I honestly don't know much about Seth Godin, but I think he has something to say. I got the link to his latest ebook on blogging from Enda Nasution's. Click here should you want to grab the free PDF file. To busy fellows who want to get the gist of it, well I hope what follows is good enough:
Three axioms about the blogosphere (Seth calls them "truths")
Clutter: The amount of noise we're living with is exploding and it is changing everything. When you apply for a job, so do a thousand other people. No one cares about you. Almost no one even knows you exist.
Quality: Despite the so kalled the decline of western civilization, more stuff is better and cheaper than it was. As a result, we've become astonishingly picky about what we buy, watch and read. When it's something we care about, we go to enormous lengths to find the best.
(Un)Selfishness: Bloggers may be selfless, but blog readers are selfish. The readers are strict. They have very little choice because they have have as little time when there's a whale to read. A tool like RSS can make a big difference for bloggers to get heard.
On some blogging rules (He dubs them "laws)
Blogging calls for credibility. It's not who you are, it's what you say. Besides, on the Internet, everybody knows you're just a dog. But then again, it doesn't matter what you say, it matters who you are.
Better blog WITH and FOR your audience, not AT or TO it. Because the audience isn't yours. It belongs to itself and it has as much license as you do. Talk about the dramatically changing relationship between writers and readers.
Most great blogs have these components: 1. Candor; 2. Urgency; 3. Timeliness; 4. Pithiness; 5. Controversy; (6. Utility).
Blogs are like movies, working best over time. One frame of a movie isn't enough and one post on a blog isn't enough to make a huge difference.
Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big. Bloggers, don't wait! Get small. Think big!
