Lurkers, Saboteurs & Gauntlets… it’s Two Weeks in Review!

(Reading time: 7 – 11 minutes)

Lurking saboteurs throw down the gauntlet… once again, it’s time for the WIAW Week in Review. Two weeks in this case, as last Friday was reserved for the Website In A Weekend eCourse Friday evening kick off.

Let’s take a look at some bright and rising stars.

Ari Herzog flushes lurkers out of hiding

90% of you reading this never comment.

It’s true.

I know this for fact because I have the traffic numbers and the commenting numbers to prove it.

The essential conundrum when you’re writing for online media is that people who comment regularly are not necessarily your customers. They might be, but as likely they aren’t. The challenge becomes figuring out how to provide value to you, the lurker. You pay your rent or mortgage, buy groceries, consumer good to some greater or lesser degree… and rabidly consume information products when you believe you’re getting value.

Again, the numbers prove it: sales of high quality products such as 31 Days to Build a Better Blog by Darren Rowse far exceed the numbers expected from commenting rates on Darren’s blog.

So, what to do? We – your blogging authors – want your participation, and we use a number of different techniques to inspire your lure you out of hiding.

Here’s a great example.

Ari Herzog takes lurkers head on with a recent article, asking Commenter or Lurker: Which Blog Participant Are You?

I think Ari did a pretty good job, with 58 comments at 9:47 am Pacific Standard Time 15 January 2010. If you have been lurking here, go over to Ari’s article and add a comment….

Here’s that link again: Commenter or Lurker: Which Blog Participant Are You?

Again, if you’re a lurker, don’t comment here, go carpet bomb Ari. Thanks.

Dave Thackeray throws down the gauntlet

Dave Thackeray writes about Hi-tech talk in a low-cal world at the eponymous davethackeray.com. I don’t know this guy from Adam, but we think alike. And that’s cool.

Here’s Dave’s take on how to Build a bulletproof brand: 10 (and a bonus 5) for ‘10

That gauntlet thing: Stay tuned. It could get ugly… in the best possible way.

Carlos Velez defeats the Saboteur

Living in San Francisco Bay area, I’m exposed to a vast amount of “woo woo” self-development culture. It’s like, ground zero out here.

While most everyone loves to poke fun at self-development (or San Fran), the truth remains: self-development is a topic of intense interest to an enormous number of people… and has been since the 1920s, when Haldeman-Julius started publishing the Little Blue Books.

Carlos Velez offers a fresh take on how we talk to ourselves, framing the conversation in terms of a your internal saboteur who resists change.

Carlos’ premise is that we can defeat internal sabotage by naming the saboteur, and aligning our hearts and our heads. When we don’t believe in our hearts, our heads won’t execute.

Not to be overly flippant here, but it occurs to me that I find value in his article in simply learning how to spell “saboteur.” Many cultures believe names have great power. True or not, correctly spelling saboteur allows Carlos to more effectively communicate his beliefs.

Mike Cliffe-Jones on launching your first digital product

If you ever dreamed about launching your own digital product… or you’re about to go live with one… hold on just a few more minutes. Get yourself over to Mike’s Life and take a very close look at Mike Cliffe-Jones brand new, four part series helping you get your first digital product launched.

1. How to launch your first digital product covers choosing a subject to write about, creating the product, and formatting and design of the product. Note this well: at the end of Part I of a 4 part series, you have your product in hand… and there’s 3 parts to go!
2. How to launch your first digital product – Part Two explains creating marketing materials, how to select a sales process, and gives pointers on developing an affiliate program.
3. How to launch your first digital product – Part Three helps you design a sales page, determine you pricing, and how to choose a launch date. Picking the right day and date for a launch matters a lot, believe it!
4. How to launch your first digital product – part 4 discusses The Launch, what you do for post launch followup, and how to Keep your momentum going after your launch.

Long time readers (bofem) recall I’ve run a couple of better-off-forgotten launches here at Website In A Weekend. I wish I had these articles to refer to. Would have saved me major hassle.

Also worthy of note: “How to Launch Your First Digital Product” is a perfect example of posting in a series. Note how Mike introduces the series in the first post with a table of contents, then follows up in each succeeding article. Use it as a template for your own series.

Two weeks in review

It’s been two weeks since the last Week in Review. There wasn’t any help for it, had to kick off the Website In A Weekend eCourse. Here’s the last two weeks of articles; what did you miss?

• Where Good Design Begins: Getting to know your customer. Take your time before starting with a customer to learn who they are and what they need. William Muncrief has some excellent tips for getting you started.
• Made to Stick: Earworms for your brain. Create sticky ideas – ideas that stick your customer’s head – fast and easy using the simple, 6 step SUCCES formula. Make your idea an “earworm” for the brain.
• As The Internet Evolves – Anonymity Go Bye Bye. Privacy is becoming an ever-increasing issue among all aspects of life on the internet. Find out more about how it affects you and join the discussion.
• No Blog Post Today. Busy. Don’t Feel Like Writing. 20 people commented on this blog post which wasn’t a blog post. See what they had to say. Add your two cents to the discussion!
• Website In A Weekend: Friday Evening – Off to the Races. You are taking action this Friday evening to get that “blog thing” handled. That’s right, you’re building a website in a weekend, starting right now!
• Website In A Weekend: Saturday – Accelerating on the Backstretch. It’s Saturday morning… you’re hunkered down… building your website… in a weekend! Feels good, doesn’t it? Long day ahead, take heart, it goes fast.
• Website In A Weekend: Sunday – Dominating the Homestretch. You are almost finished building your website in 1 weekend. Just today – Sunday – and by dinner time, you’ll be on the internet… no turning back!
• Search Your Blog Network With Google Custom Search. Once you have several blogs, you need Google Custom search to find articles in your network, and direct readers within your network. See how easy it is.
• Top 3 Social Media Bookmarking Services – Don’t leave home without them. Promoting your blog post is critical for acquiring readers… here’s three easy-to-use, high-quality social media bookmarking services you need to use.
• DIY WordPress: 7 “How to” Procedures You Need to Know for Running WordPress. Running WordPress is almost like using Microsoft Word, but you may need to learn a few easy, common sense skills. Learn the basics, get peace of mind.
• Website In A Weekend: Thursday evening – Get into the gate. Once you get serious about building your website in a weekend, make sure you’re totally prepared. Get these groceries and supplies before starting.

Upcoming

Guest posts. Lots of them. On master mind groups, inspiration for writing, much more.

The Week In Review Series

Last WIAW Week in Review

Forget Resolutions 2010: Less Talk More Action (& Week in Review!). It’s the new year, 2010, Website In A Weekend takes stock and looks ahead to the first 3 months.

Next WIAW Week in Review

Stay tuned…

Tagged as: Week in review