Blogging is a challenge, but its an incredibly satisfying one. There are posts that I read and the takeaway is, “thank you Mr. or Ms. Author for wasting an hour of my life that I will never see again.” There are also posts that change my life and make me a better person professionally, ethically and morally. There are several criteria that create a wide berth between the two varieties. Kiesha over at WeBlogBetter inspired me to come up with my own formula for engaging content here on Marketing Conversation:

1) Be aware of your surrounding environment. Keep informed of regional and national news, not just pertaining to your niche but in general. Your writing will be more fluid and multi-dimensional and a wider variety of readers will pick up on the fact that you’re doing your research properly.

2) Tell a story. Use anecdotes and jokes, as long as they’re appropriate. Always air on the conservative side because you never want to offend a reader. Before you even think about contributing to a blog, be sure that you take the time to read it. This way you a) won’t look like an idiot and b) will be able to gauge your audience, the most important ability you can hone as a blog contributor or editor.

3) Take your time. Shoddy writing ruins your credibility. It’s the little things like mechanics and spelling. I know it sounds elementary but it really does help to read your writing out loud or have a peer double-check it. I know that I’ve been privy to spelling errors which can end up being pretty costly. Better safe than sorry.

4) Engage your inner creativity. I just finished a very cool book- Brandwashed, by Mr. Martin Lindstrom, which I plan to review on Marketing Conversation early this week. It was a great read and I asked him if he had any supplemental materials which he would suggest sharing in my synopsis. His suggestion?

“When working with clients I ask them to give their brands over to the consumer and allow the people that use the products to guide its path. That is what I am going to do here, I am challenging you to think a creative way to present the box to your audience.”

Some of the best advice I’ve ever received.

What do you think sets blog content apart?

Related articles

• My Secret Formula for Creating Super-engaging Blog Content (problogger.net)
• Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom (neurosciencemarketing.com)
• Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom (futurelab.net)
• 6 Sure Fire Tactics to Develop a Loyal Blog Following for your SME Blog (vendio.com)

I don’t understand how certain story submissions pass the smell test.

In a release yesterday, Reuters reports, in an article written by Ellen Wulfhorst, that “Most Americans Don’t Read Political Blogs”. No shit. There is so much wrong with this article that I barely know where to start.

The story was based on a poll by Harris Interactive that found “Only 22 percent of people responding to the poll said they read blogs regularly, meaning several times a month or more, according to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive.”

First of all, it attempts to frame the story right in headline. I think most people, or perhaps more importantly, most online political types would not be surprised of the fact that most adults don’t read political blogs. I don’t know of one legitimate consultant who has said otherwise.

It then says “only” 22 percent of American adults regularly political blogs – meaning several times per month. I don’t know why the word “only” is used. It creates bias, making the number appear to be paltry.

You then have to go the second page of the article to find that this was strictly an online poll. That means the whole spin of the poll is skewed. It’s not about “most adult Americans”, it’s “most online adult Americans”…making that 22% actually SMALLER. And an online poll is self-selected, which skews it even further. In what direction is anybody’s guess.

But if we stick with what we’ve got – that 22% of online adults who responded to this poll regularly read political blogs, we’re looking at an impressive figure. More than 1 in 5 of these Americans get at least part of their political information from blogs. Blogs that are conversational. Blogs that are opinionated. Nothing to sneeze at.

I asked Kevin to write a blog post (which rocked) based on my assumption that the US is headed towards a recession based on the devaluation of the dollar, the housing market slump, and the war in Iraq. I believe that marketing and advertising online is recession-proof, especially as attention profiling and behavioral targeting strategies improve and ads become customized to each the unique hopes, dreams, needs, wants, and context of users online.

My premise, in short, is that folks will hunker down during this recession with only the “Internet” to keep them company, in the form of VOIP, IPTV, social media, MMORPGs, and networked video games.

Essentially, folks will spend all of their attention online so there will be more ad and marketing dollars spent online in order to reach them. During the upcoming recession, search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), new marketing, online outreach, online engagement, online advocacy, viral and word-of-mouth marketing, targeted direct marketing, and laser-targets online ad buys will thrive because they’re relatively cheap, focused, and where the people are, while print ads, commercials, and radio spots will plummet: too much buck for the bang.

We’re going to have a recession. let’s just make that assumption.

Usually, during a recession, ad revenues drop. My argument is that during a recession, people stay home more. Web surfing is cheap, amusing, plentiful, and also most amusing with broadband. While people may cut down cable, they will keep their Internet connection — and will hunker-down on the Internet while they’re low on personal spending money, on discretionary income.

My dad was an photographer and ad man in Hawaii during a recession in Japan that totally gutted the the Hawaiian economy. Traditionally, the first thing companies do when the shit hits the fan is pull ad dollars.

In that scenario, my dad’s company almost shuttered. What this shakedown did, however, was created stock photography and video, killing the bespoke day-rate on-site corporate photographer. Something always comes out in the end.

Downturns result in a need to make systems more efficient and more effective. It just wasn’t affordable for agencies to hire shooters to do shoots, bespoke. There were too many variables and all the risk was on the shoulders of the client. Stock photography changed all of that: cheaper and oftentimes better, since the shooter incurs the risk and the stock is “all the best of all time” and not the best that a particular day, week, or season had to offer.

How effective is plastering walls with bills or standing on a soap box when people are at home and online? How effective are commercials on cable channels people drop as a “luxury?” How worthwhile are those magazine ads when people drop their subscriptions to GQ and O?

The Internet is a commodity. Broadband is no longer a luxury — people are not willing to either go back to “rabbit ears” or to dial up. Folks will keep their basic cable, I am sure — it is a commodity — and they will keep their Internet, another commodity.

Is it very interesting time. I guess this is sort of a prediction. We’ll see if it all comes true. Check out that Canadian Loonie, eh?

Well, at the end of the day, I will always quote Kevin Donlan quoting someone else:

“When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.”

If you want to advertise on Marketing Conversation, above the fold, and at the top right of all the pages, then please click right on over to Blogads and sign up for an ad. It’s cheap at twice the price! Do it!