However, I’d even remind you of the long tail and according to this, it’ll be a much smaller percentage of quality bloggers.

Btw, Shoe’s post wasn’t a link bait, IMHO, he just shared what he thought others would find useful. And I think many will, because the whole endeavour of finding a suitable spot to is important, once you are in the similar predicament.

To further illustrate this point, please refer to the comment made by Geri, who insists that this post was a link bait. I think it wasn’t. You were just sharing your thoughts you thought others would find useful. See a pattern here?

It is just we, marketers, are trained to consider every great linkable piece of content not as just ‘awesome content’, but as ‘linkbait’. Sadly, some people ignore this trained reflex.

Pick up a newspaper in your city and then pick up a competing paper. Won’t both share many of the same stories? Won’t both even reprint the exact same AP or Reuters newswire items?

Every month at the newsstand I can look at magazines writing about the same general topic and every month I notice that all seem to feature the exact same topic every month.

I’m subscribed to a lot of blogs myself and many will post the same news item or posts on rehashed topics, but that doesn’t mean many of them aren’t valuable. If I’m interested in a topic I’ll gladly read many different posts on that same topic. I might only gain one of two new things from each post, but you can’t expect that each post is going to be entirely original.

The only way not to ever see something rehashed is to limit each topic to one blog. As soon as you have two blogs on the same topic you’re going to get repeated information. And you’re free to choose to read both, neither, or the one you consistently like more.

It’s also safe and easy to say that “we should be patient with new bloggers”. I’m not suggesting that anyone should be shut down. Rather that we who have been around for awhile need to stop sending out signs (expressed or implied) that people will “get rich on the internet” by throwing up blogs of little-to-no value and just slogging away filling them with whatever.

What is “problogging”, anyway? If it’s anything at all, it OUGHT to be finding something you love or at least care about…and writing enough good, informed, helpful content of your own that you build an audience of such size that it only makes sense to monetize the blog. What it ought NOT to be is tracking your 50-cents-a-day AdSense income for the world to see, pretending that it’s leading anywhere. “Making money online” is nothing worth falling in love with on its own. It’s a side benefit of providing actual value.

And, by the way, Wild Bill…I would concur that writing a blog for beginning bloggers can absolutely be of value. We just don’t need 15,000 of them covering the same ground. Yes, the market will solve the glut in time…but why not be kind to people and tell them ahead of time that they need a passion, not just to republish the thoughts of others?

Bottom line: As bloggers, our message should always include Dan’s exhortation to find and grow a niche. Not just to repeat what Darren or Rand or Andy or someone else is saying ad infinitum/ad nauseum.

If I feel that you’re trying to write to be popular I will not read your stuff very often. A clue is if your entire blog roll is to A-listers.

I think the key to quality material is to be authentic. Write from your gut.

I like Diane’s comment about audience. It all starts from there.

If it is general information that is out there that my readers want, I write it up in a tutorial format and place it on the learning part of my blog… simple as that.

I hope to build a large community at my site and become a one stop blog on blogging. Unfortunately that means I will have to rehash topics that have been discussed a million times. I could just skip those beginning topics and direct readers to sites that have already covered the topics but if I am getting so many emails, comments, and questions about things that I think have been explained to death, then there is obviously a need for the answers to these questions (even if someone has already answered them before.)

It is great to have a new almost never before thought of niche, but their are so many people out there that are just starting out that don’t now why they should have a hosted WordPress blog instead of a Blogspot blog. There are so many people that just need help starting their first blog or learning how to not make the stupid mistakes we all made when we started.

It always amazes me how many long time bloggers spend so much time talking over new bloggers heads. I don’t make much money online, but their are tons of new bloggers that want to learn how to make even the small amount that I do make. I understand your feelings about what you think are rehashed topics, just remember most people do not read as many feeds and blogs as we do each day and if you write about the topics that other bloggers cover your readers won’t have to leave your blog to go find the topics they are interested in. I want my readers to find other interesting blogs but I also want to provide them with a one stop blog for all their blogging questions.

Your post is a rehash. This is quite possibly one of the most rehashed subjects out there.

A great example of a great post about this is from Micheal Gray and his fabulous “SEO Bloggers Step Away From the Keyboard” video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkXvbjC8DnA

And what about the class act way that Barry Schwartz responded with a video of his own “Please Blog”…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebV_yVozMLA&watch_response

So I guess what I am saying is, Greg, can’t YOU do better than this????

Take care, nice article, and compliments on the dialog you started.

If the bloggers in question are writing for their peers, then, yah sure you betcha, if all they do is regurgitate the same topics that have already been covered everywhere else without adding any new spin or insight, they’re wasting my time.

But some write for people outside the business — prospective customers, maybe. And the needs and interests of that audience will be somewhat different from those of our peers.

Now I’m pretty active on a couple of SEO/marketing related forums, and I can tell you, no matter how many times some of these topics have been covered already, somebody’s bound to show up tomorrow and ask the exact same question.

We *could* blow them off or insult them for not knowing this stuff already. Roll our eyes behind their backs and make snide comments among ourselves about “clueless newbies.” And I know in some fora, that’s exactly what would happen. That’s the culture of those communities, which is their right. I choose to not spend much time in places like that, which is *my* right.

In the communities where I spend most of my time, though, we usually try to answer their question (or at least point them directly to a recent thread that discusses the topic) with a measure of respect. We try to keep in mind we all have to start somewhere, and the best way to learn is often by asking questions. Maybe it’s my background in teaching and corporate training, but I’m just not comfortable with the idea of putting down or making fun of people who are trying to learn.

If a blog’s audience is the less experienced, those who want to learn, prospects and customers, then don’t begrudge the blogger going over frequently discussed topics again. It’s a poor assumption that readers of that blog will have already heard this stuff a thousand times over, because from what I’ve seen in forum questions, they haven’t. No matter how many places it’s already been published.

Or if they have, it hasn’t sunk in. Which isn’t necessarily surprising, and doesn’t necessarily mean they’re stupid or incapable of learning. Sometimes you can read about a concept a thousand times, and it’s not until that thousand-and-first time that something clicks and it all starts to make sense.

I admire the patience and good humor of bloggers who are willing to spend time to go over the basics again and again, and rehash all the “latest” news one more time if that is what will best serve their audience. Of course, I’m probably not going to read their blogs myself (because they’re not writing for me), but I can’t fault them for writing to their audience.

Reporting new information is great, but I think you need to expand upon it or help the reader look at it from a different direction if you want it to be interesting.

I expect (and feel I generally get) higher value from this blog. Seobook tends to go off into cynical, bitter almost melancholy rants from time to time. However to be fair to Aaron at SeoBook, I see that cynicism and bitterness is rife throughout the SEO/SEM industry and this shows up in the posts. I understand in part where it comes from, but I feel that diminishes value as well. I expect a frivolous post now and then because blogs are inherently personal and to be blunt, I’m not paying you for the information. It’s the emo teen angst that comes across sometimes that leaves me scratching my head.

I am grateful for all the marketing blogs out there and just learned which blogs to prioritize.

The benefits each blog provides will always be subjective. If a blog truly is crap, it will be reflected by the masses and it won’t attain any level of popularity. I come across new blogs all the time that make me wonder how they ever built up an audience. I’m sure some people visit Marketing Pilgrim and quickly move on – those that stick around value our take on marketing news.

I don’t think the quality of blogs has gone down, but maybe you’re not being selective enough in your reading list. If you identify the blogs that consistently provide value you to you, I’d go ahead an unsubscribe from the others. As others have said, plenty more blogs in the sea.

The problem is that as a new blogger it is very hard to gain any traction so you end up writing about things that you think will gain links from other bloggers and social media sites rather than the general topics that interest you. I started to fall into this trap and stopped myself (hopefully) and just wrote about what I wanted to.

A lot of bloggers want to offer unique posts and avoid rehashing other content which is great. Unfortunately it means they don’t link to other blogs very often leaving people needing to use linkbait to build readership.

Andy Beard is quite right, Digg bait and linkbait are totally different things.