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Do You Shock and Amaze?

December 26, 2007

Do you?  How often? 

There are three possible reasons I continue to read a blog or eNewsletter.

1) I have built up a great rapport with the person, even if just virtually.

2) They shock, amaze and delight me. (Or piss me off in a good way)

3) Information I care about and cannot get anywhere else

If you want to have an effective eNewsletter or blog, I think you have to do one of these things really well, and strive to have a decent level of all three.

Let me explain with examples of three blogs I read.

#1  Phil Gerbyshak - Make It Great

I read Phil regularly because I know him.  1,000s of people feel like they know Phil.  He does a great job with relationships and I know exactly who he is.  I want him to succeed and he earns my fandom because of his hard work, his willingness to give and just being himself.

#2 Tim Ferriss - 4 Hour Work Week

Tim strives to post less frequently, but shockingly good stuff that makes me rethink my life.  I read his weight loss post (and no, it is not a health blog, it is a lifestyle blog) and implemented the ideas.  I have adjusted it to my life as I have gone along, but I have lost 27 lb. and have 7 more to go to get back to my weight when I was young.  No crazy diet and I only exercise 30 minutes per day.

His posts shock and amaze me.  He has other posts on outsourcing his dating, never getting paper mail again and more.  I sit by the computer hoping for something new from him.

#3  Mashable

This category is harder to do by yourself.  If you can pull a team together and provide a great information resource, you can hit a home run like this site.  I don’t know why anyone would want to read a print magazine when a great resource like this is out there and updated daily.  This is where I go to keep up to date on new web technologies and sites.

Do you really shock and amaze?

Before you say, “Yes, those are me…”, consider carefully.  Very few of us do a great job at any of these.  We are all in love with our blog, our writing, our topic, but is anyone else in love with them?

I am committing to improving all three of these in 2008.  It is not enough to be informative.  You want to be the center ring of the Internet circus big top. 

- Thank You!

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

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Comments

2 Responses to “Do You Shock and Amaze?”

  1. Stephan Miller on December 26th, 2007 1:13 pm

    Shocking people does help. I have written a few posts that do. You never really know what the result will be though. Some people just don’t understand taking a pet peeve to the extreme.

  2. Phil Gerbyshak on December 30th, 2007 1:00 am

    I like the idea of shock and amaze, and agree this is one key to great writing. I’d like to include that though it shocks and amazes us, it doesn’t surprise us once we understand it. Ferriss’ 4 Hour Work Week was great for that very reason, as was Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone.

    One other key you didn’t miss was the value of simplicity. If you’re offering information you can get in other places, focus on sharing it in the simplest possible way. One such site that does this is http://zenhabits.net Leo does a great job of sharing organization and personal growth information in a simple, succinct way, and I always look forward to reading it. You do a great job of making buzz marketing simple, which is one of the reasons I enjoy your writing as much as I do.

    Thanks for cheering me on! I appreciate it, and am pulling for you too my friend!

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