Great interview, really enjoyed it.

I wanted to take a stab at the questions you pose at the end of the post.

Twitter is short-form conversation, the kind of thing that goes on over coffee or at the water cooler. It can be about deep topics but the conversations doesn’t really have a chance to go very deep. The blog is the long-form conversation. Deeper examination of topics and, hopefully, thoughtful comments and replies. So in the same way casual conversation helps you make others aware of what you’re up to and gives you input to diverse perspectives, Twitter helps the people around you (your followers) stay in the know about what you have to say. Yes, that will drive traffic, but traffic alone is useless… it must have context.

Is content king? I’d have to say no. Relationships and the conversation are king. You can write the best content on the web and few and far between are the visitors that will engage you on that content without a relationship. Beyond that, if all I ever talk about is blog monetization or SEO or even maximizing social media, I’m limiting myself to a casual audience who’s itch I happen to be scratching. Including broader topics from time to time, a good book, a sucky movie, pictures of the Christmas tree… those things invoke emotion and build more meaningful relationships. Content is VERY important… but I don’t think its king.

Thanks for the post and the opportunity to comment!

@jtrigsby

Great interview, really enjoyed it.

I wanted to take a stab at the questions you pose at the end of the post.

Twitter is short-form conversation, the kind of thing that goes on over coffee or at the water cooler. It can be about deep topics but the conversations doesn’t really have a chance to go very deep. The blog is the long-form conversation. Deeper examination of topics and, hopefully, thoughtful comments and replies. So in the same way casual conversation helps you make others aware of what you’re up to and gives you input to diverse perspectives, Twitter helps the people around you (your followers) stay in the know about what you have to say. Yes, that will drive traffic, but traffic alone is useless… it must have context.

Is content king? I’d have to say no. Relationships and the conversation are king. You can write the best content on the web and few and far between are the visitors that will engage you on that content without a relationship. Beyond that, if all I ever talk about is blog monetization or SEO or even maximizing social media, I’m limiting myself to a casual audience who’s itch I happen to be scratching. Including broader topics from time to time, a good book, a sucky movie, pictures of the Christmas tree… those things invoke emotion and build more meaningful relationships. Content is VERY important… but I don’t think its king.

Thanks for the post and the opportunity to comment!

@jtrigsby

I agree with you comment above–Brian’s brief remark about learning from the classic marketers is key (IMHO). I have been diving back into Oglivy, Bly, Cialdini, and Taubman (“Threshold Resistance”–new favorite).

Great stuff here Michael! @CindyKing just introduced me.

I agree with you comment above–Brian’s brief remark about learning from the classic marketers is key (IMHO). I have been diving back into Oglivy, Bly, Cialdini, and Taubman (“Threshold Resistance”–new favorite).

Great stuff here Michael! @CindyKing just introduced me.