Blogging as Popularity Contest
Structures #84 ©2007 7"x23"
Over at Laketrees, Kim Barker has compiled a top 101 artist blog list, based on technorati rating.
A blog’s rating/ranking is calculated as follows (or was when I last saw a note about how this was done): For each in bound link source, 90 days old or less, a blog gets 1 point - total up the points and that’s the blogs "authority rating". The "technorati ranking" is where a blog falls in the big list of all blogs. These numbers go up and down daily as the inbound links age and new ones are added.
I check technorati every so often to see what the inbound links are around in case I miss an important tag (I still owe a 5 random things about me list for stacers). But I never paid much attention to how I ranked in the specific world of art blogs. According to Kim’s list my blog clocks in at #9 of the blogs she identified as being by an artist.
Did I need to know this information? Did I want to know?
If I drop down in the list does it mean I’ve become boring? If my rating goes up does it mean you like my new haircut? Do I write and link to others just so they write about me and link back to me? The pressure.
Should I jump on the art link cloud viral tagging started by Casey over on the colorist to get even more links even if it’s not about content and just a link farm?
Okay - I admit - I’m clearly bad at the marketing game - maybe this is what we are supposed to do.
Instead I’m going to try to ignore this and just write what is authentic for me to write and not worry about who might or might not link to me as a result. This is the advice I give others - don’t waste time worrying about all that linking and concentrate on content. I believe it is content that keeps people around - not marketing hype or popularity. I read blogs that I find interesting, not ones that other people find interesting. Content is king (or make that queen).
I write my blog for me - because it helps keep me focused and on task, because I learn about myself and my art by writing about it, and because I’m basically a geek and this is the socially acceptable way for geeks to communicate.
If all my inbound links disappeared tomorrow I’d still blog. If noone read what I wrote ever again, I’d still blog (although I’d probably spend less time fixing typos and poor grammar).
This blog, while I suppose a potentially great marketing tool with my popularity, will never be thought of as such by me. I know Alyson, I just don’t get it.
The above piece was made a few weeks back when I was making small work for the holiday art market at the arvada center. I hadn’t yet hit upon the idea to make 9 similar pieces and was playing around just having fun.
In my dreams all 9 pieces will sell opening weekend (it opens thursday) and they will call me up and ask for more work, and I’m all ready with new pieces. Maybe if I did more marketing (like sending out the flyers that feature my work to my mailing list) I’d succeed in my goal. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.
Posted by Lisa in: Marketing
Tagged: arvada holiday art market, marketing, Top 101 Artist Blogs List, why blog
cher said,
December 5, 2007 @ 7:31 am
I really like structures #84- nice flow of lines-hope all 9 sell out! I write my blog for myself as well-with a similar attitude about others reading it. The content, what I have to say is what counts with me…nice to meet another blogger with the same feeling.
Daniel Sroka said,
December 5, 2007 @ 8:42 am
Amen. There’s a common misconception that the result of good marketing is popularity. Sometimes it works that way. But you can be the most popular out there and yet fail to reach an audience. It is much more important to have marketing that makes you well-targeted — that gets your art/voice in front of a dedicated, committed and invested group of people.
Stacey Peterson said,
December 5, 2007 @ 9:53 am
I’m with you Lisa - I don’t view my blog as a marketing tool, and probably never will. Glad to hear I’m not the only one out there who thinks that way. If I started to view it as a marketing tool, I think I’d start to edit what I say too much, and then it would lose it’s purpose.
Good luck with sales at the Arvada Center! I love Structures #84 - I love the horizontal format.
jafabrit said,
December 5, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
In defense of Casey, his links were not indiscriminate but were related to artists and museums he liked,many being specific to his genre (pastels). The quality of his posts and his beautiful work are what draws visitors like me, so I don’t see a ploy for popularity. As for moi, I decided not to do the general link farm, but will continue posting links that are relevant to my blog entries and to my interests. For me it is not about marketing or popularity but sharing what interests me and linking to it.
All the best with the Holiday show at the Arvarda :)
Lisa Call said,
December 5, 2007 @ 1:24 pm
Casey is discontinuing the link cloud. http://thecolorist.blogspot.com/2007/12/art-links.html
My comments had nothing to do with the content of his blog - but his practice of dumping a bunch of links at the end of his post that had nothing to do with the content of that post.
jafabrit said,
December 5, 2007 @ 1:38 pm
I know you were not commenting on the quality content of his post, other than the link farm. Sorry you misunderstood. Sometimes in our journey as bloggers we try new things and this was one of them. As it turns out it wasn’t a good idea and was nipped in the bud after two or three posts.. Live and learn. Like you said in the end what counts is why we write the blogs and that isn’t going to change whether we are popular or not.
Lisa Call said,
December 5, 2007 @ 6:10 pm
Apparently the word “dump” in my previous comment has been misunderstood to be offensive. That was not my intent.
To do a dump in the computer world is to take contents from some place and transfer it to another. Core dump, database dump, etc. I was referring to Casey taking all of his links and just placing them into each post without editing them. It is not intended as slam but it is the terminology I use as a computer person when referring to this practice.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dump_%28program%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_dump
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_dump
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_dump
I stand by my use of this word in this context.
Tracy Wall said,
December 6, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
Hi Lisa,
Lovely post and I feel very true to the mark. Yes, blogs are a great way to meet and see the new or those you might no otherwise meet. It makes me feel good to be able to connect. I see the links as inviting folks to take a look, but it’s the content that keeps them coming back. And that’s when you build the sense of community that blogs afford us. I see the marketing benefits as leaping off from there.
Can’t wait to see the Arvada show!
Alyson B. Stanfield said,
December 6, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
Boy, Lisa, you don’t get me. I preach “sharing, not selling” as a way to get your art into the world. Your blog works, your blog is popular precisely because you share in an authentic way. It’s accidental marketing, if you will. And it works so much better than forced sales speak. Hrmph. I think I have fodder for another newsletter. However, people will soon tire of me saying “share, don’t sell.”
You wrote: “I write my blog for me - because it helps keep me focused and on task, because I learn about myself and my art by writing about it, and because I’m basically a geek and this is the socially acceptable way for geeks to communicate.” But would it keep you on task if no one was reading it? Would it be the same if you were writing the same by hand in a journal? Or does it work precisely because so many people are reading it?
Lori Witzel said,
December 9, 2007 @ 10:30 am
Since my day job involves doing marketing work at a software company, and thus working with and for those techies who are more than a little marketing-averse…felt it was time to chime in.
;-)
Marketing, at its best, is all about authenticity. The classic old-school phrase, “USP” (Unique Selling Proposition), simply means this — what one can rightfully say about one’s product or service that:
* No one else can say
* Is true to one’s product/service
* Is relevant to the audience for one’s product/service
* Is meaningful enough that the audience wishes to learn more/buy
Like Alyson noted, it isn’t about “spin” or “tell ‘em what they want to hear” BS.
Fortunately for artists, it’s easy (or at least, hopefully easy) to be authentic and say things true to what’s made. It is harder to do so in a way that one’s best audience finds the work, in part because that audience-finding activity isn’t focused on making more art.
And because being audience-aware does feel sometimes like it’s a bad popularity contest (if you forget about the importance of authenticity and one’s USP), no wonder artists and techies generally hate that sort of work.
But while marketing has little to do with the creative act of discovering oneself through one’s work, it has everything to do with finding others who find meaning in what you’ve done. Not popularity — but finding soulmates for the work, as it were.
Anyway, I do ramble on and need to get back to my own creative work, but I can understand the aversion and confusion about marketing.
Diane Clancy said,
December 11, 2007 @ 7:56 am
Hi Lisa,
I am getting caught up a bit here. I like the idea of offering value rather than selling. I love reading your blog because you are you. I certainly am not making much money (yet?) from my online shops … but I hear a lot that people love to see it. Yes, I wish they would take it home with them.
But more important to me is feeling that I am adding value and beauty to the world. And I am sort of geeky too and enjoy it all. Plus I have made some wonderful connections.
~ Diane Clancy
http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog
Lisa Call said,
December 12, 2007 @ 9:50 pm
Lori - thank you for your comment. I probably should get over my aversion to marketing. You make good points.
Tracy - thank you for buying the corn bags from my daughter - she was thrilled!
Cheryl McClure said,
December 14, 2007 @ 8:18 am
Hum…all these comments are worth thinking about. I didn’t start my blog with marketing in mind. It just happened that I started it about the time artists decided to all start blogging…or it seemed that way to me. It was mostly so I could clarify what I do for myself in writing. I just write it as it comes…..no real planning or editing. Right now I’m not doing much blogging…no time for contemplation.
I’m not adverse to marketing and I’m also open to sharing myself and my work with people who might like to know what my art processes are. Anything too personal is just left out……….I can go write that down in private.
One of the greatest compliments I’ve received so far from my blog by email was that reading it was just like talking to me. That was my intent.
Charmaine said,
December 19, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
I love this piece, Structures #84…do you ever sell anything similar on your etsy site, Lisa?