Why I Don’t Use This Widget
I’ve been seeing this new “widget” (as they call it) named BlogRush pop up on all sorts of blogs lately, that I can’t resist at least mentioning something about it. I’m sure several readers of mine would like to wonder why there isn’t one of these “widgets” on my blog.
I’ll tell you exactly why…
It’s one of my business principles to only use reliable, heavily tested technology which assists my readers and processes. If you’ve followed any news about this widget, (and I’m only calling it a widget because that’s really all it is and I’d like to avoid mentioning the name of it) you’ll know that it was released prematurely without being thoroughly tested. How do I know this? Because I’ve simply been following the news… here are a few of the latest headlines:
Quality Audit Complete
10,000+ Blogs Being Removed
Phase 2Â Update
Phase 2 Feedback
In fact, I’ve even seen the “results” from another internet business blog… it wasn’t anything to blog about, so I didn’t.
The main page of the blogrush site claims to “drive a flood of targeted readers to your blog”. That’s interesting, because I thought I already had a widget that did exactly that. Oh yeah, I made a course on how to do that!
It’s called The Blogcast Home Study Course. It’s an online video course which guides you step-by-step how to create a blog broadcast which will automatically send an instant e-mail to your blog readers each time you post a new blog entry.
I’ve been using my own Blogcast for over a year. It works (and I’ve got the data to prove it). Once you’ve convinced your blog readers enough times to add themselves to it, you’ll witness that flood of traffic everyone loves talking about.
Even if you don’t have a blog yet, it’s no problem, the course also covers everything you need prior to installing the Blogcast.
In fact, I’ve gone ahead and temporarily lowered the price to $15 (regular price is $50) for my blog readers who don’t own a copy yet.
Here’s where you can get the course: http://www.blogcastcourse.com/
(Note: The sales page will still show $50 as the price, but you’ll see it’s only $15 on the order page.)
Here’s the link if you’d rather have the course on CD: http://kunaki.com/sales.asp?PID=PX00DK57QD
I’ll be raising the price back up soon, so if you’re interested in grabbing the course for just $15, you’d better hurry.
- Aaron Brandon
After entering all the relevant information in Kunaki, and pressing “Check Out”, I get this message:
SGS-000002: R:Referral (call voice center)
and the order doesn’t go through..
Comment by Thomas W. — October 29, 2007 at 7:44 am
Hi Aaron,
You make some good points and I don’t completely disagree with you. I’m just playing devil’s advocate. First of all you know I have that widget on my blog and the traffic I get from having it on my blog is increasing steadily but still it’s not even in the same zip code as the traffic I get from people who are on my announcement list and have bookmarked my blog. At this point, I could take it or leave it but since the traffic is increasing I’m leaving it on for now.
I choose to be an early adopter instead of waiting for others to test things. Sometimes it works out well and other times it doesn’t but mistakes are usually fairly easy to correct. One specific example of the benefit of being an early adopter was with RaSof. Originally it was $100/month and I got in on the 24 Hour Special where it was offered at $35/month. I didn’t really understand exactly what it did and the first time I used it I was pretty confused by all the data. It even crossed my mind to cancel but I didn’t and eventually it all made sense and I use RaSof often these days. In the meantime, the price was raised to $1,000/month. So those who sat on the fence and waited for people like me to test RaSof are paying more for it monthly than I pay in nearly 2.5 years.
In any event, I can understand your reasons for not having the widget on your blog. There’s no right or wrong…only what’s right for you. Different strokes for different folks. I choose to take the bad with the good.
Robert
Comment by Robert — October 29, 2007 at 7:57 am
It looks as if Kunaki is down at the moment. Thanks for pointing this out.
Robert…
Thanks for your comment.
Sometimes it’s best to base your decision on a long-standing goal even though it may supplement a short term goal.
Which would add more value in the short term? A widget linking to a possible list of junk sites, or an opportunity for readers to be reminded of updates on your site?
- Aaron
Comment by Aaron Brandon — October 29, 2007 at 10:43 am
Hi Aaron,
How about using both blogcast & the widget? Or is there a clutter issue, or something else I’m missing?
About the only problem I would have with it is that it may leak traffic from your site. At least with a blogroll, for instance, there’s usually some reciprocity.
One quick advantage I thought about for this widget, although I’m not using it yet … it sure forces us to be more careful about crafting an attention getting headline. Or there would be no purpose to using the widget.
Comment by James Alenteal — October 29, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Aaron;
Thanks for the reminder to check my stats. I’ve had the widget on my blog since it was lauched and I just checked my stats for Sept. and Oct. and it does not even register in the top 50 referring sites to my blog for either month. Nor does it appear that many visitors to my blog have clicked on the widget either. I think it may work well for some and not work so well for others, but for me, I’m taking it off my site.
Thanks,
Fred Black
Comment by Fred Black — October 30, 2007 at 7:32 am
Is this still on special? When i get to the checkout page, hwere i enter my credit card info i am seeing $50.
Thanks
Brian
Comment by Brian — October 30, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Hey Aaron;
Wouldn’t you know right after I took it off my site they released an update! I put it back on and will watch my stats for a few more weeks before making a decision.
Thanks,
Fred
Comment by Fred Black — October 31, 2007 at 10:55 am