[Note: This is the third post in the "How to Start a Blog" series. The first two entries can be found here and here.]
The information in the first two posts in this series is intended as advice for anyone who wants to launch a blog. The rest of the series, however, is aimed at those who want something more. While there are as many reasons for wanting to start a blog as there are bloggers, there is a particular segment that will view blogging as a powerful tool for projecting influence. These new bloggers will look at the “A”-list of the blogosphere and wonder how they can break into their ranks.
Not being a member of this elite circle of bloggers, I can’t provide advice from my own personal experience. But just as a biographer can glean insights from a study of great presidents, I think a study of the “A”-list can provide a few clues into what makes them successful. After giving the subject a considerable amount of thought and attention, I’ve noticed three specific ways for breaking into the top tier of bloggers:
A. Possess the attributes of the top ten bloggers (e.g., white American male Ivy League-educated lawyer/journalist/academic). (For more see: Notes on Blogging #9 -- How to Become a Higher Being)
B. Be hired by Nick Denton, the foremost blog entrepreneur and purveyor of smut/gossip/smutty gossip within the blogosphere.
C. Follow the “Morrissey Method.”
Unless you already have a resume similar to the top ten bloggers or a job interview with Nick Denton, A and B are probably not viable options. That leaves only C -- the Morrissey Method. Fortunately, it's all you need for a shot at becoming an A-list blogger.
In late September of 2003, Ed Morrissey launched his new blog, Captain’s Quarters. Although his only experience as a writer of commentary was letters to the editor and other opinions for his local newspaper, he chose to jump into the crowded field of news analysis. Still, he quickly carved out his place for himself and within the first month had produced over 300 posts. His work began to be noticed by established bloggers like Hugh Hewitt, Power Line, and Instapundit. In February he was celebrating his 75,000th visitor and by late May he had 395 unique inbound links.
Then he hit the tipping point. During the summer he received his 1,000,000th visit, broke into the TLLB Top 25, and was invited by the GOP to be an officially sanctioned blogger at the Republican National Convention. As the year ends he is ranked #15 in the TLLB with 1482 unique inbound links, has an average of 12,000 site visits a day, and was recently voted “Best Conservative Blog” in the 2004 Weblog Awards.
Ed Morrissey is intelligent. But smart bloggers are a dime a dozen. Morrissey is prolific. But there are thousands of bloggers who can crank out more posts in a day than he does in a week. Morrissey is also a writer of considerable skill. But writing ability is a common attribute among bloggers.
So what makes him different, what sets him apart from those who haven’t achieved his level of recognition? I believe it can be attributed to four traits that form a symbiotic whole: consistency, quality, work ethic, and ambition.
Consistency -- Morrissey’s niche is current events. Before most people have even heard of a breaking story, he’ll have already produced a post providing his analysis and opinion. He doesn’t wait until everyone else has jumped on the bandwagon before he chimes in; he gets out in front on a story every single day. The vast majority of the time he’ll cover a story that will not catch fire throughout the rest of the blogosphere. But when a brushfire breaks out he’ll have already been fanning the flames. Morrissey isn’t a prophet. He’s just consistent.
Quality – When it comes to blogging, quality will not make you successful. You can write the perfect post and even if it is the talk of the Internet, it will soon be forgotten. If you want to be a successful blogger you need to combine quality with consistency. Write that on a post-it and attach it to your laptop. Make it your mantra. Whatever you do, remember it. Without quality posts, consistency is a waste of your reader’s time. Without consistent output, quality is a waste of your time. Morrissey is successful in large part because he consistently produces quality work.
Work ethic – You don’t have to post every day to be a successful blogger but you do have to “blog” everyday. You have to be thinking about the next blog post or series. You have to be thinking how a news event affects your readers. You have to be willing to write even when you would rather watch TV or take a nap. You must have a consistent work ethic.
Let me clarify that this trait isn’t necessary to be a blogger. Blogging can be a form of enjoyment or relaxation just as jogging can be used as a means of relieving stress. But just as there is a difference between the casual jogger and the competitive runner, there is a difference between the average blogger and those destined for success. If you want to compete at the Boston Marathon you have to be willing to put in the lonely hours of work. You have to be willing to constantly run, even when it's not "fun."
The same holds true for anyone who wants to be a successful blogger. Morrissey has risen to the top because he has a brutally demanding work ethic. If you want to achieve his level of success then you must be willing to do the same.
Ambition – Morrissey started blogging twelve days before I did. Because we started around the same time I’ve used him as a benchmark for blogging success. We frequent the same blog circles and I consider him one of my “blog buddies.” I point this out to establish my credibility in remarking on what I consider to be one of his most seminal intangible traits – his ambition.
Many bloggers want to be “successful.” For most the term has a very vague meaning, similar to wanting to win the lottery or have a book published. They view it as a end state to be achieved rather than as an ongoing process.
Morrissey thinks differently. He understands that to be successful you have to do what will make you successful.
Every. Single. Day.
He doesn’t have a vague “dreamer’s ambition” that hopes success will find him someday. He has the ambition of a realist who understands that he not only has to protect what he has built -- respect, trust, reliability -- but that he must continuously strive to expand his readership and broaden his influence. Not everyone has that level of ambition. Most bloggers don’t even need it. But if you are going to rise to the top you have to have the drive to carry you there.
Becoming an "A"-List blogger requires dedication. Blogging is easy. Anyone can start a blog. Having a successful and popular blog is difficult. Incredibly difficult. Even if you are consistent, ambitious, produce quality work, and have a dedicated work ethic, you may not be successful. Blogging, like life, doesn’t come with guarantees. But if you truly want to use your blog to impact the world, then you should follow the proven steps to success, you should pay close attention to the Morrissey Method.
Coming next: The Art of Marketing Your Blog
1
What valuable insight, Joe! As a brand new blogger, my appreciation for your blog today. I look forward to the next one. Terry The Writing Life
posted on 01.02.2005 9:05 AM3
So many of the big blogs don't seem to really put out all of that much original commentary. Maybe it is just my imagination, but it really does seem like most of them will cut and paste several paragraphs from the AP and then add a few sentences. Anyone can do that.
What'd be great Joe is if you'd take the time to put together, maybe for Part V, a list of very good blogs that you have found that write mostly original content on philosophy, politics, religion, culture, etc. Stuff that gets people thinking about how to write good content of their own rather than add soundbites to what someone else said.
posted on 01.02.2005 2:06 PM4
How about giving internationals some insight as you do this good series?
If anyone outside the US wishes to break into the "A" list it takes more than an event and the things listed to do so.
I haven't checked the "A" list for awhile.
Are there any non-US blogs on it?
5
I think these rules also help account for the success of Matt Drudge. Excellent post.
posted on 01.02.2005 2:53 PM6
It appears that part of making it to the "A-List" means that one should say stuff like this.
7
MikeF What'd be great Joe is if you'd take the time to put together, maybe for Part V, a list of very good blogs that you have found that write mostly original content on philosophy, politics, religion, culture, etc.
That's a good suggestion. I won't be able to have anything ready by part V but I'll put some thought into it and put something together.
Bene I haven't checked the "A" list for awhile. Are there any non-US blogs on it?
Non-US "A" Listers? I'm not sure that's possible. After all, if they are not from the US then they are, you know, foreigners. What can foreigners have to say about American culture/politics/society/religion (the only subjects that matters) that couldn't be better said by a US blogger? ; )
Seriously, though, I think the lack of influential non-US bloggers is one of the weaknesses of this new medium. I do think, however, that the the field is wide open for a capable foreigner, er, I mean international blogger, to break into the top tier. In fact, I think they would have an easier time than US bloggers. Tim Blair from Australia is a possible contender. But I must admit that I'm at a lost to think of any others who are in the running. Any that you'd recommend?
8
Arthur Chrenkoff writes an excellent blog. His series on what is good in Afghanistan and in Iraq are treasures because he identifies news avoided by the MSM. (Arthur is Polish, now a resident of Australia)
posted on 01.03.2005 12:04 AM9
A good A- List foriegn Blog is: A Western Heart.
I started reading it in September and He has good insight.
10
Well, condition A doesn't seem to be sufficient, because all it got me was one appearance in the top 10 for one day, and that was due to an Ecosystem error. I'm sure "white American male Ivy League-educated lawyer/journalist/academic" types are a dime a dozen in the blogosphere.
posted on 01.03.2005 12:12 PM11
Bene I haven't checked the "A" list for awhile. Are there any non-US blogs on it?
Iraq the Model puts out some consistently interesting news and analysis.
posted on 01.03.2005 5:07 PM12
Excellent advice and analysis...and you're featuring my hero, Captain Ed, who inspired me to start blogging! :-)
posted on 01.04.2005 9:42 PM13
It seems to me that there's a fourth category beyond the A, B, and C ones (yes, "D", obviously), and that is Qualification. A blogger can actually have more qualifications to write about some subjects than the rest of us.
Example - a good medical blog would be useful. Want to know if the flu vaccine shortage is important? Why it is or isn't? Why it happened? What can or should be done about it? There are people qualified to opine meaningfully on all that, but so far as I know there are no blogs doing that. An aging relative of mine is an old country physician, a GP (remember those? A dying breed) and he could tell you the damnedest stuff you'd never dream of if you just read the MSM or Reynolds, because the MSM and Reynolds don't have the info or the qualifications to evaluate it. But my relative isn't a blogger, and isn't likely to be. The point is, not all opinions are of the same value. Just another guy spouting off, I can do without. That's what Rush is for, and I never listen to Rush.
The only bloggers I can think of who would fall into this "Qualification" category are Volokh (although his co-bloggers don't really qualify), some of the military bloggers, and maybe Sindberg. Sindberg writes about space policy matters, and he has a background in the industry. Volokh knows quite a bit about certain aspects of law, and has reasoned and considered (and sometimes even sensible) things to say about them. And he apparently has a lifelong interest in semantics, so he sometimes wanders off into peculiarities of English and other languages. Those are interesting because they are the long-time notes of an intelligent observer, not mere flash-in-the-pan rantings on the day's top stories. But this is a difficult way to blog. It's hard to write something even slightly thoughtful or interesting on even a daily basis - snarky comments and oversimplifications are much easier to crank out.
I have my own areas of expertise, and I lean toward short essays triggered by a day's news. That's the plan, anyway, though an uncharitable observer might claim that all I actually manage to achieve in practice is stream-of-consciousness, peppered with an occasional rant. I don't claim that mine is a successful blog, in the sense that "successful" is being used here. It's more like a message in a bottle, set adrift for the sake of curiosity (admit it, everybody's done that, at least those who live close to water).
Anyway. Blog commentary confined mainly to one's area of expertise seems to work sometimes, at least for Volokh.
posted on 01.05.2005 12:20 AM14
There are many areas of expertise that large numbers of people would be interested in reading about, but what lawywers, journalists and related academic types have an abundance of that many people in other professions do not, is a great facility with the English language, a wish to be seen and heard and plenty of time at a desk to type out all their thoughts.
A blog about computer animation for example may be difficult to find. We have plenty of desk time, but few of us have any particular facility with language, logic or any desire to be either seen or heard directly. We let our characters do all the acting for us, and they get all the screen time. And we would usually rather be working on art or playing video games than reading or writing.
posted on 01.05.2005 3:28 PM15
"Example - a good medical blog would be useful."
But there is, indeed are, good medical blogs. MedPundit is good, and, as I recall, there's even a "Carnival" of health blogs.
posted on 01.18.2005 11:51 AM