Picture an authority blogger who doesn’t know what an Alexa ranking is. Someone who blogs professionally, yet her RSS subscriber badge is buried in the footer of her site. Picture someone who is an ultra popular, successful blogger with one of the the biggest followings on the web for a personal blog not knowing really what it means to be a PR 7 site.
After all the times I’ve said that all that really matters is content that grabs people and leaves them wanting more, I’ve found the perfect example of a “pure blogger” who is reaping the rewards of cyber-stardom. All without knowing 1/2 of the marketing tactics and technology that people around here know about.
Her name is Heather Armstrong and she is the owner of Dooce.com, one of the most popular personal blogs on the web today, by any and all measures of site popularity. (Her latest post, just today, now has 662 comments. Eat that TechCrunch!)
She doesn’t run an internet marketing blog or a tech blog. Yet she’s still famous. Her blog provides for her family very well. But she doesn’t write about the kinds of things Scoble, Rowse, Clark, Beard, Arrington, or Cutts write about on their popular blogs.
She writes about her life and her family. And she does so in a way that makes you want more. In case you think I might be blowing up her success for the sake of “ratings,” she was interviewed in May by Nightline and the Today Show. (Both videos below) I’m just the dregs after Kathy Lee Gifford (who sucked the air right out of the end of the interview with Heather).
I might have sucked at interviewing Heather, but my claim to fame is that I certainly didn’t suck as bad as Kathy Lee! (Why is she still on TV?)
Today’s lesson is: grab people by the throat with your content and gain popularity one reader at a time (who tells other people they have to go see this blog they found!)
This is what I hope to be the first of several talks with Heather. She epitomizes blogging authority in the hardest niche of all: the personal blog.
Enjoy this Memorable Webside Chat with Heather Armstrong…
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Heather is also the author of “Things I Learned About My Dad In Therapy” Grab it on Amazon. Read it on Kindle.
Watch for her April release of “It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita”
Here’s Heather on Nightline in May 2008
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John Sullivan 08.19.08 at 4:46 am
Hey Jack it was weird to hear you talking with Heather. She is a great person but like everyone if someone wants to talk smack about you they will find something.
I have been a fan of yours at a distance for a while and thought the interview was excellent.I was actually working on a off the wall post called “Dealing with the Darkside of Blogging”.I have to keep moving past any disappointments and focus on the fact that the glass is very much half FULL;)
The whole premise of my blog is why do we idolize the wrong people.I heard you mention some names and quite frankly alot of people when they got a little fame turn into snobs or as I say “jerks’. The one thing of the many that I like about Heather is that she stays true to her husband and her people. We have to be careful that we can even benefit from success.I rather be broke and real then have an alledged 6 fiqure income like you see some many people spouting.
Marketeers beware your running out of customers and with money being real tight people may just snap when they realize they been had.Me I’m not perfect but I write about things bloggers need to know.I respect you as a man with many talents and I hope that you would consider submitting your profile to one of my new projects bloganese.com.Also once my son is back in school I’ll be doing my show on Ustream called The BLOG REPORT I’ll have plenty of nice things to say and I hope one day we cross paths .
The blog is looking real tight.
Thanks John Sullivan
John Sullivans last blog post..Blogging Tip#3 Dealing with the Dark Side of blogging.
Sid Savara 08.19.08 at 9:38 am
Great post! I am very surprised at the level of success she has, not because I doubt her, but because it is very very hard to get people involved in a personal blog of someone they don’t even know. At least you and me have a common interest - reading your blog is educational, I learn things I can apply. But I don’t even read my some of my friends’ personal blogs, they’re terrible ;). Kudos to her!
BTW, your footer appears to not be working anymore, it says:
We are planning to write more posts about “” next week. Subscribe to the RSS feed for getting informed about it. (nothing inside the quotes - I’m guessing it should show either a category or a tag)
Sid Savaras last blog post..Why 3% of Harvard MBAs Make Ten Times as Much as the Other 97% Combined
Jack Humphrey 08.19.08 at 2:39 pm
Sid - you mean Heather’s footer? Mine doesn’t seem broken, but I know that doesn’t mean it’s not broken for you!
Yes, Heather is a big surprise and I am looking to find many others I think are out there who are personal bloggers with the same kind of story. It is very interesting stuff!
Bernadette Stark 08.23.08 at 4:13 am
Jack,
I really like your Webside Chat series and especially enjoyed this one, maybe the best so far!
When I go to Heather’s blog site, Dooce.com, I see a site that is very pleasing on the eye and seems to have a universal appeal, whether the viewer be mother, father or dog/animal-lover. Just from a visual perspective, her pictures are amazing and that alone would keep me coming back just to see the Daily Chuck. I have only skimmed some of her stories but wanted to point out that I think Daily Chuck is her ‘purple cow’ and would have been enough to stimulate my interest and curiosity to look further into the site if I had happened upon it without hearing your interview. Her writing may be very good but so is her marketing!
Greg 08.25.08 at 6:20 pm
Hi Jack,
Haven’t listened to the interview yet, but I spent a few minutes on her site. I like her writing style, especially when she tosses in something completely out of the blue, such as her alternate definition for Stay At Home Mom (SAYM.)
Thanks for pointing it out to us.
Gregs last blog post..Just Loot It