November 29, 2006
an answer to thom’s question
Thom Singer recently posed the following question to me, vis-a-vis The Global Microbrand:
A global microbrand is a wonderful thing to have and what many people desire to attain. However, as the blogosphere becomes more crowded, is it thus harder to get noticed? Two years ago most regular folks did not know what a blog was.…now they is one themselves! I agree that if you get traction, a global microbrand would be easier to build than before the internet, but my thought is that while a blog is still important, the blogosphere is more skeptical nowadays. Could Scoble achieve his fame as quickly if he started today with so many big company insiders writing blogs?
I suppose it’s like anything else– the more crowded the market, the bigger the offering has to be in order to stand out. Blogs are no different.
Sure, if Scoble had started blogging only yesterday, his job would be a lot harder. Same with myself. First-Mover Advantage and all that.
That being said, the blog hierarchy as it now exists is not set in stone. It’s there to be disrupted, so go ahead and disrupt it.
Do something wonderful and unique, and good things will happen. Do something dull and commonplace, and nobody will care.
I agree and disagree.
Thom, I agree that getting traction and getting noticed in the blogosphere is harder than ever. Like anything else, as “competition” increases, so does the effort required to succeed.
But, with respect to Hugh, Scoble and scores of other “A-List” bloggers, I don’t think that the timing has as much to do with it necessarily. Sure, being first is a part of it, but look at the two people you cite.
Hugh and Robert.
I don’t read their blogs because they were first. I read them because of what they write. It speaks to me, I can connect with it. The content is what propels them to their position of stardom. Far more that their timing.
Good point. And thanks for addressing the question.
thom
You’ve hot the nail on the head. I guess historically, many look up to the A-lister bloggers and find it easier to see why they are “famous” — Scoble worked for Microsoft, Hugh’s got his cartoons, Tara promotes Pinko marketing etc…the one thing all these people have in common is that they have a unique way of communicating.
It is not a question of re-inventing the wheel, nor of making ablog all-singing, all-dancing but as kids did we not prefer reading cartoons because they were less dull than books? (or is that just me?!)
Making a blog interesting boils down to more than just making it look good, but my rather drawn out point is simply this…engage people in a unique way and there is no reason why you couldn’t be as successful/well known (delete as applicable!) as the A-listers.