The Blogging Strategy A-Listers Won’t Tell You

By Patricia Mayo • Oct 6th, 2008 • Category: Featured Articles

getting out of blogging hell
Photo by Kevin Cloutier

Ever feel like you’re a thoroughbred horse whose sole purpose is to chase a fake bunny that only makes left turns? Well, at least you’re not alone.

There are millions of other horses chasing the same bunny - but only a rare few get tired of the race to nowhere. Some start their own track with a different colored bunny, others don’t like the deception, and invent a new kind of race.

Which one are you?

When I Was A “Young” Blogger…

Seeing beyond the obvious in blogging
Photo by Cathy Kaplan

About a year ago I started working for a few companies which provided (well, more like dictated) editorial guidelines for my writing. I wrote for several prominent websites in that time - I can’t name a single one, but you would recognize about 80% of them.

The guidelines I was instructed to use are common throughout just about every popular blog. Only a select few stray from the norm and become popular.

To get your gears turning, let me ask you this - what does Skelliewag.org, DoshDosh.com, Chris.Pirillo.com and this blog do that ProBlogger.net, ChrisBrogan.com, and SethGodin.typepad.com don’t?

Yeah. I went there.

Let’s be clear though - I’m not saying you can’t get great ideas or become more aware by reading Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, or Seth Godin. However, I definitely will say you won’t get a lot of hands-on applicable real-life strategies.

And that, in a nutshell, is their strategy. They give you all kinds of neat new ideas and show you something from a different perspective - so you think you’ve won. You think you’ve gained something, which in turn keeps you coming back.

When the real truth is - you’ve only gained yet another nebulous, intangible idea or perspective. You don’t really know how to use it, and by the time you actually can, I’ll bet that thought is long forgotten.

So… How to Become an A-List Blogger

a-list blogging coronation
Photo by Steve Woods

If content is king - here is your A-List coronation. Just follow these guidelines and you’ll sell out in no time flat.

  1. Make 1 point and only 1 point in each blog entry
  2. Post very frequently - at minimum 4 times a week
  3. Blog Topic 1: Why? - i.e. why it is important to use social media
  4. Blog Topic 2: What If? - i.e. what if Oreo used Twitter?
  5. Blog Topic 3: Name Drop - get interviews with big name gurus / controversial celebs
  6. Blog Topic 4: Words of Wisdom - i.e. propose a problem you can avoid with a time machine, but not how to fix it now
  7. Blog Topic 5: Expose Evil Tactics - i.e. give all the details on “black hat” SEO (which really only serve to continue the practice and make honest people feel like they can’t ever succeed)
  8. Promise a lot with your headline - i.e. “Timothy Ferris vs. Gary Vaynerchuck - Two Approaches to Successful Blogging”
  9. Then, only give 1 superficial tactic - i.e. how many hours they work.
  10. Never give more context than the reference - i.e. list who had to re-brand themselves, but not how they did it.

You could say I’m doing #7 “Expose Evil Tactics” - and you would be right… if you don’t want to be a bandwagon mainstream megastar. These tactics are only evil if you perceive them to be.

So - a final note to (and fans of) Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, and Seth Godin - all I’m doing is exposing you for what you are: mainstream. If you don’t like it, well, hop into that time machine you seem to think everyone has and fix it ;)



If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed so you never miss the next great communication tip. Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you often!

Trisha, @mayobrains on Twitter


Related Reading



Tagged as: , , , , , , , , ,

Patricia Mayo is an entrepreneur with way too much experience online. Seriously, it's not healthy. Feel free to follow on Twitter, LiveJournal, MySpace, Facebook, Tribe, LinkedIn, or Plaxo Pulse. If that isn't enough, there are many more ways to reach out and touch her at MayoBrains.com.
Email this author | All posts by Patricia Mayo

2 Responses »

  1. Vote for this article at blogengage.com on October 6th, 2008 at 1:54 am:

    The Blogging Strategy A-Listers Won’t Tell You…

    Ever feel like you’re a thoroughbred horse whose sole purpose is to chase a fake bunny that only makes left turns? Well, at least you’re not alone.

    There are millions of other horses chasing the same bunny - but only a rare few get tired of the ra…

  2. Chris Pirillo on October 6th, 2008 at 5:44 am:

    Thanks for the vote of confidence. :)

Leave a Reply