Comments on: Why Blogs Suck

By: Rusty Shackleford

Rusty Shackleford — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:43:10 +0000

May I all remind you

href=”http://mama.indstate.edu/users/bones/WhyIHateWebLogs.html”>

you are all massive tools.

Look at your comments. fits each exact profile.

Seriously, by writing this article, you are just obeying idiocy.
Now why dont you just keep masturbating into your sock, and let the real media do its job.

By: Ned Carey

Ned Carey — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:58:22 +0000

Interesting post and comments.

My blog is a month old. Just today I was telling my partner that we hadn’t gotten even one sign up for our list yet. Coincidently two people signed up today. That would be a .34% conversion rate. Seeing your numbers give me a conversion rate to shoot for. (my first metric – yipee)

By: Ken Evoy Attacks Blogging & WordPress | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing

Ken Evoy Attacks Blogging & WordPress | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:09:50 +0000

[...] In some ways I have similar reservations about blogging, after all not too long ago I did write that blogs suck. [...]

By: Players With Money Review & Bonus | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing

Players With Money Review & Bonus | Andy Beard - Niche Marketing — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:33:11 +0000

[...] Why Blogs Suck – an in-depth rant on blog subscription rates and the inefficient sales funnel process they create. [...]

By: Wordpress SEO

Wordpress SEO — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 01:52:42 +0000

Hello Andy,

Thought provoking post, but really Jack Spirko has it right on.

Weblogs are not necessarily a profit center in themselves.

And Jack Humphrey is right – a good weblog is a lot of work. Not many people want to do that much work.

Not everybody is a gifted writer or communicator.

On the other hand, in the hands of a gifted writer or communicator, a weblog can be the alchemist’s stone. Or a great gathering of culture and thought.

Both are worthwhile enterprises. Stop thinking about the money all the time.

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:48:10 +0000

Curtis I think you might have missed the point. Blogs attract visitors, and with them you are “moving the free line” which is a good thing, but many people ignore the sales funnel.

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:45:55 +0000

Sorry it is taking me a little while to respond to some of the comments.

There are ways to offer an incentive for RSS subscription, but XML feeds are open in nature, so freeloaders will still be able to access whatever you offer.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:45:52 +0000

I agree with the post. Blogs do suck. Most of them leave no real value to the internet and fill up SE with gunk.

By: schoolofbussines.info » Blog Archive » Four Reasons Why the Entertainment Niche is Great for Making Money

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:40:09 +0000

[...] websites can be monetized immediately from the beginning because you’re not using it as a lead acquisition tool nor as a means to brand yourself in order to sell services or other products. What you see is [...]

By: Brian Terry

Brian Terry — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:59:33 +0000

Hi Andy, I really enjoyed reading this post of yours about why blogs suck, it’s really made me think.

I wonder how much of what you say has to do with how conditioned (or trained) blog visitors are to subscribing to an RSS feed or through a regular optin box? I’m sure this ties in closely with who the target market is.

The only reason why someone should subscribe to your RSS feed is to be kept updated about your blog right? If they don’t know how to do this or are just surfing around, it’s not going to happen.

If this reason for subscribing isn’t strong enough who’s going to bother?

My question is… can RSS subscription be incentivised so people get more then just updates on when you post something new to your blog? How about an exit grabbing popin window that asks people to subscribe to your blog feed before they leave?

I don’t see any reason why a Blog can’t work as a sales tool that’s used to help establish you as an expert.

If your blog is focused on driving people to your direct response websites (or squeeze pages) there’s no reason why this can’t work. I think it’s when you give people reasons to leave your blog (aka Adsense and social networking gadgets) that you lose more than you gain.

Blogs only suck if you set them up in opposition to what it is you want them to acheive.