Modern Attributition

Take a minute to look at the following article I came across yesterday. The specific content (if you make it that far) is not at all important, just consider the layout, structure, and focus.

I see two major problems (irrespective of the (in my math-major opinion) spurious mathematical content):

Focus on your customers, not yourself

This goes for any business, not just blogs (a business of attention). A auto company doesn’t produce cars for their employee’s personal needs, they produce cars (and the rest of the consumer experience) for their customers. Similarly, as a writer, your job is to convey information and ideas in a way your readers (your customers) can utilize best. Of course, personality shines through, and this is often a vital part of blogging or writing.

However, we don’t need the top of every page to include the author’s biography and picture. I have to scroll down every time I want to read content?! Unbelievable! This is stuff that should be in an optional “about me” type of page. Remember, your readers, presumably care about the content, not you (unless you’re a celebrity, in which case you may be the content). This, in conjunction with self-attributed quotes everywhere, is more than a bit much.

Encourage the spread of your ideas

As a writer, an ideasmith, you win when people agree with, talk about and spread your ideas. If nobody knows about your ideas, you lose. Therefore, in the vast, vast majority of cases, it behooves you to make it very easy for people to spread your ideas. This is the power of social media websites, blogs, Twitter, etc. They provide a comprehensive platform to discuss and spread your ideas.

Heading each page with a lengthy, confusing, copyright statement does not encourage the spreading of ideas. In an introductory page on the same website, the author laments that his work has been inexplicably overlooked by the majority of academia. It’s hard for an idea to spread when you are actively making that difficult.

Low barriers are often the most effective in stopping people. An offhand statement that people must quote your webpage to use a certain term will significantly decrease the number of people who do so. Instead, encourage them to use your terminology, spread it to comments and other publications. The internet does not forget; when the time comes, it will be easy to show that you invented the idea.

I don’t mean to pick on this particular author; it was just a good example of things many of us unconsciously do in our day-to-day marketing. I hope both he and many of you take the time to evaluate whether your marketing is doing the right things in these arenas.

-Barry