November 18, 2004
blogcard pimpage
(*Ahem!* Order Blogcards here. Thanks)
Been a while since I plugged Blogcards. Recently they’ve been selling well (Thanks Everybody!). I reckon people see other people using them at Blog Meetups and think, “Gosh, yes, if I buy a box I won’t actually die!”
Good to know these things.
What interests me is how many readers here first came across my website via other people handing out their blogcards to them. Anybody?
I’m guessing not many. Web Links are much faster a communication system than handing out bits of printed material.
A lot of bloggers have told me this, and I concur– blogging is so easy, it makes other media just seem slow and painful. A blogger friend of mine was just offered a book deal. He turned it down once he realised how many hoops he would have to jump through in order for it to hit the shelves. Why bother? He probably gets more readers in a day over on his site than he would sell books in a year.
I can see his point. Still, I think there’s something to be said for getting your work out into different media. Seems to me blogs are good for spreading pollen, but maybe only certain kinds of pollen. It’s a big world out there, and it’s good to experiment. Which is why I did the “How To Be Creative” thing in PDF format over at ChangeThis. Some people prefer the touch of paper. Some people like the credibilty that comes with a printed book.
People have weird reasons for liking and disliking anything. I gave up believeing people were sane and rational years ago. Whether you prefer blogs or the printed page, your secret inner reasons for doing so are probably equally kinky.
You’re right about the pollen. There’s a certain marriage between the medium and the content.
I for one can not stand to read eBooks that look exactly like real books (but are on my computer screen). I just get this constant discomfort because text is formatted a certain way to make it nice to put inside a physical book but if you carry that format into a PDF — it’s plain awkward.
I was pleasantly surprised to see so much had gone into the presentation of the How To Be Creative PDF.
Hugh, I bought some and handed them out at Bloggercon. I’m guessing very close to zero people ever come here from receiving them because your goddamned URL isn’t on there. Why not? A discreet little one on the cartoon side would be great, and the very essence of virality. I gave one to Steve Gillmor and he thought that the cartoon was something I did, which made me feel vaguely guilty and fraudulent. There ought to be some form of credit so that people don’t think I’m a scumbag passing them off as my work.
I absolutely love these things, BTW. I was a little surprised that I didn’t see anyone else at Bloggercon with any. That suggests that have some untapped market.
Really, Dave? They usually have a wee “©gapingvoid.com” marker on them. Perhaps the graphic designer forgot one of the batches.
Thanks for the kind words, though. Glad you like them.
I grabbed one and checked before I posted that, and there ain’t no URL to be found. This is the “obviously a lunatic” design if that can be rectified. Whenever these run out, I’ll be reordering. They are awesome.
Talk to your print shop. No gapingvoid.com on mine either. I have the sheep vs. wolves one.
mine has the gapingvoid (suddenly…), but a friend of mine’s doesn’t (living a lie…)
Have you thought about including all the cartoons on your faves page? As a blogcard, I especially like “The Shark Bar.”
I read the site daily, and I’ve told many friends about what you have here. Your blogcards are something completely different from anything I’ve seen before, and I love the style.
You add your faves to the list of available blogcards, and I’ll buy boxes and boxes.
Thanks for the site.
Perhaps the daily cartoons are an even more viral way to get new readers (people are already online and don’t have to go “out of media” to check it out). I found your site via Ben Hammersley’s blog — the daily cartoons were embedded into his feed.
As both a book author and a blogger, the writing is very different.
Books need to cover (or attempt to cover) some topic comprehensively and authoratively.
For example, if you’re writing a book, you probably can’t get away with:
“IIRC, the compiler doesn’t support that operation”
Note that this does not mean that all books have better information — many don’t.
While books are not a gold mine for authors, especially first time ones — publishing houses didn’t get to be big and powerful by giving power to the authors — the audience can be vast, and more importantly, different from the online audience.
I, for one, would love to see some of your ideas in book form, as the people I’d like to influence them are unlikely to read stuff online.
The difference between the feelings people have for the same or similar material in different media is something I’ve been thinking about a lot. As one of the podcasters, it amazes me to hear webloggers shoot down the medium as “being full of egotists.” It’s egotistical if you record your thoughts vocally, but not if you type them up? What can be more egotistical than trying to make other people hear what you have to say, regardless whether it is a weblog or podcast or book or newspaper column or soapbox in the town square? It’s all of a piece to me.
I had been trying to engage and refute and change minds, now I’m just avoiding and containing and ignoring. People who won’t like won’t like, and best to just keep their negative downer energy somewhere well the fuck away from me.
There’s definitely something to be said for the power of a piece of paper. I once read a great interview with an illustrator who said he views his business cards as seeds. He scatters them around liberally, knowing that many of them won’t take root, but the one or two that do will blossom into an assignment. I thought it was a great analogy.
I love email, the web, etc. and consider them an indispensible part of my business communication. However, I’ve found that my clients (both current and potential), LOVE having a li’l solid hunk of something that they can put on their desk or pin to their cube wall.
You can’t argue with the speed & convenience of electronic communication, but it’s so prevalent that people seem genuinely impressed when you present them with a tangible object. Especially if it’s novel in some way. They’ll hang onto it, and sooner or later you’ll get a response.
Sorry if this sounds like an excerpt from a cheesy self-marketing seminar. It’s just that I’ve gotten good results from making a habit of having effective little promo materials on hand.
Excellent point, Craiger =)
Yeah, I find the blogcards work on other people’s walls etc. And they’re a lot more likely to be displayed/hung up than an ordinary business card… which makes them good as “conversation starters” etc.
Hugh…
I love the blogcards… but I was wondering if it is possible to get other designs on them… I would love to get either “Quality isn’t job one…” or “If you weren’t so stupid…” illustrations on a stack of cards. Just to hand one over to someone and see the reaction would be worth it!
They are just too perfect. I would love to spread some around.
cheers
s!
An online order that exceeds my expectations
A small thing, but it’s good to feel very satisfied with something you order online and when it arrives, it exceeds your expectations. I’m not talking about Amazon, which always meets my expectations. I’m talking about my new gapingvoid business