As a big fan of Oh, Joy!, I pre-ordered Blog, Inc. and then realized I didn’t know where I’d be living when it was published, waited until it was actually out, and then really ordered it. Which is to say, I was pretty psyched. I like reading about blogging and getting ideas as much as I like blogging itself. Which is to say, a lot.
Blog, Inc. would absolutely be an amazing resource for a beginning blogger. I would recommend that anyone thinking about starting a blog pick it up right now. Yesterday, if not sooner. If you’ve been blogging for a long time and are looking to monetize your blog, also – pick this up right now. She’s got a great section on how to establish your blog as an actual business and the pros and cons of sponsorship and other things you need to know to make your blog as profitable as possible.
For me, however, I’m somewhere in between and I felt like the book really fell short. My biggest concern right now is growing a readership and trying to reach a larger audience and other than “comment on blogs!” (which I’ve been doing for years now as an avid blog reader) – she offers very little insight into how to actually *build* a blog community. Commenting and responding to readers, sure. How to actually attract more readers, not so much. I’m not interested at this point in advertising or any other kind of monetization, so that wasn’t terribly useful for me – though if I decide to go in that direction, the book will be the first place I look for info, for sure. And the blogging basics – platform, design, format, etc. – I’m pretty comfortable with.
The best part of the book, for me, was the interviews. I really feel like I got a lot out of reading what other bloggers have to say about their experiences. I’ve also discovered some great new blogs this way, in addition to reading the insights of some bloggers I’ve been following for a while.
My overall impression is that this is a really good resource for either a true novice blogger who is just starting out or someone who wants to start monetizing their blog. Those of us in neither of those categories can still find some useful info here and there, but not necessarily enough to justify purchasing the whole book.