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Sep 02, 2008

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You know a blog is good when Mike O. adds it to his feeds!

Yup, I've see quite a few analyst blogs that take on those exact characteristics.

Hi Phil

IMHO, a good blog is one that connects with the audience and does not try to sell. It is giving and does not expect to receive anything (well at least on the surface). It will have attention grabbing subject titles, videos and photos. In essence, connect with the audience and have fun.

Jessie

1) A blog needs to be updated predictably or your readers will go away.

2) It needs to look good. Endless paragraphs of print on a bi-color page are boring. Liven it up with photographs, graphics, sidebars and links.

3) Have something interesting and new to say or show. Think value-added. Don't just regurgitate stuff you found elsewhere on the internet.

4) Keep it short.

I think that's a great post, Phil.

Speaking as a professional writer I am made very nervous by what you call "Blogger Stables" ... already a post of mine from my cancer blog has been heisted by one of these content farms, slightly re-written so it's now utter gobbledeygook - do they honestly think they can get around my copyright by changing a few words? Anyway I could prove it was mine because they had forgotten to take out some imbedded links to my website!!

I have received several invitations to write for such outfits and can well imagine that for the small sums of money involved, it must be very tempting for writers to lift material from elsewhere rather than spend any time on doing something good.

What all that cheap content means is that the web is getting laden with more and more low-quality text and for people like me at least, that's NOT good for business. I hate to see cyberspace cluttered up with b*llsh*t.

Suzan

One measure I use to determine how good a blog is how well it engages dialog. While there is certain value in recording thought and having others read it, success or "goodness" includes discussion it brings about.

Under the blog author category of "Analysts" you touch on "thought-leading", "stimulating debate" and "cultivating ideas". Insight and original thought are a big part of it as well.

There is one area of blogging that is being changed by tools like twitter. This is getting the scoop on industry news or industry gossip. Twitter is being to show potential for breaking news because it is more immediate. It is surprising to see in 140 character bytes how much analysis is offered as well.

"Horses for Sources" is in my RSS reader feed. It passes muster. Bottom-line, here's to your sticking with it!!!

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