Brown Sludge

Brown Sludge 2.0

September 23rd, 2006

Regular Readers may have noticed that my posting lately has slowed down quite a bit.

This happens sometimes when Adult Life conspires to keep me from establishing a meaningful rhythm.

But… that’s not to say that I haven’t been using my time wisely.

For those who care I get between 600 and 1100 visitors a day here. Many come for the odd Smoking Cessation pages that I manage here (look to the column on the right). A little over 1/2 come for the Brown Sludge blog itself. Few of them bother to post, although I do get quite a bit of e-mail.

I’ve spent the last two weeks reviewing the Brown Sludge Blog and the path that it’s taken, and meditating on the mistakes I’ve made and how I can better promote / advance the topic of Brown Sludge in society, and how I can make a difference.

I’ve also spent the last two weeks making some hard decisions.

There are a couple of blogs that I follow for various reasons. One of them I’ve come to pretty much detest. I follow it as an example of everything I DON’T want to be. I won’t name names, because that’s considered horribly rude in the blogosphere, and it won’t serve any purpose. I certainly don’t want to drive any traffic to their site.

Here are some of the things they do that I think make them a “substandard” blog.

1. Very little original content. Typically they’re just “regurgitating” other content they’ve read on other blogs or have taken from common news sources.

2. No attribution when they do regurgitate. Getting your post ideas from other blogs is one thing - not having the courtesy to post a hat tip or link is tantamount to stealing. It’s a crappy thing to do. And only crappy people do it.

3. They make a big production out of obviously only being in the blogging business for money. Their site is covered head to toe in advertising banners. Every few months the lead poster posts a sad little post about how depressed he is that the blog takes up so much time and yields so little money. This is completely pathetic.

Now… I’m not against making money, nor would I turn down any if it were thrown my way, but I don’t blog Brown Sludge to make money. I blog Brown Sludge to make a difference. More on that later.

So… here is my vision for this blog.

1. I want mostly original content. Occasionally I’ll see a piece on something or someone will send me something that I won’t be able to help myself from posting on - but by and large I’d like to concentrate on original think-pieces that have something to say, and aren’t just regurgitated form other sources. And I’ll certainly attribute when I do. I ALWAYS have. I’ll try to post more original content on a more regular basis.

2. I didn’t start this blog to make money - and money will never be the beating heart of this blog. The wish to make a difference and to make a change and to be meaningful will be. I promise.

3. I’m going to revamp the software and overall look/feel of the blog in the next couple of weeks. Upgrading the database and the blog software will help it be all that it can be.

4. I’m going to more aggressively promote Brown Sludge in the blogosphere. Updating the number and quality of the tags should help with that. I’ve got some other tricks up my sleeve as well.

5. I’ve set my sites on the blog that I consider the “bottom of the barrel”, and it’s my stated goal to have had more hits and more visitors and a more active (and coherent) comments section at the 2 year mark. This blog is only about 8 months old, and if you can believe the published site-meter stats that the “bottom of the barrel” blog has posted, (and I’m not sure you can - dishonesty is sort of the order of the day over there) I’m quite a bit ahead of them at their 1 year mark. I don’t want to things to stagnate. I’d like to be able to drive more traffic and more comments here. At the 2 year mark I’d like to have a substantial hit-rate.

6. Activism. I’m going to become a great deal more aggressive in my activism. I’m convinced that one person CAN make a difference. In fact… I’m out to prove it. Here.

7. And finally… I’m going to quit struggling so hard to spoon-feed my readers Brown Sludge. Brown Sludge is an idea that has many facets. You can find it anywhere and everywhere. I’ve got a post more accurately explaining Brown Sludge, and how to recognize it when you see it staged and ready. It should really help. I’m hoping the new theme and new software upgrade will let me post it and keep it “sticky”. You might be surprised as to where Brown Sludge pops up in your life, and how pervasive it’s becoming.

And to those out there trying to pedal Brown Sludge to others.

I’m comin’ fer you pork chop.

- Mac -
09/23/06

Entry Filed under: General