Comments on: Why Some Leaders Don’t Blog: The Untold Story

By: Blogging Techniques for Getting More Hits | I'd Rather Be Writing

Blogging Techniques for Getting More Hits | I'd Rather Be Writing — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:17:21 +0000

[...] Why Some Leaders Don’t Blog: The Untold Story [...]

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:51:15 +0000

I totally agree Tom,

Lead-ins can set the whole attention span.

Now, it gets even more interesting when it’s an eLearning type of application. Keeping people’s attention through multiple choice tests, or breaking up subjects into chunks that are interesting yet educational…

Well, you teach so you know what I mean.

– Charles

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 04:46:31 +0000

Thanks for the link to the alpha moms article. I think my wife is an alpha mom.

I agree with you when you say “if it’s not slightly controversial, it’s not interesting.” When I was a composition teacher, I taught my students to include a phrase like this somewhere in the intro: “Although many people think ___________________, actually _______________. Works quite well to move people towards an interesting idea.

By: Report Blog Site » charlie and the chocolate factory

Report Blog Site » charlie and the chocolate factory — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:32:00 +0000

[...] Why Some Leaders Don??t Blog: The Untold Story [...]

By: Charles

Charles — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:08:51 +0000

Holly,

All I can say is …wow… Flip’s post was intense.

Strangely, he described quite a few of the characteristics with one of my problem clients, who has yet to pay my consulting bill…!

By: Charles

Charles — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:03:16 +0000

Great post, and a fantastic subject.

I think there’s another category instead of ‘industry leader’ that should be used for bloggers:

Key Influencer.

Check out this blog/marketing article about Alpha Moms as key influencers:
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2007/04/03/the-alpha-mom-a-key-influencer/

The key in blogging is that some people can write interesting prose, and yes, edgy is key as far as my knowledge goes.

If it’s not slightly controversial, it’s not interesting. I asked a question about whether or not RoboHelp was dead back in August and it’s been my top post of the entire blog history… STILL getting hits. Fresh ones.

Meanwhile, Adobe’s come out with a complete Technical Communication focus which clearly shows they are interested (after it was put back into the product list for Q4′s SEC filings) in RoboHelp.

The edge is still there with the subject because there are still unanswered questions about the events which led up to that post. People are reading and rereading that post a few times again and again. I know; I am a stats junkie admittedly lurking within my site stats to see what’s up.

So yes, edgy counts. So does having a legitimate, emotional stand because without emotion (humor, edge, drama, suspense) there is no hook.

And so does presenting facts correctly and coherently. Pure emotion is simply editorializing, and won’t help most viewers unless they feed off of the same love/hate that you’re writing about. Giving facts for people to digest IMHO is critical for a long term audience.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:13:12 +0000

Nice pun. I was debating whether or not to link to that post. I think it’s professional suicide to write something like that, even under a pseudonym. Maybe you have a better version of an edgy underdog post that I can use instead?

By: Holly Harkness

Holly Harkness — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:51:13 +0000

Tom,
I choked on my morning coffee when I read Flip Durbin’s vicious diatribe against documentation managers. http://flipdurbin.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-is-wrong-with-technical-writing.html

His “About” page indicates he’s from Atlanta.
I hope I don’t run into him in a dark alley.

It’s the flip side of the non-leader blog you decribed in your post. No pun intended.

Holly