If you’re a blogger, you’ve probably already not only seen them but have taken measures to block, squash and delete them … the dreaded ‘comment spam’ message. But, like with all things nefarious, these tactics evolve not unlike a nasty strain of the ebola virus. A relatively new flavor of comment spam I’ve been getting many times daily is the “hey, very informative post” ploy. Here are just a few from the past couple of days;

• As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you
• Great post, while i as searching for blogs, i found yours on Yahoo , that was what i was looking for, great blog.
• Great and Excellent article post, i was looking for this information on google while i found your info, definely i Digg your blog post ! Cheers , Collin - New York

Outwardly, these really aren’t that offensive except for a few points — hence this post;

• The exact same comment is sent to multiple posts - grrr
• The comment isn’t really engaging, informative or beneficial in any way to me or my readers
• It just adds to the noise of the Internet.

My advice to you? …

• Don’t fall into the same trap. Don’t spam via blog comments. Don’t spam at all.
• Don’t add to the noise. There’s enough noise in the blogosphere as it is. If you have something to say, SAY IT, but please, please, please, consider the value of it.
• View your comments on other people’s blogs as steps to a long-term relationship, NOT just a one-time passing comment to a stranger. Taking this view will serve you well in the long run.

If you have a comment on this post, please dive right in … with strong views, engaging opinions, ranting tirades, personalized support … ANYTHING but the spammy, generic crud I talked about above.

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Another masterpiece by Chris Brogan.

Some people are unoriginal and just regurgitate other people’s stuff. Some people aren’t social or interactive. HOWEVER, some people (like Chris) are able to take a simple list of sites and craft it into a valuable resource. One with well thought out, and brief, explanations, and then a follow up with his community to ask for additions to the conversation.

We can all learn a lot from this one simple post … not just from the great content but how it was written. Well done Chris!

[Sorry folks.  This one was delayed because it was inadvertently sitting in my 'drafts' section. I'm calling this post "required reading" - including all of the referenced articles/posts]

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Robert Cox, President of the Media Bloggers Association, rightfully flames Gawker blogger Ryan Tate. Although I found the post to be rather harsh, I can’t say I would have been less upset over the superficial research and hyperbolic statements made by Tate in his post. The reality is someone needs to work with the Associated Press to get this resolved and to get their collective heads screwed on straight. I, for one, am appreciative of the MBAs efforts to make the future world of blogging less fraught with legal entanglements. No, they’re not just self-appointed guardians of the blogosphere.

Why should this matter to you? If you’re going to integrate blogging into your corporate marketing plan (and you should consider doing so), you’ll need to be aware of the various copyright and legal pitfalls facing you. Until this situation gets resolved, the issue of copyright infringement is muddy, at best. Stay tuned.

6/20/08 Update:  Outspoken Tech Crunch voice, Michael Arrington, files a counter-take-down-notice after APs Business Writer, Seth Sutel, snags 22 words from his blog without permission … dramatically underscoring the APs ridiculous position of filing suit against bloggers who take snippets of copy from their stories.

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It’s official.  If I ever need to be employed again, I’ve got a future as a CBO.  “A what?”, you may ask.   … A “Chief Blogging Officer.”

Read all about it in the Workforce Management article titled “Chief Blogging Officer Title Catching On.”  An interesting stat from the post; 11% of Fortune 500 Companies have blogs, up from 4% in 2005.

However, something not touched on in the article is the concept of blogging DNA.  After teaching many dozens of small business owners about the benefits and process of blogging, I’ve personally seen many take to the blogosphere like ducks to water, while others flounder around on the beach making little progress.  There’s a certain type of person that thrives in this type of communication medium.  If a large corporation can identify who, in their current team, has blogging DNA, they should be the ones to do the posts.  The Point to Heed: It would be a huge mistake to give the title to someone just for the sake of filling a role and not have the function fit within a well thought out marketing plan.

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HEADLINE, New York Times, April 6, 2008
“In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop”

Marc Andreesen reviews this story in the most succinct (and funny) way. His headline would have a been a much shorter “Blogging Causes Death.” Marc also provides us with expected follow-up headlines (I’m really looking forward to them) … culminating in the inevitable “Child Abuser/Serial Killer/Campus Shooter Had a Blog.”

Of course, they don’t get it. Traditional media (those stuck in pre-90s mode) will, predictably, take potshots at the new media in an attempt to hold their ground. My favorite part is the nature of the headline — just oooooozing with hype.

Supporting commentary — Here’s a video of Shel Israel (co-author of Naked Conversations, arguably the best book on blogging) interviewing Jeremiah Owyang, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research, on the topic of “Marketing vs. Communities.” A major theme in the interview is the idea that many businesses are still not getting it … and what will happen to them. [Note: Ignore the coffee drinking and sticking the mic in front of Jeremiah's face. Shel admits he's still getting used to interview videography.]

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At the MicrocreditNH Entrepreneurial Exchange Day, yesterday, I gave TWO 90 minute sessions on blogging. An expected question from the crowd in both sessions (prepped and addressed in my presentation) was the point of how to effectively address negative comments. One individual thought this type of negative press could, possibly, even “shut your business down.”
Here was my input to both groups;

If the comment made is extremely rude and vicious … if they hide behind a veil of anonymity (no name or a fake email address) … and/or if there is nothing even remotely constructive in the comment, then just go ahead and mark it as spam and delete it. If, however, you find a comment is simply posing a difference in opinion (even if they’re doing it rudely), or if they’re commenting on the quality of your product or service, then, as painful as it might be, the best thing is to post the comment and address the issue head on, openly and professionally. You’ll garner more respect from your subscribers and will be seen as more trustworthy than before. Honesty and credibility are big hurdles in the world of business today. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to ignore or ’spin’ your way out of these situations.

OK … time for a quiz! Because the world always provides things when/how you need them, I received the following blog comment last night:

From: Taschen (Email provided but my response to it bounced back)
Comment: Who do you think you are fooling. You have no expertise and it shows in everything you do. Your treatment of your clients is appalling and you are known for it now. It must be hard to be always looking over your shoulder. But then again why would a pompous jerk like you care what your clients think.

How would you address this? The thoughts that went through my mind were along the lines of, “GOOD GRACIOUS, this person really hates my guts!” … “Who in the heck IS this?” … “What did I (we) do to them” … “What exactly do they mean by ‘treatment of clients’?” … etc. etc. etc.
After wallowing in despair and misery for about 5.3 seconds, my logic kicked in and I noted a few things (confirmed by the bounced email). The comment is completely generic! This comment could be cut and pasted into every blog on the planet and it would likely affect the blog author in the same way it did me. I actually, suspect that’s exactly what’s going on here (sadly). More importantly, there’s nothing constructive in the comment. Since there’s no specific reference to something we’ve done wrong – and, boy howdy, please know I’m not perfect in this process of bumping my way through the world of business development – I can’t really address anything here.

My response to this? … Other than writing this post for the benefit of new reader’s to my blog, I simply marked it as spam and will assume that Taschen was a fleeting visitor. If I’m wrong in this assumption and Taschen wants to comment again with a real email address and be more specific in his or her comments, I will TRULY be happy to address their concerns.

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I’ve given three training sessions on blogging for new clients this week … and it’s only Tuesday. Tomorrow, I’m speaking at the MicrocreditNH Entrepreneurial Exchange Day and one of my two speeches is on blogging. Indeed, it seems to be all the rage in business.

When introduced to the concept of posting information online for the first time, most people will immediately ask the obvious question, “how do I add pictures?” The answer in the past was to instruct them to purchase some type of low end image editing application … requiring the outlay of cash and facing the inevitable learning curve.

All of that, however, has changed with the popping up of free web-based image editors. There are literally hundreds of these online and they’re all pretty much offering the same feature set. Our pick is a service called Snip Shot because of its clean interface, ease of use, intuitive navigation and some of the enhanced features that improve the image quality (i.e. sharpen - applied after an image is reduced in size and is a little fuzzy).

Now there’s no reason why your blog needs to be plain-jane, boring and pure text!

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In the processing of picking out new glasses, Seth Godin involved his readers and did two things. I suspect the first was intentional and the second not. 1) He tied the process of eyeglass selection to the idea of font face selection. Abstract, VERY insightful and worth reading. 2) He also got a number one listing on Google in less than 24 hours for the phrase “book about picking glasses”.

In the past week I’ve heard three people use a phrase similar to “I don’t get blogging” … or “I don’t understand what all the fuss is over blogging”, etc. In each case I patiently go through the process of explaining why blogging is relevant to the world — especially the world of business.

Let’s consider a fashion designer who wants to carve out a nice little niche for him/herself. They certainly have the experience to start a blog, yes? … as well as writing an article or two? … and, if you compile all of this great content together, you get a book! Here’s my point; The opportunity of getting the #1 listing on google for the phrase “book about picking glasses” was inadvertantly scooped by Seth Godin, NOT consciously mined by a more obvious (and beneficial) individual such as an eyeglass designer or an optometrist or a fashion consultant.

Tip #1 — If you ARE an eyeglass designer or an optometrist or a fashion consultant, AND you have a blog, there’s no reason why you can’t be capitalizing on this concept … and a million other similar ideas. THIS is the power of blogging. Be the first to write that book! Become THE expert in eyeglass selection!

Tip #2 — If you’re in another industry, what are the phrases that may not be frequently used but, when found by a Google surfer, would position you powerfully in the #1 spot and drive targeted, hungry customers to your front door? Want to take a guess who’s got the #1 spot (no peeking) for “Creative Web site design”? Yes, indeed, blogging is powerful.

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In my bi-weekly(ish) scan through my HitTail.com account, I’m am rarely let down from being amazed at the obscure words and phrases that people use on the Internet … to find MY blog!… This week’s batch includes the following phrases:

• Fishing Cliches
• Elvis made to measure suits
• Hawaiian Catchy Phrases
• Swimming Leaches in Lakes

Now, I vaaaaguely remember using some of those words in a blog post in the past year … I mean, heck, it’s not too often that one weaves the word “leach” into a conversation or a blog post!… The interesting thing about this analysis is NOT the bizarre phrases that pop up in your analytics, but the rich variety of words and phrases used by people all over the world in their effort to find information on the Web.

Here’s the real point; The traffic to our Website has increased over TWENTY fold in the past 12 months due to blogging…. YES, the vast majority of these visitors are folks not unlike the person looking for Elvis suits…. However, I also estimate that the number of “real” prospective customers has increased almost five fold!
Consider this my weekly nudge to get you blogging if you’re not already doing so.… Don’t let this be “the big one that got away” … or get caught “up a creek without a paddle” (gosh, I just love those fishing cliches, don’t you?)

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It was just pointed out that I haven’t posted anything up in almost two weeks…. Although this corresponds with me throwing out my back three times over the past two weeks, it’s not the real excuse.

What reeeeeallly happened is I got so busy with work, my morning schedule of blogging (while eating breakfast) was interrupted…. So, what does this mean? Why should you care?… It’s certainly not the end of the world BUT there is an eye opening factoid that may shock you if you’re an active (or wannabe) blogger;… My web site traffic has dipped for the first time in 10 months!!!!… Not a lot, but it’s a noticable hiccup in what was a linear, upward progression of monthly traffic.

Lesson:… If you’re going to commit to this whole blogging “thang” as a marketing strategy, one of the most important paradigm shifts is to write your posts on a consistant basis!

OK…. I’m rolling again and you can expect my next post to be up in less than a couple of days from now…. … I feel better …. how ’bout you?…

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