November 18, 2005
Four Random Rules o’ Bloggin’
Posted by Kevin | Print This Article
In comments to an earlier post, Bill Bertles asked me how the forum “Winning in a Web World” went earlier this week. It went well; there were three panels covering a wide variety of ways in which organizations can use the net for advocacy. Each of the panel topics could have easily been a full day (or more) conference.
During my panel, I threw out a few “Random Rules o’ Bloggin’ (And By Rules, I Mean My Opinion)” that I had scribbled down that morning during someone else’s q&a session. In no particular order, here they are:
Don’t pimp for comments. There’s nothing more sad than a post that ends, “What do you think?” and there are no comments. Just write passionately and engagingly (in other words, care about what you’re writing), and you’re far more likely to get a dialogue going than asking for it.
Don’t delete what you’ve written. Occasionally you might regret having posted something. Too late. With RSS and search engines and whatnot, once you hit publish, it’s gone. Deleting or substantially altering a post (without being upfront in the post about what you’re doing) makes you look bad.
Don’t hide your ownership of a blog. Since I was talking to government affairs types, I figured I’d stress this one. In other words, don’t astroturf with blogs. I can see how the idea of creating a network of blogs that look “spontaneous” is very tempting, but don’t do it. You will be found out. You will get slammed. You will lose credibility.
Don’t let the lawyers win. Lawyers don’t like this stuff and they never will. But for every issue they raise there is a way around it — as long as you have the will (and top-level buy-in).
I’m guilty of pimping for comments, and you’re right, it’s really sad when no one responds. Pathetic, even. I’m going to try really hard to stop. Thanks for the wake-up call.
Hey, when you’re trained in direct response, you ask for the order in everything you do. Blogs are no different, IMO.
Is it sad? Perhaps to Kevin, but if nobody comments when I ask them to, I certainly don’t take it personally. While I wish that everyone who cites posts would leave a trackback, I can’t control that. Point is, many posts get discussed, just not on in the comments or trackbacks of my blog.
In fact, I’d suggest that it’s not even “pimping for comments”. To my POV, it’s more like, “take a minute to think about it” - and if you want to join the conversation, that’s your choice.
Thanks Kevin - this is the type of information we need to hear at the grassroots roundtable. Thanks for accepting the invitation to speak, see you soon.
Thank you, Bill — looking forward to the meeting!