You know, I have always been a big Blog Rush promoter. I thought it might be a great way for people to get traffic to their websites, and I’ve gotten my share. I built up a good network there and had tons of points to keep my stuff moving across the widgets all the time.
But, with few exceptions, people just didn’t click on the links in the widget. You needed to have a pretty outrageous title for people to notice, but well… even that didn’t produce more than double-digit clicks. I have to admit that I never even noticed what was in there on my own blog. It’s kind of like “banner blindness” only its “widget blindness.”
So…
I’m thinking, Bummer. You can read the whole story at http://BlogRush.com . It’s over. You can’t get past that page to any stats or anything.
So, John Reese (@johnreese) Twittered that sad fact yesterday and sent us to his blog, which told people to remove their widgets and stuff. That’s why you’ll no longer see the blue widget in my sidebar.
Thanks for the memories, John.
Oh, wait…
I remember that he shut down another site like that. Opportunity.com, I believe. That was a few years back. I was a member there, too, in my very newbie days online. That was about 5 years ago this month.
And you know what? Good for John Reese! He doesn’t allow sites that just limp along and don’t work. He just shuts ‘em down. It’s a smart business move. Why keep paying people to maintain a site that’s just a money suck and isn’t benefiting anyone very much?
Business is business, and this really is no big deal.
Bye, Bye Blog Rush.
There will be something bigger and better coming along… I have no doubt.
Not me!
Really.
I mean, I totally love Twitter and enjoy seeing what other folks are up to all day with the Firefox plugin TwitterFox. It’s rad because I can quickly see it just by turning my attention (not even my whole head) for a split second and then, it’s over. Or, I can reply with a snarky “me” (yes, I’m a snark in real life) comment or whatever.
Generally, I only comment on other people’s Tweets throughout the day, though they have to be important. I mean, I’m picky. Really. John Reese was in a car accident in Greece! Worth a Tweet? I think so. “Hope you’re OK.” Simple. He had to make a “get the heck off the road fast move,” says he. And on with my day.
But I usually reserve my Tweets for blog posts or something cool like being interviewed by Early to Rise (which I was for the second time last week, BTW). And I don’t spend a lot of time messing with Twitter, really, because I have too much work to do.
Here’s the thing, though, and it really fries my bananas…
Some people Tweet about every stupid thing under the sun. I mean, I really don’t give a hoot what you ate for breakfast unless it’s something totally, incredibly funny or awesome. I mean, if you’re in Kawabunga and eat a tarantula or some monkey brains… Hey, that’s worth a Tweet.
But if you had cereal. Keep it to yourself, K?
So, don’t be a Twitter Whore. (I didn’t make that up, but the Friday Traffic Report had a cute video about that that I went to watch at: http://www.jackhumphrey.com/fridaytrafficreport/blog-marketing-videos/how-not-to-use-twitter-to-generate-traffic/. (Whew! Hey, Jack… That’s one long-ass URL, BTW)
Totally cracked me up, and then it dawned on me that people like that make me nuts. If you don’t have something really, really cool to Tweet about… tell your mom or your cat or someone who really wants to know this stuff, K?
Everyone is probably writing about this today. I know they’re all sending emails about it. I think I’ve gotten at least 10 by now.
John Reese is launching Traffic Secrets 2.0 very soon, and I like what I see, so far. I’m curious and quite interested. Looking forward to watching the second video because I know it will be better than the first. I just do…
I saw John Reese at a StomperNet conference last year, and he’s pretty intense. Lots of personality, a good sense of humor, and I was totally impressed with all the incredible information he gave us that day. But I’ve always been interested in what he’s doing and I pay attention when he comes out with something special.
Like Blog Rush, last year. I joined immediately, and it’s a pretty cool program. I built a downline there and my titles are shown on thousands of blogs every week. Some posts get 500 or more visitors in a day, which is cool to me, but in the first video for Traffic 2.0, John Reese talks about getting millions of visitors and having them be targeted! That’s totally interesting, no?
>>Warning: Pat is going to digress<<
Here's the thing with Blog Rush…
It all depends on your topic and your headline. I seem to do better when I’m writing about something IM or SEO, and if I write a good title, people click from curiosity, too. No doubt about it… Blog Rush does work, but it’s really up to you to make the traffic happen by figuring out what people want, writing about it, and then, writing a killer headline.
Another tip on Blog Rush is to keep it high in your sidebar, right under your optin box (which should always be your top widget). If you put it down low, nobody will see it and it won’t work for you because nobody will click and you’ll get no impressions. Unless you have a downline, you won’t get any displays. No displays = no traffic. So, get the widget up high and find some referrals, if you really want it to cook.
You can see Blog Rush working in the green box to the right that says, “News from the Blogosphere,” and go ahead and join if you’re not a member. It’s free, so why not try it?
Write some killer titles and people will get curious. Notice what gets clicks and what doesn’t. If you’re writing something really important, you want people to see what you have to tell them. You need to talk them into reading in just a few short words. That’s not always easy, but working at it will pay off.
>>digression over<<
I'm going to be watching this launch closely, and here's what I think...
John Reese is a very smart guy, and I'm always interested in what he's doing. Traffic Secrets 2.0 looks pretty sweet. I’m totally interested. If you haven’t watched the movie, you definitely should check it out. You can see it at http://www.TrafficSecrets.com/ . And no, I’m not an affiliate. Just think it’s cool.
That’s a real tongue-in-cheek kind of headline, you see.
Last week, Ken McArthur wrote to his list to say that he’d just become friends with John Reese in Facebook, but that John only had a handful of friends. In my mind, that meant that John hadn’t yet discovered the joys of Facebook, which is a pretty cool place to hang and find people with like minds. I have 58 friends, which is nada, but way more than John Reese had and now, time for Pat to feel superior. LOL
As if.
John has about 650 friends as of this posting.
Man, wish I could get 640 or so friends in a couple of days. How cool is that?
If you read this, come over to Facebook and be my friend… Here’s my URL: http://profile.to/patmarcello/
Zo… Now, I’m not only one of John’s 658 friends but a fan.
And I just got to post Blogging4Boomers on his “Click Here to Promote Your Sites & Services” page. Har. Nathan Anderson is just below me. Another very cool thing, eh?
Wow.
Facebook.
I’ve made some very cool friends there, and the perks are pretty neat. Where else can a friend invite you to their awesome conference? Where else can you be friends with such smart people?
Hmm…
My Space, maybe? 
