Ideas to Increase Reader Attention Span and Reduce Your “Yawn Rate”

Stop Boring Your Audience
Stop Boring Your Audience


A thought came to mind today about the frequently very low attention span of Internet users. When they come to your website, you would probably like to fix that. I will share some thoughts and handy tips to help you do just that. First, let’s consider why it is this way, by looking at how we use the Internet, ourselves.

We often must scan through a lot of dis-interesting information in order to find what we seek, so we each do a lot of scanning when we use the Internet. Just considering all the advertisements we dodge on a daily basis, it is amazing that we ever find our way. Then, adding in the huge volume of obviously false, overtly misleading, and downright dishonest drivel, it really has our information filters working overtime.

It makes a lot of sense how we can become excessively dependent on a quick scan-and-click defense of our time. Let’s face it, most of what is on the Internet is worthless, offensive, or irrelevant to any given individual. The majority is just plain boring. Otherwise, we would want to read and fully absorb every link we can get our mouse on. Of course, this is all subject to the perspective of the reader. Even toupee maintenance and Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase will be interesting to somebody. Here comes my first tip: know who that interested “somebody” is. I’ll get back to that.

Once we find what we are looking for, we make a quick jab on the brakes and we slow down enough to try and learn something. What seems obvious, but is easy for many people to overlook, is that this scanning and filtering is not just something we do … our potential customers do it, too. That’s right, they are not so different in this respect, and it is entirely possible that you are not as immediately interesting to them as you could be.

Be More Interesting, to More People, More Often

This is a prominent goal of many marketing efforts, but being more interesting, to more people, more often is easier said than done. It comes with some challenges. If not, more people would drive down the street tossing hundred dollar bills out the window because their marketing made them so filthy stinking happy.

In the Internet marketing field, when somebody just pops in and takes off without reading, we call that scan-and-click ratio a “bounce rate“. I like to call it, a “Yawn Rate” … or the rate at which people encounter a big yawn and dismiss it as useless and boring. It usually happens within only a few seconds.

The “yawn rate” creates a great challenge for online content producers. Whether it is a product description for an ecommerce website, an “about us” page, or a blog article, it is a challenge that must be recognized in order to overcome it. I have some tips that may help, but there is still no perfect answer. If you intend to be astonishingly interesting every time, it will take practice … plus a good amount of magic.

Today, as I often do, I want to offer you some marketing ideas you can put to work immediately.

Sometimes It’s The Timing

Sometimes it is just the timing of your message that fails. Not that you created or released it at the wrong time, but that a reader has discovered it at the wrong time … for them. Maybe it just wasn’t what they needed right then, but maybe they will need it later. Be sure to make it easy and desirable for them to come back later.

Create Action to Avoid Yawns
Create Action to Avoid Yawns
It is important to create a welcoming call-to-action to remember you. Maybe they will bookmark your website, maybe they will “Like” your Facebook page, or follow you on Twitter. Be sure you give website visitors good incentive, and a reminder to subscribe for more … later, when they are ready. Something is better than nothing, so give them something … a reason, a reminder, a cue for further action.

If they don’t take action, at least you have tried to help them. It is pretty unlikely for them to go away horribly offended by your effort at continued communications. If so, their neurotic episodes probably extend to other areas of their life, too.

Sometimes It’s The Delivery

This is a tough matter for a lot of people. Most people are only a fraction as good at creating interesting or useful information as they think they are. Before you start feeling defensive about your website, consider asking for advice from others.

Have you ever watched a talent show like American Idol, X Factor, or So You Think You Can Dance? Much like the many humorous failed auditions that make these television shows so interesting, many people with a couple dozen visitors to their website think they have amazing marketing talent, and refuse to accept good advice.

Don’t take it personally if somebody offers you a suggestion. Ian Benardo thought he could sing and dance, so he refused to listen to criticism. Don’t be an Ian Benardo!

If you are willing to face the truth, ask somebody else for their unbiased opinion. Maybe you need to hire it out to a professional (usually the best option), or maybe you don’t. In either case, you should be willing to listen and accept good advice.

Fix Your Yawn Rate With Audio Feedback

This is a favorite, for me, and it is a staple of providing read-worthy information. Knowing the way somebody will read what you have to say can be invaluable. When people read your website, it is like a little voice in their head, silently speaking those words you produced. Shouldn’t you know how that quiet little voice sounds to them?

Reading comprehension is not the same for everybody. There is often a language barrier to overcome, even among readers of the same native language. Something I find helps me a lot is to hear my words in audio. If I don’t have my editor handy to read it aloud, I record it and listen to how it comes across. Many times, I find errors in the flow of material just by reading it aloud, but they come through even clearer when I record and then listen. Try reading your website aloud and pretend you are speaking to the person reading it. Does it sound awkward? Would you still express it the same way verbally, or would it be better to rephrase it?

I have found the value of using a conversational tone to be useful for decades, but it became even more obvious when I started providing all of my blog articles in both text and audio versions. If you try this tip and listen to your words, I think you will agree that it can be very beneficial. I believe it is much better to have somebody else read it to you, and I thank my lucky stars to have an awesome editor, but even if you are self-editing, it is worth the time to hear what you are saying before publishing it.

A Yawning Gator ... Now, That's Interesting!
A Yawning Gator ... Now, That's Interesting!

Don’t Pre-Judge or Dismiss Visual Appeal

I am a word guy, so I sometimes resent the fact that a picture can say things I cannot say. Well, I guess I could say those things, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, as they say, my blogs would be even longer … and that may seem impossible, but it is true.

Visuals count, and as much as I stomp my feet and pout about it, they still have a strong value in making the information you share more interesting. I often consider this one of the hardest parts of producing website content. I guess that is because the words come a lot easier than hunting down a cool graphic to represent those words. It is worth it, and I think of it like setting the tone of that voice I explained. Be creative with this and see what happens. I think you may be surprised how much it can help grab and keep a reader’s attention.

Do You Feel More Interesting Yet?

Far beyond the suggestions I made here, it is critical to understand that everybody is not your best audience. In fact, I highly recommend reading the article titled “Everybody is Not Your Target Market!” to emphasize the point. They will not all love what you are promoting, and some people may even dislike it very much. That’s a good thing, because the ones who do like it will probably like it even more.

You will never get it perfect, and there is always room for improvement. It can take a lot of effort and adjustment to make it optimally effective, but isn’t it worth it? When you get it all just right, you will find that more people will read to the very end … and that’s when they take action on your words. Don’t we all want that?

What do you have to say about this? Do you have suggestions, or did you like my ideas? Please take a moment to express it.

Photo Credits:
Yawn. by Michael Lemmon via Flickr
A Big Yawn by Mark Robinson via Flickr
Yawn by Linda via Flickr

7 Blogless Days Inspired the Question: “Why Do I Blog?”

Why? Just Ask Google!
Why? Just Ask Google!


My optional title was “Why Do We Blog? (or Not): A Question Every Business Should Ask”. I just thought I’d share that upfront.

I believe my considerations about blogging can be applied to many industries, and I’ll even have a little humorous fun along the way. If your eyes are tired, just push the play button for the audio version.

As I recently took a seven day break from blogging, a question that has been rattling through my head is “Why do I blog?” The question is not on my mind because I don’t want to do it, although that happens, too. The question is more a matter of focus and purpose. If I know why I am doing it, the purpose is enhanced, and the message becomes clearer. Just like any other business effort, there should be a good reason for it. Periodically asking the question of why I blog keeps things making sense. Similarly, I think every business should ask this question of why they do, or do not blog.

I decided there would be no better place to put my thoughts about this in writing than right here … in a blog.

Why Would Anybody Do This?

I wouldn’t continue writing this blog if I didn’t have good reasons. I also would not recommend it to any person or company without a good strategic purpose for it. I can cite a lot of good reasons to blog, but wasting hundreds of hours and gallons of coffee are not among them.

It can be really punishing to write a blog. It takes a lot of time … many hours. In the audio version of this article, I share some of what I put into each article, but let’s just say that it requires a lot of effort.

Why Arizona: Population 116
Why Arizona: Population 116

Once any new blog article is sent out into the wild, the real punishment comes calling. It comes in the form of doubts. Even with a good track record, it is still easy to let the common doubts creep in. “Will they like it?” … “Will they comment about it, and let me know what they think?” … “Will they share it with others?” … “Did I just waste all that time?!”

To say the least, if you are not committed to the task of blogging, it is probably a bad idea. Taking up compulsive body piercing or volunteering as a crash test dummy may be a lot easier.

Here Are Some Answers to Why I Blog

As I have expressed, blogging is not simple. In the case of a business blog, if it is ever to become a success for the business, it will not be an easy task. If you don’t believe anything else I say, please trust me that producing a blog is a lot different than producing a successful blog. It takes a lot of creativity, and a lot of work. In nearly every instance, somebody will lose sleep over it!

So, here are some reasons I blog, and they are in no specific order. I hope you will be able to apply these to how and why you have a blog, or otherwise consider how and why you should.

Blogging Keeps Me Sharp

There is never an instance when I write a blog article that does not provide reminders of other articles I have written. When I am reminded of lessons I have learned and shared, the lessons become fresh again. I have found it very convenient to have hundreds of articles in my blog archive, and not just for others. It often becomes very useful reference material. Yes, it is true … we can actually even teach ourselves!

Blogging Improves My Industry

When I write something that becomes useful to others in my industry, it opens communications with my peers, and helps us each to learn. When we each perform better work, it adds just a little more credibility to the value of marketing. As it applies to search engine optimization and social media marketing, there is a lot of confusion. There is a tremendous value in collaboration and information sharing that should not be overlooked.

Giving a boost of thought to my fellow marketing professionals, whether creatively, technologically, mathematically, or otherwise, is good for them, and good for me.

This can be applied to many other industries, if you give it adequate effort.

Blogging Makes Search Rankings Nuclear!

Search engines do not list websites in search results just because they are pretty. It happens because the words on the website logically match what somebody is searching for. The ones at the top of a search result (just below the ads) are there because they are highly relevant to the search, and because there are a lot of links from other websites that vouch for their relevance. There is really no better way to achieve that mix of text content and links from other websites than a blog.

Blogging Shines a Light on Crooks

You may not have crooks in your industry, but I’ll bet there are still good reasons to help people understand what sets you apart from the rest.

Like any industry where there is a lot of confusion and a potential to earn “easy money”, the online marketing industry is filled with crooks. Attorneys and car salespeople should love the Internet marketing industry, because it takes the heat off them. These days, the cruel jokes about sleazy attorneys are about sleazy Internet marketers.

What do you get when somebody throws a grenade into a room full of “SEO gurus”? Viral applause!

All attorneys are not evil. Every company needs an attorney at some point. There are also good car salesmen. Most people would not have a car to drive without one. The same holds true about marketing, but it can be challenging for industry outsiders to find which are good or evil. This is another reason I blog.

SEO Grenade Launcher Goes Viral
SEO Grenade Launcher Goes Viral
I can’t kill all the sleazy ones, (largely because they run like roaches when the lights come on) so I try to help educate people with good information. I write things that shed light on industry issues and teach best practices.

I will not save everybody, but I can help starve a few of the cockroaches, and that makes it a lot more comfortable for me to keep working hard.

Seizing opportunities to help others become more aware of industry issues, and doing so with integrity and usefulness can be an asset to nearly any industry, don’t you think?

Here are some examples of my efforts to help educate people. There are hundreds more like them in my archive, and I put my stamp of approval on every one of them.

Blogging Boosts Credibility

Blogging is an excellent tool for establishing credibility in a given area of business. It shows where you stand on a topic, and it allows others the opportunity for due diligence. I have often expressed that if somebody wants to know if I am credible in my field, they should spend some time on my blog.

When I think of my blog for business development, I look at it a lot differently than some. It will vary in every industry, or at least it should. Because I seek a very unique client, the kind who will implement a marketing strategy (as opposed to just tactics), establishing industry credibility comes long before chasing a sale.

Having a lot of useful information on my blog is a good point of reference for that ideal client to determine whether I know my work. It is also where I establish two very important things. Those are ability and integrity, and I look at these as “I can do it”, and “I will do it”. They each scream credibility.

Whatever the case with your industry, I am confident that blogging can emphasize topical credibility. If not for you, for your competitors.

Blogging and Narcissism: We All Want to Be Awesome!

Blogging is fun. I love how it lets me express my personal brand. Some days it is with my tongue-in-cheek ornery tone, and other days I can be quite inspirational and thought provoking. It just wouldn’t feel the same without having some fun. If you don’t have a sense of humor, stop here! If you take it too seriously, you will probably hate me, and the last thing I need is another stalker.

I have heard people talk about social media being popular because it suits people’s egotistical needs, so I’ll play on that! I suppose it makes some sense, though. After all, who wouldn’t want to be popular, and how could it get any better than having your own blog? So, here is the secret answer about blogging that you really wanted to hear. It’s for the egotism!

Sure, I probably made it sound all great and useful to write a blog, but there is more to it. The real truth is that it provides a gushing river of self-worth. I always really wanted to be cool. Blogging makes me cool, because I get all those people to think about it, talk about it, tweet about it, facebook about it, and share it with their friends from around the world. In spite of all the hard work and torment it can involve, I can’t get enough of it. It’s like crack cocaine.

Maybe it sounds totally nuts, and maybe my mother didn’t hold me enough as a child, but I get a huge rush by being listed at the top of search engines for hundreds of thousands of searches. It’s not just for the money, either. Call me narcissistic if that makes you feel better, but I really love it that squillions of people per month are clicking on my literary works. That should be worth a free shot of tequila at any bar … anywhere!

There are a lot of services out there to tell me how awesome my blog is, and measure me up against others. Oh, I know you want a display, so here is a graph of my blog’s estimated worldwide traffic ranking compared to the top television station in my region. It is our local CBS affiliate, and I spank them like an ugly baby.





They have a whole staff of news, weather, and sports people blogging, and hundreds of thousands of television viewers. They even have a General Manager to tell people about his dog pooping (see image). No kidding! The thing is, they don’t have awesomeness … they don’t have my Murnahanism.

WIBW Channel 13 Jim Ogle Facebook Dog Poop-Talk
WIBW Channel 13 Jim Ogle's Facebook Dog Poop-Talk

Now isn’t that fun?! I’m thinking I should get some free shots out of that, for sure! Who cares whether it is accurate or useful? It strokes my ego, and that’s what I’m after!

Website Grader ripped me off when they graded me at 99. I’m sure there was a mistake! Twitter Grader scores me at 100 … yeah, One Hundred, but I think I can persuade them to create a “101” score just for me!

Another service says I’ve got “Klout”. Check this out … they even call me a “Celebrity”! Sure, I downplay the importance of Klout, but deep down, I’m really shallow. I know I’m awesome, and I think you and all of your buddies should know it, too! So, I blog … a lot!

Yeah, thats right ... a CELEBRITY! Are you that cool?
Yeah, that's right ... a CELEBRITY! Are you that cool?

Better than all that fluffy pseudo-awesomeness … I love to feel that rush of popularity when I see all the reader comments, and people sharing my work on a massive scale. It is proof that I exist!

I joke about it, but the real truth beyond the ornery joking is this: As long as I know my work helps others, I am happy to keep doing it. The fact that people keep sharing my work and help me feel a little pat on the back is great. The good fortune that the numbers add up and it produces a profit justifies the hard work. All of these things together hold a lot of meaning for me.

It means I’m doing it right!

In summary: Even though blogging is only a relatively small part of my work, I consider it highly valuable. How valuable? To answer that, I offer a recent article I wrote titled “Can You Value Each Blog Post at $10,000?“.

I limit how much I blog about blogging, because it is just one piece of an online marketing plan. However, since it is such a valuable asset to a social media campaign, and to search engine rankings, it deserves a reasonable share of the attention. That’s why I have written about good reasons to blog, explained benefits of blogging, shared a lot of information about blogging tools, and even how to integrate Facebook blog comments.

Photo Credits:
Why, Arizona by Ken Lund via Flickr
Why? by Joseph Vasquez via Flickr
Hand grenade training by The U.S. Army via Flickr

Why I’m Unsubscribing and Reading Fewer Blogs

Is it Really Worth Reading it All?
Is it Really Worth Reading it All?


I’m trimming back my blog reading, and I thought I’d share my reasons, along with some benefits I discovered. I’ve been working on this for a while, and I’ve trimmed it down to a small fraction of what my reading list once was.

As I scroll through my blog subscriptions to hand pick the ones I find most valuable, there is a nagging thought I just can’t seem to shake. It forced me to question how much of the information in blogs is simply re-worded hyperbole and borrowed thoughts picked up at another blog, versus truly unique and useful insight.

This is not a blanket insult of bloggers at all, but rather an observation, and a compliment to the ones who are doing exceptional work. We are each influenced, to some degree, by the blogs we read. That can be a very good thing, but it can also have some downsides if we are not selective. I wrote about the influences around us in a recent article titled “Social Media Self-Analysis: How Are You Being Influenced?” I think it is worth some serious consideration of how this influence can affect the topics and tone of a blog.

I used to read a lot more blogs from within my industry, but in the online marketing field, it seems that many blogs will fall into one of the four categories as follows:

A.) Preaching to the Choir
B.) Blind Leading the Blind
C.) Beating a Dead Horse
D.) Boundless Awesomeness

I have been honored to know a good share of boundlessly awesome thinkers, but “A”, “B”, and “C” groups certainly account for a majority of blogs. “A”, “B”, and “C” also seem to be the ones copying and rewording the same topics as their peers.

I still read a lot, but a lot less than I once did, and I am being more selective than ever before. It has improved the quality of my work, too. I find myself addressing more topics that others are not. It has made me more creative, and even more than ever before, the inspiration comes from my own real-world useful experiences rather than something I just read about. Here is a recent example, and it was inspired by a conversation with a friend. See “Everybody” is Not Your Target Market!.

This is the same reason I did not read any of the other books about Twitter before I wrote one myself back in 2009. I wanted my book to be uniquely mine, and not hold any reflection of somebody else’s work. The same goes for blogging, books, or other creative works.

Same Blog, Different Author

Blogs can be a great source of ideas and inspiration, but if not chosen carefully, and when relied on in place of our own unique talents, the reverse is true.

Let’s face it, there is a whole lot of the same message regurgitated a squillion different ways. Some bloggers will have a more unique and interesting slant on the same topic, but overall, I find a lot of it to be the same old thing. It made me realize that of the many blogs I read, there is a much smaller number of truly unique thinkers. Those are the blogs I will continue to read.

There you have it, the story of why I don’t read as many blogs as I used to. I have found that I am still just as in touch with my industry without reading all of that repetitive static. It lifted a burden, and it allowed me to focus on the work I am actually paid to do … and it is not reading blogs.

I enjoy thought provoking blogs that can shift my perspective or inspire new ideas. When I find one with value, I immediately subscribe and keep coming back for more. That keeps me on track with good thinking and it helps me to avoid the proliferation of repackaged hyperbole.

Can you relate to this? Do you ever trim back your reading in order to focus on quality? Do you notice those four categories I mentioned? Do you ever wonder if your blog will make it on your readers’ shortened list?

Please share your thoughts, and don’t worry, we can still be friends if you unsubscribe.


Related Topics:

Google+ and Other Ways to Avoid Blog Comments

Rant? This Isn't a Rant ... Yet!
Rant? This Isn't a Rant ... Yet!


One great benefit of social media is the ability to communicate with others in the format and space they want to communicate. Some people will choose to discuss a topic on Facebook, while others choose LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, Reddit, Amplify, or a squillion others. Many people will pick a handful of networks to focus their attention, based on their interests or their intended audience, and monitor them vigilantly. Google+ is climbing the ranks of preferred networks very quickly!

Blog readers and writers take note: You probably don’t notice this challenge much from a reader standpoint, but if you are a blogger who is paying attention to where your content is being discussed, you probably see this all the time. Do you ever notice that there are comments in about 37 different contexts spread across a handful of networks, all related to a single blog post?

As a blog article spreads, it is threaded into a lot of places with a lot of different conversations. Although they usually include a link back to the original article, very few of those outside conversations really do a good job of connecting the audience to the central conversation, or vice versa. After all, those comments somewhere else are seldom seen by the people reading the article, so they don’t get the benefit of those other peoples’ thoughts and opinions … and it squelches opportunities for them to network together with those other like-minded people. Sometimes that is a real shame.

It is great when your article is being shared and discussed. It would be foolish to discourage it, but when the conversation … the very genesis of the topic … begins with a blog article, it can also have some downsides. The message can become very muddled, and the conversations often stray far from the original topic. I have seen it a squillion times that the conversations do not even touch on the topic of the original blog article beyond the headline or description.

Again, this can be great in some ways. The evolution of a topic can be fascinating as it is morphed through enough various groups’ brain filters. However, even in the best scenario that it does not lose all of the author’s well-crafted thought provoking intent, this can still lead to a pretty messy challenge for the originator to keep up with the many conversations. When it comes to blogs, either reading them or writing them, those opinions count. Sometimes the best part of a blog article is in the comments that build upon the topic.

Native Blog Comments vs. Off-Blog Comments

When conversations are broken apart, each of the individual discussions will often lose a lot of the best and most well thought out responses from the smartest and most worthwhile participants. Also, as I already mentioned, it significantly discounts many opportunities for others with like minds to network together.

In the end, let’s face it … more people are going to see the original article in its native environment than they will on any given reader’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+ profile. With that in mind, if you really have something to say, you will do the author, yourself, and other readers a much greater service by including your comments on that blog article. Best of all, your comment is usually just as convenient, and can often even be shared in duplicate, with a single click, to your other social networks if you should choose. That way, others can see what you thought of the topic even before they go and read the article.

Some social networks have helped to make accommodations for this challenge, but others still have some work to do. I am hopeful that this will be a part of future Google+ improvements.

An example of a huge leap forward toward connecting blogs with outside conversations was in Facebook comments, which allow for comments to be shared both on the originating blog and on Facebook simultaneously. This is one way I think that Facebook is still whipping Google+ in a huge way, although I expect that to change.

Similarly, Disqus does a fantastic job of connecting conversations across networks, although it could still be better at pulling in off-blog comments with higher accuracy. BackType used to fit this need by bringing in conversations from all over the place, but they kind of wrecked that system in favor of other money-making hopes.

If you are not familiar with the usage and benefits of Facebook comments, there is more about the platform in my earlier article titled “How to Add Facebook Comments to a Blog and Improve Search Ranking“. If you are not familiar with Disqus, you may enjoy the article titled “Why Disqus May Be The Best Social Network of 2011“.

In any case, I think that making a greater connection with those off-blog comments is a responsibility of the blog owner, and should always be taken seriously. There are a lot of ways to monitor those conversations, and none of them are a perfect magic bullet. It takes a lot of attention, but should not be overlooked.

Google+ vs. Blog Comments

Google+ is an excellent platform. I really like it for many reasons, and not the least of which is the high level of interactivity that I have encountered there. It seems that people are really enjoying a lot of conversation on Google+.

Of course, some of that active engagement may be because it is still a bit of a novelty. It could also be that, although it is a much different type of platform, people are seeing it as a chance for a “do-over” by handling it differently than they handled their Twitter or Facebook. Whatever the case, it seems to me that people are using it in great ways, and it is far less spam-riddled and spam-prone than many other networks.

Sadly, Google+ also poses a greater challenge for monitoring and participating in the outside conversations about your topics. I hope it will change, but in the meantime, I think it is worth being aware and attentive to as many as possible.

What Makes Sense to You?

It is an extreme example, but do you ever see a comment on an outside network about a blog article and it shows without a doubt that the person responding did not even give a passing glance at the original context, beyond the headline? It could frustrate the originating author, but for me, I mostly just chock it up to another brainiac trying to sound smart without the will to actually be smart. You know, like reading beyond the headline before replying. Yes, this is an extreme example, but here is something I find to be common: comments directly on a blog will nearly always be more on-topic and more beneficial to the community.

The greatest variable across all of this wonderful technology is you. Nobody is going to tell you how to use a blog, either as a commenter or an author. The best I can hope for is to give you some encouragement … you know, a nudge. Where you take it from there is up to you. In my opinion, as well as my actual usage, I find it beneficial that if I am making a comment about a blog article, I duplicate it with a simple copy and paste from the original article to whatever network I am sharing it on. That is, if that option is not already a part of the blog itself, which it often is.

What do you have to say about this? Go ahead … put it on some other network where nobody but a few of your friends will see it. Otherwise, feel free to join in and stop being so damn elusive. What are you afraid of? These people don’t bite!

P.S. Biters please refrain from biting other respondents … just this once. 😉

The Biggest Blog Failure Ever

Try Thinking Outside of The Box
Try Thinking Outside of The Box


You may be thinking I am going to write about some huge blog scandal that embarrassed a CEO, relieved somebody of their U.S. Senate seat, or made somebody in Hollywood look like a complete loser in some way. Those stories are abundant, and even quite popular, but they bore me. I’ll save that for the day when I crash my head into a speeding train and decide that there is value in luring brainless zombies to read my blog.

For the time being, I still plan to write for you business brainiacs who care more about building a business than the latest juicy gossip or fad-of-the-day.

Today, I want to discuss an even far more punishing type of blog failure that comes with either having a blog without a strategy, or not having a blog at all. First, for anybody muttering some nonsense like “Pffftt … Blogs, schmogs … who needs ’em?” you may be wise to read “10 Really Good Reasons to Blog“. In any case, just hold your seat and pay attention for some eye-opening considerations.

Maybe you think a blog is just for making an online diary or to directly promote something, but take a breath and give me your attention. I want to start by pointing out some different types of blogs and their respective social media strategy.

Types of Blogs and Blog Strategies

There are obviously many different types of blogs, and each has its own strategy. I cannot list them all here, but I want to give you examples. Some of them are just for the purpose of bringing squillions of people to click on something brain-numbingly stupid to waste their time. Other blogs are designed to help brain-numbed people to believe that the Internet will give them “easy money”. We all love these blogs. I say “we all”, but the ridiculous numbers don’t lie. In fact, check this out … I brought some numbers!

Brain-Numbing (but Hilarious) Blogs

These are some very successful blogs, but many people do not even comprehend where the success is. They are ad-supported, and some sell shirts, hats, and other stuff, which is fine, but it takes a lot of visitors to make money this way. I mean a lot! If I had to guess their revenues, I would bet most of these earn their company a lot more money than your company blog. They are spending a lot more on personnel, too, because that is often what it takes when a strategy requires huge traffic numbers.

icanhascheezburger.com: As the home of “lolcats”, the “I Can Has Cheezburger” blog appeals to people’s love of cats, and it brings people back frequently to look for the latest funny stuff cats are doing. It is working like a charm, too. The website is ranked in the top 1,000 websites visited by Internet users in USA and in the top 3,000 in the world, according to alexa.com. The Internet collectively says “we love this stuff!”

failblog.org: “Fail Blog” fascinates readers around the world with the astonishing stupidity of people. General “run-of-the-mill” stupid people doing stupid things is a sure bet to help otherwise productive people to melt brain cells and burn hours. Fail Blog is ranked very similar to icanhascheezburger.com, and is a part of the same extensive network that reports more than 20 million website visitors per month. Cheezburger Network takes about 65 people and a lot of money to manage it well. If you don’t have that kind of manpower, creativity, and dollars, this strategy probably won’t work for you.

peopleofwalmart.com: How could this one possibly fail? “People of Wal Mart” lures people in by the nose and helps them stick it high in the air. Even a brief look at the People of Wal Mart website will show you how much better you are than those horrid looking creatures cruising the aisles of Wal Mart stores. This website is roughly in the top 2,000 most visited websites in USA and in the top 10,000 in the world. Yes, we really love to make fun of people … especially when we can see how clearly “better” we are than them.

It May Be Funny to You ... But Just Keep Laughing, Sucker. I Can Has Money!
It May Be Funny to You ... But Just Keep Laughing, Sucker. I Can Has Money!

Socially Numbing Blogs

People love to read about social media. Although there is no obvious correlation between wasting time reading everything you can about the latest iPhone apps or social media corporate buyouts, these blogs are taking it all the way to the bank! Don’t take this all wrong, they have some reasonably good information sometimes, but between the overt brand bias and repetitive drivel, I feel compelled to announce these with a bit of a snide slant. In any case, they are about as popular as bacon.

Bird Eating Tech Blogs
Bird Eating Tech Blogs

mashable.com: This social media giant is astonishing! Mashable is a time-sucking cult favorite of glassy-eyed people hoping to be on top of a social media wave. It commonly ranks in the top 200 most popular websites in the world. Why? Perhaps it is because the whole world wants to become a social media expert by reciting what they read at Mashable. As long as this is the case, it will be wildly popular. If you want to know which technology company is doing what, or which iPhone app is better, it is fine. Click on an advertisement while you are there … they love that!

techcrunch.com: Tech Crunch is kind of like Mashable with a bad toupee. They have a couple reasonably decent writers with good intentions of reporting on technology issues, but let’s be serious … will that make you an expert? I guess it is great if you want to know which online game company was just purchased for a billion dollars, or the new fads in cell phones. Will you really do more business if you read everything Tech Crunch reports? The answer is “probably not”, but if you want to sound impressive to a non-paying audience, you may want to retweet everything you see there, and expand upon it in your own blog. Just don’t plan on getting rich that way.

Socially Engaging Blogs

It is a very popular myth that “engagement” in a community is a key to online success. It has its high points, but it also has some pretty big downsides. Note that I did call it a myth.

Being engaging and engaged can provide amazing benefits, but without an appropriate strategy, engagement still fails miserably from a business standpoint. If you are just engaging an audience because you think it will bring success, think again. You can have a squillion buddies, but if it has no relevance to your business strategy, you can spend a lot of time being unproductive with those buddies. You may not like it, but that is the harsh truth. I can be your friend, and I may even help you to spread the word about those awesome knitting needles you are trying so hard to sell, but I only have so many friends interested in knitting.

Check Out These Fat Cat Bloggers
Check Out These Fat Cat Bloggers

I wrote about some engaging bloggers recently, and they provide great examples of reader engagement. These bloggers are hard-workers with a lot of talent, and they can show you some fine points. Here is the list of “9 Bloggers Who Teach the Value of a Strong Blog Community“. These blogs generally don’t need huge numbers of readers, and are often very targeted toward specific topics that attract specific readers. This is commonly a much more readily achievable type of blog strategy for individual bloggers or small companies.

Building relationships and engaging with others is very important in building an online success, but it is still not a magic success potion. Sorry pals … but somebody had to say it.

Commonalities of Failed Blogs

Back to the story line, I want to submit that there is not just one single thing that will make a blog successful. The biggest missing piece I see among unsuccessful blogs is a strategy. Popularity is great, but it takes a lot of work, and usually a lot of money to make a blog popular enough to succeed on traffic volume alone. Carefully curated content geared toward a popular topic is a way to become popular, but that can still fail if there is not a targeted and well-defined expected outcome.

I Can Has Blog Fail
I Can Has Blog Fail

I see it all the time that the first reaction of companies who don’t see great results from their blog is to give up. Instead of making the needed strategic adjustments, they assume it was a bad idea that just doesn’t work.

A truth that most people are slow to accept is that if the blog isn’t paying the bills, it is not the Internet public’s fault … it is their own. In the case of most blogs, and statistically, probably even yours, the results are a bit less than hoped for. So, do you give up, or do you shift gears?

It is easy to see common factors of successful blogs. Some of the blogs I mentioned have a sizable staff that work hard every day, others have a small staff of one. They are diverse, but each of them have some things in common. They each have a strategy, and they each understand that nothing comes from nothing. Doing “nothing” is popular, too, but that is probably not a good strategy for you.

A Competitive Strategy

A strategy that is extremely popular and competitive is to rub a genie’s lamp, keep your fingers crossed, knock on wood, pray like a nun in a whorehouse, and hope that your blog will somehow become a huge success without hard work. That is just dandy, but it is a pretty weak attempt that usually yields even weaker results.

So, in case you may wonder, what is my strategy? After all, it would be silly to write about it if I didn’t have one. I cannot tell you the whole thing, but I can at least give you enough to help get some thoughts flowing. Maybe you can pick up some ideas about your own strategy if I share some key points of my own.

Blogging is Competitive and Requires Strategy
Blogging is Competitive and Requires Strategy

Is it the ads? No, they barely pay for my coffee and cigarette bill. Is it the cozy notion of having a squillion friends who will send flowers when I die of starvation from blogging instead of working for a living? Well, not exactly, but you are certainly welcome to send donations to The Murnahan Memorial Fund, c/o Widow Murnahan, PO Box 4426, Topeka, KS, 66604. Widow Peggy thanks you in advance.

I take a mix of each of the above approaches, plus some other special considerations. I discovered, long ago, that when I write things that people find useful mixed with amusing (or at least not dreadfully boring), and I make good connections with people, they share it with others in their social circles. That helps me to achieve my objectives of tens of thousands of incoming website links to my work, high website traffic, and ability to rank extremely well in search engines for darn near anything I choose to target. This also helps me to establish credibility as an authority in my industry and provide irrefutable proof that I am very good at my job. This is a pretty sound strategy, overall, and it can apply to many other types of industries.

Each of these things help more people know to my work. Some of them will realize that this Murnahan character has uncommon talent and is quite good at creative marketing. A tiny few of my readers will realize they could do even better with additional professional help, and they contact me to develop their marketing strategy, and to execute the plan. That is how I get paid. That is my success. You didn’t actually think I do all of this because I’m bored, did you? Most bloggers don’t work so hard just because they have nothing to do.

The Worst Blog Failure in Summary

In concert with a previous article about reasons to blog, I also explained reasons blogs fail. I may be the only person that this amuses, but if you search Google for either of the terms I just linked to (reasons to blog and reasons blogs fail), you will find my work quite readily. That would never have happened if I didn’t write something about it, implement my strategy, and execute it better than others.

Doing nothing, or doing something without conviction is an easy path to giving up. The same holds true for anything from talking your first love out of their pants to talking your next customer out of their money.

How is your strategy coming along?

Photo Credits:
Cat in a big box by CelloPics via Flickr
Shaved Cat by Jamie (ajmexico) via Flickr
Cat on bird house by Josh (joshme17) via Flickr
Roslyn_cat by Joshin Yamada (ocean yamaha) via Flickr
Fail Cat by Tara Hunt (miss_rogue) via Flickr
Doomed by Robin Corps (robad0b) via Flickr