RSS is a wonderful thing as it allows us to easily distribute content. On the other hand, it allows slime balls to rip content off at will. Sites are cropping up like mushrooms that do nothing more than scrape the feeds of blogs, press release distributors and article publishers to repurpose this information, often as their very own, on a blog.

These sites have no user value as they are often written by robots and don’t make much sense to the human eye. They do however, generate some cheap search engine traffic and AdSense clickthroughs for the owners.

I guess these folks figure that since you publish an RSS feed, it’s
not really stealing. These are the same people that would reason,
"since you left your door unlocked I thought it was okay to take your
new big screen."

Here is a Scam Blog
(no follow tag used) that appears to take every single one of its posts
from other blogs – word for word – and gives no credit. You will notice
also that there is no person to contact regarding the blog and even the
comments sections are monitored so that no one can post a cautionary
comment.
One way to locate these types of blogs is to do an exact search on the
title of your blog posts and see what comes up.

Now, what to do about it.Some have proposed putting really
nasty copyright notes in your XML file that will be written when
someone or something merely republishes your RSS feed.

Something like:

"This content is copyright Bill Blogbucket and if you are
reading it on someone else’s site then they simply ripped it off and
are violating every known copyright law in the free world. The fact
that you are reading this makes you a criminal too."

There, that ought to keep the scammers away.

The problem I have with this any other form of policing is that it
sort of defeats the purpose of RSS. I want people to read what I write,
I want people to use what I write, I want people to aggregate what I
write and I know that some may rip me off along the way. To me, I don’t
have to be happy about it, but it’s part of the price of admission.

There are a host of other solutions, such a making people register
to view or publish your RSS feed or setting your RSS to show only
headlines. The problem I have with any of these fixes is that they make
it harder for legitimate users to get the content. I don’t think the
trade-off is worth it.

When I can find the guilty party I send them a note imploring them to stop at once and leave it at that.

I choose to view it as a compliment I guess. I wouldn’t dream of
doing it myself but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it either.

I believe these folks will rot in hell someday, so that’s good enough for me!

On the other hand, these scam artists may someday pose such a
problem for the search engines that they may be forced to view RSS
feeds, good and bad, in a different light than they currently do – that
may be a really bad thing.

Please, bloggers and any other form of Internet marketer, have the
decency to give credit where credit is due. And, stop spending your
money on those software programs that promise to create thousands of
high quality content pages for you in minutes and just do the work.

And on that note: Darren Rowse at ProBlogger is the source for some of this rant and good source of information on all things blogish.

And some other thoughts on Blog rip-off and blog content copyright

• Creative Commons
• Marketing Sherpa
• Read/Write Web

Rick Bruner, a trusted business colleague, emailed me a pointer to an article on blog search engines published by the Wall Street Journal, with a caveat that the link would only work for seven days before the article was pushed into the paid member archive. I’m a paid subscriber, so I don’t much worry about that, but he also told me something I hadn’t realized that won’t mean anything to you unless you too are a subscriber: the “email this story” URL is actually a publicly accessible link.

When I cite the Wall Street Journal, I include the link to the story itself — not using the “email this story” URL — and simply add [members only] or [pay site] or similar.

Two ways to link to the story, but both have their limitations, problems that I really encountered when researching business articles recently for my upcoming IBM trade business book (whose name might well be changing, so I won’t list it her). Bloggers like to talk about permalinks, permanent page addresses that will always point to the article referenced, but I’d like to ask a different question: how do we link to ephemeral items or information behind a wall of one sort or another?

here’s something dissatisfying about linking to a temporary URL with a note like [note: this link will only work until 17 September, 2006] somehow. It seems to violate the whole spirit of the Web, somehow, particularly as a business communications vehicle.

Consider the reference section for my upcoming book: one of the unstated assumptions of any citation is that unless it’s a “personal interview”, someone else can always dig up the article, story, book or blog entry cited and see if they agree with the conclusions and derived facts and quotes in the new material. In academia especially, information is expected to be permanent.

But what happens if I have some outrageous claim about…

If you’re looking for an entry-level/introductory article on search engines for blogs, check out the Personal Journal section of today’s Wall St. Journal (9/7/05). Alternatively–for the next seven days–you can follow this link to read New Search Engines Help Users Find Blogs online.

The article focuses its attention on blog search engines such as Technorati, IceRocket, Feedster, DayPop and Bloglines. It looks at how they differ from traditional search engines like Google and Yahoo, and how they differ from each other.

Since this article appears in the Personal section of the WSJ,
its focus is on how this affects you…personally. It’s not an in depth
look at the marketing strategies of these companies, their business
plans, or target audiences.

There are, however, some good
examples how current event searches–such as "William Rehnquist" and
"video music awards" pull better results at the blog search engines
than at Google.

One thing that does seem to be overlooked is the
impending entry into this arena of Google, Yahoo and MSN. Once these
three giants jump in, it’s hard to know if there will be room in the
pool for some of these upstarts. More likely, some or all of these
companies will be acquired as these new media giants look for new areas
for expansion.

Although there are plenty of tools for checking the popularity of your blog, for many of us Google provides much of our blog traffic.

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger reports that Google’s currently updating their backlink and PageRank. What does this mean to you?

Backlinks, also known as incoming links, are the number of links from
other Web sites or blogs that point to your Web site (or blog.)
PageRank is Google’s rank from 0 – 10 of the value of incoming links
and is part of their algorithm for determining how your blog ranks.

To determine your backlinks type "link:www.yourdomain.com" into the
Google search box. (Do I really need to say "without the quotes?") As
you may know, the number and quality of incoming links effects how your
blog ranks at Google and other search engines.

(In case you’re interested, Business Blog Consulting has 3,260 incoming links and a PageRank of 7.)

Darren goes on to talk about one of my favorite page rank tools, Keyword Tracker.
With this tool you can find out how your blog ranks for specific terms,
such as "business blog" or "blog marketing". Darren says you have to
run the report each time you want it updated, but if you have access to
a cron you can have your server run the request for you.

A while back I wrote a Keyword Tracker tutorial that will walk you through the setup process.

Dave, I have an executive placement, coaching and consulting business in the Chicago market. In an effort to market and brand myself better I have launched a blog, but I’m unclear what I need to do to get more traffic and exposure to my blog. What do you suggest?

Let me spend some time answering your question because it’s one of the top queries I get from other bloggers, particularly after listening to one of my BlogSmart! workshops…

First off, the core answer is actually pretty easy: the best way to generate traffic for your blog is to reframe the question. Instead of asking “how to I get more visitors to my site?” you need to be asking the question “how do I become part of the blogosphere discussion?”

Bloggers that don’t get this crucial point end up being tiny islands in a very big ocean. Some of them can gain a readership by being phenomenally good or astonishingly prolific, but that’s a very tough path to travel and for most ends up being the blogosphere equivalent of the old Web site complaint of “I’ve built it, but no-one’s come to visit.”

Instead, you need to get involved! Regardless of your topic, I bet there are…

I recently completed a survey of small businesses over at Duct Tape Marketing that I think sheds some light on the impact of blogging as a small business marketing tool

It seems that the recent hype surrounding blogs and blogging has made the average small business marketer aware of blogs to the point that many have even dipped their toe in the blog water. What’s not so clear is the benefit many of these bloggers are receiving.

75 percent of the respondents shared that they indeed knew what a blog was. Another 46 percent admitted that they regularly visited from 1-5 blogs weekly. 13 percent stated that they visited more than 20 blogs per week.

However, of this same group, only 37 percent actually published a blog and, of those that did not currently publish a blog, 57 percent claimed they had no plans to in the near future.

It occurs to me that many small business marketers still don’t get the real power of blogs as an integrated marketing tool.

Adding to this claim is the discovery that 27 percent of those that
do blog post less than once a month. Given this fact it is no wonder
that 36 percent of the respondents also claimed that their blogging
activity had done “nothing� for them in terms of marketing.

A telling fact came to light however when considering only those who
said they posted to their blog anywhere from 3 times a week to once a
day. In this group the marketing benefits soared. 39 percent claimed
that search engine traffic grew, 18 percent stated that leads were
generated and 11 percent could attribute sales activity directly to
their blog. Another key point made repeatedly by this group in open
ended responses was the fact that their “expert status� in a chosen
industry was enhanced.

The benefits of blogging are immense and those that get that, and take advantage of it, will win long term.

While the marketing benefits of blogging may be questioned in some
circles it is clear that those who approach marketing as a serious
business building tool and commit to blogging on a regular basis seem
to gain the most from this technology.

Source: Survey results were based on responses from 488 small business owners who responded via email.

I live in the state most affected by Katrina, Mississippi. Needless to say, the devastation this storm has caused not only my state by Alabama and Louisiana as well has captured the attention of the entire nation. It’s caught the attention of bloggers as well.

Truth Laid Bear is sponsoring Blog for Relief Day tomorrow, Thursday, September 1. I really want to encourage each of you to participate. Truly, this is our nation’s tsunami and everyone ought to do something to help ease the plight of the victims and their families. As my own family further down state has been directly affected by the ravages of Katrina, I extend my personal thanks to those of you who do.

From the Threadwatch blog…

Threadwatch has recently persuaded some of it’s more knowledgeable members to run specific blogs, or columns.
I’m pleased to say that we now have a handful of experts on a good
range of subjects who will shortly begin posting to their blogs.

As you may know, Threadwatch is a multi-blogger blog discussing topics related to SEO.

If you’ve been following the story, you know that BuzzMachine’s Jeff Jarvis has been pissed at Dell for their lack of customer service. According to MediaPost, Dell says it  has implemented new procedures for dealing with
the blogosphere. The company’s PR department has been monitoring
blogs, looking for commentaries and complaints. Starting about a month ago the department began forwarding complaints to the customer service department so that reps
can contact dissatisfied consumers directly.

The Blog Herald’s Duncan Riley has written a fine expose on overviewing the history of blogging and proclaiming the sure demise of the "geek" blogger. He outlines three generations of bloggers: geeks, extroverts, and consumers.

Of course blogging started with the geeks. It had to. It’s a technology application after all. Then, in 2002 according to Duncan, a second generation of bloggers was born, which he refers to as "extroverts." Now, in 2005, blogging has indeed moved mainstrean and, thanks to platforms like Blogger and MSN Spaces, it’s in the hands of consumers.

This is some of Duncan’s best, most insightful writing and prognostication, well worth a read.

Have you seen the Feedster Top 500 blogs list? Some of the contributors to this site are on it. Steve Rubel’s Micropersuasion is #56, LaShawn Barber’s is #121, Jeremy Wright’s Ensight is #348, and Dave Taylor’s site is #459. Congrats to all these for being…popular! Hey, they all have something to say that’s worth reading. If I missed any other of our contributors who made the list, please forgive and leave a comment mentioning your ranking.

BTW, read the MarketingVox article about media buyers using the list as a planning tool.

The anti-blogging blogs (or the reality-check blogs–take your pick) continue. This one is from Jim Logan and his post The Temptation and Reality of Business Blogs.

Jim rightly points out that blogs are probably not the tool a small business and solopreneurs should use to immediately grow your revenue. He also gives a list of some marketing endeavors that might have a more immediate impact on your company.

However, I would argue that business blogging should fall into Stephen Covey’s second quadrant: important but not urgent.

I don’t think many people would argue that a business blog alone is
enough marketing for any company…even a business blog consultant.
However, it can be a great, long-term investment for companies and
businesses looking to have a conversation with their prospects and
clients.

Where do you rank business blogs in importance when it comes to your company’s marketing?

 

Certainly
the dangers are massive, for both blogging and the companies concerned.
One hopes that blogging is developed and entrenched enough to withstand
an assault from corporates looking to exploit another ‘open source’
medium? But the market is powerful and I have a feeling it will be the
corporates who do it badly that will, in the end, feel the pain. “Don’t
go toward fake blogs. Don’t launch character blogs. Use a blog for what
it’s for, transparency,� said Steve Rubel, vice president of client
services at CooperKatz & Co., a New York PR firm.

It’s odd the connections we make on the Blogosphere.  Cary of Cancer NewsWatch pinged us while we were guest blogging for Darren. As often happens we became blog buddies. His wife Lori has cancer.  She also has a blog—Too sexy for my hair- a young woman’s cancer blog. Please read her story.

Does this post sound a bit strange to you on a business blog? We talk about building community online. We talk about building relationships through blogs. This isn’t your typical BusinessBlogConsulting post.  This isn’t about business at all.  It’s about being human, it’s about doing what we can as people who when others need our help.

Lori and Cary are going through some especially hard times right now. They need the support of their online friends.

What can we do?  We can do a lot.  We can show what “community”
really means. Online or offline. We can subscribe to Lori’s and Cary’s
blogs.  We can read them.  We can click ad links.  We can lend
expertise.  We can support them. 

We may not be able to bring them brownies, or a lasagna, but as
virtual neighbors we can stop by for a visit and leave a supportive
comment.  By the way, Cary and Lori did not ask us to write this post.
We just felt it was the right thing to do.

Remember the line, oft used in superhero movies, "with great power
comes great responsibility"? This is our way of trying to help.

Signed Tris & Toby

When noted offline direct mail copywriter and author Bob Bly launched his blog about 6 months ago, I felt that business blogging had indeed tipped (A nod to Malcolm Gladwell’s popular book, the Tipping Point).

Now, even the most cynical holdouts have more proof that blogs mean business. Forbes.com recently released the annual "Best of the Web" issue and the feature story was titled "Blogs That Matter."

From the Forbes article: In this Summer 2005 edition of Forbes.com Best of The Web, our editors have trained their sights on the rapidly expanding world of blogs, collectively known as the "blogosphere."

Editors from Forbes spanned the blogosphere and unearthed 6-10 favorite picks in 20 categories ranging from Art and Literary Blogs, to Small Business, Marketing, Shopping and Music Blogs. Each blog was given a brief review and a quick what’s best and worst about the blog blurb. The collective list, totaling 100 blogs, is a virtual road map of the established blogging landscape. Without a doubt, there are omissions of deserving blogs in every category but, as a tool to advance the spread of business blogging, they have done the blog world a good deed.

Blogging longevity and previous blog notoriety seemed to score high marks in the selection process as a scan of the winners turned up many very established blogs. But, every category also seemed to possess one or two little-known titles. (At least little-known to me)

A scan of winners in the technology category, for instance, gives us a list that likely already appears in many a blogger’s RSS reader, mixed with one or two new finds.

• Slashdot
• BoingBoing
• Engadget   
• Gizmodo   
• Kuro5hin       
• Lifehacker       
• O’Reilly Network       
• Think Secret

       
The Forbes name carries with it some major credibility for the world of blogging and I, for one, can attest to the fact that this type of mainstream media exposure for business blogs is advancing the form and function of blogging at an increasingly rapid pace.

First off, can I just say how stoked I am to be included in this list of blogorati? This must be how Lupus felt taking the field in The Bad News Bears.

And yes, I just said "stoked" with no intended irony.

As a supplement to a blurb in its UpFront section, BusinessWeek interviews Technorati’s David Sifry online. The print version (check your local news racks) describes him as a "serial entrepreneur"; is that a good thing or a bad thing?

In reading the beginning of the interview, it’s hard to know if Sifry is trying to kid the readers or himself. However, he finishes strong talking about the purpose and possible future of Technorati.

As has been noted elsewhere, some people are already reporting the
death of Technorati due to the upcoming competition from Google, MSN
and Yahoo into the blog search arena. Of this competition, Sifry says,

Is
it really competition?….You go to Google and type in wine, and it
will tell you the best places to buy wine. But if you really want to
find out what the world’s leading wine experts are talking about,
Google isn’t really built to do that.

Ummm…being a
bourbon drinker I’m not overly concerned about what wine experts are
saying, but I’m guessing that after a couple of Google searches I could
uncover it.

Even if what Sifry [thanks, Peter!] says is true to a degree, I find it hard to believe that Google couldn’t figure this out in about a week if they put their collective mindpower to it. Plus, they have server resources that few companies on earth could compete with. (Those companies include MSN and Yahoo.)

Near the end of the interview, Sifry talks to the mission [statement] of Technorati:

Hey we’re a Web site, [but] we also have to be providing some real value to people, because that’s what being of service is really about. And that doesn’t mean controlling or owning, because when you’re of service, you’re supporting. If you’re providing people with something that they like and that they value, with that value comes money.

B.S.? Maybe, but I bought it.

Sifry finishes up with a couple of ideas that might keep him ahead of the more established "traditional" search engines, at least for a little while. He obviously "gets it"; let’s hope this serial entrepreneur cools his heels for a little while and figures out how to continually improve an already cool service.

[Hmmm…I must be nervous. I always blog a lot when I’m nervous.]

Big geek, little geek:
Gizmodo editor Joel Johnson with
Bill ‘G-money’ Gates

Another sign of the times and validation for how seriously some businesses take blogs. Major score for Gawker Media’s Gizmodo: Microsoft approached them about an interview with G-Money himself, Bill Gates.  Much of the conversation in this first-installment of the serialized interview is about blogs and RSS. Big congrats to my man Joel Johnson, Gizmodo’s editor. (I bet Pete Rojas is just sick over this!)

Gizmodo: Bill Gates Interview

Nothing-special review of the viability of ad models for blogs. Nothing really on using blogs as a marketing tool. Usual suspects featured ‚Äî Copeland, Denton, Calacanis ‚Äî as well as MayItPleaseTheCourt.net‘s J. Craig Williams. Also, a spokesman from Audi comments on its sponsorship of Denton’s Jalopnik.com.

BusinessWeek: The Business Of Blogging

This piece speculates that the big money in blogs will be in the blog tools. Maybe, but I don’t understand why any company would pay $50,000 and $150,000, according to the article, for blog software from KnowNow, a company I’ve never heard of, when it could pay for a multi-seat site license from Six Apart for Movable Type for just over $1,000. The company also mentions Open Text, another blog publishing system I know relatively little about, as well as Cymfony, a PR tool for monitoring blog posts, among other things (with a name that stupid, I am willing to predict its imminent doom). The article also perpetuates the myth that AlwaysOn is a blog. (I used to keep an open mind about that, but I’ve come to agree with most bloggers that AlwaysOn is so not a blog.)

BusinessWeek: Betting on Tools that Power Blogs