THREE KINDS OF BLOGS Yes, I know there are two kinds of people in the world—those that believe that
there are two kinds of people and those that don’t. But there really and truly are
three kinds of blogs.
CAT BLOGS are blogs for and by and about the person blogging. A cat blog is about
your cat and your dating travails and your boss and whatever you feel like sharing
in your public diary. The vast majority of people with a cat blog don’t need or want
strangers to read it.
If you’ve got a cat blog, you should embrace that fact and stop wondering where all
your traffic is. Alas, this ebook is almost completely useless to you. You already
have what you want!
BOSS BLOGS are blogs used to communicate to a defined circle of people. A boss
blog is a fantastic communications tool. I used one when I produced the fourth-
grade musical. It made it easy for me to keep the parents who cared about our
project up to date... and it gave them an easy-to-follow archive of what had already
happened.
If you don’t have a boss blog for most of your projects and activities, I think you
should think about giving it a try. Boss bloggers don’t need this ebook either, because you already know who should be reading your blog and you have the
means to contact and motivate this audience to join you.
The third kind of blog is the kind most people imagine when they talk about blogs.
These are blogs like instapundit and Scoblelizer and Joi Ito’s. Some of these blogs
are for individuals (call them citizen journalists or op-ed pages) and others are for
organizations trying to share their ideas and agendas. These are the blogs that are
changing the face of marketing, journalism and the spread of ideas. I want to call
these
VIRAL BLOGS. They’re viral blogs because the goal of the blog is to spread ideas. The blogger is
investing time and energy in order to get her ideas out there. Why? Lots of
reasons—to get consulting work, to change the outcome of an election, to find
new customers for a business or to make it easier for existing customers to feel
good about staying.
If you’re writing for strangers, that means you’re building a viral blog. The first
principle is to make your entries shorter.
Use images and tone and design and interface to make your point. Teach people
gradually.
On the other hand, if you’re writing for colleagues, you’ve got a boss blog. That
means you can make your entries more robust.
Be specific. Be clear. Be intellectually rigorous and leave no wiggle room.
