Be an A-List blogger in your niche to succeed
There’s an ongoing discussion on the blogosphere about the A-List bloggers and how to become one.
An A-list in Hollywood is the roster of the most bankable movie stars. The term has now been applied to the most popular and well trafficked bloggers. And humans being vain, we think we need to be on this A-List of bloggers to be a success. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Robert and Maryam Scoble, in response to repeated questions from the audience at Blog Business Summit last fall about how to become an A-List blogger, summed it up best. ‘It’s not necessary to be an A-List blogger to succeed. Being an A-List blogger in your niche is success.’
Look at Biotech Lawyer Kristie Prinz, publisher of the California Biotech Law Blog. Should Kristie blog 3 or 4 hours a day, 7 days a week, to make an A-List of the most famous bloggers in the country? Of course not.
Kristie is a huge success if she becomes an A-List blogger among the biotech community in Northern California. Success being defined as Kristie being viewed as a reliable and trusted authority on biotech legal issues by venture capitalists, reporters, program coordinators, biotech execs, and referring lawyers throughout California.
From a Christmas card I got from Kristie I realized she’s become an A-List blogger in her niche in less than a year (though she didn’t use the phrase). Her network and reputation is growing among her target audience and business continues to flow in.
Congrats on being an A-Lister Kristie.
Email excerpt from Kristie Prinz this AM: “I haven’t quite gotten where I aspire to yet with my blog, but you are right that I am making progress. I met with an IP attorney this evening in town from a large firm in Atlanta, and he was familiar with my blog and asked me about it during the meeting. And I just was contacted two weeks ago by a trade publication in the industry that is interested in working with me on a column for their publication as a result of my blog. Additionally, I was just contacted by a biotech conference in San Diego about a potential speaking opportunity.
Also, I am now being contacted on a regular basis (several times a week) by a reporter for a national publication reporting on the Silicon Valley (although he is calling me about high tech industry questions—not biotech questions). And I am going to be featured on NPR’s Marketplace next month regarding my advice for entrepreneurs—they just flew out here from Boston to interview me. This probably didn’t arise directly from my blog, but perhaps was impacted in some way by it.
So, a lot of good things are happening for me at the moment. It is keeping me busy! Thankfully I have some help now, which really makes a huge difference. I’m starting to feel a lot more on top of my practice than I felt previously when I was trying to do almost everything myself.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated your compliments.”