14 Phases in a Typical Blogger's Life

the lifecycle of bloggers 



There's an interesting post on Min Jung Kim's Braindump Diva Bitchslaps blog, entitled "Lifecycle of Bloggers"

You know I'm fond of lists, for I believe lists are a great way of organizing thought and presenting information.

When you blog, turn idea clusters into lists whenever possible. Use the number of items in your post title, which arouses intrigue, promises specifics, and enhances credibility.

Not "Tips on Email Writing" but "12 Tips for Effective Emails that Generate Response".

With an article like "Lifecycle of Bloggers", you're going to get some who will argue, "that's not what happened in my life" or "maybe this is true for personal blogs, but not business blogs" and junk like that.

Probably just jealous that Min was smart enough and creative enough to come up with the list. A list is organized, hierarchical or process descriptive, thought.

Now let's take a look at Min's list.

I'll begin with the intro paragraph. I've snipped (deleted) some portions as a courtesy to the author, to motivate you to go visit the original article, and read other posts there.



[QUOTE from Min Jung Kim]


Having blogged in one form or fashion for the last 6 years or so (not including personal journals that I’ve written in, on paper even, with crayon even, since I was six years old), allow me to personally provide you with a rundown on the lifecycle that I’ve observed from personal bloggers.

#1. Start reading blogs.

You start out as a lurker...

[snip]


#2. You start a blog.

[snip]


#3. You become a stats whore.

Daily stats/referrals and meme participation for webrings, quizlists, personality profiles, and the occasional sepia toned webcam photo to make you look all “emo” and “sultry” and “sensitive” or at least a little bit thinner.

[snip]


#4. You become really personal on your site as the online and real-life worlds start confusing you.

As you recognize the possibility of being an opinion leader in your personal circle, people flame you. You occasionally flame back. You cry about comments that certain people make to provoke you. You bitch about these things as well. Then you take into consideration that comments were made by pimply 14 year olds...

[snip]


#5. You faux “retire” from blogging.

[snip]


#6. You cave back into blogging in less than 72 hours.

[snip]


#7. You decide to “get serious” about blogging.

You seek out “The A-List” of bloggers and start reading more of them, and news about them, and news about blogging in general.

[snip]


#8. You have a pseudo flirty im/blogging/flickr flirting relationship with another blogger whom you have never met.

This will likely end badly. Very badly.


#9. You decide that you must meet other bloggers.

[snip]

#10. You take a step back and metablog about blogging and what blogging has done about your blogging.

You become pedantically navelgazingly annoying. For some reason, your blogger readership eats this shit up. This does not convince you, however, that you want to do something silly like smoke weed with Marc Canter. Because even *you* know that’s a bad idea.


#11. See step 5. Shampoo, rinse, repeat.



#12.



#13.



#14.




[END QUOTE by Min Jung Kim]



[STREIGHT commentary]:


Curious about what those last three phases in the life of a typical blogger are?

Wonder what juicy stuff I snipped out (deleted from the article)?


Then GO:

Go read the entire article at:

http://www.minjungkim.com/?p=2675




vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com 




[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate


Also, be sure to visit Blog Core Values
for deep blogological tips and how-to's.

What Other Bloggers Say About Me

what other bloggers say about me 




Here's just a sampling of some blogospheric rumblings and ramblings about Steven Streight, Vaspers the Grate, and Blog Core Values.




(1.) Heather Green (Business Week Blogspotting)

The Importance of Taglines"

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/
archives/2005/05/the_importance.html



(2.) Doc Searls Weblog

"All The News That's Fit to Annotate"

http://doc.weblogs.com/2005/05/
30#allTheNewsThatsFitToAnnotate



(3.) John C. Dvorak (Dvorak Uncensored)

"Wall Street Journal Still
in the Dark About Blogs"

http://www.dvorak.org/
blog/?p=2063

"The bloatosphere: bloated with anti-blogs"

http://www.dvork.org/
blog/?p=1775



(4.) Evan Williams (EvHead, Odeo)

Measuring Blog Impact

http://evhead.com/2005/05/measuring-blog-impact.asp



(5.) Darren Rowse (Pro Blogger)

"Writing Effective Blog Post Titles"

http://www.problogger.net/archives/
2005/05/25/writing-effective-blog-
post-titles


(6.) Paul Woodhouse (Tinbasher, Codeye, Dr.Quack, Butler Sheet Metal, etc.)

"Blog Titles, Thousands of Them"

http://codeye.com/2005/05/25/
blog-titlesthousands-of-em



(7.) rich...! (Hello World)

"5ive Things I'd Steal from
A-List Bloggers (and Steven)"

http://www.helloworldblog.com/2005/
05/5ive_things_id_.html



(8.) The Vision Thing

"Notes on the Apostrophica"

http://www.thevisionthing.com/
index.php?p=432



(9.) David St. Lawrence (Ripples)

"My Response to You Are Not a Blog"

http://ripples.typepad.com/ripples/
2005/03/my_response_to_.html



(10.) Amy Gahran (Contentious)

"Amy's Blogging Grab Bag: A brilliant manifesto: Comment Spammers-
internet pigs and how they feed"

http://blog.contentious.com/archives/2004/
10/31/blogging-grab-bag-oct-31



(11.) Katherine Stone (Decent Marketing)

"Don't Worry, Be Crappy?"

http://decentmarketing.typepad.com/weblog/
2005/02/dont_worry_be_c.html



(12.) Dave Taylor (The Intuitive Life Business Blog)

"What Makes a Successful Blog?"

http://www.intuitive.com/blog/what_makes_
a_successful_blog.html



(13.) Satish Talim (Appliblog: Applied Software & Technology)

"8 Ways to Decide What to Blog About Next"

http://personalwebsiteblog.blogspot.com/
2005/05/8-ways-to-decide-what-to-blog-about.html



(14.) Robert Scoble (Scoble's Link Blog)

"Blog Taglines Experiment #1"

http://scobleizer.com/linkblog/archives/4311



(15.) Debbie Weil (BlogWrite for CEOs)

"What Makes a Successful Blog?"

http://blogwrite.blogs.com/blogwrite/
2005/02/what_makes_a_su.html



(16.) Jennifer Rice (What's Your Brand Mantra)

"Not Worthy"

http://brand.blogs.com/mantra/2005/
03/not_worthy.html



(17.) David Burn (Ad Pulp)

"Bloatosphere Enters the Blogger Lexicon"

http://www.adpulp.com/archives/000636.html



(18.) Full Circle Online

"Blogger Asbestos"

http://www.fullcirc.com/weblog/
2005/04/blogger-asbestos.htm



_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _




Flamers WANTED.


Rage Boy, Chief Blogging Officer, Christopher Locke once told subscribers to his email newsletter, Entropy Gradient Reversals, to please unsubscribe, to "make room for others, new subscribers."



* * * * * * * *

"make room for other, new subscribers."

* * * * * * * *



I dimly, grimly understand that.

I'm getting too much appreciation and encouragement.

Fans and followers:--please be quiet.

Give the others, the harshers, trollers, and baiters, give them a chance to speak.

And those with questions, suggestions, and intigations.


Thanks...


...sucka!




vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com 


[signed] Steven Streight aka The Leper Guru of the Bloatosphere


Poet-Philosopher
Virtual Online Musical Instrument Composer
Science Fiction Micro Story Author
Digital Artist

Web Usability Analyst
Blogologist


:^]

America: birth and death place of blogs

suppression of political blogging is just the beginning 


[This is an identical post that is being simultaneously published at my Blog Core Values blog.]


SAY GOODBYE to Blogging...


Blogging is about to be killed.

Bye bye blogging.

It was nice knowing you. (audible sigh)


THE DEATH OF BLOGGING

Here it is, Memorial Day, and in a certain sense, I'm not feeling very patriotic.

(NOTE: Every time I post something controversial, I lose RSS subscribers, lurkers, and casual readers. So be it. I am what I am. Weed out the losers, fine with me. The sooner the better. I speak only to truth-seekers anyway.)

Why do I feel sad? Because United States legislation by the FEC (Federal Election Committee) is poised to destroy free speech blogging.

Free Speech Blogging means you say whatever you want, about anything you want, and link to anything you want...with no fees, no fines, no penalties, no jail time.

This is coming to an end rapidly. I think we all know why, if we pay attention to the devastation to MSM and politicians by bloggers.

THE DANGER TO BLOGGERS: If you just mention a political candidate, or link to their web site or blog, or engage in other loosely defined political activity on your blog, the FEC is getting ready to consider that blogging act a FINANCIAL DONATION. Sound crazy? Wake up. They're serious. Investigations, fines, etc. are headed our way. Soon.

Some may consider me extreme, paranoid, alarmist, or rash. But watch what's happening in the blogosphere and in the news media. Doom is on it's way, unless we fight back fast and hard.

This is our time to shine and to preserve Free Speech Blogging for coming generations as well as ourselves.

Even if you could care less about politics and politicians (I'm with you there), this attack is just the beginning of the end.

If we sit around and do nothing, like most people, we'll lose our rights to blog freely, independently, opinionatedly...about anything.

Certain forces want to license, regulate, regiment, or abolish blogs.

FIGHT BACK, NOW...

Center for Democracy & Technology

(Headline news on this issue is at:
http://www.cdt.org/headlines/
headlines.php?hid=777)

and

Institute for Politics,
Democracy & the Internet

have set up a manifesto
to ward off this cataclysm.

Please read the manifesto
("The Principles"),
sign onto it,
and answer their survey
to be sent to the FEC.

Protect Online Political Speech (manifesto, "The Principles")
http://fec.cdt.org

Protect Online Political Speech (sign up)
http://fec.cdt.org/signup.php

Educate the FEC About Blogging (survey)
http://fec.cdt.org/educate.html


I wouldn't ask you to do what I have not done, and I have signed onto the manifesto and I filled out the survey.


Thank you for your concern and ACTION.


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka Leopold the Told




vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com 

Blog Taglines Experiment #1

which taglines do you like best? 



In a recent post, we examined together the post titles of selected blogs.

This time around, let's take a look at blog "taglines" or "descriptions".

Taglines are like slogans. You generally find taglines right under the title of the blog. Or some other prominent, upper region on the blog's main (index) page.

Sometimes it's not easy to determine what a blog's about just by the title. A tagline is usually used by the blogger to clarify the purpose or content of a blog.

Taglines can vary from a few words...to a lengthy paragraph or two.



SUGGESTION: I strongly urge every blogger to use a tagline on your blog. It can give your blog that little extra edge of clarification or intrigue that could prevent a first-time reader from leaving your site, due to not seeing any personal relevance.



Now...let the experiment begin.

Decide if the following taglines are accurate and compelling, i.e., cause you to want to go visit the corresponding blogs for which they act as sub-titles.




VOTE for YOUR Favorite Taglines:

Post a comment or email me
and let me know which
blog taglines you like best!

Thanks!



LIST OF
BLOG TAGLINES
(in no particular order)


(1.) Codeye
http://codeye.busythumbs.com

"A Mister and Missus photoblog where you decide who makes dinner."


(2.) Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov
http://mamchenkov.net/wordpress

"You just stepped in a pile of posts."


(3.) Blog Sisters
http://blogsisters.blogspot.com

"Where men can link, but they can't touch."


(4.) Dvorak Uncensored
http://www.dvorak.org/blog

"Personal weblog of columnist John C. Dvorak.
Inside information, backgrounders, the unprintable."


(5.) Radical Corporate Art
http://radcorpart.busythumbs.com

"Business-oriented motivational posters
with catchy captions and servile slogans."


(6.) The Deevy Report
http://thedeevyreport.blogspot.com

"Weekly news and commentary on emerging workplace issues."


(7.) Working Smart
http://michaelhyatt.blogs.com/workingsmart

"The alternative to working hard!"


(8.) Naked Conversations (formerly: The Red Couch)
http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog

"How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers, a book by Shel Israel and Robert Scoble."


(9.) Blogspotting (Business Week blog)
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting

"Where the worlds of business, media and blogs collide."


(10.) The Big Blog Company
http://bigblogcompany.net

"Oh wow, that's a big blog you've got there!"


(11.) Pro Blogger
http://www.problogger.net

"helping bloggers earn money"


(12.) The Intuitive Life Business Blog
http://www.intuitive.com/blog

"Leadership for the 21st century: online strategies and communications."


(13.) NevOn
http://nevon.typepad.com/nevon

"Neville Hobson's weblog: comment and opinion on business communication and technology."


(14.) The EGR (Entropy Gradient Reversals) Weblog
http://www.rageboy.com

"where we write at night when we should be sleeping. and it shows."


(15.) Jefflundberg.com/blog
http://jefflundberg.dyndns.org/blog

"no fuss, just the blog"


(16.) Dracula Blogged
http://infocult.typepad.com/dracula

"Bram Stoker's vampire novel, published by its own calendar."


(17.) Hello World
http://missinglink.typepad.com/hello_world

"Miscellaneous, by design."


(18.) Waiter Rant
http://waiterrant.blogspot.com

"Do you want pomme frites with that?"


(19.) Crossroads Dispatches
http://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com/crossroads_dispatches

"The generalist synthesist weblog - quite often about innovations in innovation and marketing. Juxtaposing the right brain and left. Yin and yang. Analytical and intuitive. Technical and visceral. Future and in-the-now. Intersection of technology, creativity, innovation, leadership, systems, beliefs, and worldviews. Eventually, on-the-road coverage from a world journey to the emerging creative class centers of the world."


(20.) HELLO, my name is blog
http://www.hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com

"Scott Ginsberg is an internationally recognized author, professional speaker, and 'that guy who always wears the nametag.' In this blog, Scott shares techniques, stories, and observations from his speeches, articles and books on how to become an UNFORGETTABLE communicator - one conversation at a time."


(21.) Ensight Business and Tech
http://www.ensight.org

"A business and technology blog written by a business and technology diehard. Made popular by being the first blog sold, the Google IPO, and Lemmings Online. Kept popular by viewers like you."


(22.) Fred On Everything
http://www.fredoneverything.net

"Scurrilous commentary by Fred Reed. CAUTION: Parental Discretion Advised. Consult your psychiatrist."


(23.) Micropersuasion
http://www.micropersuasion.com

"Steve Rubel blogs on how weblogs and citizen journalism are impacting public relations."


(24.) Chandrasutra
http://chandrasutra.typepad.com/chandra

"everything speaks in its own way"


(25.) Corporate Blogging.Info
http://www.corporateblogging.info

"Your Guide to Corporate Blogging"


(26.) Business Pundit
http://www.businesspundit.com

"Analysis on corporate strategy, economics, some occasional neuroscience, and anything else that interests me."


(27.) BlogWrite for CEOs
http://blogwrite.blogs.com

"Debbie Weil on how to write a thought leadership blog: tips, resources and blog coaching for CEOs and high-level execs."


(28.) What's Your Brand Mantra
http://brand.blogs.com/mantra

"Musings on Branding, Marketing and the Ecology of Business"


(29.) Decent Marketing
http://decentmarketing.typepad.com/weblog

"Decent (adj.) 1. Respectable, worthy. (Away with marketing that is interruptive, self-absorbed adn sometimes downright awful) 2. Kind. (Here's to marketers who really do put the customer first. Who try to create a relationship, to forge a mutually beneficial bond.) C'mon, fellow marketing people! Get tough. Get smart. Get nice. Get DECENT."


(30.) Don the Idea Guy's Brain Blog
http://www.mybrainblog.com

"Brainstorms, Babblings, Rants, and Tantrums from Don the Idea Guy.



(31.) Diva Marketing
http://www.bloombergmarketing.blogs.com

"An approach to marketing that's fun, bold and savvy...but always strategically aligned with your brand's objective."


(32.) Brand Autopsy
http://brandautopsy.typepad.com

"administered by williams and moore"


(33.) Thinking by Peter Davidson
http://peterthink.blogs.com

"Ideas and Commentary on Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Technology, and Culture"


(34.) MarketingVOX
http://www.marketingvox.com

"the voice of online marketing"


(35.) Chief Blogging Officer
http://www.chiefbloggingofficer.com

"information archaeology
dig deeper"


(36.) re:invention
http://reinventioninc.blogspot.com

"a toolbox for women-led businesses"


(37.) Radiant Marketing Group
http://radiantmarketinggroup.com

"putting the power of blogs to work for your business"


(38.) Fresh Inc. [Inc. Magazine Blog]
http://blog.inc.com

"The Resource for Growing Companies"


(39.) Wonderbranding for Women
http://michelemiller.blogs.com/marketing_to_women

"Marketing to Women"


(40.) Blog Business World
http://blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com

"Blogs in business, marketing, public relations, and search engine optimization for successful entrepreneurs."


(41.) Nick Usborne Excess Voice
http://nickusborne.typepad.com

"Looking for the best in online writing."


(42.) PR Thoughts
http://prplanet.typepad.com

"Public Relations - PR Strategy - PR Practice - IT"


(43.) Church of the Customer
http://customerevangelists.typepad.com

"All about word of mouth, customer evangelism, and citizen marketers."


(44.) B L Ochman's What's Next Blog
http://www.whatsnextblog.com

"Internet strategy, marketing, public relations, politics with news and commentary."

"from whatsnextonline.com"


(45.) Contentious
http://blog.contentious.com

"News and musings on how we communicate in the online age."


(46.) Fast Company Blog
http://blog.fastcompany.com

"How Smart People Work"


(47.) Boing Boing
http://www.boingboing.net

"A directory of wonderful things."


(48.) SIMPLICITY (John Maeda)
http://weblogs.media.mit.edu/SIMPLICITY

"at the MIT Media Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts"


(49.) Peterme.com (Peter Merholz)
http://www.peterme.com

"Links, thoughts, and essays from Peter Merholz"


(50.) Kottke
http://www.kottke.org

"home of fine hypertext products"


(51.) JOHO the Blog
http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger

"David Weinberger's weblog. Let's just see how it goes."


(52.) Gaping Void
http://www.gapingvoid.com

"Cartoons drawn on the back of business cards by Hugh Macleod"


(53.) Don't Blog
http://dijest.com/dontblog

"Headlines from the Future of the Weblog Backlash (In Progress)"


(54.) Kurzweil AI.net
http://www.kurzweilai.net

"Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence News"


(55.) John Battelle Search Blog
http://battellemedia.com

"memories can last forever...cherish them"


(56.) The Vision Thing
http://www.thevisionthing.com

"Business. Process. Management."


(57.) Vaspers the Grate
http://www.vaspersthegrate.blogspot.com

"Web research. Web usability analysis. Blogology. Presented by Steven Streight. CONTACT: vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com"


(58.) Blog Core Values
http://www.blogcorevalues.blogspot.com

"Blog ethics. Blog guidelines. Effective business blogging tips.
Blog Core Values = Authenticity. Passion. Transparency.
Credibility. Individualism. Creativity. Originality. Integrity.
I AM: Steven Streight. EMAIL: vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com"


(59.) Half Bakery
http://www.halfbakery.com

[A rotating variety of taglines, including the following...]

"I think, therefore I'm thinking"

"Birth of a Notion"

"I see bread people"

"Bite Me"

"You think: aha! We go: ha ha!"

"It's the thought that counts."

"Almost as great as sliced bread."

"Nice swing, no follow through."

"But wait! There's less!"

"You gonna finish that?"

"actual products may differ from illustration"





vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com 



Now...it's your turn.

Which blogs do YOU think
have the best taglines?

Have any of these blogs
inspired you to improve
your tagline?


Post a comment, or email me YOUR opinion.

Thanks a lot!



[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka Leopold the Told

Blog Tagline Experiment Coming Sunday to VTG

If you liked what I did with the Business Blog Post Titles Experiment #1 and Blog Post Titles Experiment #2, where I displayed the last 5 post titles of lots of blogs...

...you should like my new investigation:


Blog Tagline Experiment


I will provide a list of taglines from all those blogs from the Blog Post Titles Experiment, plus some other blogs with good or funny taglines.



My favorite taglines right at the moment are:



(1.) "You just stepped in a pile of posts."

and

(2.) "CAUTION: Parental Discretion Advised. Consult your psychiatrist."

and

(3.) "Where men can link, but they can't touch."




What blogs contain these taglines?

Well, you're going to have to wait
until I get the post finished.



My neck hurts.

My eyes ache.

My back throbs.

But, gentle reader, I do it all for YOU.



:^)



[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate

Royal Bloggers of Cambodia

cambodia king and queen home page 


Check out the King and Queen of Cambodia's blog.

http://www.norodomsihanouk.info

Huh?

Okay. I know I just posted about how blogs need to enable readers to comment.

Now here I go telling you about a "blog" that has no comments, but there is an email address, and the bloggers do post personal articles, so I guess you can call it a "blog", or better: a "home page".

The image above is from the main page of the site.

I learned about this from a Gmail Google Alert, which directed me to:

News-Journal Online
http://www.news-journalonline.com




Here are a few statements from that site about the Royal Bloggers of Cambodia:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/
News/Technology/03TechTECH01052805.htm


[QUOTE]



[headline] Cambodia's ex-king has computer, will blog


Associated Press

Last update: May 28, 2005



PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- "I thank you for insulting me."


Thus blogged former King Norodom Sihanouk to a critic of his support of gay marriage.

He didn't share any of the insulting e-mails with his readers, but noted: "My country, Cambodia, has chosen to be a liberal democracy since 1993. Every Cambodian ... including the King has the right to express freely their view."

It was one of thousands of commentaries that fill the Web site of the world's most colorful and pugnacious royal blogger, offering Sihanouk's views on anything from environmental rape through Hollywood stars and killer spouses to the rough-and-tumble of Cambodian politics.

Sihanouk has been a giant on the Asian political scene for 50 years. He took on the French empire to win Cambodia's independence. During the Vietnam War he was such a nuisance to Washington that he was ousted in a U.S.-supported coup. He backed the Khmer Rouge until its murderous regime turned on him and put him under house arrest.

Today at 82, he is Cambodia's lion in winter, cancer-stricken and undergoing treatment in China, his former place of exile where he still has a home. Yet he's as sharp-tongued and loquacious as ever. The man who grew up on cowboy movies has taken to the World Wide Web with equal gusto.

For at least three years he has been posting his opinions, historical documents and exchanges with diplomats or Cambodian politicians. He abdicated in favor of his son Sihamoni last fall, and is in and out of the hospital, but the Internet keeps him in the public eye in a style that may be unique on the world stage.


[snip]


Sihanouk's site doesn't have all the technical bells and whistles that fit the purist definition of a Web log.

But that caveat aside, says David L. Sifry, whose company Technorati tracks blogs, Sihanouk is making "incredibly innovative use of the Internet to be able to communicate directly with the people of Cambodia and the people of the world."


[snip]


The postings aren't all so benign. He has angered Prime Minister Hun Sen with caustic critiques of Cambodian society and politics penned by one Ruom Ritt, a supposed childhood pen pal.

[snip]


Sihanouk often lets fly with his own views on Cambodia's social ills -- illegal logging that threatens to turn the country into a "tiny Sahara without oil," the trafficking of Cambodian women for prostitution in other Asian countries where they "suffer, are humiliated," their impoverished parents helpless to intervene.

[snip]


He recently blogged that his cancer has re-emerged from remission, but upon learning that a magazine was preparing his obituary, he told his readers: "Even today, Friday the 13th, I am not yet aware of my death. Maybe I am already dead. But I will continue to believe that I am alive.


Sihanouk's Web site, part English but mostly French: www.norodomsihanouk.info

[END QUOTE]


So, what do YOU think?

Is this a blog?

Is this interesting to see--royalty speaking candidly to the public?

Don't business people and CEOs seem kind of ignorant when they still wonder "why blog?" and "what would I do with a blog?"

Here are Cambodian royals blogging away, opening their hearts, displaying medical records, telling us what they think about a variety of issues!

There is a post entitled "Results of Laboratory Examination of His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk" that contains information on everything from his serum immunoglobulins and blood urea nitrogen to his cancer antigens 199 and 125 and his urobilinogen levels.

I suppose he's trying to prove that he's still alive.

LOL

:^)

I applaud them for putting themselves out there on the internet, for all to see.


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka The Leper Guru of Blog Core Values

Blogs Must Be Interactive via Comments or Email

THE CONTROVERSY

One of the controversies raging in the blogosphere, according to my research and observation, is Comments vs. Linking.

Does a blog really need to have comments from readers?

I have to control myself now.

I don't want to anger any pioneering bloggers or my very astute blog colleagues.

But I think it's...how shall I put this?...absurd to even pose this question.


NON-INTERACTIVE BLOGS = BROADCAST PULPITS

What makes a blog so much better, in most cases, than a conventional web site?

A blog is interactive with its audience.

A blog enables readers to join the conversation, rather than shut up and listen passively.

There are some wonderful, smart, pioneer blogs out there that do not allow comments from readers.

Why?

Too many stupid comments? Too much comment spam? I don't know what legitimate reasons could exist to turn off comments.

A blog that merely contains statements by the blogger, with no comments by the readers: this is just a one-way broadcast pulpit.

I always feel like the Non-comment Blog is telling me to just listen and learn. No questions. No interruptions. No two-way conversation allowed. Weird. Aloof. Unfriendly. Cold. Alienating...in most cases.


MY VICTORY OVER COMMENT SPAMMERS


I turned off comments for about two months on all my blogs, except Blog Core Values.

Why?

Comment spam attack. I didn't like spending hours hunting down the filthy mouthed malicious comment spam and manually deleting them.

But now I'm turning comments back on at all my blogs.

Why?

Because I just discovered a neat weapon against them, a free tool from Blogger, combined with my Gmail account.

(1.) Whenever anyone leaves a comment at any of my Blogger blogs, I get an email alerting me to the comment. The alert contains the name of the blog, the name of the commenter, the comment, and...get this...a direct link to that post at which the person left the comment.

(2.) So if the comment is filthy malicious comment spam [which often leads readers to porno sites, con artist sites, spyware attaching sites, or worse], I can go directly and quickly to that post and delete the comment spam. Stupidly, I didn't realize this before. I wasted so much time hunting and deleting, when I could have easily gone right to the post and deleted the spam.



ANOTHER ARGUMENT AGAINST COMMENTS

One more thing I've heard against enabling readers to comment is that if they want to post web content, they should start their own blog.

Boy, this sounds kind of mean-spirited and selfish. Again, I don't want to insult the pioneer bloggers who have recently or always adopted this line of reasoning. But I speak my mind and I don't care who agrees or disagrees with me.

I tell the truth as I see it.

And I see Non-interactive Blogs as very strange, cold, inhuman, uncaring, cut off from the blogospheric community of lively interaction.


CONCLUSION

If you have some valid reason to NOT allow readers to post comments, at least display a non-harvestable email address (one the spambots can't capture: like "vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com"), so readers can still contact you.

You can moderate and delay posting of comments if necessary.

But I insist you must let readers join the conversation.

If you don't want to hear from your audience, why do you blog?

You don't really have a blog, you've got a bulletin board or a conventional dynamic content web site ("dynamic"--meaning constantly updated, new content added continually).

I seriously question any blog by anybody, and I don't care how famous or prestigious the blogger is, who won't allow readers to add their input.

You can delete abusive comments, stupidly worthless comments, comment spam (driving traffic to dubious or malicious sites), and off topic comments.

We don't really need anymore one-way, unilateral, mass marketing broadcast platforms.

The Blog Revolution is about community building, shared interests, united activism, candid conversations.


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka The Leper Guru

Blogging With Nothing To Say

a blog can be a dangerous weapon of death by boredom 


Here I go again.

Boring Blog Bashing, like only Vaspers can do.

This post was inspired by Uta at Fancy World, her Bzzzzzzzzz! cartoon.

Have you ever visited a bunch of blogs,
only to feel exhausted, empty, enraged?

I have. Happens all the time.

While I support the grass roots
revolution of the common person
blogging, expressing thoughts,
voicing opinions, talking back
to the media and corporations
and tyrannical rogue regimes...

...I don't support boring blogs.

I don't enjoy visiting blogs
that are popular, blogrolled
by prestigious bloggers...

...only to find nothing of value.

Nothing amusing.

Nothing enlightening.

Nothing inspiring.

Nothing worth reading.


I'm talking mainly about
business, marketing, and tech blogs.

Many of them suck, really bad.

PLEASE post harsh comments at them.

PLEASE send questioning email to the authors.

I include myself and my own blogs.


Speak out and act up.


Let bloggers know how you feel.


If a blogger has not a damn thing
to say, why does he go ahead and post
something anyway. Loser!


I want you to flame me if I post
stupid, boring, or worthless
material to any of my blogs.


I want to hear other points of view.


I want to receive the harshest
criticism you can dish out.


That's how I improve and grow.


My enemies do me more favors
than my friends and allies.


My re-design of this blog
was due largely to a person,
Martin, who frequents the blog
Hello World.

He says nasty, unfair things
about me for sport or venting.

That's okay.

I learn and adjust and perfect.

He hated my typeface and colors.

He caused me to hate my blog.

YOU HAVE TO HATE YOUR BLOG
so you'll then try to improve it.


If you love your blog,

your writing style,

your design template,

your reader comments,

your widgets and art,

YOU ARE LOST...DEAD.


Keep improving, changing,
growing, enhancing.

Avoid boring readers
with Nothing To Say
and No New Features
and No Design Changes.


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka The Leper Guru


P.S. Here's that image again that I like so much, and so poorly imitate on this post in my own pathetic manner:



here's that Bzzzzz image from Fancy World 

Mysterious Blogger Emotions

flaming and flattering: why bloggers react to online text 


This post is going to be rather different than most of my writings.

(I'll bet my buddy Satish Talim in India will really like this one.)

I'm just asking a question here. No heavily linked and deeply researched article. Just a sincere sense of wonder, puzzlement, uncertainty.

(In my recent post "Readerless Blogging", I encouraged bloggers to blog on in spite of many things, including "uncertainty". Here's one of my own uncertainties.)

An odd, troubling aspect of blogging has always bothered me.

"Why do we react so extremely
to online text: harshing, flaming,
flattering, praising, trolling,
baiting, griefing, challenging?"

Not just blogging. This applies to any internet/textual situation: chat rooms, text messaging, emails, bulletin boards, discussion lists, web forums.

Again:

"Why are we so easily hurt
by online text criticism?"

"Why are we so quickly pleased
by online text compliments?"


I've noticed this strange phenomenon
in many applications, especially
in blog comments.

I've seen it in myself.

A nice comment on my blog: ecstasy.

A nasty comment on my blog: misery.

Maybe not that extreme all the time,
but think about it: are you like this?

Do you easily get depressed or angry
when you read a harsh comment on your blog?

Do you easily feel delight and satisfaction
when you read a friendly comment on your blog?

If I was a highly trained and experienced
psychotherapist or psychologist, maybe
I'd be able to analyze and explain this.

If someone says something to me
in the real world, off computer,
to my face, in my presence...

not a big deal.


But say it online, in a blog comment,
in a discussion list email, in a forum,
and watch the sparks fly.


Why?


It's not just me.

I've seen bloggers be super sensitive
to the slightest questions or attempts
to suggest a correction or improvement.

Bloggers seem to be very tempermental.

Very sensitive.

Very emotionally fragile.

Not very resilient.

Not very flexible.



TWO EXPERIMENTS
YOU CAN CONDUCT


(1.) Try this experiment.

Post a harsh comment
at a blog you like.

Don't be mean or hateful,
just mention something
you think could be better.

Or disagree with a statement.

Or point out an error.

Like: "You said John C. Dvorak's
predictions are often wrong.
Please define 'wrong' and prove
that what's 'wrong' to you must
be universally considered 'wrong'".

Watch what happens.


(2.) Try another experiment.

Post kind, complimentary comment
at a blog you like.

Praise something that is not
really praise-worthy.

Like: "The colors you use in
this blog are AWESOME. How did
you configure the hexadecimals?
Wow. Best in the blogosphere!"

Watch what happens.


But PLEASE:

later email the blog author
or post another comment

and say it's my fault,

"Steven Streight told me to"

and explain my experiment.

I'll bet they don't think
it funny, scientific, or nice.


LOL (lollygagging off lozenges).

I bet I get flamed, harshed, and
trashed for suggesting you
toy with blogger emotions.

LOL and ROTF (rolling on the floor).

[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka The Leper Guru

8 Ways To Decide What To Blog About Next

blog post topic generation tips 

When I did my Blog Post Titles Experiment #1 and #2, I studied many blog post titles.

I began to wonder why certain topics were posted. I mean, I pondered how the bloggers came up with their posts.

Obviously, some bloggers respond to news about blogs, computer manufacturers, RSS, podcasts, tech gadgets, blogging guidelines, and related issues.

Others blog about politics, culture, religion, philosophy, music, art, commerce, etc.

I thought it might be interesting to try to provide a list of ways that I myself come up with new blog posts, new articles, new writings for my blogs.


Blog Post Topic Generation Tips


SUMMARY:

* Contemplate
* Innovate
* Irritate
* Illuminate
* Imaginate
* Emulate
* Meditate
* Speculate



(1.) CONTEMPLATE.

Think about what you've learned lately.

Any new insights from experience?

Any interesting facts you discovered?

Anything that you would personally tell
someone who was sitting in the room
with you as you stare at your computer?


(2.) INNOVATE.

Think of something most people assume
to be true, but you have a contrary opinion.

Think of something most people are doing,
but you have a very different method.

Think of something that people assume
is a problem, but you have solved it.


(3.) IRRITATE.

Deliberately write about something that you
feel strongly about, but know others will
not agree with, and will argue about.

In a benevolent manner, describe how an
activity or belief that is common is
actually in error, and should change.

Find something that is really stupid
and attack it, with the betterment of others
as the primary goal, but be firm.

I'm not advocating sadism or cruelty.

I mean irritate in a way that shakes
people out of lethargy, complacency,
apathy, mediocrity, and idiocy.


(4.) ILLUMINATE.

Find something that few seem to understand,
research it, and proclaim your new knowledge.

Dangers of Personal Blogging (identity theft,
child predators, phishing, irate employers,
stalkers, etc.) is a good example.


(5.) IMAGINATE.

Write a title that sounds good.

Then write text to go along with it.

Dream up the topic by thinking:

"This would be a good post title,
and if someone had this post title
in their blog, I'd definitely read it."

Use your imagination in an area
of which you have some expertise.


(6.) EMULATE.

If you see a good post in someone else's
blog, and you like it, but you think that
you could write a similar post, in your
own words, based on your unique point of
view and experience, try writing one.

Don't imitate or plagiarize.

Just let another blog post inspire you.


(7.) MEDITATE.

Ponder some aspect deeply.

Think long and hard about something.

Go for a walk. Lie down and listen to music.

Relax and let the thoughts come to you.

Try to figure something out, maybe an issue
of concern to others in your field.

Mentally chew on a principle, a general
guideline, a basic fundamental rule.

Then write about it clearly and powerfully.


(8.) SPECULATE.

Make a good, educated guess as to
what's coming next in your industry,
your realm of activity, your nation.

Try to predict some aspect of the future,
based on information and intuitive hunches.


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate

Beautifying the Blogosphere with Fancy World

New Cartoon Blogger Rocks! 

I stumbled upon a site in which I stumbled upon another site that stopped me cold in my tracks. It was the very interesting 49 Media that turned me onto Fancy World and Uta Culemann.

Friends, join me in welcoming Uta and her Fancy World site to the blogosphere.

Uta Culemann is a cartoon artist who is new to the blogosphere and is heroically trying to figure out what's going on and she's "curious about where it leads", as she stated in an email to me.

Well, it leads to fame and fortune, if you're as talented as Uta Culemann.

She states "I started my blog with cartoons because I'm from Germany and a cartoon can work without a lot of sentences. Now I'm learning English and also blogging."

I promised her that if she hooks up with Vaspers the Grate and Blog Core Values, I would steer her in the right direction. And I mean to keep my promise, which I also make to all my fans, flamers, and followers.


here's that Bzzzzz image from Fancy World 

You've got to take just a moment and look at her latest post, which I cannot give you the deep link URL for, because I cannot count how many "z" are in it. (Sort of reminds me of how some, like the Wall Street Journal, say, correctly but suspiciously, "we cannot really count the blogs in the blogosphere accurately". Ha!)

I copy and paste her post title here:

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

This recent post is captioned "Too much web today" and it cleverly and artistically conveys the overwhelming frustration that we've all experienced at times.

Sometimes, after 22 hours on the computer, I get up and feel like I smoked some sinsimilla mixed with lamb's breath or something. Your brain circuits blow out in a pseudo-euphoric, depersonalizing, disorienting manner.

If I don't get a bunch of comments on this post about Fancy World, I'll know you all have lost a few marbles. Seriously, check this out. It's funny, weird, and well done.

The wonderful new cartoon blog called Fancy World:

http://www.141design.blogspot.com



[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka The Leper Guru

One Year Anniversary of Vaspers the Grate

Vaspers Anniversary Celebration Poster 

I sincerely appreciate all those who have

visited

read

subscribed to feeds

posted comments

emailed

blogrolled

and

blogged about

Vaspers the Grate.



To celebrate my

One Year Anniversary,

I have given the site

a fresh new design template.



Special THANKS A MILLION to

those who believed in me,

answered questions,

set a good example,

and helped me a lot

(even when they disagreed
with some of my ideas):


* Andrea Streight

(my wife, who is
a senior accountant
at a prestigious
insurance firm, who got
me back up to speed in
computer skills, and who
listens to my rants daily)


* Jakob Nielsen

(who taught me
web usability)


* Prof. B.J. Fogg

(who taught me
web credibility)


* Mac Swift

(who taught me how to blog
and how to engage in
serious blogo-combat)


* Kaitlin Duck Sherwood

(who taught me
micro-content writing)


* Evan Williams

(who made Push Button
Publishing via Blogger
available to us all)


* Google

(who provides me with
FREE things--
Blogspot, Gmail,
Hello/Picasa, etc.,
so I can do ZBM:
Zero Budget Marketing)


* Microsoft

(for Windows OS
and MSN internet
connection, etc.)


* Busy Thumbs.com

(for my FREE new
moblog "Radical
Corporate Art")


* Robert Scoble

* Shel Israel

* Seth Godin

(who promptly answers
all my dumb emails)


* John C. Dvorak

(who inspires my writing
and my science fiction
micro stories at my
Cosmos Blogmos blog)


* Cory Doctorow

* Doc Searls

* Christopher Locke

* David Weinberger

* Dave Taylor

* Debbie Weil

* Paul Woodhouse

(my blogo-combat comrade)


* Don the Idea Guy

* Dr. Ed Deevy

* Paul Chaney

* Toby Bloomberg

* Amy Gahran

* Richard Edelman

* Laura Ries

* Jennifer Rice

* Robert May

* Jeremy C. Wright

* Darren Rouse

* Tom Peters

* Cathy Mosca

* Hugh Macleod

* Greg Hoffman

* Steve Rubel

* John Moore

* Katherine Stone

* Ken Kirchgessner

(with whom I work on
the WD Boyce BSA
Web Development
Committee--he's Chairman)


* Thomas A. Powell

(WEB DESIGN:The Complete Reference book)


* O'Reilly Publishing

(WEB MASTER IN A NUTSHELL book)


* Nick Usborne

(NET WORDS book)



These, PLUS many others:

* whose blogs taught me plenty

* who scolded me about my errors

* who paved the way before me

* who defended me against enemies

and

* who tolerated my bizarre

comments at their blogs!


(Particularly Robert Scoble

and Shel Israel)


THANKS so much to all of you

and to those whose names

may not appear here...

...but you know who you are.


I hope to earn and keep

your respect and friendship

for many years to come.


God Bless the Universe

and the Blogosphere!


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate

Wall Street Journal Still In the Dark About Blogs: "Measuring Blog Impact"

MSM not understanding blogs or bloggers 



Today's (May 26, 2005 Thursday) online version of The Wall Street Journal has an article, in the section called The Numbers Guy by Carl Bialik, entitled "Measuring the Impact of Blogs Requires More Than Counting":

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/
0,,SB111685593903640572,00.html?
mod=todays_free_feature



BLOG READERSHIP


Paragraph 1 is a put down of bloggers:

"If you read press coverage about blogs, you might conclude that just about all Americans are reading a blog".

[STREIGHT: What is he talking about? What "press coverage" declares that almost all Americans are reading blogs? I've never heard any media say this, not even bloggers. Carl cites no reference sources for this bizarre and reckless statement.]

"But then you wouldn't have time to read the press coverage, because if surveys are to be believed, you're probably busy creating your own blog."

[STREIGHT: What surveys? Again, he is making wild accusations without any credibility on his part. What surveys, what press coverage about blogs actually says "just about all Americans are reading a blog" and thus, have no time to read press coverage? This is shoddy journalism, a la MSM.]



BLOG DEFINITION


Paragraph 3 muddies the waters even more:

"Adding to the confusion: disagreement over exactly what a blog is. In our young era of blogging, there's still no consensus. 'Blog' derives from 'Web log' and everyone agrees that a blog should be regularly updated, with new entries in reverse chronological order--and that the entries can be about anything."

[STREIGHT: More reckless journalistic error--"everyone agrees".

I know quite a few who do NOT agree. There are some bloggers who dislike the reverse chronological order of blog entries, want new posts to reside in a conceptual hierarchy, and wish to see thumbnail-like displays of posts so the reader can determine which posts are priority reading.

Carl admits that there seems to be no "consensus" definition of blog, yet he doesn't take the time to fully explain what a blog is. Saying "blog" derives from "Web log" is no explanation at all. I can imagine many readers of this article scratching their heads and thinking "...but, again, what exactly is a blog?"

Steve Streight Definition of Blog: a communications, connectivity, and interactivity platform that enables users with no HTML skills to quickly and easily publish web content for a global audience, thus the democratization of web content publishing, the revolutionary rise of universal access to internet content.]

Doc Searls apparently said that a blog is an "email to the world", which I think is one of best general statements ever made about blogs. It's as easy to post material to a blog as it is to compose and send an email.]


The rest of the article discusses the problem of tracking and counting blogs, and how as many as 50% of blogs are abandoned or blank.

This article sheds very little light on the subject of blogs. No mention of the significance of reader interaction via comments and email to the blog authors. No mention of the community building or activist aspects of blogs.

What is said about the problems of defining, tracking, qualifying, and counting blogs is not new, nor is it very enlightening.

It seems to me that the whole point of this article is to downplay the significance of blogs AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM.

Good.

I hate advertising on blogs, and will not allow any ads to appear on any of my blogs.

I also hate blogs that are trying to sell me something, unless it's an occasional book or blog related merchandise like a hat or tee shirt with the blogger's name and logo printed on them. Fun and relevant informative stuff is okay, as long as the promotions on the blog are not pushy, hard-sell, distracting hype.


BLOG IMPACT


Under the subhead "How Important Are They?", Carl states:

"Even if millions of Americans read blogs, there are very few individual blogs that have a significant number of readers."

Again, it's the old fashioned mass media broadcast mentality.

What's important to the dead MSM is numbers of "eyeballs". Bah!

Though it's difficult to measure influence, many blogs seem to have pretty powerful influence on influential thought and action leaders.

This article is careful not to make a very big deal about how bloggers have joined together to topple big names in both journalism and politics. The subversive aspects of blogs are ignored. The democratization of web content publishing is also ignored.

I think Carl, and other MSM journalists, need to actually read some major blogs by important bloggers like Doc Searls, Robert Scoble, Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Hugh Macleod, Darren Rouse, Joi Ito, John C. Dvorak, Richard Edelman, David Weinberger, Steve Rubel, Buzz Bruggeman, and others who discuss blogs and their impact.

Bloggers do a much better job promoting, questioning, and even harshing blogs than the lazy, lame MSM.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

:^)


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate

Readerless Blogging

Many personal blog bloggers will tell you:

"I blog to express myself."

or:

"I blog to get things off
my chest, to air my complaints,
to state my opinions."

If you've been reading
Vaspers the Grate for
a while you know:

I have little interest
in Vanity Blogs.

Yet, I do claim this:

Even the Vanity Blogs
serve the purpose of
people finding their voice.

I deeply sympathize with
how the average person

and poor people have been
made to be silent and

submit themselves to
political propaganda
and commerical messages.

Blogs are People Power.

Blogs represent the rise
of Citizen Journalism,
Grassroots Activism,
Social Transformation.

I want to emphasize now
this important point:

When you blog to express
yourself, your opinions,
your ideas and interests...


...you may also improve
your thinking and writing.

I and many others have
said this often before.

What I mean to say here
is this:

Keep Blogging in Obscurity.

Keep Blogging in Loneliness.

Keep Blogging All By Yourself.

Keep Blogging to Nobody.

Keep Blogging with No Comments.

Keep Blogging with No Fans, Followers, or Friends.

Keep Blogging with No Emails
from the audience.

Keep Blogging with No RSS Subscribers.

Keep Blogging with No Mention
of Your Blog in Other Blogs.

Keep Blogging with No Invitations
to Attend Blog Conferences.

Keep Blogging with No Friends or
Family Who Care or Understand Blogs.

Keep Blogging with Flamers Attacking.

Keep Blogging with Enemies Laughing.

Keep Blogging with RSS Subscribers
Cancelling Their Feeds.

Keep Blogging with Weariness.

Keep Blogging with Uncertainty.

Keep Blogging with Hopelessness.

Keep Blogging without Joy.

Keep Blogging without Fun.

Keep Blogging without Profit.

Keep Blogging without Appreciation.

Keep Blogging without Results.


Why?

Why "keep blogging"
in spite of all these
seemingly negative events?

Because daily or bi-weekly
or whatever frequency
blogging will help YOU.

Blogging is good mental
discipline and exercise.

Blogging can make you smarter.

Blogging can make you nicer.

Blogging can make you less boring.

Blogging can make you more sincere.

Blogging can make you more creative.

Blogging can make you more literate.

Plus...

blogging is taking power
away from the Powers That Pretend To Be.


Blogging is Thinking.

Blogging is Acting.

Blogging is SUBVERSIVE.

Blogging is REVOLUTIONARY.

Blogging is SPIRITUAL.


KEEP BLOGGING.


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka Leopold the Told

Busy Thumbs and Business Art

introducing my new mobile blog 



Thanks to my dear friend and blogo-combat ally, Paul Woodhouse, of the Tinbasher blog and Butler Sheet Metal, I have a new blog as of yesterday.

I've taken Blog Core Values and Art Test Explosion, smashed them together in a particle accelerator, and the result is:

Radical Corporate Art
http://radcorpart.busythumbs.com


Busy Thumbs.com is FREE mobile blog software, hosting, and digital image uploading service. You can update your blog by text messaging or online. I like it a lot.

Check out my new site...and consider starting your own mobile blog.

It's easy and FREE.


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka Leopold the Told

Blog Post Titles Experiment #2

compare your post titles to these 


[Dedicated to Al Ries, Laura Ries, and Jack Trout, who have written expansively about the huge importance of names and titles.]


Here it is! My installment #2 in an ongoing, monthly examination of blog post titles.

I'm of the opinion that the title of your post is the most important text of the post.

If the post title is not good, many potential readers and RSS subscribers may just skip it. The post title is also vital for search engine optimization, and for grabbing the attention of blog surfers.

Give your blog posts the great, attention-getting titles they deserve!


WHY "EXPERIMENT"?


I call this an "experiment". I guess it's probably more an "examination".

What I mean is, let's examine these post titles, and see which are most compelling, which titles sound the most interesting.

Then consider your own post title writing. Can you improve your post titles?

I'll do the hard, time-consuming work of assembling post titles every month. Then you can analyze them, deciding which ones are the best, learning what to do...and what not to do...based on these examples.

Judging ONLY by the post titles, which blogs would you want to visit?

Are there post titles that turn you off, that seem stupid, irrelevant?

Which blogs do you think probably contain, on a consistent basis, reputable and relevant content?

Have fun inspecting these post titles.

Who knows?

Maybe in the evaluation process, you'll discover a new blog to blogroll, visit, blog about, and post comments at!


IMHO, superior post titles =

* clear, cogent, coherent
* good preview of post content
* not "clever", not silly, not ambiguous
* relevant, meaningful, interesting
* compelling: arouses curiosity
* compelling: offers value, benefit

The purpose of a post title is to
give you some idea of what the post
content is...before you go to the
trouble of click/selecting it.

Blog readers are busy. In a hurry.

Don't write dumb, vague post titles.

Avoid writing post titles
that make no sense
until you read the post.

Learn to write post titles that
command attention
and generate interest.

Here are the titles of the 5 most recent posts of selected blogs, as of May 21, 2005 (Saturday). In no particular order.

LIST OF BLOG POST TITLES



The Deevy Report
http://thedeevyreport.blogspot.com

1. Facilitating A "Conversation" Between Internal Stakeholders: Blogging Guidelines to Consider
2. Want to Sustain High Morale in Your Organization? Consider Using an Internal Blog
3. Why Do People in Organizations Resist Change?
4. Employees Who Feel Good About Themselves Produce Superior Results!
5. What To Do When Employee Morale is the Problem


Radical Corporate Art
http://radcorpart.busythumbs.com

1. New Business Mentality
2. Rules for Real Revolution
3. Mental Miracles
4. Confuse the Competition
5. New Rules for the Neo-Corporate Realm


Working Smart
http://michaelhyatt.blogs.com/workingsmart

1. Sometimes Life is Like Skiing
2. Recovering the Lost Art of Note-Taking
3. Why I Ditched My Tablet PC
4. What's in Your Carry-On?
5. How to Read Blogs

Doc Searls Weblog
http://doc.weblogs.com

1. The revolution will be televised after all
2. Linking without html
3. Last blog and testament
4. Read on
5. Blogging at the speed of not


Dvorak Uncensored
http://www.dvorak.org/blog

1. Slideshow of the Week Dept.
2. Motorola DVR Site Home
3. The Naked Truth, In Italy
4. Tech Trends--IDC: Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Growth Will Slow
5. Old Tree Found. Hmmm. No, really!

Scobleizer
http://scoble.weblogs.com

1. Sharon ruins my reputation...calls me "incredibly nice"
2. Store Wars goes viral
3. Xbox Live guy tries to spy on Nintendo guy in plane, great writing ensues
4. That's one FAST Tablet PC
5. Susan links to Sean who links to Susan--all about SBS


Tinbasher
http://www.butlersheetmetal.com/tinbasherblog

1. "2, 3, 4, 5. We don't want them oxidised."
2. Fetch me my pipe and slippers
3. If it ain't broke, just upgrade it!
4. It's what they would've wanted
5. Meet The Applegate

[EDIT UPDATE: I forgot to include one of my favorite blogs. Here it is now: Corporate Blogging.Info]

Corporate Blogging.Info
http://www.corporateblogging.info

1. Blogger Wish List
2. Quick Tip: Reading feeds on your mobile
3. Blog risk assessment teams
4. IBM Blogs "Truly Scary"
5. Traditional Media Rules



Blogspotting (Business Week blog)
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting

1. Podcasting confession
2. End of the beat reporter
3. Blogs in research: help for a speech
4. RSS Consolidation
5. Bloglines Questions?

The Big Blog Company
http://bigblogcompany.net

1. Quote to remember
2. Battling the tabloids via blog
3. Quote to remember
4. U.S. online marketing forecast: $26 billion by 2010
5. More Creative Commons buzz


NevOn
http://nevon.typepad.com/nevon

1. Upcoming geek extravaganza in London
2. Skype blogs to create community
3. Interview: Mike Wing, IBM--May 20, 2005
4. Cool video promotes podcasting feature
5. Blogging the IABC conference


Ad Rants
http://www.adrants.com

1. Blogging Jumps Shark, Becomes Trucker Hat
2. Hottie Gets $11K in eBay Body Ad Auction
3. Budweiser Taps JibJab for Online Promotional Content
4. Paris Hilton Promotes Jeff Bridges Hunger Organization
5. Burger King Hires Darth Vader for Viral

Seth's Blog
http://sethgodin.typepad.com

1. Telling a story with a picture
2. Michael Pollock is a Liar
3. Fundable...a next big thing?
4. Whatever happened to Change This?
5. Visualizing Your Story


Tom Peters!
http://www.tompeters.com

1. TP Wire Service Launches
2. Call to Women Entrepreneurs
3. Event Slides: Warsaw
4. Stalled Mobility
5. Move Over, Jamie Foxx

Pro Blogger
http://www.problogger.net

1. Should New Blogs Have Ads?
2. Search Engine Optimization Secrets
3. Following Blogtalk Downunder
4. Jeff Jarvis-Pro Blogger
5. The importance of Title Tags in Search Engine Optimization


Chandrasutra
http://chandrasutra.typepad.com/chandra

1. The dark night of blogger's block
2. Buzztracker's media epicentres
3. Schopenhauer's debate hacks
4. Lessig via Ali G
5. Goodbye garden

Robot Wisdom
http://www.robotwisdom.com

1. Escalating controversy over Google Print
2. Usenet still a pirate's paradise
3. List of 100 must-see movies (omits David Lynch)
4. Botticelli "Portrait of a Youth" called forgery
5. Well-worth renting: "Veronica Guerin" (heroic journalist)

BlogWrite for CEOs
http://blogwrite.blogs.com

1. Ignore the blogosphere at peril to your brand
2. IBM's Employee Blogging Guidelines
3. RSS 101: "Really Simple" 5-Step Guide to Get Started
4. Why corporate blogging works, according to Hugh Macleod's Gaping Void
5. Why more CEOs aren't blogging (yet), according to USA Today


The Intuitive Life Business Blog
http://www.intuitive.com/blog

1. The commoditization of the hardware store, and of our future
2. Ubuntu Linux, Yellowdog Linux, and Mac OS X, all on one PowerBook?
3. Your Daily Art: A great example of leveraging blogging
4. Review: Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
5. The Seven Core Values of Innovation


Business Pundit
http://www.businesspundit.com

1. Interesting Business Strategy
2. Out of Town
3. Philosophy of Business: Marx's Theory of Worker Alienation and What That Means for Managers
4. The Church Business
5. How Can A City Promote Entrepreneurship?


Decent Marketing
http://decentmarketing.typepad.com/weblog

1. A Rockin' Good Tooth Brushin' Time
2. Death, Taxes & Chuck E. Cheese
3. Inspiration Sans Cheese
4. they're losin' it! (sung to the McDonald's Theme Song)
5. Going Local: Farmers Trading Cards


Don the Idea Guy's Brain Blog
http://www.mybrainblog.com

1. Audible.com uses RSS feeds to provide new release alerts
2. The Riddler Makes His Final Escape
3. Losing Your Links
4. Dolphin Death Ray
5. Audio Revisited


Naked Conversations (formerly: The Red Couch)
http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog

1. Ch 6 Consultants Who Get It
2. Chapter 7: Survival of the Publicists
3. Interview: Andrew Carlton
4. Interview: Toby Bloomberg
5. More Consultants Wanted


Diva Marketing
http://www.bloombergmarketing.blogs.com

1. A Year to Remember
2. Successful eMail Campaigns
3. Biz Blog Profile Series: Stonyfield Farm--Stonyfield Farm Blog "Cow"munities
4. A New Way to Feed the Press
5. Playing with the Blog Pundits


Brand Autopsy
http://brandautopsy.typepad.com

1. Delicious Library--A Tasty Application
2. All Marketers Are Liars
3. Starbuck Real Estate Learnings
4. According to Bloggers VII
5. Advertising on Times Square


Thinking by Peter D
http://peterthink.blogs.com

1. Aluminum Obsession VI
2. LED Light-up Table
3. Camera Phone Life Hacks
4. Sentient Door Handles
5. "Bud Vase Features"


Micropersuasion
http://www.micropersuasion.com

1. Ballmer to RSS Enthusiasts: Chill
2. Light Blogging Ahead
3. PR Pros Who Get It
4. H & K Urges PR Pros to Get Blogging
5. Blogopoly

What's Your Brand Mantra
http://brand.blogs.com/mantra

1. Giveaways
2. Hammers, cont'd
3. It's not about the hammer
4. Countdown to next webinar
5. IFTF Update

MarketingVOX
http://www.marketingvox.com

1. Google Opens Portal to Confront Yahoo, MSN
2. Star Wars Online Ads a Powerful Force
3. Ask Jeeves Buys Excite Europe, Continues Expansion
4. Forrester: Search Important to Veteran Shoppers
5. NetRatings Files Patent-Infringement Case Against Coremetrics, Omniture


The Origin of Brands Blog
http://ries.typepad.com

1. Finger Food
2. Jorge Cruise
3. Ries Brand Extension
4. GoDaddy looks like a winner
5. Can Martha make a comeback?


Chief Blogging Officer
http://www.chiefbloggingofficer.com

1. Henry Ford goes to Atlantis--and beyond
2. beer-guzzling blogger moms feed babies booze!
3. great americans in rock & roll--1st in a series
4. top 40 radio
5. the academy: may we have the envelope please

Business Blog Consulting
http://www.businessblogconsulting.com

1. What if Blogs Don't Change Your Business?
2. Announcing My Semi-Retirement From This Blog
3. Business Week: Blogs Will Change Your Business
4. The Decade in Online Advertising
5. Boeing Blog Gets Closer


re:invention
http://reinventioninc.blogspot.com

1. RE: Our Saturday Feature--10 Tips for 10 Million Women (TM)
2. RE: But Daddy Said I Could!
3. RE: Tom Peters Launches TP Wire Service
4. RE: Activist Marketing 101. Right On, Brother!
5. RE: Our Saturday Feature--10 Tips for 10 Million Women (TM)


Small Business Blog
http://www.allbusiness.com/blog/thesmallbusinessblog/3882

1. Intellectual Property, Patent Reform and Small Business
2. How the Internet Has Changed Small Business Forever
3. Marketing Strategy for Skeptics
4. Back With a Baby!
5. A New Generation of Tech Visionaries


Radiant Marketing Group
http://radiantmarketinggroup.com

1. RMG Welcomes New Client, Fit Express
2. Bob Cargill's New Rags
3. Bloggerwear Looks Good on You!
4. Reflections on Biz Net Travel Blog
5. Are Blogs an Internet Bubble Waiting To Burst?


Fresh Inc. [Inc. Magazine Blog]
http://blog.inc.com

1. The Death Star, as apt metaphor for your network
2. Diary of a Startup--After the Deal
3. Small Business News Roundup
4. The Apprentice--Finale Party
5. Be Like Steve, Suns Owner Tells Grads


Wonderbranding for Women
http://michelemiller.blogs.com/marketing_to_women

1. Funny You Should Mention It...
2. Newspapers Part Deux
3. Mr. Sandman, Bring Me a Dream
4. Women Using Newspapers to Line Canary Cage
5. Addition to the WonderBranding Team


Crossroads Dispatches
http://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com/crossroads_dispatches

1. Why Women Blog
2. While I Value Christmas Letter Business Blogs, Here's Another Angle
3. What Grassroots Media Can Teach Marketing
4. Extraordinary Stories Everywhere, Rediscovering Our Awe
5. We're Ready for a New Sincerity


Blog Business World
http://blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com

1. Podcasts: How professional should they sound?
2. Bloggers as event speakers
3. Blogiversary at Diva Marketing
4. Affiliate programs: Promote your links
5. Carnival of the Vanities at Commonwealth Conservative


Nick Usborne Excess Voice
http://nickusborne.typepad.com

1. Review: Secrets of Writing for the Internet
2. Knock Me Down With a Feather
3. Writing for the Web #1--A Guide
4. Monday Copywriting Tip #42: How Much Do You Earn?
5. Agora Publishing: New date for Agora Model Seminar


PR Thoughts
http://prplanet.typepad.com

1. Skype launched its blog!
2. Interview of Mike Wing, IBM
3. Proximity published results from a blog survey
4. A blog for the "Festival de Cannes"
5. Grokker: A new way to look at search


GM FastLane Blog
http://fastlane.gmblogs.com

1. And Another Survey Says...
2. Survey Says: Top in Six Segments
3. The Game Plan...An Edited Version
4. Women and Wheels
5. Data Shows Traction on Key Vehicles


Church of the Customer
http://customerevangelists.typepad.com

1. Thank goodness for small favors
2. JibJab's open source experiment
3. Wendy's square peg in a round idea
4. Salesforce.com's bet pays off
5. Article roundup

HELLO, my name is blog
http://www.hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com

1. Hey look, it's That Guy!
2. If you wear a nametag all the time, this shouldn't happen
3. The Gallery of Annoying Email Signatures
4. Once Again, Guinness Book Rejected My Submission for a World Record
5. How to Transform Your Car Into a Networking Tool


Ensight Business and Tech
http://www.ensight.org

1. XBox 360 vs PS3 Comparison
2. Goodbye Will
3. Will's Dead
4. Wow @ This Spam Message
5. New Consoles A-Go-Go

B L Ochman's What's Next Blog
http://www.whatsnextblog.com

1. Google Adwords Blog is Lame
2. Committee to Protect Bloggers Asks Media Strike for Jailed Iranian Blogger
3. Wall Street Journal Poll Has Confusing Choices
4. Ouchee, Blogging Light Day
5. Bloggers Unlock Kensington Laptop Lock Problem

Hello World
http://missinglink.typepad.com/hello_world

1. All hail the Ringtone Dancer
2. That's Mr. Engadget to you, punk
3. G5 Powerbook Launched!
4. Buy this disk...
5. When endorsements fail


Contentious
http://blog.contentious.com

1. Chiba, Japan Web Conference: Find Out What Happened
2. Come See Me Speak in Denver, June 9
3. Web Copywriting: New Free Guide
4. What's a Blog? Bag the Stereotypes
5. What Bloggers and Journalists Can Learn from Each Other (Part 4)


Fast Company Blog
http://blog.fastcompany.com

1. Money No More
2. MBA No More
3. Open Source To-Do Lists?
4. God Is In The Details
5. DVD Rental Wars: Netflix 1, Wal-Mart 0

Boing Boing
http://www.boingboing.net

1. Pop Surrealism Show in Pueblo, Colorado
2. Standing meerkats
3. Web Zen: animation zen
4. Fingerprint scanners coming to Illinois library
5. Automatically add light sabers to your video


Joi Ito
http://joi.ito.com

1. Wikipedia Stealth Disco article
2. Off to the California
3. Autoblogger
4. Dinner with Karl van Wolferen
5. Becoming boring


SIMPLICITY (John Maeda)
http://weblogs.media.mit.
edu/SIMPLICITY

1. ww
2. weed
3. Fish Wish
4. Command Not Found
5. Lucky 13


Rich Marcello's Blog (HP)
http://h20276.www2.hp.com/blogs/marcello

1. Sockets and cores
2. Taking snapshots every five minutes
3. Four Questions
4. The World Cafe
5. What you see is not what you get

Peterme.com (Peter Merholz)
http://www.peterme.com

1. One Way to Enjoy the Da Vinci Code
2. Road Trip Winding Down
3. Merholz family blogging
4. Midwest road trip--May 11-20
5. A Post About Cities

NeoWin
http://neowin.net

1. WiMAX Trial in the UK
2. TDK Develops 100 GB Blu-ray Disc
3. "Secure" Netscape released with vulnerabilities
4. Microsoft may face EU fine process within weeks
5. AMD to launch dual-core Athlon 64 on May 31

Kottke
http://www.kottke.org

1. Manhattan's Chinatown Pressured to Sell Out
2. Opportunity is working it's way out of Mars' "fine sand"
3. hello nintendo: Nintendo's Long Tail
4. Repeat After Me: giving your music away is good for your career
5. Nintendo builds free Wi-Fi network in Japan Archives

JOHO the Blog
http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger

1. Measure twice, cut once, backup three times
2. Globe editorial: Good until the last drop
3. Quicktime without the cruft
4. The NY Times world of pain
5. AKMA's good stuff

Edelman
http://www.edelman.com/
speak_up/blog

1. Citizen Journalists
2. Just In Case Versus Just In Time
3. Beyond Dolly Levi to Facilitating Public Relationships
4. If The Media Can Do It, So Can PR
5. It's The End of the World As They Knew It

Gaping Void
http://www.gapingvoid.com

1. New Blog from Tom Peters
2. Our Grandparents had Laurel & Hardy
3. Jeff Jumps Ship
4. British Blogging
5. In London

Don't Blog
http://dijest.com/dontblog

1. Blogged Out: Scoble, Hobson, Edelman, Rubel
2. Blogger Blocked at Border
3. Boss Bullies Blogger to Pull Post Promptly
4. Blog Politically and Go To Jail
5. Blogger Faces Class Action Suit By Commenters

Adpulp
http://www.adpulp.com

1. Word Problems
2. Send Me Your Weak
3. The Mother Goose of Boutique Hotels
4. McD's Jumps Through Hoops (Morgan Spurlock, It's All Your Fault)
5. Dodge Muscles Its Way Back Into Starting Line Up


Kurzweil AI.net
http://www.kurzweilai.net

1. Inert Cornell dots for tagging, imaging, and optical computing developed
2. UK firm claims breakthrough in fuel cell technology
3. Cloned human embryos deliver tailored stem cells
4. Photonic silicon chips operate at 1.5 gigabits per second
5. Robot swarms cloud danger

John Battelle Search Blog
http://battellemedia.com

1. Ask Buys Excite in Europe
2. Bloglines Blog Search A-Comin'
3. Given My Inclination...
4. Wikipedia and Search
5. "My" Google

AKMA's Random Thoughts
http://akma.disseminary.org

1. This Got By Us
2. Dream On
3. Guide to the Hitchhiker's
4. Total Quality Ministry
5. Power of Ideology

The Pez MP3 Project
http://www.pezmp3.com

1. Button, Button Who's Got the Button?
2. A Visit with PEZ
3. Fortune Mag Article
4. Peering into the Future
5. Beausage


Vaspers the Grate
http://www.vaspersthegrate.blogspot.com

1. Most Important Aspect of a Blog
2. A Crypto Blog Goes Normal Speak
3. Blog Content Writing & Astral Blogging
4. Blog Cop vs Blog Wimp
5. The Truth About Blogs


Blog Core Values
http://www.blogcorevalues.blogspot.com

1. 7 Blog Illusions
2. Perfecting Your Blog: 5 Suggestions
3. 12 Tips on Writing Blog Post Titles
4. Only Purpose of a Business
5. Blogs vs Forged Documents



vaspersthegrate [at] yahoo [dot] com 


Now...it's your turn.

Which blogs do YOU think
have the best post titles?

Have any of these blogs
inspired you to improve
your post titles?

Post a comment, or email me YOUR opinion.

Thanks a lot!


[signed] Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate aka Leopold the Told