This morning, Seth Godin wrote a good piece on unintentional blogging income. The idea is that most successful bloggers start out for fun, and for the thrill of having good content read. Money only comes later (and as an afterthought). It’s good stuff, and brings up an important point for me here. Namely, that writing good copy means just that… if you focus on producing quality content, the money will come.
That notion is contrary to pretty much all of what you see around the industry. These days, it’s all about web-content “that sells.” Now, I don’t think the end idea is flawed (making money is the point here, remember), but I think the approach is. If you write stuff just to sell, it’ll show. You’ll produce money-grubbing content, not quality content. That’s where you see: “Buy this product. You’re inadequate without it, and you need it. I know it’s just a blender, but it’ll change the way you see the world. You need it.”
Now this may work for informercials, but it won’t work for startups. Smart people (your good customers) will see right through money-grubbing copy, and ultimately, they’ll be turned off by it (no one likes to be sold). But if you respect them… if you write quality stuff that shows them who you are, and what your product truly does (and no, a blender won’t change your life), it’ll come off as genuine and likeable.
It’ll be quality stuff, and it’ll attract quality people. The type that will stick around, bring other people in, and maybe even improve your product. That’s what you want, and that’s what you want to write. “Copy that sells” doesn’t sell. Good content Sells.
It’s a paradox. I know.
A couple days ago, a guest-writer for Copyblogger wrote 6 Ways that Bloggers are Like Rappers. It was fun, and it inspired me to write the counterpoint… 5 ways Bloggers aren’t at all Like Rappers. Here it is:
Dissimilarity #1: Appearance
Rappers look like football players. Bloggers look like, well, nerds. Rappers date supermodels. Bloggers can’t get dates at all. Rappers drive the most supped-up (‘pimped out’) cars on the planet. Bloggers drive old Subaru’s. This really is no contest.
Dissimilarity #2: Armament
Rappers carry guns. Bloggers carry iphones. The Indiana Jones Sean Connery remarked (after squirting ink in a Nazi’s eye) that the “pen is mightier than the sword.” Well, turns out (unfortunately) that it’s not… and even if it was, a fully-automatic AK is mightier than either. No contest on this one either.
Dissimilarity #3: Aliases
Curtis Jackson rhymes under the alias 50 Cent. Cordozar Broadus goes by Snoop Doggy Dogg. Andre Young goes by Dr. Dre. Pretty cool stuff. Bloggers, on the other hand… not so much. I blog under my real name, as do 90% of other writers. People like Brian Clark and Darren Rowse go way out on a limb with names like CopyBlogger and ProBlogger… but really, that’s not all that cool in comparison. When is someone gonna light up the net as Bloggy Dogg Dogg? Or Writes-ezzy to the Sheezy? Who knows.
Dissimilarity #4: History
Rap has history, and it has soul. It’s comes from oppression, disengagement and anger. It started as protest music of a race and a class that still wasn’t getting a fair shake…. and that was willing to stand up and talk about it.
Blogging, on the other hand, doesn’t have a lot of history or soul. It comes from comfort, intelligence and boredom. It started as a hobby of a people with too much time on their hands, determined to make other people listen to them.
There’s quite a difference there.
Dissimilarity #5: Quality Content
But allright… here’s the update to #4. Rap, despite its roots in meaning, has evolved into something different altogether. These days, it’s about useless amounts of money, women and power. About a bunch of disingenuous clowns trying to create a fake gangster image they have no intention of living out.
Blogging, on the other hand, has become a place of meaning. A place talented and interesting individuals go to create quality content, and have quality interactions. A place that’s pushing our society toward change, and pushing its’ people toward a new way of living (both online and off).
Blogging is where it’s happening. Blogging is the new rap.
