The Emperor’s New Blog - A Tale of Social Proof
Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged: blogging success, internet marketing fairy tales
Once upon a time in a faraway land there lived a vain emperor. He longed for the day when all his subjects would obey his every command and hang upon his every word. So he started a blog because he heard blogs were the perfect way to build authority.
This emperor followed all the latest blogging fashions. His graphics were breathtaking. His choices of font and color were impeccable. He used the newest plugins, since of course it was a Wordpress blog. And of course, the emperor didn’t do any of the actual blog development himself; he had everything outsourced.
“My, what a beautiful blog,” people would say.
The emperor would then puff out his chest and say, “I know.”
But one morning the emperor felt a little depressed.
“Nobody is visiting my blog,” he said. “And further, my subjects are not yet obeying my every command. This blog has done nothing to build my authority.”
“Quite right,” said a dashing young marketer who stepped from the shadows. “Your blog is sadly ignored though it is the most beautiful and stylish of blogs. What your blog needs is traffic; traffic will cause your authority to skyrocket.”
The emperor liked what he heard.
“Then go,” said the emperor. “Bring traffic to my blog if you can.”
“And I can, but for a price and this offer won’t last,” said the marketer.
So the emperor paid vast sums to bring massive traffic to his blog.
The Emperor Goes to Market
The marketer hit the social marketing circuits and submitted the emperor’s blog to Digg, he wrote favorable reviews on StumbleUpon, and built numerous backlinks so the blog would do well in the search engine placements. He even hired people to leave comments on each and every of the emperor’s blog posts.
Soon, the emperor’s blog began to draw attention from his subjects.
“My my,” they said. “Look at all these comments. This blog must be very interesting.”
Then they subscribed to the emperor’s RSS feed. “My my,” others said. “Look at all these RSS subscribers. This blog must be very influential.”
Then they linked to the emperor’s blog.
“Goodness gracious,” people cried. “Look at this blog’s page rank. It must be a very important blog.”
The emperor was very happy because with all the comments, subscribers, and page rank, he had finally built the authority he so desired.
So the marketer approached the emperor again and said, “Now you have built much authority. The next thing you must do is monetize your blog.”
The emperor liked this idea very much, since he had his eye on a beautiful suit of clothes one of his emperor friends had recently purchased. So he immediately sat down and wrote an ebook, then wrote about it on his blog.
“I must have this ebook,” the people said. “The emperor’s blog is the most beautiful , stylish, influential, and important in the empire. Anyone who doesn’t hang on the emperor’s every word must be a nincompoop.”
The emperor’s ebook sold like hotcakes.
The Emperor and the Big Seminar
Now being a vain emperor, he wanted his fans to adore him in person. So he decided to hold a seminar and read selections from his blog and ebook. Of course, tickets to the seminar sold out within thirty seven minutes.
The morning of the seminar, the air crackled with anticipation. The emperor took the podium and began reading excerpts from his blog and ebook.
“This morning,” he said. “I had a bagel for breakfast.”
The crowd murmured, “I read that post. One of his best, one of his best.”
“Yesterday,” the emperor continued. “I had two bagels.”
The crowd roared with approval.
The emperor quoted post after post from his blog, and each word sent a quiver through the crowd. Then the emperor paused and cleared his throat, about to begin reading from his ebook.
But far in the back of the crowd, a small voice cried out, “Excuse me, please?”
The crowd turned in unison, aghast one so young would dare interrupt an emperor so powerful and wise.
The small voice belonged to a small boy. He stood on a chair and addressed the room.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I wondered if anyone has noticed the emperor’s blog has no content? He really isn’t saying anything new; we all eat bagels every morning.”
“What?” shouted another voice from the crowd. “Ridiculous, absurd. The emperor’s blog is the most beautiful, stylish, influential and important of blogs. Just look at all the comments on each and every post.”
“Well now that you mention it,” said another. “I really only commented because everyone else had, and I wanted backlinks for my own blog.”
“But look at the number of RSS subscribers his blog has,” said someone else.
“Well really, I never actually read the posts. I just subscribed because everyone else had,” another voice answered.
“But look at his blog’s page rank,” someone said. “You can’t fake that, his blog must be important.”
“Now that you mention it,” said another. “I only linked to his blog because everyone else had.”
And for a long time nobody said anything.
Then finally, one by one, the people filed quietly from the room. They all went home and unsubscribed from the emperor’s blog, removed the links from their own sites, and deleted him from their browser favorites.
The emperor went out and bought some new clothes.
Comments
25 Responses to “The Emperor’s New Blog - A Tale of Social Proof”
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So, no bagels for us in the morning? no wait…
don’t invite small boys to seminars?
nice post
Oft has such a sight been seen…but rarely has such a tale been as well recounted.
Chuck’s last blog post..A Fresh Look at AdSense
@robojiannis: You got it exactly right!
@Chuck: Well, I strive to be . . . different. Or maybe I was born that way. lol
As Patton purportedly said, “fame is fleeting.”
Malcolm
Malcolm Campbell’s last blog post..New Releases - February 2008
Excellent quote, Malcolm. I think often flame is so fleeting because it is not born of anything lasting. The remarkable and the true both endure. But as your quote implies, that type of fame is rare.
I loved it of course. The old fable applies well, when there’s nothing of substance, you’ll find yourself naked and alone, while others are living it up. Or something like that. Social proof is an odd thing. I was just reading up on it yesterday, and thought about writing my own post on it, but I think instead, I will just direct people to this one. This was a wonderful creative application, Terry.
Square1’s last blog post..Roaring Shamelessly
A novel and entertaining way of covering the material. Well done.
Jim Murdoch’s last blog post..Expletive ?#@%ing deleted
[...] his commentators did. While we’re talking Terry, you seriously should go read his parable on the emperor and the blog.) Here’s an excerpt of what Yaro had to [...]
@Square1: You’re always so encouraging. I really appreciate that about you. Thank you! I think you should write a post anyway, I’m sure you would have great insights. But you can always link to me too.
@Jim: Thanks. It felt risky and the positive feedback is encouraging.
Terry,
Very clever, but you already know that you’re talented, as you’ve, no doubt, heard this before.
Let me posit this query: Was the piece written as a story with a moral or was it autobiographical? Rhetorical.
You might wish to visit: http://freetraffictip.com/ and scroll down to a series of articles dealing with commenting, etc.
Best to you.
MorganLighter’s last blog post..Tool Time Friday | Splish-Splash, I was taking a bath
Great post. The story was very interesting. Blogging sure is a good way to earn some money online.
Mathewbary’s last blog post..Jack Humphrey Strikes Again
I love the idea of using fables to illustrate brilliant points.
Thanks so much for being so creative.
Bob
http://www.thebizinabox.com
Hey Bob,
Thanks for the encouragement. Getting ready to post “Goldilocks and the Three Copywriters” if you’re interested.
Great fable, that gets the point across very clearly.
Blessings and Happy Trails,
Robin
This was a delightful re-telling of the Emperor’s New Clothes, but the important lesson I got was that he didn’t build it himself, or do the finger-wearying work of maintaining EXCELLENT content.
Thank you for sharing this!
Brennan Kingsland’s last blog post..Deadly Choking Games
This wasn’t inspired by a certain A-List blogger who posts about meals in restaurants quite often (so he can claim it as a business expense??) was it?
Mark McCullagh’s last blog post..Internet Marketing Strategies from the Spirit
@Robin: Thanks for the comment, and also letting me know my StumbleUpon link was gone. It’s something to do with when Feedburner adds the new post, since that is where the link comes from. Thanks again.
@Brennan: I really believe remarkable content is the key to getting . . . remarks. Even if I don’t make it, that’s what I shoot for. I do think you can outsource it to a point, but then what’s the point; you might as well publish something other than a blog if you’re not looking to give it your personal touch.
@Mark: I hadn’t thought of it before, but now that you mention it those restaurant photos have gotten a little old.
A good lesson for us all…You can play the game, but if you don’t have the content, it’s all for naught! Thanks, these posts are a very clever way to teach us this stuff.
Darlene Norris’s last blog post..Feline Eye Diseases
Fantastic story. It’s so true.
I rolled out laughing. This is so ORIGINAL but so TRUE! Great work on the story! Thumbs up!!
Evelyn’s last blog post..Peace Before Abundance
@Darlene: I’m glad you’re enjoying the series. Expect more soon. I may be moving the blogging articles to a new blog, but I’ll certainly let everyone know.
@Ross: Welcome! And thank you for the encouragment.
@Evelyn: I couldn’t pay people to leave nicer comments. Thank you for the encouraging feedback.
Terry, your post is hilarious because it is a refreshing change from the repetitive bedtime reading that I need to do everynight with my kids. I’m so tired from having to read the same old stories but my kids love hearing them over and over again!
Keep them coming! I’d be looking forward to them!
Have a lovely day!
Evelyn
Evelyn’s last blog post..Peace Before Abundance
[...] Online blog, eBuz’d. If you would like to leave a comment, please visit the Emperor and other Internet Marketing Fairy Tales [...]
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
I have sat at my computer so many times trying to create something relevant and intelligent while reading drivel posts.
I continually questioned myself by believing that I was wrong in believing that no one cared that I had just finished a cup of coffee or was heading to bed.
Thank you so much for bringing some sanity to this crazy, hectic world.
Bob Cotto’s last blog post..The Real Reason You Are Fat Is Because…
Hi Bob, and thanks for the comment. Actually, I didn’t say anything about coffee . . . everyone’s interested in coffee, just not bagels. LOL
Glad you enjoyed it.