I'm going to side with Tara on this one. What I got from both of them was that Guy was saying you should present your blog as your product, Tara says present it as your passion.
Gotta go with passion everytime. In fact I left a similar post on BMA back in December, and here was my top tip for having a successful blog:
1 – Write about something that you are passionate about. This is key. Passion can’t be faked, and visitors to your blog won’t come back if you try. But if you are passionate, and effective at communicating that passion to your readers, they’ll love you for it.
I don't want to hear about your product, I want to hear about your passion.
2 comments:
Mack - Guy's concept positiong a blog as a product e.g., book is an interesting concept.
However, with a book after you've completed the last sentence (and the edits) it's done. Finished. On to the next project.
I view a blog as an ongoing conversation where the author is committed to a long-term strategy. Unless the author is very interested in the subject (call it passion if you like) she or he is going to get bored and other responsibilities will end up taking priority. Blog postings will become fewer and fewer until one day when some asks, "How's that blog coming along?" The reply will be "Ooops, I forgot to post. Can't really be that important. Let's kill the blog and take out a TV ad."
Exactly Toby, I think if you don't have the passion for your blog, it becomes very difficult to sustain it. I hope that Guy's main point was 'give the reader a reason to keep coming back', which is very smart advice indeed.
I agree that it's best to view the blog as a conversation. In fact I try my best to give BMA a 'community' feel. I make sure that everyone knows who the main commenters are (who are referred to by their first name), and I also periodically will repost a list of the main commenters, and give links to their blogs. If you're a regular reader of BMA, if I mention the names Andrea, JD, and Jordan, you should know not only who I am talking about, but their blogs, New Millenium PR, Musical Ramblings, and Tell Ten Friends.
If I have a 'job' at BMA, it's to give back as much to the readers as they share with me. I want to develop the same type of 'community' here at the Garden.
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