Are you insular or promiscuous?

I got a kick out of Jules' post on insular bloggers. A rather belated response due to TheGoodBlogs activity over the past couple of days. (Yeah, we trying to squeeze a couple more features before the year is out.) However, I did keep the idea spinning around in my head for a while. Our behavioral blogging patterns if left to their own devices will reflect our real-world behavior. i.e. there are some who draw energy from observation, discovery, comfortable being alone with a good book, while others draw energy from other people, these are the ones with cellphones chock full of numbers, who cherish every business card they receive and religeously call you once a week to see how you're doing. Neither is right nor wrong, however, they would impact the rate at which you accumulate readership. Tongue-in-cheek, I left a comment for Jules and said the opposite of insular blogging must be promiscuous blogging. Heavy MySpace users would understand that concept naturally. The point being that self-marketing is something most of us don't do naturally. The ones that do it well understand that it is a discipline. Sales and marketing people are trained to get 10 leads a week, to get business cards at shows, to make new contacts. Brand marketing is no different and you, as a blogger, has an online persona and a brand. How you cultivate it and whether you even care to is a matter of personal choice.

I think what is fundamental bad about the blogosphere today is that the high profile blogs like Techcrunch and their like create an artificial bar (intentionally or unintentionally) that unless your blog is making money, gets 10,000 visitors a day and is quoted by the popular few, you're not a good blogger or a successful one. That my friend, is one of the Blogosphere's biggest self-inflicted myths. So Guy, it doesn't matter if you're #1 or #100 on Technorati, I love your work equally well. But here's a link to get you to the top anyway.

Speaking of brand management, there's no photo or name at The Idea Dude. I wanted the blog to speak for itself (maybe a blog 101 faux pax), nevertheless that was my choice. However, you'll find an interview I did with Ben Yoskovitz who has a new blog at B5Media. It may be the only one I'll ever do but I was impressed with Ben's genuine enthusiasm for startups and his professionalism in preparing the interview. I met Ben through TheGoodBlogs and he has his own blog at Instigator Blog. If you're an entrepreneur, you should seek him out and maybe he'll give you a bit of spotlight too!

When I started TheGoodBlogs, I could probably count on one hand people I had met through blogging. Today, through trading comments and emails, I can say that I need to borrow a couple more hands and throw in some feet to boot. I didn't find them on a MySpace train, I found them organically through TheGoodBlogs. The strangest thing is, even though these relationships are virtual, I feel like I've known them forever. Perhaps, all you really need in life is a few good bloggers to keep you company along the blogway!