Scott Brandon’s affiliate odyssey

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In the 17 years I did affiliate relations for our networks, I was on the road a lot. Typical trip would have started early Monday morning (sometimes Sunday evening) and ended late on Friday. I might have have extended a trip over a weekend once or twice but that was very rare.

The new Endurance Record for an affiliate trip has to go to Scott Brandon, the head of operations for Learfield’s news division. Scott has been on the road –continuously– since September 17th. He’s been in seven states; 45 towns (and counting); covered 4,500+ miles; eaten 13 Chinese buffets; stayed in 8 really bad motels; 4 really, really bad motels; consumed three bowls of beer cheese soup; two glasses of beer (Miller); attended one Packer’s game and lost one iPod. And saw some sights:

“A camel grazing on the side of the road in Fond Du Lac; a giant fish thing in Hayward; and two truckers sharing a one bedroom at the Super 8 in Park Falls. But, by far, the strangest and creepiest was just outside of Phillips, WI. You round a bend and see a field full of… well… concrete people and horses and deer and dogs. Very Adams Family-ish. I walked through the park just to make sure it was really as “chill down your spine” as I thought. It was.” [Photos]

Scott’s long journey comes to an end next week as his affiliate ghost ship comes back into harbor. He’s going to need a lot counseling and time to adjust. We assume he’s working on a book.

Focus, Passion and Originality

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Karl Long, a Web/Social Media Integration Manager at Nokia, identifys three traits of a successful blog – focus, passion, & originality:

“Focus – I think one of the most important choices a blogger makes when they start their blog is what their focus is. Think about a first time visitor getting dropped on your blog from a search engine or stumbleupon, are they going to understand in 2 seconds exactly what your blog is about? If the answer is yes you will have a much better chance of building a readership quickly and you will have a successful blog. If not, you may well build a successful blog but it will take years as opposed to months.

Passion – This is the only possible way that you will be able to sustain regular posting of a high enough quality over the course of years. If you don’t have the passion your blog will become a ghost town very quickly. People talk about the passion in the writing, and how important it is for readers, but IMHO the passion is all about the ability to sustain you through the emotional roller coaster ride of writing a blog. Sure your passion will come through in your writing, but it is your passion that will keep you plugging away when no one is coming back, no one is commenting, and no one is linking to you. Passion may not be the only thing that will drag you along, but it is the most enjoyable so unless you are a masochist you better love what your talking about.

Originality – In branding terms, what differentiates you from the crowded playing field of blogs all talking about the same thing. They don’t call the blogosphere an echo chamber for nothing, because most of the time everyone is reflecting and amplifying what else is happening around the blogosphere. Original content and original ideas in the blogosphere stand out like beacons in the night, and not to labor the metaphor but they also attract other bloggers like moths to a flame.”

[via LexBlog]

Profitable blogs

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From an article by Sam Zuckerman at SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle):

“More quickly than most anyone imagined, blogging is growing up. From the blogosphere’s anarchistic roots, a professional cadre is emerging that is creating an industry whose top-performing businesses now earn serious money. The industry is expanding at warp speed. Blog-based media could just be poised to elbow aside traditional print and broadcast outlets to become one of the dominant sources of news, information and opinion, many observers believe.”

This is a must read for anyone in the media business. Management or foot soldier.

Thinkpad goes to a good home

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The high bid for the Thinkpad was $276.01. My little silent auction drew six bids. There was a tie for the high bid ($250) so I gave the high bidders an chance to submit another bid. Mary went up to $275 and Myra bid $276.01. I think that’s a fair price for the Thinkpad but I’ll hold on to the check for a few days, just in case she gets Buyer’s Remorse. Then it’s off to the local Humane Society. Thanks to all who submitted bids. Sorry, Henry, but this was a lot more fun than eBay.

Stephen Colbert on Meet the Press

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Stephen Colbert appeared on "Meet the Press," with Tim Russert Sunday to talk about his recent announcement that he is running for president (only in South Carolina so far). Stephen assured the incredulous Russert  that he was very serious about his candidacy, and that this was not "a dream you will wake up from."