I don’t participate much in blog challenges. Mostly, because they’re the types of post that make you cringe when you look back a year later to see what you’ve produced. However, last week Darren Rowse created one that I think may benefit new and old readers to Outspoken. So I’m going to bite.
Over at ProBlogger, Darren dared readers to participate in a 7 Link Challenge, asking them to link to seven posts that fit into seven categories he created. The idea is to help new readers discover content they may have missed, while also providing an impromptu archives of your favorites for new and old to benefit from. Here are my own links for the Outspoken Media blog, with a few extra thrown in for flavor.
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Your first post: My first post on Outspoken that wasn’t our birth announcement, the true story behind Outspoken Media or liveblogging coverage was about Denny’s Grand Slam Fumble and if I could delete that post from our archives I totally would. In that post, I shared my opinion on why I thought Denny’s wasted a prime (and expensive) marketing opportunity. I stand by what I wrote, however, the comments on that post quickly turned into a massacre and gave Outspoken its first (and arguably, our worst) comment flame war and f bomb dropping. Two weeks old and our innocence was gone.
Bonus: My SEO blogging career started on February 7, 2006 with a post on the Bruce Clay, Inc. blog entitled Hey Google, can you hear them now?… and is just as awful as those pictures of you from 8th grade that you hide at the bottom of your closet. - A post you enjoyed writing the most: Personal Brands In SEO: Stop Obeying False Idols. This post remains one of my favorite s because I think it’s really important that we examine people before we put them on a pedestal, declare them mentors or decide they’re our industry role models. The sooner we stop blindly following and start reading what we’re promoting, the sooner this industry will become greater and we become smarter.
- A post which had a great discussion: Are Affiliate Links Unethical Without Disclosure?. We’ve had lots of great discussions on Outspoken Media thanks to a very vocal community, but this one stands out. Mixing affiliate marketing with social media is a hot button issue and we were able to house a conversation that showed all sides and where people were passionate, but respectful, in their responses to one another, even when they disagreed. This post started a conversation that needed to be had and I was really happy with how it unfolded and with the level of responses we received.
- A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written: This was hard. I’m constantly running across content so good I wish I could steal it and pass it off as my own, however, that’s bad. One post I fell violently in love with was How To Write Your Ass Off by Johnny B. Truant. The post is about how becoming a different person online can give you the brass you need to be great. And, holy hell, I wish I had written it first!
- A post with a title that you are proud of: I’m pretty terrible at writing blog titles, but our post Google Forcing Your Hand, Stealing Your Thumbprint stands out as a favorite. Or maybe Keep Your Boss Out Of Your Underwear Drawer. It’s a skill I’m still trying to acquire.
- A post that you wish more people had read: Five Things Common To Online Communities and Families. This posts gives five ingredients for creating a thriving online community and flew pretty much under the radar. But I guess that’s what happens when you post two days before Thanksgiving and on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
- Your most visited post ever: The Power Of The Unexpected. Outspoken will probably have to hold a live broadcast of us sacrificing puppies to surpass the traffic this one got.
Those are my seven links. Do you have seven of your own to share with Darren’s community? Or, if you can’t commit to creating a full list, maybe share some links to posts that you love that fit one of the above categories? They can be written by yourself or another blogger.
