DISQUS

That was Awesum 2.0.

Hilarious. Made me laugh at myself, which seems to result in a step in the right direction.

Blogs can suck, but it depends on what you're doing with your blog, how it's set up and who your audience is. I have one client that gets 79% of their leads for an electronic product from blogging, and one that got hundreds of new search engine first page placements but absolutely no leads. My own results from blogging gave me increases in traffic, leads and sales, but then, I have an email subscribe box on every page, use it as part of a marketing system, and blog for exposure, not directly for money.


Like anything else, blogs have to be part of a toolkit. I agree that a 2% conversion rate is dismal. If mine were that low, I'd have to stop. But if you're blogging as part of a marketing system, and the entire system led to a 20% increase in sales overall, then perhaps that would make more of a difference. I always thought you were blogging for reasons other than earn from your blog or I'd say to set up the site differently. I'm interested to see the difference after your redesign.

On my to-do list:

- make the blog load faster
- turn the home page's focus into subscription only. that technique has always worked wonder for Both rss and email subscription for me.
- more prominent comment policy
- more prominent resource page


I like yours, and I can't wait to see the new design. But even if your blog was written on a brick wall in a desert I'd find a way to read it every day. :)

I make a to-do list, and stagger my sleep time so there's a four hour stretch where I finish all the activities that have a direct impact on my bottom line and don't require interaction.

Then I combine my TV/movie time with marketing - AFTER there's a system in place of course. :) Then I get help, and use leverage.

Sphunn ya! No matter where one falls on this debate, the post is worthy to me because 1 - it shows numbers 2- it points out fallacies without berating anyone (You didn't really "berate" Beal, I felt you were just pointing some things out.) 3- You showed one thing that people hadn't been stating that is really important... John Reese is listening to concerns and has the resources to address them. :)

I don't know how much I like the feature itself, but when I took my day off reading blogs, I actually found out about it through a tiny traffic spike from Technorati. Maybe it's elitist, but it somehow works in my favor even though my blog isn't that popular, lol.

The speed at which is scrolls is a bit disconcerting. But the fact that I see lesser known blogs is comforting. On the other hand, why does stuff from 10 am that morning get mixed in with things that were just published. I find that weird.

Ooo, Robert, did you say "argument" so are you officially "fighting"? Because it doesn't sound like it. I miss controversy. :( Andy, you have to say more mean things that don't make sense to get the blogosphere in an uproar. lol...

Just kidding! I'm actually wondering what your answer to Robert's other question is, Andy.

@ James, no. I've actually been starving - not like poverty in America starving, but like kids in Ethopia starving. And I still didn't shoplift.

I used the point of shop-lifting to say that though I think it's wrong, that's not the reason I don't shop-lift, and to say that I'd show *mercy* to someone who did shoplift for hunger's sake. IE, my reasons for not doing it aren't moral, and my reasons for not judging people who do are based in compassion.

And next time, be a smart ass! Much more fun. :)

I don't block ads for the same reason that I don't shoplift. I'm not some great moralist, though I think stealing is wrong, and I think ad-blocking is wrong. It's an understanding of how the fragile web economics system works. If we all want to keep getting free stuff, being able to find cost-effective solutions, we've got to be willing to let the web pay for itself.

If I was still on dial-up that would be one thing. In that case, i understand why someone would want to block ads and/or images to surf at least temporarily. However, with the advancement of broadband's availability, serving up the web without ads sounds a lot like stealing cable television to me.

Stirring up trouble again, I see. I think you should keep this post on the front page until it causes the controversy it deserves. ;)

LOL... I'm to b l a m e - can't wait to telll Sherman! Thanks for the mention, man. We're keeping that door open a little longer because we were down for 90 minutes yesterday. The special was supposed to be over today.

By "spoilers" do you mean like if I said.. just kidding! have a good weekend, Jason.

Can't argue with that. :)

The problem is intermittent. I'm still trying to figure out what the issue is. Seems to fix itself after a refresh... until we fix it, feel free to republish the tip here, or redirect folks to our Feedburner feed. :) Thanks anyway -- I've been trying to figure out what the problem is since about 3 am this morning.

Oh, that's right, I DO have a Bloglines account, LOL... I have subscriptions in so many places... but ironically these days, if I don't have you in Google Reader, I'll probably forget you. Even then, you have a lot of competition... But if we're linked in Facebook... you might not be able to shut me up. ;)

I understand where you're coming from - even minor celebrities (those known for blogging only) or small business owners have similiar problems. Maybe this is where Facebook can make some money = setting up custom access and packages for business and fan use.

I'll say one thing for Facebook as far as staying connected to what you're doing -- if it wasn' for Facebook, I wouldn't be following you as closely. That much I'm grateful for.

Hey Andy,

Haven't seen you about in a while. I haven't been here either but I read every single one of your posts since I signed up for email.

I don't know about the rest of your visitors, but I buy internet marketing, search and other tools every single week as a hobby. This time last year, I'd spend hundreds of dollars every Friday picking up new stuff. I do my best to buy through affiliates when I can. So I'd love to see one big update a week, or maybe a rolling page of the products you endorse or have reviewed once a week to make my shopping easier.

I'd love one to Grooveshark.

It's wondrous how something that sounds like so much fun is officially a job descriptions. If I think of anyone for this, I'll send them your way.

Hey Ben,

Coming over from your reply to my Facebook thread. Some really high level thoughts in your blog. My answer to #3 is usually about the relationship I already have to my user base. You can't fake a relationship no matter how much money you have. I wonder sometimes if this is an adequate answer, because sometimes you can fairly simulate a relationship with branding, i.e., I think of Yahoo as a (great!) company and Google as a wonderful group of people who are geekily techy but kinda cute, like me. Weird.

Absolutely wonderful post. I loved that last paragraph...

"Also, I’ve realized that continuing my trend toward excessive compromise in my relationships is simply hazardous to my health. My passions and dreams are no less valid than anyone else’s, and I have to stop enabling myself and others to treat them as such. After all, it is my responsibility to care for my well-being, not anyone else’s, just as it is my responsibility to draw and defend clear boundaries of tolerable behavior. I am no victim of circumstance, no hapless fool of fate. What I can control, I will, and what I can’t, I will let go."

That is going to Save LIVES. I'm so serious when I say that.

A negative pattern I'm changing is believing in the existence of time. I'll utilize the illusion for my maximum benefit, but I'm not going to yield to it any more in terms of thinking I'll run out of time, or that there's not enough time, or that if I don't get xyz done by such and such date, the world will end and I'll go to hell. :)

Wow. That felt good.

Congrats. I'm sure not going anywhere. If I did you could always grab me back during a quick scan with a great title.

At least one a day, per blog I'm authoring. Sometimes it's as simple as the title. My rule of thumb is that if I can't make the title alluring, at minimum it goes to draft status.

Don't enter me in the contest, because I'd just blow it on dinner entertaining a client. But I had to say, I'm linking to this just for the graphic. That's funny/cool as hell.