Blog Blazers

January 12, 2009 in 3 out of 5 stars, A book, Blogging

What is it?


Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets: A book of interviews with 40 bloggers, including some high profile ones like Seth Godin, Dan Lyons (A.K.A. The Fake Steve Jobs) and Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion. The interview questions center around what has made their blogs successful.

Who makes it?

Stephane Geniere

Why is it the killerest?

Grenier isn't the author so much as he is the editor - but he does ask an interesting set of questions (mostly common amongst all the interviews) and uncovers some insightful perspectives from bloggers who have found success in terms of readership, influence, revenue and opportunities.

This book should appeal to two audiences:

  1. Those who are very serious about creating a successful blog. One of the common questions with interesting responses was “If you knew what you  know now when you first started, what’s the one biggest tip you’d give yourself today?” I enjoyed those answers the most.
  2. Big fans of some of the bloggers profiled who want more.

If you’re serious about blogging, this is a motivating snapshot of what can help you be successful.

What could be improved?

Packaging it into a book made it convenient, and it accomplishes what it wants to, but it's not a profound or terribly in-depth book. 

Some of the interviews are very concisely answered so if you’re buying it for the responses of just one or two of the bloggers, it might be disappointing.

How much does it cost?

$16.95

Rating?

Reviewed by Carson McComas

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TypePad

June 24, 2005 in 5 out of 5 stars, Blogging, Hosted software, Productivity

What is it?


TypePad: Hosted blogging software.

Tplogo

Who makes it?

Six Apart

Why is it the killerest?

The smarty pants behind the legendary Moveable Type created this hosted blogging software package. I built my own blogging software. It was awesome. I used it for 3 months then subscribed for a trial account of TypePad and switched everything over after using TypePad for about 3 hours. It's awesome, inexpensive and takes all the technical maintenance issues out of your hair so you can concentrate on creating content.

At the Pro level you have complete control over look and configuration, if you prefer not to use the excellent point-and-click wizard tool that anyone can use, for setting up your blog.

Note: I use it for this blog here, as well as my personal blog and I recommend them to clients all the time.

What could be improved?

I have a short list, but they are constantly evolving features and I suspect most of them will be implemented in time. My biggest beef is that I'd like a link from the email I get whenever I get a comment so I can at once delete the comment and ban the commenter. Note that 6a are implementing (and have implemented) all sorts of excellent anti-comment spam solutions. I get very little.

How much does it cost?

$5/mo to $15/mo (a bargain!)

Rating?

Reviewed by Carson McComas

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