In the wild, bloggers tend to group together inside networks to survive. These instincts have been honed over several years of dangerous online activity. For instance, they survived the Blogger buyout, the various Wordpress hacks, and the influx of comment spam. They’re strong creatures.

But there’s always one that stands apart from the rest. When you spot an Alpha blog, we suggest walking backwards slowly. Do not break eye contact, as the blog will likely take you down like a gimp zebra. Just stay calm. Here’s several ways to spot an alpha blog.

1. You notice your hair stand on end when you visit their blog. It’s a biological reaction to the blog’s superior writing, resources, and design. It could also be related to the large RSS numbers seen in the Feedburner counter.
2. When challenged, the alpha blog will exert superior debating skills, causing the beta blog to falter. Alpha blogs do not casually exist, but are regarded as authorities.
3. Alpha blogs eat first. Their posts circumvent other news sites as they have contacts within organizations. Who wouldn’t go to the alpha blog with their spectacular press release?
4. Beta blogs act on command of the alpha blog. The alpha blogs say, “Use this monetization method,” and within weeks thousands of loyal beta blogs have implemented the method. This also works for contests. Beta blog contests usually fall flat, while Alpha blog contests win the web.
5. Alpha blogs receive their status from sheer willpower. They gain momentum with readers through superior content and marketing maneuvers. They can however be toppled by beta blogs. In this highly social species, politics may take a part in determining the next alpha blog.

In this highly social society, it’s often blog eats blog. Be sure you know your territory well. You may be walking into the jaws of an Alpha blog.

In my few months at Jason Boom dot com, I’ve seen more and more sites put on the auction block. One in particular this week, Blogging Experiment, went on the market and quickly sold. I understand people’s lives change, but should we sell our blogs?

I don’t think it’s a moral dilemma. It’s really not. It’s a personal choice. A blog belongs to the owner, not to the readers. And, if you look at your blog like a business, then you should treat it like one when considering buyouts. However, in some ways, it feels like a betrayal.

I can always unsubscribe, right?

How much of our blogging identity creates the blog? Can we shuffle in new owners and still capture the essence of a blog? I think it would change, maybe not drastically but it would change. How many can say they bought a house and left it exactly as the previous owners? You may hang new curtains, paint the walls, repair minor defects, or even change the floor plan. It’s rare to find a home you want to stay exactly the same. For this reason, I doubt a new owner would simply keep everything the same. At the very least, their writing will not line up with the original blog owner’s style. Worst case scenario: they over-monetize the site and reduce traffic. But they did pay for that right.

I’m not saying its wrong to sell your blog. I’m just wondering about the ethics behind it. Is this a business? Should I do a public offering and sell stock in Jason Boom dot com?

March Contest Ending Soon!

We’ll be holding an April contest, but be sure you’ve entered into the March one first. It’s simple to enter. You can even write a comment on this post to gain an entry.

Other’s Explosive Content

I ran across this post through a link on Twitter. Loic Le Meur talks how decentralized he feels with all the social media sites. It’s something I’ve thought about as well.

Here’s a good Entrecard post. I saw a link to this through the Entrecard forums. It’s a good, quality read.

Gorilla Sushi posted an interesting study of Entrecard. He studied the Art category and drew correlations between the cost of an ad to the amount of traffic through Alexa. It’s a fascinating read.

It’s taken a little time to understand, but I’ve finally started to use Twitter effectively. Well, as effectively as being myself can be. Twitter can be terribly time consuming and just a little bit overwhelming at first blush. So why do so many A list bloggers, regular old bloggers, and industry leaders use the service? Well, because it’s appealing.

The Twitter folks have created a platform where you can write 140 characters and then update your followers with your activity. Those who follow you will see your updates in their Twitter dashboard or through their standalone Twitter application. It’s micro-blogging to some, a new chatroom to others, or simply a place to promote. It really can be used for any number of things. Many bloggers have written posts about effectively marketing yourself through Twitter.

Through fear of breaking unwritten rules, in the beginning I simply sat back in the Twitterosphere to watch others’ activities. I followed a few people, began to follow some of those they talked to regularly (using the @ function), and then I started to interact.

At first, I marketed the posts on my blog, but then I realized Twitter occupies more space than simple link exchange. It’s an open dialog with multiple followers. By participating we can gain more than a small influx of readers, we can begin to network.

I’ve never been one to undervalue networking. The practice leads to business, success, and, well, traffic. Twitter differs from other networking sites I’ve joined. For instance, Entrecard has forums and a message system where I can interact with users. I’m not one for forums because I have to keep track of the different threads and I’m usually too busy to check back often enough to see who’s responded. Twitter allows me to catch up in one place, and use multiple tools to keep updated.

Everytime I log into Twitter I can see who’s messaged me directly – who’s writing about what – and I can choose to update everyone on my current thoughts or simply browse the messages of users I’m following. It’s made the act of networking so much more simple than following multiple threads in a forum or accumulating friends in a social network. It’s started a conversation.

I follow quite a few outspoken individuals. I enjoy reading their rants and their debates on branding, blog etiquette, and media networks. It’s also been a place where I can talk about other issues I enjoy, like politics, gaming, movies, and everyday stuff. But I’m still a newbie with the service.  

What do you think of Twitter? Do you think its valuable a valuable tool for developing your brand? Do you use it for fun? Or have you not succumbed to the Twitter bug…yet?

My Twitter Account

With the rain coming down all around you, have you ever paused between your car and the door of your house to feel the cool water?

Moments can be universal. We can share a specific instance with our readers and invite them to relate on an entirely new level.

We may relate to our readers through any of the following commonplace blogging dilemmas:

1. I have nothing to write about.
2. My comments have dropped dramatically.
3. I need more traffic.
4. Where’s my money from Adsense?
5. Will I ever make money from my blog?
6. How do I [insert WordPress functionality here].

The most important reason to write blogosphere truths? Trust. We can share a trial on our own blog and guide readers towards a solution. (What solution am I providing now?)

This isn’t groundbreaking stuff. Some of the more popular blogs offer advice, tutorials, life hacks, and more. They have found a way to give away what comes naturally to them. In this way, they’ve built a niche around their particular expertise and interest. It’s a win-win. Readers gain information and the bloggers gain an audience.

Blogging Like Kindergarteners

In kindergarten we all learned one thing — how to share.

It’s universal that we learn to share with others at an early age. The mountain of Web 2.0 content has been derived from this concept. It’s users sharing creations with others. It’s the pinnacle of kindergarten success. Mrs. Redwick would be proud.

So do what comes naturally, well, as naturally any lesson taught at an early age provides. Share you insights. Share you moments. Be yourself.

What can you share with readers that may bolster their opinion of you?

In the last installment, I researched a few sites and made claims to the areas that stopped traffic. I think this type of discussion contains value for any blogger. I almost considered adding green lights and nailing a few sites, but I’ll keep to the current motif and only add stop signs to my case studies today. Be wary, though — green lights may be coming soon!

The idea of keeping traffic contained on our site should not be new to anyone who’s been blogging or site building for a while. At times, traffic can seem like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off — running around vapidly, then silently departing our world. How can we rein in traffic? We need visitors to dig deeper into our site, write comments, subscribe to feeds, and interact with our community.

Case Study #3

The Viral King website still has the new blog shine to it. The site features content related to viral marketing, and does so with, well, with coolness. I love the look of it, the curved angles of the sidebar boxes, the over-sized RSS feed and Technorati favorite icons in the header, and, of course, the Viral King character. It all ties together well, and I’m sure new visitors to the site would give it more than a second look.

The site has a lot of stop signs in place. Remember stop signs keep the visitor from bailing out on the content — they force readers to look deeper into the site and idle a while longer. I already mentioned the two icons in the header as well as the character, but I think the header navigation may be a critical stop sign in the design.

The navigation separates itself from the blog in that it stretches the width of the window, while the content maxes out at 973 pixels wide. This makes a difference, not for its incongruence, but for its statement. It’s telling a visitor that its anchoring the page. The search form also appears in the navigation bar. If you need something, it’s there to show you. I would say this is a terrific stop sign.

The Viral King also offers a free Viral Resource Report, which adds another crucial stop sign. Offering free information in the form of downloadable content places your site onto a reader’s hard drive. When they open the ebook days, weeks, or months later, they will likely make a return trip to your site and opine on blog posts. It’s a great stop sign technique.

Lessons Learned from Viral King

The Viral King displays the site navigation in a way that doesn’t detract from the site’s balance, but does illuminate the content. Having over-sized RSS and Technorati icons ensures readers subscribe to your content in order to find you later. Once again, it pays to have a clean site with well thought out placement of graphics. And the Viral King character, definitely shines.