Do You Like to Blog?
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.
Why yes, I do. Thanks.
But who are these people? Apparently, they are North Atlanta Bloggers.
I’ve not had time to delve too far into their site, but I’ve dug deep enough to feel justified in pushing some unrequested advice toward their general direction.
Three points to keep in mind when establishing any kind of presence on the web, particularly if you wish to call a sizable amount of attention to your efforts:
One. Edit yourself. Or better yet, allow someone else to edit. This might be the hardest lesson to learn, as it involves no small amount of ego and pride. But honestly, the only way to ensure that your written ideas can be understood by others is to have someone else attempt to understand them. Rarely do the resultant changes alter the stylistic core of the piece, so there is no need to fret over the loss of voice or personality. Instead, your editor will be paying attention to the little things that get lost or ignored in the rush to express an opinion or share an ideal. Tell them to be completely honest and assure them that you will not be offended by their assessment, because this editing is not about you. It’s about the text, a “black-and-white” representation of your ideas.
And if nobody else is available, you can always copy and paste the text into MS Word (or similar), run spell/grammar check, then copy the body back. Of course, keep in mind that spellcheck will not save you from using “there” instead of “their” or “they’re.”
Two. Think about what you’re promoting or presenting when you select a URL. Many years ago, when we were all experimenting with our initial webpages, the URL didn’t matter. Hosting was prohibitively expensive and domain name registration seemed like too much of a commitment for a hobbyist. So we’d practice our craft on the “tilde” sites that came free with our ISP contract (whatever shall I do with 5 whole megabytes?!?) or with ad-based sites like GeoCities or Tripod. But these days, hosting is incredibly inexpensive and domain names are perfectly affordable. So if you want to promote your new line of iguana fur handbags, just go register www.iguanafurhandbags.com. Simple.
(Yes. Iguanas do not have fur. I know.)
So I just don’t understand why this relatively new site for North Atlanta blogging operates under the www.ballotdebate.com URL. Perhaps it had an earlier use that remained popular afterward for a select group of people, but if your subject matter is North Atlanta and blogging, then the best practice is to select a URL that indicates such.
Three. Organize your content. It might be too early. Perhaps tagging or categorization will come later, but it is difficult at this point to determine which entries are personal observations or general political aspersions or informative posts about local events. While I’m happy to see more folks blogging about the burgeoning micropolis of Johns Creek, it is difficult to distinguish the impartial announcements from the editorials.
This might seem petty and it probably is, but if I am to support and encourage an enterprise, then I will have to do so honestly. I wish good things for the North Atlanta Bloggers, but that wishing will only go so far without a fair amount of constructive criticism.
7 responses to “Do You Like to Blog?”
I’d also add: apply at least some basic styling to the default Drupal template.
Is this intentional irony? This, and the iguana’s thing?
Anyway… yeah. ballotdebate.com? WTF, people. And seriously, change the default Drupal theme… that is so lame! At least remove the default Drupal favicon, fer fuck’s sake.
Yes, I have opinions. No, I am no quiet about them.
Attention North Atlanta Bloggers people… wanna come on a podcast interview?
People love iguanas. With enough publicity and a decent movie deal, iguanas could easily be next year’s penguins.
As I ponder further this mysterious URL, I wonder if ballotdebate.com is just a placeholder. Maybe when the site “takes off” then they will switch over to some here-to-fore unheard-of URL.
Or maybe a podcast interview would provide better answers. If they’re game, I’ll conduct.
Hi Thomas;
I am the owner of ballotdebate.com. I don’t know how we got into this public “contest”, but I’m going to offer up an olive branch.
I know you know my real name because I’ve checked my website logs and I know you went to Whois to find out who owns the domain name. So you’re a savvy guy and I respect that. Likewise, I Googled you and know that you’re an accomplished blogger and I also respect that. I want to achieve the same kind of success. I have a concept and I want to test it in the markeplace. If its a bad concept, the marketplace will let me know.
Nobody knows the flaws of my site better than I do. I’ll go on record as saying: “It needs a lot of work”. The question I had to ask myself is this: how much do I invest in testing the concept? One of your posts is very correct; when I get more traction, I will invest more in the site. I concluded, the site was in good enough shape to test my business concept. I see you are a bit further along with your site(s) than am I. But you are also looking for business. I see an empty location for blog ads on your site. I want ads on my site too. Its business. Its necessary in order to sustain the site.
We don’t have to succeed at one another’s expense. Lets wish each other well and battle with the marketplace–not with one another.
So now my agenda is on the table. Before you and I destroy any chance of us ever being friends (before we even get to know one another), why don’t we meet over lunch? I’d appreciate some coaching and insight on how you’ve achieved the success you’ve achieved. I can tell you a little about my story…
Truce???
You have my email address, lets talk…
Um.
I don’t think there’s any “competition” as such here. This is a personal site; ballotdebate.com is a cooperative site. I think that this entry is a critique – and when a critique uses the phrase “iguana fur handbags,” I’m not sure it can be hostile, sort of by definition.
Nikki;
You are correct. A comment about “Iguanas” hardly hostile, and is the least of my concerns.
My question is this: Is it intended as a constructive “critique”? I’ll have to admit, my first inclination was to interpret it as malicious.
No one informed me that this “critique” existed online. I had to discover it myself. So am I to assume that this critique was not intended for me??–rather for the reading public.
Implicit in your comment is the fact Thomas doesn’t owe me any explanations. He can post whatever he wants to post on his site. After all, it is a critique–on a personal site.
This is true. He doesn’t, and he can.
Although the site hardly seems “personal” to me. It seems to be very much a commercial site, containing (Google) Adsense ads as well as solicitations for blog ads. This all implies a very public site–not personal.
But, I’m not demanding an explanation.
I am simply asking Thomas if he cares to explain. If the answer is no; I can accept that.
I want to approach this whole situation as a gentleman–without jumping to unsubstantiated conclusions.
Yesterday I invited Thomas to contact me via email. He apparently visited my site again and removed the links that he’d placed leading to this site.
But Thomas has not responded to my inquiry–neither publicly or privately. It is he with whom I really want to establish dialogue.
Thomas, you have my email address. Lets talk. If you won’t contact me, I’ll be forced to interpret the motivation for all this “criticism” based on the limited information I have.
I’m really not that kind of person. You might even like me if you knew me.
I think I have reasonable explanations for many of the “criticisms” you’ve pointed out. But as you mentioned in your original post–a sounding board can be valuable. So once I’ve offered my explanations for the defects you’ve observed in my site, you’ll have more information and can tell me if I get a “pass” or “fail” for that particular defect. Deal??
Lets talk. Preferably by email, phone, or even in person. Lunch will be my treat.
Lastly-I am quite busy, working on enhancements to my site, so I don’t anticipate having the time to continue posting here and requesting that you communicate with me. Its just business. I’m sure you understand.
I felt that this discussion was worth of a post all of its very own.