How To Survive The Dangers Of An Ever-Growing Blogopolis
by Sean Platt on February 18, 2009
in blogging
Today’s guest post is from Marc over at Welshscribe. We wanted the perspective of someone who has been a part of the blogging gold rush from the very beginning. You can subscribe to Marc’s RSS feed here.
How To Survive The Dangers Of An Ever-Growing Blogopolis
I’ve been blogging for around 5 years, despite an awareness that is even older. I remember watching some of the earliest blogs with the same fascination I had when watching MacGyver as a young boy. I remember thinking, “that’s cool, but how can he build that with just a pen knife and duck tape and get it to work?” I had a similar thought to blogging; cool, but surely it can’t work, and how is that any different from a “normal” website?
On September 24th 2004 I decided to investigate further by starting my own. Needless to say things were a lot different back then.
How Blogging Has Changed
New “kids” on the block arrive at the vast expanse of Blogopolis like tourists arriving the neon overhang of Vegas. Attracted by the bright lights, the harmonious sounds of casinos and of course the ever-present possibility of great cash rewards.
Such wasn’t always the case. This prosperity of Blogopolis once held nothing more than a few shingles in a shanty town. A collection of huts, sheds, tents and other makeshift abodes, its few residents practically knew each other by their first name. All in all it was a quiet, peaceful neighbourhood.
General conversation held nothing more than a back yard, over-the-fence kind of chit chat. Do you like my new car? What did you think of the game on Saturday? This weather is wreaking havoc with my garden. Nothing incredibly stimulating.
Then a new group of new settlers moved across the west, most prominently a guy named Darren Rowse. He was drawn to the blog like everyone else. He wanted a place to call his own, a soapbox to speak to anyone who would listen, but Darren also wanted more. Darren was driven by a thirst for knowledge and was so enamoured by the new medium, he even believed he could do it as a full time job. Of course us “old hats” laughed at the prospect.
Darren ignored us and rode harder.
Pretty soon this so-called Problogger found the tell-tale signs of gold; cue the rush. The rest as they say is history.
Nowadays the little shanty town has bloomed into a big city boom town and continues to grow day by day as more and more people declare their residency. As with any major city though, some parts flourish while others are run down and abandoned, but beware, for the dark underbelly of society also thrives here.
Allow me to point out a couple of the largest dangers looming for the newcomer, and how you can avoid becoming a victim.
Come to the Dark Side. We Have Cookies
First up is the mugger or content thief. These come in all shapes and sizes but the biggest threat comes from the big guys, the already established blogs, those with Google rank. They will take your content, reproduce it and give no attribution. What’s worse is they will get rewarded for it (more links, comments, subscribers, paying clients). So how do you fight back?
- Use online tools. Copyscape is a great site you can use to track down the blatant thieves. With evidence in hand you can then report the culprit to his/her ISP.
- Find your voice. Thieves can steal your content but they can’t steal your voice. Eric and Sean are two excellent teachers for finding your voice so keep reading this blog!
- Build an audience. Obviously this takes time, but combine it with the previous tip and eventually it will be pretty hard for impostors to talk to your market; i.e. they lose their reward.
- There is an excellent article on SEObook.com that covers that last point (”The Power of Relationships”) in more detail: Borrowing Content: How The Little Guy Can Fight Back
The next threat is the con-artist. The modern snake oil salesman; peddlers of the “Get Rich Quick” schemes. Unfortunately, all you’ll end up paying for is a product that doesn’t deliver, or in extreme cases literally doesn’t get delivered at all. The underlying cause is that we all know we can make money from blogging, heck we deserve to, but in order to get there we need a game plan.
- Patience is a virtue. If you want to make money from blogging than be prepared to play the waiting game. We’re talking months. and maybe even years. Having said that, you should build it into your foundations now. David has put together a top 10 list of monetization strategies ranked from most to least effective and is well worth a read.
- Pick your mentors and stick with them. I recommend sticking to a small number, no more than 6 or 7. The idea is that your mentors will guide you to where you need to go, point out the products that work while simultaneously protecting you from those that don’t. Again Eric and Sean are great examples; you have subscribed to their blogs right?
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Trust your instincts and ignore those “what ifs”.
There are more threats, including murderers but I don’t want you to be disheartened. Use this knowledge as defense and you will be fine. Blogopolis is still very young and there is ample space for growth as well as plenty of ways to make a good and honest living. So pick a plot, build your home and join this (still) exciting and vivid world of blogging.
Sign up to my feed! Thanks, Marc.
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The Different Layers of Online Friendships
by Eric Hamm on January 15, 2009
in communication
Exploring Online Friendships
The Internet experience without personal connection is like going to a party, standing in the corner and just watching while everybody else is having a good time. There might be a few interesting moments, but you’d be missing the point of the party. Enter online friendships.
I started blogging for many reasons, but have come to cherish online friendships the most. Whether for collaborative purposes or just to have a fellow blogger share a common interest, it is human connection that renders blogging into such a rich experience. In this post I will discuss the different aspects of various online relationships while defining their purpose and potential.
From shallow to deep…
8: The Comment Conversation. This is one of the ‘lightest’ connections, but also one of the best when beginning. A simple @SoAndSo with a few thoughts to fallow and you’re one step closer to a fellow citizen of the sphere. Many of these will never move past the first reply and might even go without one, but this should not discourage your attempts to connect in an effective yet subtle way.
7: A social media ‘nudge’. Whether it be a tap on the back in Twitter or a post on another bloggers Facebook wall, attempting to connect through social media is a great way to dig a little deeper. Subtle, but also more direct than engagement through comments, this scenario is often a great way to plant a seed of relational recognition.
6: Direct email. If the first two mentions are like sharing a few words while passing at a party, then sending an email would be the Blogopolis equivalent to sending someone a text message. There’s certainly a lot more potential for rejection, and you are asking a bit more from the person on the other end, but if you are successful with this sort of connection, your options for future relations increase exponentially.
5: Instant Messaging. If email is like a text message, than IM’ing is a phone call. The stakes go WAY UP, but so do the possibilities. Just like a phone call, the person may answer, but may also quickly retreat from the conversation. You might get a “hello,” quickly followed by a “it was nice talking to you” two sentences later. This method of outreach should be approached with extra caution. If the other party is not interested in the exchange, they must feel comfortable backing out. If a connection IS made, you will be just a few steps away from a new addition to your online friendships.
4: Audio chat. Similar to a phone call, this option breaks the ’sound barrier’ when it comes to connection.
3: Video Chat. This is the Blogoplis equivalent to asking someone out for a cup of coffee. You are face to face and voice to voice. Many bloggers are private and this is sometimes asking too much. Working up slowly to this is almost always the way to go. Jump right in with, “You want to video chat?” and you might just scare off the very blogger you’re trying to connect with.
2: Phone call. Not necessarily more personal than an audio and/or video chat, but there’s definitely something different about speaking with a blogger on the phone. It’s as if you’ve removed your blogging hats for the moment. Maybe it’s because you use that same connection to talk to your spouse or local friends. The phone is almost a half a step outside of Blogopolis, making it a singular experience. I know when Sean and I first spoke on the phone we shared an odd feeling between us as the almost surreal world of the blogosphere grew tangible for the first time.
1: Meeting in person. Nothing compares to a handshake or a hug. No amount of technology can replicate the power of human touch and the experience of sharing the same oxygen. I’ve yet to meet a resident of Blogoplis in person, but I know this will soon change. This is not necessity for strong blogging relationships to blossom, but certainly a worthwhile progression for your most cherished online friendships.
Get your feet wet first.
Each blogging connection will be different and none follow a single set of rules, but there ARE some common progressions worth pointing out.
Sometimes you may just fall into a conversation or find yourself on the other end of a great email from your future blogging buddy, but for the rest of the time it is best to start small. I listed the different connection types in a progressive format for the benefit of this part of the post. Starting with an @ kind of ‘hello’ is often times the best way to get your face in front of another blogger you may want to befriend. After a few positive replies, moving to that next step of direct connection will help progress the possibilities.
Once you feel like the two of you are comfortable connecting through email, it might be time to share a chat. Always be sure to keep the conversation about the other blogger, or at least when the ball is in your court. As in any real life relationship, no one likes an attention hog. Finally, if you find your connection is more than that of the occasional, “How ‘ya doing?” you may decide that regular face to face (most likely of the video kind) is where you’ll end up. By this point you are certainly sharing a two sided online friendship, and have successfully tapped into the best Blogopolis has to offer.
Eric
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The Digital Community Of Tomorrow
by Eric and Sean on January 12, 2009
in communication
Digital Communities – Our Certain Future
Many people cherish vintage cinema as though it was a postcard sent from their favorite yesterday. Classic communities filled with memorable faces; a small town square centered in the light flurry of a few scattered streets. Last names are a luxury; if a nickname’s not used, a first name will do. Each and every citizen in these cinema cities seems to have a key role in the happenings of the burg.
Over the years, we have collectively witnessed a steady transformation from this quaint concept of community to a broader, less personal breed of city dwellers. Gone is much of the character, chiseled away by the faceless replication of a million McDonalds and Walmarts. Today we stare between the eyes of a far more drastic change.
Enter Digital Communities.
As the Internet continues to evolve, evermore accessible and increasingly useful, so does our population spend more time hovering across a virtual landscape than engaged in the sensory world of touch, taste, and smell. Our Walmart experience is gradually shifting from a stroll down the aisle to a few keyboard taps chased by the cursory click of our mouse.
The last couple of years have ushered sweeping innovation and an increased acceptance about the nature of tomorrow’s community. Web 2.0 is moving from buzz word to way of life for an ever increasing number of the population, with no generation excluded. The notion of a tweet as a method of interaction amongst friends would have led only to confusion not too long ago. Today, for many a blogger, the word may as well be a synonym for community. Intertwined and interactive, the number of ways to inter-connect is ever increasing.
We are no longer restrained by the traditional boundaries of the past; we have no high walls to keep us down or out. Common interests and content of character draw us together while instant communication keeps us connected.
Soaring online success requires a formidable fingerprint. Building a robust digital community offers a shortcut.
Just a century and a half back, all information was still traveling along at the clumsy speed of mammal. Now it is only slightly slower than thought. The most successful artists, leaders, and entrepreneurs of our next looming decade will be those with the ability to use the immediate access to harness a digital community around themselves.
There have never been finer tools to gather voices together.
This week, we’ll explore some of the methods of building community in early 09. Tomorrow, Sean will discuss some basic skills for effective online communication. On Wednesday we will talk about finding your voice on Twitter. Thursday, Eric will talk about the numerous layers of online relationships within a digital community.
Until tomorrow,
The BB Team
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