Game 8: #2 Seed Writing White Papers Versus #7 Seed The Writing Journey
April 2, 2008 by John Hewitt
The Matchup
Second-seeded blog Writing White Papers faces the young but hungry seventh-seeded blog The Writing Journey. The first 2-7 matchup yielded our tournament’s first upset. Will Writing White papers escape the Lucky Seven Curse?
Introductions
Writing White Papers
WWP is one of the more popular writing blogs on the net. I am constantly amazed by this, because white papers seem to be such a small writing niche. I guess that shows what I know. The author is Michael Stelzner, who has extensive experience in the field and has written a best selling writing book on the subject, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged
The Writing Journey
TWJ is a relatively new blog. The author, Bob Younce, is an Internet writing veteran however, and he has the site off to a fast start. The topic is writing for the Internet and of course, The Writing Journey.
Archives
The Writing Journey
TWJ has only been around for two months. There have been plenty of posts in those two months, but the archive is not yet as full as many of the others in the competition. However, Younce has an excellent archives page that makes it easy to find the useful articles he has written so far.
Result: Younce slam dunks for two points.
Writing White Papers
WWR dates back to July of 2006. Since then, Stelzner has piled up an impressive number of posts about the subject of writing white papers. Unfortunately, he has not used an Archive page or other strategy to organize them, so you must read through them in order or randomly to get a feel for what he is doing.
Result: Stelzner sinks a two-pointer off the glass.
We begin the contest tied 2-2.
Design
The Writing Journey
This is a very attractive blog design. My only two complaints are minor. The graphic in the masthead with the W and J in it seems a little off. Either the size of the letters or the font just does not look right. Also, some of the graphics accompanying the posts feel a little random. I often don’t get their relationship to the information in the articles. I have many compliments to give as well though. The use of color on the blog (mostly soothing shades of blue with gray and black highlights) is quite attractive without being distracting. The site balances three columns and a lot of different features without feeling cluttered. The RSS graphic is a perfect match for the rest of the site. Overall, this may be my favorite blog theme so far in the competition.
Result: TWJ makes a clean three pointer.
Writing White Papers
Stelzner has a well-designed and attractive masthead. His two-column format avoids some of the clutter that three or four column blogs are prone to. As I mentioned in the introductions, he has a headshot displayed prominently. Clicking on it leads to his about page, which is a nice touch.
Result: Stelzner scores a three pointer for providing a professional but attractive design.
Both teams pour on the points, leaving us with a 5-5 tie.
Usability and Navigation
The Writing Journey
User and blogger friendly features abound:
- Most popular articles
- Recent Posts
- Top Commenters
- Recent Comments
- A prominent subscription button
- An email subscription field
- A well-organized archives page
- A You Comment I Follow reward for commenters
- A powerful but unobtrusive Share This button that allows people to share his article across many mediums
This site makes it easy to do just about everything a blog can do.
Result: A three pointer from the NBA line… Nothing but net!
Writing White Papers
The WWP blog is part of a larger site that sells Stelzner’s book and his services. Unfortunately, clicking on the masthead leads to the site home rather than the blog home. Stelzner displays a newsletter subscription feature prominently, appearing to prefer that to the blog feed subscription button, which appears near the bottom of the right-hand column. Stelzner maintains a list of the month’s top commenters. He provides a press page with good information about his book. There is also that nice feature that allows people to click on his photo to learn more about him. WWP makes use of the same Share This feature that TWH uses.
Result: The lack of an archive page costs Stelzner the three pointer, but he picks up two from the free throw line.
TWJ takes an 8-7 lead over WWP.
Purpose
The Writing Journey
TWJ’s stated purpose is to be about writing on the Internet. Younce seems to have a finger in just about every piece of the Internet writing pie. He blogs for others. He blogs for himself. He writes for content aggregators such as Associate Content and Constant Content. He has the background to discuss the subject and he keeps the focus pretty closely on the topic.
Result: TWJ hits a three pointer.
Writing White Papers
Stelzner’s early posts were zeroed in on white paper writing, but as his blog has progressed, he seems open to many side topics and a few posts from out of left field.
Result: WWP hits a two-pointer from the baseline.
TWJ extends its lead to 11-9. It is starting to look like an upset is in the making.
Personality
The Writing Journey
Younce wears his heart on his sleeve (or at least near the lapel). He openly discusses his life, good and bad, and he is passionate in his opinions. I quickly felt like I knew who he was and his personality is a reason for me to keep visiting his site.
Result: TWJ sinks a three pointer off the glass.
Writing White Papers
Stelzner shows his personality more and more as the blog continues but his personality does not appear to drive the site.
Result: Stelzner makes a two from inside the paint.
TWJ is now up 14-11. We are almost assured of another upset.
Five Most Recent Posts
Writing White Papers
Can a Team Write a White Paper?
Someone asked Stelzner if it is possible for a group to write a white paper. Stelzner is really more of a lone wolf kind of a writer, so he threw the question out to the community. The consensus is no.
One Way to Standout During Slow Times…
Stelzner’s believes the solution to slow business times is to give away great content. He’s a blogger, so this isn’t exactly a radical point-of-view for him. Still, he makes a good point about drumming up business.
Stelzner celebrates Easter and the fact that his book is on the bestsellers list for writing books. This is either off topic or promotional. Either way, it doesn’t add to my knowledge.
4 Ways to Make PDFs Search Engine Friendly
This is a solid article. It would be helpful to anyone who wants to put their PDF document on the web. It isn’t really white paper specific, but it is good advice.
This is a retelling of a cute conversation that Stelzner had with his daughter. She isn’t discussing white papers but she seems sweet.
Overall I don’t feel as if Stelzner is really focusing on white papers in these articles. For me, someone who doesn’t know that much about white papers but does have a business writing background, this would get me no closer to learning the skill.
Result: One point from the charity stripe.
The Writing Journey
Why Internet Writing is Better than Print Writing
Younce provides a spirited defense of blogging and Internet writing as a superior way to make a living than print freelancing. I agree. I enjoy writing much more when I know I am going to be published.
Why Real Writers Don’t Write on the Internet
Younce again throws down the gauntlet, challenging the notion that writing for print is better than writing. Again, I agree. I haven’t sent a query to a magazine in years. It is too easy to just write something and publish it on the web than to ask publishers if they like your idea and then wait for them to respond.
Banging My Gong - The End: Why I Blog
Younce delivers a podcast speech about why he blogs. I’m sure it’s enjoyable, but my sound card went out so it is no good to me (the dangers of podcasting are numerous).
Banging My Gong - The Brand, Part 4
Younce discusses the paths that lead him to blogging. In essence, he received an offer from a blog when he needed it and he started writing posts for that blog and others. He has only recently started blogging for himself.
Banging My Gong - The Brand, Part 3
Younce writes about his life in the computer industry and how the money never quite balanced out with the soul-crushing pointlessness of the work. I’ve worked for IBM, so I can relate.
Because Younce’s blog is about Internet writing and The Writing Journey, all of these posts fit into his theme nicely. The last three articles were part of a series in which he charted his entrance into the field of writing. That is certainly a journey. I’m going to give Younce a pass on the Podcast because that’s the way the technology ball bounces. The other four blogs were all interesting, had a firm point of view, and held true to the topic of the Writing Journey.
Result: Younce sinks a three pointer.
TWJ finishes WWP off 17-12.
Post Game Analysis
Wow. What a performance. TWJ does so many things well that it is just scary. WWP ran into a steamroller.
What They Can Work On
Writing White Papers
WWP is a solid blog with an excellent reputation. I think that an archive page, especially one designed as a tutorial in white-paper writing would be a big step forward.
The Writing Journey
TWJ only needs some minor adjustments. I suggest a better design for the masthead graphic and a little more relevance to the graphics in the actual postings. TWJ is on the right track. I believe its following will grow steadily as long as Younce keeps up the quality and frequency of his posts.
Tune in next time when our third top-seeded blog, John August, takes on another young but hungry blog, Quiet Rebel Writer. We have yet to see a #1 seed suffer a defeat, will this be the first?
Thanks for your thoughtful analysis of my blog!
Hats off to Bob
Thank you, Michael. I felt like it was a much closer match-up, myself. Surprised the hell out of me, actually.
Thanks for your kind words, John, and for the pass on the video. That was an experiment that didn’t go as well as I wanted it to, but I’m leaving it up as a reminder of what NOT to do… from graininess to sound quality to my script-less ramble, you should be glad your sound was off!
You’re right about my pics, too. My wife’s pointed it out to me before. I often wind up choosing a picture after a thoroughly irrational stream of consciousness… I’ll work on it. Great feedback.
As to the masthead… what can I say? I’m a writer, not a graphic artist! LOL. My wife’s been building me a new one this morning. I like the way it looks, but I’m going to wait until MWP’s Sunday Drive-by before I experiment with putting that up. Should be up before round 2.
Apologies for the overuse of ellipses, everyone.
Michael,
Thank you for not throwing tomatoes at me.
Bob,
It was a well-fought victory. You matched up very well in all the categories. Sooner or later, someone was going to hit all the right buttons. When I run the next round, some of the categories will change. I’m keeping mum on which ones, but nobody should get too comfortable.
Stelzner’s blog content delivers more meat per post than does Bob’s. Also, I find Stelzner’s site to be cleaner and easier to navigate. Both blogs are good, but Stelzner definitely comes out the clear winner.
Wrangler,
Everyone should feel free to second guess the ref.
Many of my point deductions could be questioned. A good archive page would have increased the usability score and the archive score. Perhaps I value those too highly, but I do think that they are important, especially when you go looking for the “meat per post”.
I also happened to run into a situation where his last five posts weren’t particularly on topic. Had I reviewed the blog at another time, those points could have swung the contest much closer.
Right there you find four of the points that WWP didn’t get. It would also be easy to argue that I was overly generous in my points to TWJ. A couple of the categories were between a two and a three, and I ended up giving TWJ the higher score both times. There, in a nutshell, is the margin of victory.
@ John - I have no intention of getting comfortable. In fact, my assumption is that I’ve got a target on my back, for now. I’m tickled to still be in it.
@ Wrangler - I’m very interested in what you’re saying. Can you help me out some? I’d love to be able to improve in the areas you mention.
Specifically, what do you mean by more “meat” in the posts? Are you thinking about practical advice (do x, then y, then z) or something along those lines?
Also, in terms of navigation/cleanliness, what can I improve? I’ve just switched themes in the last few weeks, and I’m always struggling with sidebar arrangement and whatnot.
I’m very open to suggestions. I’m relatively new to the blogging game, and would appreciate the constructive criticism, if you’ve got the time.
Another exciting battle, John. What I really love about the Madness is getting to really explore other writing blogs on an in-depth basis.
I’m prepping myself for tomorrow’s matchup, me vs. John August. I’m stretching out, getting a good sleep, no sex (weakens the knees), and drinking some protein shakes. Now it’s all mental…