This is not a shill, I promise.
One of my favorite sites out there right now is CopyBlogger–both for the quality of the content and the mindset it embodies. For the last few months I have literally scoured the internet in search of every site related to blogging, web 2.0, technology, marketing, citizen journalism etc, and came across a sad truth.
NO ONE CARES ABOUT CONTENT.
Except for Brian Clark at CopyBlogger. Of course, only in Tech could everyone’s focus be so misguided, but it’s true. You could drown in all the PR, link dumps, social networks, SEO, advertising optimization, even grammar blogs, without ever seeing someone go more in depth then “Oh, don’t forget to have great content.”
The name CopyBlogger should be redundant. Blogs ought to imply copy, but they don’t. The internet is thriving because people are hungry for great writing (+ video and audio) but hardly anyone is willing to do the work required to provide it. Instead, we’re all so focused on tricking people into liking what we already have. That’s how old media works–we’re supposed to be different. We’re supposed to cater to the audience, not cascade them into consuming.
This is why Brian’s site is so great. He doesn’t update a ton, but when he does, it’s awesome stuff. Last week’s post was straight out of the 48 Laws of Power, with him advising that you create an enemy as fall-back inspiration for writing. Earlier in the month he advised on how to avoid burying the lead, and captivating the audience with a killer opening. And he’s done a great series on headlines, which have really helped me on sites like Digg and Reddit.
Seriously, if you’re a writer on the internet (or a writer anywhere) you need to be reading his site. It’s worth 5 TechCrunchs or ValleyWags, because without content, none of this is sustainable. It’s about time the rest of the internet woke up and starting looking at the creative process as the engine instead of an afterthought.