Like a handful of others, I was influenced to start a blog by Hugh Hewitt While reading his recent book "In, But Not Of", I was struck by his statement that, "In a liberal democracy, power, authority, and influence go only to those who seek them." The rest of the book elaborates on this point by providing a Christian perspective on how to acquire influence.

Hewitt considers blogging to be the most important communications development of the new century. For those who desire to acquire influence it is imperative for them to "join the revolution." He advises studying the key blogs (Instapundit, Kausfiles, Dynamist, Volokh Conspiracy, and Power line) and I've tried to take this advice seriously. In fact, it's only through studying these blogs that I've come to disagree with my adopted mentor when he says:

Because blogging is the genuine marketplace of ideas, your site will prosper if you are any good. And so will your reputation -- if it deserves to.

My analysis is beginning to show that this isn't entirely accurate. While you will surely fail if you aren't any good, excellence alone may not be enough.* My purpose is to find and illuminate for the deserving blogger the means to gain entry into the top tier. Once they arrive, reputation and skill will have to keep them there.

I'll save one important aspect of success -- the relationship between audience and influence --for a future post.

*Let me clarify that my reference to excellence in blogging does not refer to my own site. Not only do I consider myself an "average" blogger but I have doubts that my writing and/or analytic ability will be able to carry me very far. Nevertheless, I believe that I can be useful to those who are more talented by providing them with any insights I obtain on the journey.