readers. Or is it 91,000?) The lesson? Great content is king. Between the two of us, we probably subscribe to 50 blogs. But we consider only five or six must-reads. You're probably heard, "Great writing will always be discovered." We agree. Great writing, great ideas, and penetrating insights will always rise to the surface. Why? There isn't that much great content out there. And frankly, if you're going to choose between a beautiful site with mediocre content and an ugly site with stellar content, choose ugly. The Bottom Line * Work on developing excellent writing skills and captivating ideas. * Post a killer article once a week instead of a yawner five times a week. Enough. We'll let you get to work. (By, the way, we have more than nine subscribers. Thanks for being one of them.) ****************************************************************** 2. Links to Popular Articles ****************************************************************** MARKETING The Greatest Book on Sales and Marketing http://tinyurl.com/a5aa7u Turn a Selling Feature Into a Benefit http://tinyurl.com/d8792t 6 Reasons I'm Glad I Canceled My Newspaper Subscription http://tinyurl.com/8pw54e BLOGGING Blog Makeover: WinePress Publishing http://tinyurl.com/84vlcs Improving Your Web Site Design http://tinyurl.com/8bzxte Pet Peeves about Blogs, Blogging, and Bloggers http://tinyurl.com/7r46oc WRITING Speling and Grammer Do Count http://tinyurl.com/aueukg Painful Similes and Metaphors from High School Students http://tinyurl.com/77qqw6 Take the Starbucks Layoff Notice Challenge & Win Blogophobia Conquered http://tinyurl.com/dzy9et Create Your Own Movie Blockbuster http://tinyurl.com/8n9mxz ****************************************************************** 3. Turnkey Business Blog Packages ****************************************************************** Blogging is conversation marketing--the new word of mouth. A blog sparks buzz about your biz and connects your to your customers--and potential customers--in a way other marketing vehicles can't. If you're an entrepreneur who recognizes the need for a business blog, but you don't have the time, energy, or know-how to do it yourself, ask about our turnkey business blog package. We take care of the whole shebang for you. We: * Create a custom-designed blog * Find and oversee a professional content writer * Develop all content * Manage your blog on a daily basis * Provide expert Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to your blog Check out our work: Florida Christian Writers' Conference '09 http://www.floridachristianwriters.blogspot.com/ Northwest Flower & Garden Show http://www.mygardenblogs.com/NWblog/? Rich's for the Home http://richshome.typepad.com/blog/ San Francisco Flower & Garden Show http://www.mygardenblogs.com/SFblog/? We'd love to chat with you and help you develop a blogging plan that entices new customers to notice your company. Contact us for a free consult to assess your needs: info@heblogssheblogs.com, 425.244.4242 (Seattle). ****************************************************************** 4. Upcoming Speaking Gigs ****************************************************************** Feb 26-March 1, 2009 Florida Christian Writers' Conference 2009 Four workshops on marketing, branding, blogging, and writing (Jim and Laura) http://www.flwriters.org/ We're managing the Florida Christian Writers' Conference blog! http://www.floridachristianwriters.blogspot.com/ March 14, 2009 Ours Through Adoption conference, Green Bay, WI (Laura is a keynoter and is teaching two workshops) http://tinyurl.com/csbx2v March 23, 2009 SHOP Symposium/09, Seattle Design Center (sponsored by CRAVEbusiness) (Jim and Laura present during a panel discussion on social networking) http://tinyurl.com/c7k4jm May 1-2, 2009 Northwest Christian Writers Renewal, Bothell, WA. Jim & Laura will be teaching a workshop on branding: "Discovering Your Divine Design" http://www.nwchristianwriters.org/ ****************************************************************** 5. 'Blogophobia Conquered: Overcome the 7 Most Common Fears & Create an Amazing Blog ****************************************************************** A must-have e-book for every blogger, or wannabe blogger! Learn the secrets for: *Writing & formatting breakout blog articles *How to increase traffic exponentially & keep it coming back *Finding the perfect blog platform, photo sites, and stats-reporting sites *Handling snarky comments, burnout, discouragement ... even blog addiction Exclusive price for Bright Ideas Blogzine subscribers: $12.99 (retail price - $19.99) Send your check to: He Blogs, She Blogs PO Box 1254 Snohomish, WA 98291 OR Pay by credit card of PayPal using the following link: http://tinyurl.com/4zl86w We will e-mail you a PDF of your 88-page e-book as soon as your payment is processed! ****************************************************************** 6. Share Bright Ideas ****************************************************************** Permission is granted to use any of the articles in Bright Ideas Blogzine in your own e-zine or web site, as long as you include the following blurb with it: Jim Rubart and Laura Christianson co-founded HeBlogsSheBlogs.com, a Seattle-based business that helps individuals and companies maximize their writing, marketing, and blogging skills. We encourage you to forward this e-zine to others who want to maximize their writing, marketing, and blogging skills. To start a new subscription, send a blank e-mail to HeBlogsSheBlogs@aWeber.com. We respect your privacy. We promise not to sell, rent, or distribute your contact information. ****************************************************************** 7. Linky Love ****************************************************************** HeBlogsSheBlogs - http://heblogssheblogs.com Get e-mail updates to our blog: http://tinyurl.com/18r E-mail Us - info@HeBlogsSheBlogs.com Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/heblogssheblogs Friendfeed - All our feeds at one central location! http://friendfeed.com/heblogssheblogs Subscribe to Bright Ideas Blogzine - E-mail: HeBlogsSheBlogs@aweber.com Start your own newsletter with aWeber - http://tinyurl.com/6kb8n6