Blog News Watch

I woke up at 7 AM this morning - a little on the late side for me but it’s Saturday, I’m allowed. I thought for a moment about going back to sleep for a little catnap but in the end, my mother’s work ethic took over and I picked up the laptop and opened the email.

And there, in my inbox, is an email from a particular internet business “guru” (who shall remain nameless) who’s been hyping to me for the last week or so - almost daily - this upcoming report of his which will be so “shocking,” he promises me, it will revolutionize the way I do business. And now, Guru tells me it’s here. Ready to be read. Even though he wanted to make it better - to hold on to it and refine it - he was convinced by all these people smarter than he is to release it now - it’s that revolutionary!

Great. Can’t wait.

I spend the next hour wading through 65 pages which can be boiled down into the following:

• 29 pages of a variation on the theme of “I can’t believe I’m telling you this, you NEED this, and this is SO SHOCKING” - but not telling me what “THIS” is??
• 11 pages of recounting to me the “shocking” revelations that: we’re using the Internet as a distraction, people’s attention spans are dropping, all this new technology isn’t reducing our work week the way we hoped, and we’re dealing with too many interruptions. (This is news? To whom, exactly, besides obviously our Guru?)
• One three-page segment was a little intriguing - if still overhyped and over-long: his argument that interruptions are making us dumber. Didn’t need three pages to tell me this, but still - it’s something. Worth an hour of my time? No.
• And his radical tips for this amazing breakthrough success? Are you ready? I’m going to give it to you! Hold on now - it’s really radical!!!
  

Technorati Tags: marketing reports, internet business gurus

Here’s the debut of a new feature at Blog News Watch - “Flagship Content.” The idea is simple: every so often (not necessarily weekly, though I’ll strive for that if possible), I’ll feature a blog and spotlight what could be considered that blog’s “flagship content.” If you’re not familiar with the term flagship content, I’ll direct you to Chris Garrett’s blog with instructions to subscribe to the feed, and discover in said feed the link for the download “Killer Flagship Content.”

Today, we’re looking at I’d Rather Be Writing’s post from April of this year, “Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog - Condensed From Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences.” Let’s look at what Tom Johnson did write right here:

• The “lessons learned” approach. This is highly worthwhile - Tom’s creating value for his readers out of the battle stories from others’ experiences. The confidence factor is high; the reader knows these ideas have some merit right out of the gate, so s/he comes to the post with a sense of trust.
• Note how Tom builds on that trust by developing the ideas that follow and accompanying them with visual aids. Some of his readers will be visually oriented - meaning pretty pictures will help drive home the point. Others will be aurally oriented - those readers, I think, tend to “hear” the words spoken aloud in their minds as they read. By including words and pictures, Tom’s grabbing a wider audience.
• The scope of this post is broader - much broader - than I’d normally advise. But that’s completely appropriate for flagship content - that, in fact, is exactly what you want to do. Flagship posts are not about quick reads - they’re about creating a meatier entree, one that will sustain the reader past the point of consumption. Tom’s created a resource that will be bookmarked, referred back to, passed in email, shared via StumbleUpon, Dugg, and otherwise circulated.
• Note how Tom offers support for his assertions - the Technorati graph is brilliant.
• And the bonus “resource” list - it’s not promised in the headline so it strikes Tom’s readers as a gift. And we all love getting presents.
• Finally, Tom doesn’t just make points - he offers advice. He doesn’t simple tell his readers what’s wrong - he tells them how to fix it. He doesn’t just point out what’s right - he tells us how we can make our own blogs “right,” too. Note the specific referrals to particular plug-ins. This is another facet of making flagship content a significant resource, as opposed to just a quick read or “tip.”

Is there anything I’d change about this post to make it even more effective? Not much - Tom’s done an excellent job here. One thing that might have offered it a bit more organization would have been the inclusion of headers and grouping each suggestion in the appropriate group - for instance “Design Tips,” “Writing Tips,” and “Management Tips.” But twenty is a good number - not too numerous to make browsing straight through migraine-inducing, and enough to offer a satisfying roundup of instructional points.

flagship content for blogs, choosing blog content