I remember mentioning on FriendFeed that Techcrunch were no longer the #1 Technology Blog as Mashable became the #1 based on traffic stats. I’d like to point out that I still consider Techcrunch as the #1 technology blog due to the influence on the industry and various other factors including the Techmeme Leaderboard.
However this led me to think recently if another blogger is your competitor? After all you may be posting great content which in your opinion is better then your competitors yet they may have more readers, comments and attention.
As most of you are aware blogs create content which they hope will draw an attention to produce revenue in the form of advertisements. Thus, readers subscribe to these blogs as they are provided with the content they require due to the fact that it is easily available and that there are little resources involved in subscribing to blogs or multiple blogs for that matter.
Although, you may consider this a problem when there is ‘niche saturation’ something which is present in the “Make Money Online” type blogs due to several blogs being created and developed in 30 days which then went on to sell for $x,xxx+ or when there are numerous blogs which are writing about similar topics.
Nevertheless the problem is attention. This is because each reader has a finite amount of resources, something which Paul Buchheit highlighted over on FriendFeed regarding RSS Readership which led Louis Gray amongst other users to their Google Reader statistics.
Let’s continue with the Google Reader theme. When I’m using Google Reader, I keep pressing ‘j’ (although their is a pause in between each press to see the title of the content) until I see something which grabs my attention (headline, image etc) and I will then go onto read the post where I may share or star the item. Otherwise, if I see nothing attention grabbing, I’ll keep on pressing that ‘j’ key.
Thus, the real competition isn’t other blogs but the relevancy of content to the individual.
On the other hand being relevant itself isn’t enough because, whilst the content may be relevant to my interests (which is why I subscribed to those feeds in my Google Reader anyway) the content has to be interesting to provide value.
Thus attention is the something which you require in order to gain comments, readers etc. This is why you need to take advantage of other bloggers assets specifically their attention assets by becoming friends with them rather then being their competition. After all, this provides benefits for both of you as you both have attention which sharing each others attention can build both of your brands.
[...] about Mashable as of June 19, 2009 Are Bloggers Really Your Competition? – profitbaron.com 06/20/2009 I remember mentioning on FriendFeed that Techcrunch were no longer the [...]
Hi,
http://www.profitbaron.com to GoogleReader!
Bodyc
Been thinking much about attention and it’s representation of (virtual) currency online. I’ve gone from gratitude as the virtual currency to an economy of minds where information that increases knowledge AND inspires action, is better than what money can buy. Money get’s someone to work on problem, persuading a passionate reader to reinvent how communication works is better than gold.
We’ll see a natural conversion rate sometime in the near future between content, influence, action/creation and profit/revenue. I posted some ideas on Fred Wilson’s blog here: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/06/my-140conference-talk.html#comment-11497466
We aren’t really competitors; each of us brings specific experience and expertise and attracts a different mix of readers. It doesn’t really matter whether we’re as “famous” as TechCrunch or Mashable or RWW; what is important is providing substance.
Speaking of substance I have written many posts that would be particularly useful to you right now as you determine which Theme, plugins and design elements to use in your new design. I used one of them as the link to this comment to make it faster for you to find it.
I wouldn’t say there’s a competition, more of a sharing. Normally a user would be a reader of multiple blogs where the blogs would then compete for time users spends on their blog than someone else’s.
Hey, have you seen this news article?
New details about Michael Jackson’s Death Emerge
I was wondering if you were going to blog about this…
Cool post, just subscribed.
Great post!
cool site:)
So what is this really all about? The article/post includes some fascinating information–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you. – William B. Doyle, http://www.wbdoyle.com/blog/
Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting article. Waiting for trackback
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I remember mentioning on FriendFeed that Techcrunch were no longer the #1 Technology Blog as Mashabl [...]…
Cool post, just subscribed.
I don’t agree with you. They are your competition.
The article/post includes pertinent information that may cause you to reconsider what you thought you understood. The most important thing is to study with an open mind and be willing to revise your understanding if necessary. – William B. Doyle, http://www.wbdoyle.com/blog/
Sometimes it’s really that simple, isn’t it? I feel a little stupid for not thinking of this myself/earlier, though.
[...] link is being shared on Twitter right now. @profitbaron, an influential author, said Are Bloggers Really [...]
I cannot believe this will work!