blogs

Mining for Gold in Blog Comments

Two blog posts caught my eye today. The first was The Art of Blog Commenting by Arik Hanson, and the other was The Time for Location-Based Marketing is Now by Gini Dietrich.

Two different blog posts – Arik’s (as the title suggests) is about blog comments, while Gini’s is about platforms like Foursquare and Gowalla and acts as a rebuttal to a recent Forrester report.

Yet despite being different, they’re both very much tied together by one defining factor – blog comments.

You see, what both blog posts confirmed is something I believe in wholeheartedly – it’s not the blog that offers the most bang for your buck, but the comments that follow once published.

Digital Gold

While a blog starts any conversation, that’s all a good blog should be – a conversation starter.

Think about it – why do you blog (either personally or as a business)? To extend your brand? To promote products and news? To increase your search rankings? All of the above? None? Some? Others?

It doesn’t really matter, since all you’re doing is opening up a conversation.

Customer to sales.
Potential client to marketing.
Job-seeker to new employer.
Website to Google’s algorithms.

All these and more are simply conversations between two entities – the blog and whatever shape the audience takes.

So if you’re opening up a conversation to connect to your audience, then there’s only one place that happens – the comments section. And that part of your blog is where the digital gold is melted into shape.

Look Beyond the Blogger

One of the things I hear a lot when speaking to new clients about their existing social strategies is the advice to “read bloggers X, Y and Z to learn about your business.”

Good points. Bloggers X, Y and Z are writing some great stuff and there’s no doubt there are useful nuggets to take away.

But the real juice? That’s not necessarily from the bloggers, who often stop at the crucial point of ideas without offering real-world ideas or examples to let you take away and put into action. Maybe that’s just for paying clients…

Which is why I always advise to go beyond the blogger and read more into the comments if you want to find the real gold.

Cash

Take Gini’s post about geo-location marketing, for example. She makes some excellent points on why Forrester are off the mark with their report, and uses figures and ideas to show why. But Gini is a marketer – that’s her job (and one that she’s damn good at).

But in the comments, there are even more ideas that show businesses what their customers want. If I’m a marketing or promotions manager at Starbucks, for example, I’d be looking at Rob Reed’s comment and putting that on the agenda at my next brainstorming meeting.

Who knows, I might just find that Rob’s suggestion saves me thousands in focus groups but makes me millions in sales.

That’s just one example – considering there are at least 133 million blogs in the world, think how many other examples there could be.

Content is the Apperitif

What both Arik and Gini’s posts show – and many others like them – is that content (while still great) is no longer the king.

Yes, it’s hugely important, and not only shows your thoughts on a topic, but your expertise to a potential client, employer or customer. And as a marketing platform for your business, a blog is hard to beat.

But the real meat is in the comments. That’s where the creativity can really be let loose, and ideas bounced off others and taken to new heights. There’s no limit to a comments section, but there is a finite amount to what makes a readable blog post.

So think of the blog as the apperitif. A great cocktail to ease you into the main course ahead – the comments.

If you’re a business, think of who you want to have a drink with (your customers), and then get out to the restaurant (blog) they frequent the most. And then listen to what they’re ordering.

Because order filling is what you’re good at, right?

photo credit: damo1977
photo credit: lusobrandane

Ten for 10 in 2010 – Blogs

Predictions of New Media ala 1974 As we approach the end of the year, I thought it might be fun to share Ten for 10 in 2010 – a list of people, blogs, apps, platforms and more that I think you might enjoy checking out in 2010.

These are just personal takes, and will probably either see you agreeing or thinking I’ve lost the plot – and either one is fine by me! As with any list, this is subjective so please feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments after the post.

First up, and in no particular order, is Blogs (this is different from Bloggers, which will follow later). I hope you enjoy.

FU Penguin. The “F” and “U” is exactly what you might think they stand for, and set the tone perfectly for the chortle-fest that is F*ck You Penguin. An irreverent take on cute animals, it rips them to shreds and questions their right to be cute in the first place. A favourite.
ReadWriteWeb. Providing analysis of web trends and products, ReadWriteWeb is a must-visit if you have any interest in how the web is growing and the direction it’s taking. It covers mobile, technology, business and social, and better still, its writers don’t fall victim to believing their own hype (unlike some at another popular blog that tags itself “the social media guide”).
PR Breakfast Club. A collective of very cool minds from the public relations field, PR Breakfast Club launched in the second half of 2009 and is already required reading for anyone interested in PR, branding and much more. Not afraid to call things as they are, this should be in your reader today.
AriWriter. Penned by Ari Herzog, AriWriter is a pretty neat collection of a wide variety of topics, although they’re all tied together by social media or strategy planning. While I don’t always agree with Ari’s point of view, there’s no doubting his passion for his topics and that’s always a plus. Besides, who wants to agree all the time?
Jackass Letters. Part spoof, part satire, part comedy, part criticism – Jackass Letters is a pretty cool collection of letters sent to various departments of businesses worldwide. Some are just crude, while others are hilarious beyond belief. If you ever need a reminder why business and service are fun, this blog is it.
The Customer Collective. While its parent site Social Media Today may be the flagship, The Customer Collective is actually my preferred destination. Geared more towards how sales and marketing professionals can communicate better with customers, it offers some great insights from a variety of contributors.
BlogEngage. More a blog recommendation engine than a dedicated blog, I’m still including BlogEngage as it shares so much good stuff. Think of Digg just for bloggers, and with less gaming of the votes by power users, and you’ll have a good idea of what BlogEngage is all about.
MA.TT. The personal blog of WordPress founding developer Matt Mullenweg, MA.TT is a nice collection of information about WordPress, not to mention Matt’s views on blogging in general, technology, start-ups and more. It’s a must-read for any blogger interested in the news around the medium.
Digital Next. Part of the AdAge family, Digital Next is a great collection of what people see as the future of the web and advertising. Geo-tagging marketing, augmented reality, real-time audience targeting – this is a great resource for future trends and possibilities.
io9. I’m a geek – I’ve never hid that fact and I’m pretty proud to say my sci-fi nerdiness has followed me into adult life, so io9 is perfect for me. Talking about sci-fi (and sci-fact that could be fiction and vice versa), it’s the ideal stopover for your inner geek.

So that’s the first part of Ten for 10 in 2010. As I mentioned in the intro, these are all places I feel you’d enjoy as new reading fodder next year. But, please feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments.

Hope you join me tomorrow when I look at technology that should leave its mark next year.

photo credit:?Dan Zen

Take Me To Your Leader

Most people have seen the classic sci-fi movie scene (take your pick from any made in the 1950’s) where an alien lands and says “Take me to your leader.” The next step is to take the alien to whoever leads the country – so, President of the United States, Prime Minister of Great Britain, that kind of thing.

I thought it might be interesting to swing that around a little. Put you in the place of the alien and offer you some of the blogs I read that I feel “lead” when it comes to not only social media, but pretty much anything. Just a way of sharing some blog love for people you might never come across otherwise, as well as the usual suspects.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Chris Brogan. Probably someone who’s on more people’s list of recommendations than anyone I know, but deservedly so. Offers fantastic insight into social media, as well as being a genuinely nice guy.
Mighty Red Pen. I make this one of the very first blogs I visit each morning. An often hilarious look at examples of really bad grammar.
PR-Squared. As a PR guy myself, perhaps I’m shooting myself in the foot by recommending a PR blog other than my own. But Shift Communication principal Todd Defren’s personal blog is always worth a read.
Children. Outstanding and touching blog aimed at protecting the rights of children worldwide.
Stuff White People Like. Some people have said that this blog is racist. Personally, I find it a pretty funny (and true) look at one particular part of the human race.
Daily Blog Tips. Excellent reference site for bloggers of all expertise. Offers tips on promoting your blog, formatting, and the always fun Blogging Idol contest.

These are just some of the blogs I read on a regular basis that I think you’d like. I’ll be sure to share more in the near future. How about you – any blogs that you feel are worth reading?

Footnote. The animal in the picture is a lemur. They are currently on the Endangered Species list. If you wish to help protect them, you can find more details at the World Animal Foundation.

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Are We Turning into Social Media Snobs?

From its inception, social media has always been about the romantic notion of connectivity. Full connectivity. Whether it?s being able to interact with the Internet in a more open manner than we?d ever known previously, or connecting with other like-minded people to share, advise and learn, social media and full connectivity have gone hand in hand. Until now.

I read a lot of blogs – some by the biggest names in social media, some by the rising stars, and some that are just entertaining reads by people starting to find their feet in this whole social media world. Then there are the non-niche blogs that are worth anybody?s time.

What I like most about these blogs (and the others that are recommended to me by friends) is the openness and free-to-all approach that they offer the reader. There?s no hidden agenda here – simply the proponents of social media and those interested in it, sharing views along the way.

Recently though, I?ve been leaving many of these blogs with the feeling that the authors are beginning to believe a little bit too much in their own hype. Instead of sharing openly with their readers and asking for opinions on how they view social media, the authors are instead preaching how to approach the medium.

This would be okay if it was merely helpful advice from someone who?s been there and done that. Sadly, it?s becoming less so. Instead, we?re treated to people virtually attacking the medium that gave them such a popular voice to begin with.

Example – there?s a particularly well-known tech blogger that recently chastised other bloggers for not name-checking thousands of blogs a day, or for not using tools like Google Reader in their sidebar to let other bloggers know what they?re currently reading. This irks me.

Not everyone is (or wants to be) a professional blogger. Many simply use the medium for sharing their innermost thoughts with a curious world. So what if someone doesn?t want to link to another blog, or website, just for the sake of linking? Does that make them any less of a person (or blogger)? Does it mean they don?t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as this tech blogger that raised the point in the first place?

Of course not.

There are many ways that bloggers can show appreciation of the work of others without blatant shout-outs and name checks all the time. Blogrolls, or links, for example. Or using an application like CommentLuv, that shows the last blog post of anyone leaving a comment.

Blogging shouldn’t be a private playground where the ?privileged few? set the rules. Nor should social media. Instead, both should be methods of bringing people together to ultimately make the world a friendlier and better place. Shouldn?t we try keep it that way, before the snobs ruin it for everyone?