Is Blogger vs. Blogger Controversy Right For You?
April 14th, 2008 | by ScottIt appears that you're new here, if you like what you read, please subscribe to the news feed or sign up for the Leap eTips news and updates email list. Thank you for visiting :)
There’s a bit of a hoopla that’s been going on recently because Vic of bloggerunleashed.com decided to “unleash” over the sale of onemansgoal.com, and in typical Vic fashion slam the seller (Bryan Clark) and new buyer (Marc Galeazzi).
On face value (meaning if you accept that everyone’s postings on this have been sincere and not strictly intended to generate a little controversy buzz) the whole thing seems silly to me.
I follow both blogs, I’m subscribed to the feeds and scan them during my daily readings, and I’ve found value from both over time.
Despite some claims that have been made, I think Vic is a genuine guy and offers good information for anyone who needs to make money fast. At the same time, I also think the model that he promotes for building tons of BANS sites from RSS feeds and keyword stuffed content and then using software to build tons of meaningless (as in they fool search engine bots but hold no honest value for human consumption) backlinks is not a sustainable business foundation.
Can anybody follow Vic’s suggestions and begin making money right away? Absolutely, and I’ve even encouraged folks in desperation to head over to his blog and follow his lead myself.
But is it something I think anyone should plan to build a long term business from, absolutely not since there’s never a guarantee that your ebay affiliate account won’t be terminated for any number of reasons, or that search engines won’t begin ignoring those thousands of software generated bookmarking links.
In my opinion, what Vic promotes is a great “fast hit” system for generating some needed income in a hurry.
On the flip side, Bryan over at onemansgoal has pretty much focused that blog around more traditional tactics, much like those I talk about here, that I believe are better suited for the long haul of building your site/blog/whatever into a sustainable business that’s scalable and flexible.
Most people who work at building something like that aren’t going to see huge instant returns on it, and like anyone building a traditional brick and mortar business in the real world they probably aren’t expecting to either.
Heck, I began building commercial web sites in 1995 and couldn’t make it a full-time career until 2000 myself. However, I credit the way in which I did it for being in the position I am now, at 38 years old I’m on pace to be able to begin a comfortable, early retirement in 7 more years if I want to. I’m not saying that’s what I’ll do, but out at 45 with my Glass-bottom Houseboat cruising the Keys was the goal when I began and I’m on course for that if it’s still my desire when the time comes.
That’s why on face value I think the whole hoopla between bloggers is silly. To me it’s like debating over apples and oranges… and by that I mean both have value to offer, and each offer a slightly different value than the other does. To think either is better is simply a false choice because each is suited towards different goals.
But, is it really only what we see at face value?
I’m going to stray from the Vic-Bryan-Marc saga now to just touch on the use of controversy for buzz generation. I don’t want anyone to think I’m accusing these guys of building a false controversy, I’m not doing that at all. I have no clue as to whether this is a hyped tiff or not, and nothing suggests to me that it is.
Still, for as long as bloggers have been blogging (never thought I’d use that phrase), some of them have recognized that fanning the flames of controversy with one another was a great way to get existing readers engaged, as well as to gain new readers.
A good old fashioned he said/she said always gets people talking. Two bloggers can mix it up with one another just a bit, and suddenly hordes of outside bloggers begin talking about it, their readers visit the fighter’s blogs to see what the rumbles are all about… visitor counts go up… feed subscriptions climb…
Yep, everyone loves to rubberneck on a good bickering.
But is that a good way to build followers for your blog? Is it right to engage in fake/staged blog battles like this? Is it fair to your readers? How about the person you decide to lay a blogging smack down on just for the buzz if it isn’t pre-arranged and agreed upon? How about their readers?
What do you think?
As an aside: I wish Marc all the best with his new site. I’ll continue following the feed and hope to see him do well with it.
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