I like the idea of having a weekly or otherwise semi-regular link post, and so I did something every Friday called the better blogging link blast. Pretty ho-hum execution of a very common idea. Unremarkable. I wasn’t happy with it.
So, I introduce something new, fresh, and much more fun! It’s called Overheard in the Metablogosphere. The idea is to present a quote that’s either funny (especially out of context), or intriguing and mysterious enough to compel you to follow the link. The whole idea here is the mystery of decontextualization (and that, my friends, is your $3 word for the day). I hope you like it.
From Brian Clark at Copyblogger:
This is when I first realized that Google is truly making people retarded.
From ShoeMoney, commenting at 45n5:
Someday I hope you launch a product like this and the first couple days of the launch have some jackass write “WARNING GOOGLE MIGHT BAN YOU IF YOU INSTALL IT”
Skellie at Skelliewag:
That’s all you need to know. Do these things, and you’ll get everything you want.
Tad Chef at SEO 2.0:
So what do I do to get traffic? Almost nothing.
Yaro Starak at Entrepreneur’s Journey:
I’m not sure this will teach you a whole lot about Internet business but hey, you get to see what I had for lunch. Give a guy a camera and this is what happens…
Michael Martinez at SEO Theory:
I’ve looked at so many search engine results pages I can tell at a glance whether a query is competitive. There are subtle signals of competitiveness that stand out like sore thumbs after you have seen them thousands of times.
Yeah, You’ve Seen This Before
This idea isn’t the most original thing ever. Magazines have been doing stuff like this for decades. There are entire websites (with adult language, as far as these next two are concerned) devoted to such things, like Overheard in New York and Things My Boyfriend Says. So while it isn’t never-before-seen, it’s a lot more fun than the usual list of links.
Special Thanks
As I was about 3/4 of the way through this post, I thought… wait a minute… didn’t Skellie…?
Why, yes she did! Perhaps it worked on my subconscious, until, today, it floated to surface of my awareness (one thing you don’t know about me: I think of my own mind like a vast, deep ocean) with a sound like a golden chime: ding! You should do quote links! So if anyone really deserves some good karma kredit for this, it’s Skellie.
Technorati Tags: overheard, quotes, blogosphere, metablog, metablogging
9 Comments
A great idea Michael that I shall copy shamelessly.
BTW, the 45n5 link goes to Skellie as well - there’s such a thing as overdoing the link karma….
All fixed, Chris. Thanks for pointing it out and I’m glad you like the quote links idea!
I love it, Michael. I think you’ve taken it a step further by picking out the most sensational quote, rather than the most illustrative — and I mean that in a completely complimentary way — because you can’t help to click on the links simply to discover the context of the quote. This makes my choice of quotes seem boring in comparison!
My idea now……
Whilst I think the 45n5 post was just a tad sensationalist (and probably wrong) ol’ shoey does come across as a bit of rear-end doesn’t he? I thought he was going to cry, or start name-calling at one point.
Skellie, thanks very much! You have it, exactly. The whole point of something like this is to compel people to click through.
John Reese (creator of BlogRush) is a friend and mentor to Jeremy AKA ShoeMoney, so I think it was a little personal for him. Nobody ever accused him of holding back and not speaking his mind, which I love about him.
Great idea just to cite people. I think I’m gonna steal it (the idea, not the citations
You ever write one line that you just knew would become the entire focus of what people picked up on?
I guess I can’t really complain.
Brian, that’s because it’s excellent copywriting, of course! It says what many of us are thinking in a way that’s short, easy to remember, and humorous. Just wait till your analytics shows an increase in hits from searches for “retarded.”
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