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Posted by John Lockwood on April 8th, 2008

Son of Freelance Face-Off

Recently Chris Knight over at EZineArticles took notice of my original Freelance Face-Off between Associated Content and EZineArticles.  Michelle Devon had this to say about Freelance Face-Off classic:

Hummm, I write for both AC and EzineArticles, and I see them as two completely different animals and wouldn’t have ever thought to compare them, because they are so radically different.

What’s that you say?  Apples and oranges?  Man, that’s it.  The rhetorical gauntlet has been thrown down, and you know how I get in the presence of a down thrown gauntlet of a rhetorical nature.

I Got Your Apples and Oranges Right Here

No, seriously, Michelle, it’s all good, especially since our conversation made me think to compare those true apples and oranges, CatalystBlogger and Twitter.

CatalystBlogger is Jennifer Williamson’s excellent Freelance Writing Blog that I recommended elsewhere.  Its main characteristic is thoughtful, clear writing about interesting Freelancing topics.

Twitter is the social networking debutante du jour.  Love me, she cries, for I am still young and interesting.  Its main characteristic is that you have 140 characters to get your message across, which everyone is doing, incessantly.

So What’s The Relationship?

I wouldn’t have thought to compare CatalystBlogger and Twitter, except that today I was working on an article series that was going to mention Twitter, and I happened to check my traffic logs. 

Here’s an interesting section from them:

I say I “happened to check” my traffic logs, but I’ll let you in on a little secret.  That’s like an alcoholic saying “I happened to be enjoying a beer.” 

I can’t stop checking my traffic logs.  I need professional help.

Twelve Hits From Twitter Versus Thirteen From CatalystBlogger?

Are you serious? 

As good as Jennifer Williamson’s blog is, no one would dispute that Twitter has gotten more attention.  In terms of Google references, Twitter is approximately 1,000 times more popular than CatalystBlogger.  Yet in terms of recognition for Inklit, my participation on Twitter has gotten me not only nothing particularly worth reading, but one less web site hit than Jennifer’s blog.

Being Visible Is Not Being Interesting

There’s a difference between being visible and being interesting.  Twitter is visible.  CatalystBlogger is interesting.

The reason I got more traffic from Jennifer’s blog than I got from Twitter even though Twitter is 1,000 times more visible is that the people reading Jennifer’s blog are looking for something interesting to read, so they click through to my blog (only to discover that I’m not as interesting as Jennifer — but what the heck, I get the benefit).

In contrast to Jennifer’s readers, the people on Twitter are interested in being visible, and telling people they’re in the shower now, or what have you.

“Twit.”  That should have been a warning.

Present company included.

Is There a Moral Here?

Here are several of them.  I’m running a special.

• Being around people who are interesting is worthwhile.
• Commenting on other people’s blogs can be a more effective traffic building “technique” than hanging around on Twitter.
• Be interesting, and visibility will follow.
• Tweeting is for the birds.
• Friendship doesn’t abide your 140 character limit.
• There will be a new debutante in six months.