I had the pleasure of listening to Mark Cuban speak at Blog World 2007. He shared numerous insights about blogging which I have summarized here.
GENERAL THOUGHTS
- You should decide whether you will blog part time or full time and adjust your strategy accordingly. Same thing applies with business vs. personal blogging.
- Your competition includes non-bloggers, such as mainstream media.
- Does your blog effect you or a fictional persona.
- Realize that others will view your blog when researching you.
- Fight the F.U. urge and avoid writing material that you will regret later, since blogs are forever.
- Make sure you think about the consequences when you blog.
- Feel free to moderate the comments on your blog to only include those comments that provide value.
- Know more stuff about your industry than your competitors through hard work.
WHY BLOGGING IS IMPORTANT
- Raw truth (vs. the mainstream media).
- Source of alternative information.
- Creation of new streams of dialog through comments.
- Reaching a wider audience.
BRANDING
- The brutal honest truth is necessary.
- Do not pander to visitors, doing so makes you no different from mainstream media.
- You must put in the time and do your homework to create depth.
- Your blog can be used for pro-active communication about your brand.
MONETIZING
- Ads cheapen your site.
- Don’t do ads when your blog is just starting out.
- You may lose your ability to be brutally honest.
- Don’t allow the ads to detract from your site. e.g. Advertising links before the actual content of your post.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- He would buy Verizon (because of FIOS) and/or Facebook if he had the money.
- A new OS is what’s needed to revolutionize the industry.
Here is a link to a full transcript of the keynote.
Speak Your Mind