DISQUS

The Tri-Cities IS nice! Thhppffttt. :-)

But thx for the kind words. And links. And I agree 1,000% about Mary's tagline idea. How simply brilliant is that?

Thx for including us, Jared. May I ask that the West Richland blog link be fixed? It's broken. :-) Thx.

Chris - awesome. Thank you.

Shirley - I'm going to email a small biz owner I know to come read this and suggest that they do Customer Of The Month. It doesn't have to be a daily thing. Adapt the idea to what fits your situation.

I recently did similar comparisons on a few sites, too, Jason, and my conclusions were the same as yours. I compared sites with a little and a lot of traffic, and Compete was way off on both. Way too low on the 'mass appeal' site, and way too high on the 'appeals to tech crowd' site.

Why are the links redirecting thru Google.com?

Not sure what exactly you mean by "small news," Chris, but there's a growing movement of hyperlocal blogging that's well underway -- and realtors, as you say, are one of the primary industries doing it.

Hyperlocal blogging is exactly what it sounds like -- blogging about things happening on your street, at the local mall, the Little League fields, etc. I suspect it's what you mean by "small news." :-) It's blogging about life happening around you, including news that traditional media often overlooks.

I'd invite you to check out www.hyperlocalblogger.com if you're interested in a community of local bloggers.

I'm not a fan of blog memes, but I imagine you could start one in which people name 5 people they consider Trust Agents, and invite those 5 to do the same. Might spread itself around a bit for you and get the Trust Agents phrase out in the public consciousness.

The answer to how you market a book online depends in large part on the book content and its intended audience.

I have a book coming out any day now called "U2 - a Diary" -- a history of the rock band told in timeline/diary-style format. I started a blog more than a year ago and got other U2 fans involved in the writing and research process. I'd post regular "calls for help," and get immediate replies. One fan even went to his local library in Cork, Ireland, to research old newspaper articles on microfiche for me. :-)

I posted book samples and invited readers to comment on the initial book cover (they didn't like it; we got it changed slightly).

Getting potential readers involved early on has also been good marketing. I think it gave them a stake in the book.

Recently, the blog (u2diary.com) has shifted toward more direct promotional efforts. I did an interview contest recently -- an idea I borrowed from Rohit (and credited to him, too - thanks, Rohit!). I'm using Facebook to promote it. I'm using Twitter to promote blog posts and interviews I've done. And I guess you could say I'm using blog comments to promote it, too. :) But I hope my experience comes across as more helpful than anything else.

I'll look forward to more comments, because I'm also interested in new ideas for online book promotion. Thanks for starting the conversation, Chris.

Good stuff, Chris. My wife and I jointly write four hyperlocal blogs, one for each of the main cities in our area. We sometimes write about popular local events, stuff that the tourism board people also promote.

We'd welcome an informal relationship with the tourism board, but I wouldn't be interested in any kind of partnership with them where I'm obligated to always write sunshine about our town and local events. That doesn't seem honest to me.

BTW, for folks interested in local blogging, I write a blog called Hyperlocal Blogger which is dedicated to the topic. URL is in my name above.

What an adorable baby! Congrats to the McCollum family. :-)

Reem rocks. :-)

thhppfftttt

Deja vu! In 1996, I received an email from an AP bigwig demanding that I remove the two AP stories I posted on my U2 web site. I removed them, and decided at that moment to never post another AP story on the site again. 12 years later, that ban is still in effect.

Andy - I'd ban them until they come to their senses. There are plenty of other news sites/sources out there.

Matt McGee's last blog post..Another Week of Blogging

Janet - you're right. This isn't bad news at all for the RE industry. Of course the Internet doesn't *influence* a home purchase -- it's not like ordering a book or CD. It's the biggest purchase most people will ever make, and the biggest influence will always be walking into the house, driving around the neighborhood, the local school system, and offline factors.

But the Internet is a big factor in the early stages of either researching a neighborhood and/or home to buy, or researching an agent to use (for people selling their home).

Matt McGee's last blog post..Links for 2008-06-10 [del.icio.us]

Couple things:

1) "U2" didn't make these comments. Their manager did. He manages other artists, too, all smaller and less successful than U2. (I suppose that part goes without saying.)

2) The most expensive ticket on U2's last tour was $160 (some shows were like $10 higher). The best tickets -- GA floor, right up close to the stage -- were $45. Compared to artists of a comparable stature, U2's concert tickets are a bargain.

If "Guitar Review" or someone else saw an average price of $220, s/he was looking at scalper/broker sites.

3) On the whole, U2 fans like myself also wish the manager would keep his mouth shut. I'm all for artists making money from their talents, but this is no way to accomplish anything worthwhile.

Awesome recap .... I'm glad I lost you within 6 minutes of opening my mouth. :)

It is more of a triangle, isn't it? Damn. Well, at least I'm not doing diaper work. ;-) Good to see you, Syzlak!

Good read, Corvida. I just mixxed it. :-) I'm sure others will find themselves going through the same thought process as they learn about Mixx, too.

Happy birthday, Chris. Reading your blog has been a pleasure since I found it (within the last year). Be well!

Here's mine. :)

http://pownce.com/MattMcGee/notes/1759812/

Great addition to your team, Pete. Congrats!