The Indie Virus
You probably have noticed that I include with my posts a number of links out to other blogs. It makes sense to me to share the information and I believe that when push comes to shove it's going to benefit all of us to link our readers to more resources than we can provide ourselves.
And that's even before John Scott offered $10,000 for to people who do just that!
John's an evangelist on linking - and understanding the importance of anchor text and inbound links . Apparently we're on the same page. In his post titled: Clean up on aisle three he says:
"The blogosphere grew on the basis of linkage. The tradition in blogging is to link to each other, to engage others in conversation. Nowadays we seem to be avoiding links like the plague, especially links to newcomers.
". . . . I propose a change in blogging. I challenge every blogger to post links to new blogs, unknown blogs and blogs not in the Technorati’s Top 100. And I’ll pay out a total of $10,000 to those who participate.
No kidding . . .
All I ask is that you announce on your own blog your intentions to blog about newer, less known blogs, and post your blog URL here in the comments."
This was not a stretch for me. Even without money, John's preaching to the choir. But we see the idea catching on in other blogs too, including Chris Pearson who, in the modestly named blog Pearsonified - Best damn blog on the planet announced the launch of :
"a viral linking campaign with some pretty loose guidelines for the links. . . anyone . . . who's interested) will be able to monitor the progress of the experiment as it (hopefully) spreads across the blogosphere. The Finer Points
"The experiment . . . "The Indie Virus," has two goals:
* To bring exposure to lesser known blogs (especially those outside of Technorati's top 100)
* To explore the metrics behind a viral linking campaign launched by the "little guys" (less popular blogs)"
He then passes us on to Copyblogger especially to the Comments area of that particular post where various people toss the idea around. Pearson develops the plan, saying:
"I'm just hoping for enough results that I'll be able to crunch a few numbers. Consider it an experiment in marketing with blogs.
"The Rules
"Participating in The Indie Virus is easy. All you've got to do is link to lesser known blogs from within a post (or two, or eleventeen), but you have to make sure that the anchor text of your link is The Indie Virus. This is critical, because in order to track the experiment, I'll be searching for the phrase "The indie Virus" on common engines like Technorati, Google, and Yahoo! Oh, and also, make sure that you link directly to a post WITH A TRACKBACK and not to the site itself - it speaks louder!
"So, a sample link would be coded up like this <a href="...">The Indie Virus</a> : The Indie Virus. "
After urging us to spread The Indie Virus yourself he adds:
" And if you want to be wicked cool, send a trackback to this post in your inaugural Indie Virus post. Have fun with this one, and I'll keep you posted on the results.
Wanna track this entry? Use this URL:
http://mt.blogmedia.biz/mt-tb.cgi/4030 "
For my part in The Indie Virus Project for today I'm passing you on to these blog gems:
Ripples - Post-Corporate Life - direct from that sizzling metropolis of Floyd Virginia
Denise Wakeman's; Next Level Biz Tips - where she's giving out (free) the results of a marketing survey
And although on the self-serving side I'll mention that it wouldn't hurt if you visited my own tiny gems:
Artistamps - What and Why? - Simple answers & images
the Museum of Paper Arts - Stuff Artsy Folks Need to Know
Don't forget, pass it on!
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