Have you seen the CopyBlogger exercise where they have you write blog post titles using Cosmopolitan magazine’s cover headlines? The exercise was interesting to say the least. Remember that post was lingering in the innovative parts of my brain when, suddenly, I checked my email. There was nothing new in the inbox. However, the spam folder was reaching close to two hundred. I investigated.

We’re all familiar with spam titles with characters and numbers to bypass the un-l33t spam filters of most mail clients. But Google mail has a smart spam killer. It doesn’t fall for such juvenile attempts. In fact, I don’t remember the last time a spam message made it to my inbox.

I scanned the folder of caught spam. I found only one affiliate blog feed in the midst of all the junk. Note to self: Do not sell too ardently in my posts, otherwise, the Google spam gods will strike it down. Aside from the integer messages, I found little of interest in the spambox. Then I saw it, the golden spam title glowing amidst all the rubble.

Don’t Wait for a Miracle

Out of close to 200 messages, only one title had any resonance. Yes, don’t wait for the miracle. It was a decent call to action. Of course, it is a bit trite, but we are talking about spammers here. They couldn’t charm the pants off a hamster.

The title also had an undercurrent to it. From the title, you know they will offer a quick fix to a problem that you otherwise thought would take a miracle to reconcile. Now you can do it with whatever they’re selling. Assuming you bought the title, you would be one step closer to believing the subsequent sales pitch inside the email. Did I open the email?

What Miracle?
A title is only a good title if it is followed up by a decent message. Not surprisingly, the spam message fell flat like a pancake on a plate. It was served cold too. The miracle was just as you can imagine — sexual in nature. How miraculous!

The miracle for the rest of us? The dissection of this message tells us that strong titles act as the good smelling food down the hall, while the unfolding of the article fills the stomach. The post’s message should not – ever – make us vomit.

Have you seen the road signs lately? Your blog may be veering off-course. That’s right. When I started this blog, I envisioned certain things, like reviews, helpful traffic analysis, writing tips, as the keystone to my writing. I don’t think I’ve gone off course, not yet at least. I can still see the markers of my original topics in the distance. What I can tell you — I have wanted to write about so much in the past few weeks. I had to employ restraint.

Can you see the path clearly? To ensure my blog stays between the guiding lines, I have developed a writing schedule, given myself time every evening to network, patterned a routine around my freelance writing, and begun various future projects that will see the light of day on this blog in the coming months.

We sometimes have to step away from our project to see it clearly. Where do we want our blog to be in a few months? Do we want to be writing poems about our lost sweetheart, conveying political ideas using haikus, or introducing the latest technology trends to our readers? We should have some idea of where we want our blogs to be in a few months. Otherwise, why have a pre-frontal cortex?

Use Your Low Beams
When I’m driving in the fog, I’m tempted to turn on my car’s brights. But doing that magnifies the mist. The blog fog affects me the same way. I need to know where I’m going, but look at each individual step as a way of getting their without crashing. My posts can and do affect each and every one of my readers. I need to be aware of the persona I’m creating, the attitude I’m conveying, and the message I’m carrying — all of which creates my path towards my destination.

We sometimes get sidetracked on our blogs. As with anything, we can always rebound by turning the obvious tangential digression into a lesson for our readers. When we admit our growing pains, we garner the respect of our readership, along with righting our path on the road to blogging success.

With the upcoming Super Bowl, which I am mustering the nerve to watch since I am not a Patriots fan, we can all get a glimpse of extraordinary marketing. I haven’t heard whether GoDaddy will be doing one of their illustrious campaigns, but every ad should provide a lot of material for marketers to digest. So I’ll be watching as much for the commercials as I will the game itself. I’ll post more on that after the fact. For now, on to something more fun.

Everyone do the BLOG WAVE

Jeff over at BuzzMyBlog.com suggested we celebrate the upcoming Super Bowl with a blog wave. What is a blog wave? Each blogger adds their name to the list and the next adds his until the entire blogosphere stands up in unison to cheer on the Giants! (ok, maybe not.) Everyone get in on the fun and stand up for a moment… 

Here’s how it works:

1. Copy this entire post and repost it on your blog.
2. Join “the Crowd” by adding a link to your blog at the TOP of the list.
3. Drop a quick comment to the person you copied the post from (don’t spill their beer!).

How is this a Blog Wave you ask? Good question. When you publish this post, you will be adding your blog to the top of the list. The general assumption is that blogs at the top of the list are likely to get more traffic than blogs down at the bottom. So if we were to flip through the Google Analytics of everyone doing “the wave” in order, we’d theoretically see a blue tidal wave of traffic moving left to right! Who knows if it will work - let’s find out!

The Crowd:

• [Add your blog below this note!]
• Jason Boom dot com - Exploding on the Internet
• Buzz My Blog - Let’s Make Money Online By Working Together

So you simply copy the indented post to your own blog, and update the Crowd section with your own link. Get in the spirit. And, remember Patriot fans, nobody likes perfectionists!

Does that headline ring out for syndication? I put it there as an experiment. Maybe since I target BlogRush itself, this article will receive some syndication buzz through their widget.

I know I’m late to the party. My blog just began and BlogRush has been around for a while now. I get it. I just wanted to lament that I received more traffic from a comment on a neighboring blog than I ever have from BlogRush.

Maybe it’s my fault? 
I might be writing terrible headlines. My titles just might not sell the article. I have Blog Gangland, A Man from Nantucket, Big Bang…you get the idea. Obviously these titles are not exactly link bait, but they should at least strike curiosity. But no, not even a click for Blog Gangland. Why then should I continue sporting the BlogRush widget in my sidebar?

 I actually use the damn thing. Can you believe that? I look at it on my own site from time to time, and it does take me to genuinely interesting content around 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time I realize I’ve been duped by a linkworthy headline and a crappy underbelly article. It’s usually someone bemoaning a lost boyfriend with a headline of sheer, curious torment.

And What’s with Their Interface? 
I understand their buzz meter. I know when someone reads my content that it registers as heat for the meter. I actually like that element.

I think how you accrue syndication credits works. But why can’t I control syndication, using my credits the way I see fit? I want to push out my best content with the whole bank of my credits, not just the most recent article. Of course, maybe I don’t understand their system entirely.

I have only been able to find instructions on other blogs. Oh, sure, they have a video which would take me around 15 minutes to watch, but I’m a reader. I’m not a watcher. I like to search FAQs and How Tos for my tidbits of insightful information. I don’t want to hear someone yammering about a page for a few minutes, which contains stuff I already understand.

And What Incentive Do I Have?
As a blog owner I receive more credits when my widget gets shown, but who cares about credits when I can’t control syndication of my articles. This blog network seems to cater more to the large blog sites than to the little guy. I’ve constantly seen the same 27,000 dollar check article from John Chow’s site on various widgets, but have yet to run across my own articles. I know his site probably earns millions in syndication credits, but can’t we somehow bridge the inequal gap between a site like his and a site like my own?

Conclusion
I want to like BlogRush. I want to believe it will someday bring in tons of traffic. I just don’t think that’s the case. Of the two visitors I’ve had from the service in two weeks, one bounced while the other stayed for several minutes. Maybe the lingerer subscribed to my rss feed and enjoys my content now. I think I’ll keep it around for a while, just in case.

After the terrific results of last week’s contest, I’ve decided to mix things up a bit. The entries for this week’s contest will be submitted via comments to this post. Ok, so on to the rules and the winnings.

You can enter in multiple ways:

1. by writing a post that talks about my site in some way. It doesn’t have to be a review, but should contain at least one link to the site. This will net you the most entries with 10.
2. by joining my reader community on MyBlogLog counts as 5 entries. (if you’re already there then just post a comment in this thread and it’ll count!)
3. by commenting in this thread nets you 1 entry.

You can do all three things to receive 16 entries total!  

What will you win? Tell ‘em Johnny…

 A BRAND NEW C…oh, wait. I have a budget.

1. (1) 125×125 ad for 30 days
2. (1) text link on the sidebar
3. A review of a site, tool, or service of your choice in the Powder Keg Review series. (This does not mean it will be a good review, so be sure whatever it is you want reviewed is up to snuff.)

It’s that easy to win that much! Next week I’ll be toying with Entrecard credits as a prize. Everyone likes credits, but as others have said — been there, done that. We’ll see.