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Game 17: #1 Seed Copyblogger Versus #4 Seed Confident Writing

The Matchup

Copyblogger cruised through its first round matchup on the strength of its team concept. Confident Writing won its contest by taking a more personal approach. How will these two styles compare in this community focused second round?

Community

Copyblogger

One of the benefits of being a blog as large as Copyblogger (36000+ subscribers) is that there are plenty of people around to comment. Copyblogger has a thriving community. Of course, many of the people who comment have also been guest bloggers on the site, which makes it hard to tell the performers from the audience sometimes. Copyblogger averages about 40 comments per post. A bit less than half of those have legitimate substance, and contribute to the conversation. A good half of those are from people who have blogged for Copyblogger in the past (but not on that particular article). The number of substantial comments would be less if you eliminated all the guest bloggers, but their contributions are legitimate. Overall, Copyblogger has a solid community. With all those subscribers, I actually expected even more comments, but I won’t hold their subscription base against them.

Result: Copyblogger hits a three-point shot

Confident Writing

Confident Writing has approximately 1.5% of the subscriber base that Copyblogger has, but gets about 20% of the comments that Copyblogger does (at least for the last 10 articles). CF averages about 12 comments per post, although there is a lot of variation between posts. Writer Joanna Young spends a lot of time engaging her readers by answering their questions and giving them positive feedback. The comments do tend to add to the conversation, although there are a few “nice post” entries.

Result: Confident Writing hits a long two-pointer, just short of three-point range.

Copyblogger takes an early 3-2 lead.

Value

Copyblogger

The most recent ten articles at Copyblogger emphasize blogging far more than writing. With articles such as 6 Ways That Bloggers are Like Rappers and The Richard Branson Guide to Making Money With Blogs, the get rich blogging emphasis seems to be leading the writing emphasis. There is advice on persuasive writing and a good article about using newspaper techniques but they are in the minority in the last ten posts. The argument can be made that the technical and promotional aspects of blogging will help blog writers but if I included all of the major blogs about blogging, this would be a much different competition. On the plus side for Copyblogger, the writers there do tend to write in depth about their topics.

Result: Copyblogger drives to the basket and puts in a two off the glass.

Confident Writing

Every month, Young focuses on a single overriding theme. This month’s theme is Powerful Writing. About half of her last 10 articles address that topic directly and most of them make some reference to the concept. Two of the other articles are focused on different aspects of comments on blogs, which isn’t quite as focused on writing and reminds me a bit of Copyblogger’s emphasis on blogging over writing. Most of the entries, though, are focused on making people better writers.

Result: Confident Writing knocks down a three pointer.

The score is all tied up at 5-5.

Top Commented Article #1

Copyblogger

6 Ways That Bloggers are Like Rappers 18/100

This article was written by Clay Collins. Collins details the ways that bloggers and rappers are similar. Some of the items seem pretty accurate, while others seem like a bit of a stretch. It’s a fun article, and I can see why it got the greatest audience response. The slant of the article was to portray the more positive aspects of bloggers (such as the fact that we are prolific) but one of the commenters quickly “remixed” the post and prolific became lack of quality control. Overall it is a cute, fun post. If it were more about writing than blogs, I would have liked it even more.

Result: Copyblogger slam dunks for two points, playing to the crowd.

Confident Writing

The Secret: 20 Ways To Attract More Comments On Your Blog

It is interesting how a post about comments generates the most comments. This is more of a blogging article than a confident writing article, but it does have some advice about writing for blogs such as “leave your posts slightly undone”. She mentions many of her past commenters, which of course encourages them to comment on this article. Some of the commenters indicate which of the tips they think is best and a few expand on the tips.

Result: Confident Writing plays to the crows as well with a turnaround jump shot for two.

The score remains tied at 7-7.

Top Commented Article #2

Copyblogger

Will RSS Ever Go Mainstream?

Brian Clark writes about RSS acceptance. His article isn’t particularly high on information. It seems like more about praising Alltop, a web site that he doesn’t really explain very well (It allows people to read “all the top stories” about a subject). The comments do improve on the article. Sonia Simone brings up the issue that bothered me when I first discovered RSS. Clicking on the link would just bring up a bunch of code. Subscribing wasn’t quick and easy and I really didn’t push RSS at all until moved to FeedBurner and was able to add an easy interface. The article itself isn’t that informative (and isn’t about writing) but the comments drive the discussion and make the overall subject more interesting.

Result: With an assist from the comments section, Copyblogger hits a layup for two.

Confident Writing

Do You Realize The Power Of Your Words?

This article is much more in line with the Confident Writing approach. It is a long article that mixes personal details with reflections on writing. It focuses on the power of words to spur action as it discuses Young’s decision to move to the Isle of Arran, and how the encouragement she found in other people’s writing and in her own lead her to take a chance she’s been wanting to take for a long time. The article provoked some introspective comments from her community as they contemplated their choices.

Result: Confident Writing hits a powerful three-pointer.

Confident Writing takes a 10-9 lead.

Top Commented Article #3

Copyblogger

Five Lessons From Newspapers to Boost Your Blog’s Circulation 15/48

This is the most writing-oriented post in the most recent 10, so I’m glad it made the top three. It is written by Simon Payn. I don’t agree with all of the advice offered (Payn wants writers to post shorter, tighter articles and I think that brevity is already too common on blogs) but there is some solid advice. Newspaper-style writing has been around for a long time because it works. I don’t want every blog to read like a newspaper article, but there are benefits to using news writing methods. The comments weren’t as informative as I would have expected though. Most of them were of the “great story” variety. There wasn’t much added value.

Result: Copyblogger hits another slam dunk, but the crowd is busy doing the wave. Two points.

Confident Writing

What I Learned From Working In A Sweet Shop

This article is more about life lesson than writing lessons. It discusses what Young learned from her first job. She discusses such qualities as honesty, flexibility and initiative. The article seemed to strike a cord with her readers, encouraging them to discuss their own experiences with work.

Result: Confident writing banks in a two-pointer off the glass.

Confident Writing pulls off the upset with a narrow 12-11 victory

Post Game Analysis

In the battle of the communities, it seems that the Copyblogger community cares more about the ins and outs of blogging than the process of writing. This seems fair though, because the Copyblogger emphasis seems to be heavier on the “blogger” than the “copy”, at least over the course of the last 10 articles. The people pay more attention when an article is about bloggers, blogging and driving traffic to blogs. The Confident Writing community also seems to perk up when the topic drifts a little. The deciding factor in the contest was Confident Writing’s greater emphasis on articles about writing, whether the community followed or not.