There are 70million blogs out there.
I follow a couple hundred.
I read fifty.
One haunts me.
Brian Clark’s Copyblogger is one of the most popular blogs in the world and has generated millions of dollars in sales for Clark and his partners.
It is a site with a laser-like focus on online copywriting and social media content strategies.
And it makes me puke.
Why?
Because Brian and his team are incessantly devoted to smashing any fantasy I may have about avoiding the real work of online success.
They put people like me through Dreamer’s Withdrawl.
Think you are a decent writer and that alone will drive people to read your blog, your email newsletter, your sales letter,etc.?
Think again.
Because there is this thing out there called “reality”, which in Copyblogger World means “how human beings respond to the written word”.
Talent doesn’t always mean success.
Thoreau said, “Nothing is more common than unrewarded talent.”
You have to APPLY that talent.
There are time-tested and proven copywriting principles that generate results online and almost all of them live at Copyblogger.
Web 2.0 has so lowered the bar for any half-baked concept that you think, “Wow! Look at all these cool tools! All I have to do is slap up a site and tie it to a blog and Facebook and Twitter and I’m off and running!”
Copyblogger will slap that notion silly.
It will force you to rethink what your are doing.
And get real.
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Really really cool and so true.
There are proven methods that lead to success on the web and in how you create your copy in general. Trying to do it your own away and ignoring what gets people to take a look at you is simply not productive.
Laughing. Sorry. We just couldn’t help ourselves.
I feel the same way about Copyblogger; it’s so love-hate. But they/it and you are right–the difference between me and a successful writer, marketer, whateverer, *fill-in-the-blank* is the actual doing of it.
Thoreau said, “Nothing is more common than unrewarded talent.” Maybe it should be talent not put into practice.
Thanks for this.
@mommommom
RT @copyblogger: Why Copyblogger Drives Me Nuts – http://is.gd/BpJE
Great post, and great (and very true) review of copyblogger. I’m only beginning to dig through all the killer content over there, but it’s certainly a valuable resource for bloggers, marketers, business, and web designers.
Impressive headline use
And that is precisely why we like Copyblogger!
One of our main goals here at iGoMogul is to educate our clients about how to create content and monetize their websites. Copyblogger, while putting people through ‘Dreamer’s Withdrawal,’ gives them the direction to succeed through hard work. Thank you for the Thoreau quote!
Thx Steve,
I feel the same way…and only “discovered” CopyBlogger today, five times from separate sources via FF, Twtr posts and blog links. Maybe stumbled into an inner circle, I don’t know, but quality everywhere….namaste
RT @tweetmeme Why Copyblogger Drives Me Nuts | ocbizblog http://bit.ly/WL2xO
Yeah. That blog just shows how much work there is.
BTW, why did you pick that picture? Seems to go against your main point that Copyblogger does good work.
Rats. Why IS gravity so relentless?
No, really, thanks for motivating me with reverse psychology and an attention-grabbing post.
I like copyblogger too. Alas.
Peter,
Thanks for commenting. I will check out your site! Steve
Thanks Andrew for coming by and leaving a comment. I really appreciate it. I just did a Google search for copyblogger and Brian and picked an image that was not him cause I see copyblogger as being more than just Brian, you know partnering and such. And logo of copyblogger seemed a bit boring.
Pierre,
There is so much good stuff out there that I have forcibly limited myself to Brian and a few others. Thanks for stopping by. S
you got it, checking you guys out right now…
thanks Ruud
thanks Brian it’s a goldmine
yes put it into practice, agree. Thanks Mary for taking the time! Steve
Oh Sonia My Sonia…you are next…thought of you but kept you out…keep doin what u do
so true…great great name
I thought I was the only one who felt like that about copyblogger. But, I am glad that you said that he makes you want to puke before I did.
Thanks for an excellent post with an excellent headline!
Thanks Juliet!
Hey Steve!
I thought the same thing after I read this post. One thing is certain, coppyblogger does a really good job at bursting your bubble! haha!
On the other hand though, I LOVE Brian and his team for bring us all back to reality. Many of us online entrepreneurs(myself included) often get over consumed our our own “great” ideas that we don’t stop and look at the reality of it all. As much as I hate it when I find out that my idea is not as great as I thought it was, I also appreciate that I did not go with it and lost personal credibility.
BUT, it I dont think this means that the “half baked” concepts cant actually turn into great concepts either. Sometimes we need things like this to re think our entire strategy and find out about ways to make it genuine.
Thanks Jackie! Ugh My comments are all out of order…anyway thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful comment. REally appreciate it! Steve