Marketing Choices To Be Made When Reacting To The Latest Blogging Craze
By Matt Jones on Oct 2, 2007 in Blog Marketing
When I say the words, you will probably flinch, AGLOCO, BlogRush, dealdotcom and now Widgetbucks. They have all swept the blogosphere with the mere promise of paying out a few dollars with a referral program (or in the cash of blogrush some traffic).
Should I Join The Stampede?
There are 4 options available to you here:
1. Promote them and make the cash. Reading something several times over on different blogs makes it very hard not to follow suit. This is the easy option.
2. Say you are going to try them out as an experiment. You will make less cash, but it will save face if the site ends up being a disappointment. This is like charging on flanks of a stampede. You get less benefit if the herd is heading in the right direction, but have the option to swerve away if you are heading for a cliff edge. This is the opt-out option.
3. Don’t write about it at all and sit on the fence. This seems like a bit of a missed opportunity to me, but if you can’t think of a way to use the craze to your advantage it’s better than going with the boring option No. 2.
4. Slander the new craze and stand out from the crowd. This could earn more in the long term via giving you a reputation boost, more links and general attention. It is also very risky and if you don’t get your facts straight the opposite could happen.
Questions To Ask Before Making The Choice
- Does it damage my brand to promote it?
- If so, will I look bad because its a poorly thought out program, or because everyone else is promoting it and I will have failed to differentiate myself?
- How many referrals would I make?
- How much money would I earn initially?
- Would my referrals earn me a recurring commission or is this a one off lump sum?
- How could I attack this new craze and make everyone that supported it look stupid?
- Could my ego take the bashing I would receive after writing a controversial post about it?
- Should I notify some bloggers who think on the same level as me to team up and form a sneaky marketing relationship? (To promote or destroy the new program)
Ultimately, if the program is actually of substance you can’t go wrong with writing a positive post about it. Feed subscribers aren’t going to unsubscribe from every site they see writing about the craze or they would have nothing left to read. It’s all about making the most of the opportunity, which is the case with every single blog post.
Going out and bashing the craze is the more risky option but so many blogs have made a name for themselves this way. It also is becoming harder to do as it becomes an increasingly common marketing strategy.
Examples Of This In The “Make Money Online” Niche
Looking back across the previous crazes, it is possible to predict how some of the major players will react:
Problogger - almost always plays the safest option of No. 2 or sometimes with a little promotion thrown in. With such a massive readership and a reputation of balanced opinions and trust there is no need for Problogger to go out on a limb.
John Chow - I’m sure normally the company behind the latest craze bribes John (gives “special treatment”) to get him on board with it. He normally leads the craze and promotes the hell out of it.
Blogs like CashQuests and JohnCow thrive on controversy and often take the risky option (with great reward). I am not accusing anyone of lying, it is simply a case of choosing whether you want to use the arguments that favour the new site or the ones that bash it. With the current goings on the risk of this option is clearer than ever.
I Know, You Didn’t Want Me To Tell Everyone…
This post is effectively what the bloggers who already know all this don’t want publicised. They want you to think their outrage at a program is real to hype up the buzz and get an angry debate going on the comments. It’s just a form of linkbait really.
Think about why they are doing it.
You heard it here first.
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Technorati Tags: blogrush, crazes, linkbait
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I signed up for WidgetBucks to play around with the banners and for now I’m not going to try it. It doesn’t have the level of customizing you can do with Chitika which is a very good money earner for me.
excellent article ^_^
I usually go with option 3 -_-
great post matt.
I don’t think I get what you’re trying to say in this post? Not being antagonistic, but really want to understand your point.
What don’t you understand Jim? Why not give the article a re-read and ask a more specific question.
I think I get what you’re trying to say Matt.
However, what you’ve also written is that when something new comes out you can either love it, hate it, ignore it or be neutral. How is that “secret” different from any other time that you see something new?
I’m trying to raise some awareness that when bloggers react to these new things they often are not giving their honest opinion but what they think will get their blog the most attention.
Some blogs always support these programs and so bloggers shouldn’t trust their opinions and other bloggers swing wildly from loving/hating for attention and because that is what their blog is known for. I’m not saying that is a bad thing, I’m trying to get other bloggers to realise that how they react to new crazes is a matter of branding. It about opening their eyes as to why bloggers write what they do.
How about another option?
5. Try to give an honest, in depth review with as many facts as you can find?
Choose what to write about based upon how useful it will be for your readers, or how much additional perspective you can give on a product compared to everyone else.
Andy that is the admirable option and I should be slain for missing it. It is what I have come to expect from you.
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