I do not follow trends, as most of the time, I pay little attention to what the majority is up to. With this blog, I just began blogging. Now, after several months, I decided to see what other bloggers are up to. I am stunned. It is like a feeding frenzy to get attention, and in many cases "mouse clicks on ads for money".
The thirst for money via advertising has driven some to what I call BullDog Marketing: "Trick 'em, until they click 'em and then Sic 'em!" I got caught in an accidental click-athon, by not being careful, oh so careful about where my mouse was hovering, before selecting something. Once dumped onto an advertisers site, I got caught in a loop. It took almost ten minutes of clicking, box closing and aggravation to exit this site. I'm sure someone made some money off of my mistake. Friends, I'd shut them down, if I know how to accomplish the task. I loathe the manic, no holds barred climate of the internet. I refuse to play.
Oh, you counter, but you need traffic! Because: traffic equals financial potential! I actually have fans who are setting up fake flame-fights between fictitious people, to "drive" traffic to my site. They hope to lift my ratings and assist me in making money. This unsolicited behavior makes me very nervous. It feels contrived, dishonest and just plain wrong.
I have set up this blog to where my religious commitments are quickly stated. I don't wish to be associated with flame-wars (fake or real). I don't wish to use trickery to generate anything. I have stated my intention not to advertise in this space. I see my blog as a place to share thought and experience. I assume my readers are intelligent, busy, creative and curious. My writing style is what it is, if it doesn't speak to you, fine. Please, locate another blog, closer to your taste. I refuse to modify my style, just to generate traffic. Today's method is: if you can't get it done in sound-bite chunks, don't do it. I say: go somewhere else for that. I am what I am and that's it.
Here is my philosophy on sales. I'm going to cite two good (in my opinion), websites. I will provide links to both, should you wish to investigate either business further. Both links are to their home pages and are not entrapment sites. I use sitemeter.com for this blogs traffic monitoring. I set it up out of pure curiosity. I therefore use the free part of their service. They give me opportunities to upgrade, but have never tricked me into doing anything. I have come to trust sitemeter.com as an ethical business. So, when I happened to see a short, clear ad for websidestory.com, offering a free ebook on marketing, I clicked on it. I found a second ethical business which is huge. They market to large companies all over the world. I had to really search to find a way to simply thank them for the free ebook.
Why thank them? I was stunned by the high non-advertising content of a truly free ebook. In order to show me their sales and personnel gathering technology, they needed to give me a short education. This was serious content I found very useful.
I received two email responses: the first thanking me for subscribing (for free) to their site, and the second from a personal consultant, acknowledging my correspondence. No where did I find trick-links, free (not really) offers, or "get rich quick schemes". If I ever consider a sales position, I want to work for a company like websidestory. What refreshing maturity and dignity!
So, if you have dropped in because of a dramatic flame-war, or absurd, outrageous post, I am in conflict. I am glad you are here, but I regret, I'm probably not you type of blog. Even though I have no control over others' reactions to my work, I regret the problem of some visitors feeling manipulated into visiting this blog.
I know, I know, I just don't get it. My goal for this blog, is not to make money, or have the highest audience numbers on the net. My goal is to share one brains reactions with other brains who are tired of 'fluff' thinking. Not everything in this world should be reduced down to a bulleted list, PowerPpoint presentation, or a three sentence paragraph.
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