Comments on: Being defensive is bad for blogging

By: ProGasCasMash

ProGasCasMash — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:22:24 +0000

I have been reading here for a while now and thought it would only be fair to register and contribute instead of being a silent reader. So – I am looking forward to be a full part of the community!

Take care!

ProGasCasMash

http://www.hoppenrath.com/isp/avatar_e.jpg

By: Russell Page

Russell Page — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:34:04 +0000

. . . . let me add though that he is very, very good at what he does. I just think people jump on his opinions too quickly . . .

By: Russell Page

Russell Page — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:32:46 +0000

Calacanis says way too many things in a tone that makes me think he thinks people do what he says and believe what he says. His tone often reflects that of someone who thinks they are somehow an authority figure

By: Brock Blake

Brock Blake — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:40:27 +0000

This whole discussion is cracking me up!

Trent…could you please teach me how to link bait?

By: Jeff Bason

Jeff Bason — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:53:09 +0000

Yeah. you were linkbaiting and you know it when you look at yourself in your doritos shaving mirror.

By: Trent

Trent — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:41:45 +0000

I can promise you Jason that we weren’t linkbaiting. Jeff and I are way too dumb to coordinate that. As you might not have noticed by my late reply and my blog content, that this isn’t built to reel in the traffic. I review White Nacho Doritos for heaven’s sake! My traffic or importance in the blog ‘o sphere is of no consequence to me. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and I wish you all the best in your weight loss effors, and I really do mean that.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:34:39 +0000

Great job with the linkbaiting guys…you got me to come comment. However, you will notice that you went to aggressive, which resulted in me not linking or mentioning the name of the site, as well as this linkbait (which pimps the site).

Rule number one in linkbaiting: combine praise and attacks for the greatest chance of getting a link. People can’t help but link to something that has positive comments about themselves.

you should have started out with a huge love letter to me, about how great my blog, podcast, and dog are, how inspired you are by me, and what it might be like if we were friends and went for beers together after working out at the gym…. THEN in the final paragraph said I was wrong and here is why.

i would have linked to that for sure! heck i would have invited you to the gym and for beers… more honey guys.

By: Blake Snow

Blake Snow — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:39:10 +0000

You make some good points, Trent. I was a bit surprised reading Jason’s reaction, though I can imagine he got several direct solicitations to pimp Weight Loss sites on his blog. And though I’m no expert, WeightLossWars.com is one of the nicest weight loss communities I’ve engaged online. (Disclosure: I produced the site.)

By: Jeff Jordan

Jeff Jordan — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:02:51 +0000

Notes to self: 1) Visit a website before critiquing it’s value 2) Don’t jack with Trent Miskin

By: Trent

Trent — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:19:04 +0000

While it is debatable whether the name could give a narrow view of what the site does, that does not give you the excuse not to visit it. Your comment is strange since you start out with a criticism of the site then continue with “Also, I never even mentioned that site… I was talking about the dozen or so sites that have contacted me.” Just had to get a jab in eh?

This comment was also hypocritical since when does the term “fatblogging” set the tone for what you want it to be? I had no idea what fatblogging was when I first heard it. In fact, to be educated about it, I spent 15-20 minutes looking around at the different people “fatblogging”. You will have a hard time in this 2.0 world if you judge sites immediately by their names. Or maybe you just do it when it is convenient in your situation.

You are completely shortchanging the effect competition has on people. All internal change needs to start with a catalyst, and people also need regular strong reinforcement. Have you ever tried potty training a kid? I promise, adults are no different. Many Biggest Loser contestants have kept off the weight and changed their lifestyle. The competition was the only strong enough catalyst to make this change for them. I would say that fatblogging will have little chance of surviving a year because their is no ongoing strong motivation or catalyst. There is a reason there are hundreds of millions of dead blogs out there. People are not just going to keep blogging about their weight loss without another motivation.

Also, you say “I never said that fatblogging was the only thing in town”. Well, I don’t know if we read the same blog entry, but that is how it reads. If you are going to publicly criticize all the sites that wrote you then you should expect that you can be called out on each one of them, whether or not you spoke about each individually. Next time actually visit the sites first and do some research. Otherwise, don’t bother writing an entry.