How to Be Interesting

Interesting

“Be interesting.”

It’s good advice, but it’s nothing new. You’ve probably known from the beginning that being able to interest readers is a crucial part of growing a popular blog. It’s pretty obvious that no one is going to stick around unless they find your blog interesting.

But how are you supposed to do it exactly? How can you “be interesting?”

Far too much of what we write about attention and interest is abstract. We talk about differentiation, value, and triggers — all useful concepts, but you can’t point to them. You can’t hold out your hand and say, “Give me some differentiation.” As a result, it’s hard to wrap your mind around what those things actually mean.

I’d like to change that. Over the past few weeks, I’ve paid attention to the things that command attention, both of myself and others, and I’ve made a list of 21 techniques that work. It’s far from all of them I’m sure, but it should be enough to get you started.

1) Be wrong: The world is full of people trying to do the right things. It’s become so common that many of us are bored by it. We long for someone that is willing to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, be the wrong thing. If you have the courage to be that person, you’ll find lots of people paying attention to you.

2) Be right: You can also gain attention by being right… but only if you’re more right than everyone else. Run a mile faster than anyone else, explain your topic more clearly than anyone else, be funnier than everyone else. Embody perfection, and people will take notice.

3) Communicate what others can’t: As writers, we take ideas from our heads and put them on the page. Sometimes we forget how difficult that is for some people and how valuable that makes us. Lots of people would give anything to be able to say what they mean. But they can’t. So, they turn to songs, books, and art that communicate for them. Be a producer of those things, and you’ll never lose their attention.

4) Do something: Everybody online is trying to say something important, but very few are trying to do something important. If you want attention, dare not to just give advice to others, but to live that advice yourself. Then blog about it.

5) Surprise people: Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, say that one of the best ways to set yourself apart is to break people’s “guessing machines.” Take a surprising position, making outlandish analogy, or otherwise do the opposite of what you normally do. As long as it’s unexpected, people will stop and pay attention.

6) Make people laugh: Bloggers are far too serious. We’re so busy trying to teach that we forget to entertain. As a result, large portions of our readerships fall asleep. And what’s the best way to wake people up? Humor. Public speakers have been using it for ages, and as long as it’s appropriate for your audience, humor can wake your readers up and get them paying attention again.

7) Offer them an aspirin: Some of the best blog posts ever written are simple as an aspirin. Your reader has a headache, you have a cure, so you offer them that cure in the form of a blog post. They pay attention… not because of how pretty or well crafted your blog post is, but because it cures their headache. Conclusion: try acting like a pharmacist, not a blogger, and you’ll never lack for attention.

8) Show a (half) naked woman: Ever noticed that a disproportionate number of advertisements feature a scantily clad woman? That’s because it works. It draws the attention of not only men (as you’d expect), but also women. For whatever reason, nearly everyone finds their attention drawn to it. Here’s proof that it even works with blog posts.

9) Tell them who they are: “Who am I?” is not just a question; it’s a universal quest that most of us follow for our entire lives, continually defining and redefining ourselves, always insecure about whether who we are being is really us. As a blogger, you can (and should) harness that insecurity. Turn your blog into something that defines your readers, like this one, this one, and this one.

10) Predict the future: Every once in awhile, use your expertise to make a bizarre claim about the future. If you have any authority at all, people will take notice. Imagine if Brian wrote a convincing, well reasoned argument that online courses are the business model of the future. Oh wait… he did, and some of the biggest names in Internet marketing continue to talk about it.

11) Unleash your inner dork: Many blog posts are like miniature textbooks; they’re instructive, well-organized, and put you to sleep with their lack of enthusiasm. If you want to become famous on the web, stop trying to sound like an all-knowing teacher and unleash the “inner dork” inside of you — the part of you that’s so enamored with your topic that everyone else thinks it’s funny… but they pay attention anyway. More on dorkyness here.

12) Be courageous: Most of the videos on YouTube are there to make you laugh, but amongst them, you’ll find this rare gem that has attracted the attention of over 9 million people. The fact is, pretty much everyone has felt the foot of adversity on their neck, but very few of us respond to it with courage and grace. Be one of those people, and you’ll find the world watching.

13) Be startlingly honest: Every once in awhile, tell the truth. Be so honest that you’re scared to click the “Post” button. Be so honest that no one knows what to say in the comments section. Be so honest that your lawyer tells you to stop. You’ll feel better… and people will talk about you.

14) Be irreverent: Want to stir people up? Make fun of their god, their politics, their family — anything they hold dear. Yes, they’ll be offended, but lots of other people will think it’s hilarious. If you can’t stomach being hated by a portion of the world and loved by another, then you don’t deserve to have a blog.

15) Tell a good story: This one has been drilled into us so many times that I almost didn’t include it… except for one thing: people still don’t get it. Yes, stories support your points, make solid openers, and teach people while entertaining them, but a good story can make you a legend. I’m not talking about the little anecdotes that pepper the blogosphere. I’m talking about the story that haunts you on your deathbed. Forget about all the others. Tell me that one.

16) Break an important piece of news: Every time Google does something new, thousands of bloggers write about it. That’s great for Google, but where’s the real benefit for the bloggers? The first one to break the story is the only one that matters. It gets all of the traffic, links, and authority. Everyone else is just an echo.

17) Disprove the proven: For a long time, everyone thought you had to be the best to be successful. Then Chris Anderson came along and turned the world upside down with The Long Tail. He disproved what a lot of people held to be true, and it made him (even more) famous. Granted, it’s hard to engineer a breakthrough, but if you run across one, people will talk about you for years.

18) Pick the perfect picture: Want to make a good post better? Pick a picture that expresses exactly what you mean, and put it at the top of your post. Yes, it takes time, but the extra traffic is more than worth it.

19) Master the metaphor: Metaphors are the paths we create to lead our readers to our ideas. Create one strong enough, and it will become a highway of attention, leading readers to your blog more quickly than any other technique here (except maybe the last one. More on metaphors here.

20) Create a work of art: Many bloggers crank out posts the way slaughterhouses crank out chickens. They’re ugly things, fit for nothing but consumption. If you want to surprise people, stop and put some actual effort into your blog posts, creating a work of art. You’ll be surprised by how many people remember it long after it’s been swept off your front page.

21) Put your readers first: Yes, you’re the blogger. Yes, you’re the one with talent. Yes, you’re the one working your tail off. But it doesn’t matter. The one and only thing of consequence is your reader. You can rail against this fact for as long as you like, but as long you do, you’ll never be interesting.

Feel free to bookmark this page at del.icio.us for future reference.

About the Author: Jon Morrow is an Associate Editor of Copyblogger and co-author of Keyword Research for Bloggers.

Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. The stunning design and innovative options panel make Thesis perfect for beginners and professionals alike. Find out more below:

109 comments... add one

#1 Daniel Smith → 07.18.08 at 9:35 am

Hey, interesting post. (Someone had to.)

I barely know where to start, you made so many points, but one that stuck out was the aspirin comment. When I started blogging, I found that helping people, and solving issues was the best way to drive grateful traffic. And grateful people are happy people.

In fact, sometimes just solving a problem you yourself have and assuming others have it too can be effective. Case in point, I wrote a post on why I left Wordpress.com for Blogger and another on how I’ve come to use Google Reader as my web brain.

Both were borne out of personal frustration, but they have been two of my most popular posts to date (and neither contained scandalously clad women.)

Great article Jon, thanks for sharing!

Daniel Smith
#2 Great, so-so and not so great ways to be Interesting → 07.18.08 at 9:47 am

[…] Copyblogger has a great post on How to Be Interesting with some (21 so far) great, so-so and not so great ways to be interesting. Warning: Don’t try them all at once or you come off looking psycotic(er). […]
#3 Anuj Adhiya → 07.18.08 at 9:48 am

“Be Wrong” - that for me is probably the hardest thing to do.
It’s so difficult putting yourself in a position that might invite (unwanted) criticism. But as you mentioned - thats not really the point - the point is to get people to pay attention and respond.
Thanks
A.
PS - The Borat example is perfect - gave me my chuckle for the day.
#4 Jeff Crites → 07.18.08 at 9:52 am

Not surprisingly, another gem from CopyBlogger, the type of post to read and re-read. And then read again, before ‘doing something’.
#5 Daniel Smith → 07.18.08 at 9:57 am

Whoops. I meant to type “scantily clad women” in my comment above… but I guess scandalously works too. As typos go…
#6 Karen Putz → 07.18.08 at 10:10 am

Give me the scantily clad men and I’ll agree to this. :)
#7 Jonathan Mead → 07.18.08 at 10:20 am

Some of these points have obviously been stated before, but you did a good job of adding freshness to them. Kudos to you for that.
#8 Dedrick Sprick → 07.18.08 at 10:30 am

My faves from this list are “be wrong”, “communicate what others can’t” and “do something”. Thanks for the blogging tips.
#9 Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map → 07.18.08 at 10:38 am

Great tips! I’ve enjoyed this article!
#10 Sherwin → 07.18.08 at 10:41 am

Man, that video just gave me goosebumps…I couldn’t move. And the technique about showing a half-nekked woman brought this article back to memory :-)
#11 Tammy Lenski → 07.18.08 at 10:41 am

I’m disappointed in you, Copyblogger.

Half-naked women? Sure, it works. But do you endorse things just because they work? If so, I can list a whole bunch of slimy things you might consider for your list.

This coming from Copyblogger feels surprising to me…like when someone whose integrity you value shows they just want to peak down your shirt after all. It’s like going back to high school.
#12 WendyJRoan → 07.18.08 at 10:44 am

Thank you for sharing this on Twitter. I found it an enlightening post. No images of how I would implement some of your suggestions popped into my head right away. I will have to think about it a bit. Certainly, my blog can use some more character. Thank you! This was helpful to me. — Wendy J. Roan
#13 Brian Clark → 07.18.08 at 10:46 am

Tammy, I believe that was an attempt at humor. You know, break up the list with some levity?

As Jon said, bloggers are far too serious. Blog readers, too.
#14 Ron → 07.18.08 at 10:47 am

This first thing I thought about when I read the headline was Pick Up Artists. I read the book The Game awhile back and eventually realized the best thing you can do when trying to pick up women, was to make yourself more interesting. This of course relates to all aspects of life, including blogging.

To add a couple of things I learned.

#1 Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. Too often as bloggers it’s all about us. Remember who is listening.

#2 Do interesting stuff. If you met someone and they said they had a blog you’d be ho-hum. But if they said they raced cars, you’d be interested. Be out of the ordinary.
#15 Tammy Lenski → 07.18.08 at 10:49 am

Brian, that’s not good enough. We women have just heard too many men tell us to lighten up after we’ve heard the 10,000th sexist joke. It’s a predictable response that does nothing for me. I do appreciate your direct note, though.
#16 Brian Clark → 07.18.08 at 10:54 am

Well Tammy, the post Jon pointed to with the picture was from Sonia Simone (which is the reason it’s funny).

Irony, not sexism.
#17 WebSite Design Orange County → 07.18.08 at 11:05 am

…and then one time at band camp
#18 Tammy Lenski → 07.18.08 at 11:06 am

Brian, here’s a tip from a conflict resolution expert: Defending doesn’t work well because the person who disagrees with you finds your defensive response lacking. That’s the case here.

Explaining doesn’t work, because it assumes benign intention sanitizes unpleasant impact. That’s the case here.

Acknowledging works, because acknowledgment and agreement are not the same. Acknowledging works because it (a) sends the message the blogger appreciates the reader’s interaction, (b) sends the message you’re willing to consider an alternative view, and (c) sends the message that you comprehend that there are many legitimate views.
#19 Karen Post → 07.18.08 at 11:17 am

I so enjoy and benefit from all your writing. Your point on, courage to say what your really think, is my favorite. I’m an entrepreneur who blogs and is a professional speaker. One of my greatest experiences was enrolling in a stand up comedy class. This is great place to practice “being interesting and nothing is sacred”. It also unleashed so much of my reluctance to be really honest.
#20 Brian Clark → 07.18.08 at 11:17 am

Tammy, I didn’t write this post, Jon did. It’s up to Jon to acknowledge your competing viewpoint as the author, not me.

I’m just sharing my point of view, just like you are. Mine happens to be different from yours, but you seem to think you’re automatically entitled to be right. In case you didn’t get the memo, being rigidly PC and humorless is not as cool as it never used to be.

Quit telling me how to think and what to say, and I’ll show you the same courtesy. You’re coming across as more of a bully than a conflict resolution expert.
#21 gaston monescu → 07.18.08 at 11:30 am

22) read the new yorker
#22 Janice Cartier → 07.18.08 at 11:40 am

Tammy-Let’s use your formula: You don’t like to see the naked figure used to illustrate a point. You somehow think less of those who do. Have I got that right?

Jon- this is my favorite post you’ve written. For all the things it says about fully exploring the possibilities of communication in this discipline.
#23 Jon Morrow → 07.18.08 at 11:43 am

Tammy: You seem to be looking for an apology. I can understand why, but I don’t feel one is justified, nor do I feel any explanation will satisfy you. So… I don’t think there’s anything else for me to say.

Ron: That’s absolutely right. What is dating, if it’s not about getting attention? These techniques apply there as well.
#24 Kristen → 07.18.08 at 11:44 am

Loved the post (and the discussion is darn interesting,too!) I recently read Made to Stick (and reviewed it on my site in April) and this post certainly is (sticky)… Thanks for all the great ideas!! Now where can I find a picture of a scantily clad male… J/K!
#25 Bill Stevens → 07.18.08 at 11:59 am

#14

Richard Dawkins

I mentioned him recently in a casual conversation and was almost thrown out of room.
#26 Jack Kuperman → 07.18.08 at 11:59 am

What should I do if I have a story and nothing else?

No right and no wrong, no half nakeds that take aspirin.
Instead of being irreverent, it’s irrelevant.

And of course it lacks readers.

But the story! The story!
#27 Jacqueline from SEOGroup → 07.18.08 at 12:01 pm

I like to be a little (okay, more than a little sometimes) irreverent in my blog posts. Ultra serious writing can be pretty dry and boring to read, and I’d rather write in a voice that is more similar to how people actually talk.
#28 Janice Cartier → 07.18.08 at 12:12 pm

Hm. A little nudity and things get sticky.

Yep Brian, I said that …because I know you stock plenty of towels.
#29 Brian Clark → 07.18.08 at 12:34 pm

OK, now *I’m* offended. OK, not really. :-)
#30 Bucktowndusty @ FromThePen.com → 07.18.08 at 12:45 pm

Dear Tammy,

As far as I know, that was your first ever comment, and you didn’t even introduce yourself first, compliment Brian on his tie, or wait till after you ate to complain to the waiter about the food. How offensive!
#31 LiviuX → 07.18.08 at 12:52 pm

This post is useless. You can’t be interesting from reading a post.
#32 Janice Cartier → 07.18.08 at 1:40 pm

Nope especially if that post is up your butt. Hit delete, Jan , hit delete…..oh, no Mr. Bill……oh no…..
#33 Alex Fayle → 07.18.08 at 2:07 pm

I think this has been one of the most enjoyable comment threads I’ve ever read on here. More more!

There’s a post for you guys - how to leverage your commentors to bring in traffic…
#34 Bill Stevens → 07.18.08 at 2:39 pm

I think what happened with Tammy and Brian is Tammy came here and turned everything around with #2, #5, #8, #12, and #13.

I just know this was a traffic building technique she was trying to use to get us to browse over to her site. Which I did. Ahhh!! Got me!! Nice site by the way. I like the updateable story area with Ajax (it looks like Ajax anyway) :) Sorry, once a geek always a geek.
#35 Todd Andrews → 07.18.08 at 3:02 pm

The only thing worse than a boring post, is a boring comment (<—)
#36 WendyJRoan → 07.18.08 at 3:17 pm

Should I respond — Should I leave it alone

After grappling with myself for a bit…

My thoughts as I read the post and then my opinion about the comments afterward.

I noticed the reference to a naked girl. I thought “yep… too bad that works”. I made a split second **choice** not to look further into that.

I moved on to the next bullet point - because I care about marketing and people’s insights and experience regarding it.

I enjoyed the rest of the post - essentially taking what I could use, what made the most sense for my style and personality, and just left the rest.

It’s all about choice, acceptance of what we cannot change and priorities.

I personally knew I would be offended (yes I guess I’m a bit conservative) by the naked girl - so, I didn’t go there.

I love the information here. It’s not new, but it is from a new perspective.

The only thing I could add to this post about how to be interesting is this: Don’t forget to still be yourself. You can push yourself out of your comfort zone and try something different for sure. But, it’s my hope that people don’t don’t create a false image of themselves - thereby not really being true to themselves.
#37 The Goal of Good Writing | John Luther, Writer → 07.18.08 at 4:12 pm

[…] [Update]: If my definition is too simplistic for you, Jonathan Morrow has 21 more ideas. […]
#38 pia → 07.18.08 at 5:12 pm

A great post, except for the naked girl bit. I agree with Tammy, both her initial comment and her comment about jokes and lightening up. Don’t tell us to lighten up Brian when it is not you struggling to get men to relate to you beyond your appearance.
On the other hand Jon did say it is ‘interesting’ to be ‘wrong’ in a post. You were Jon…and it is interesting… and gosh it works…I am duped again:-)
#39 Janice Cartier → 07.18.08 at 5:24 pm

Pia- Did you read Sonia’s article?
#40 Sonia Simone → 07.18.08 at 6:07 pm

I feel like I should write something, but I can’t come up with anything interesting. What the hell, I’ll give it a shot.

I wrote a post about being virtually naked. We used an image of a naked woman. The image attracted a lot of attention to the words, which is the bit I care about.

Different people will see it with different eyes, but I didn’t see anything nasty or sexist or exploitative in the image we picked. Startling, sure. We don’t get a lot of naked on copyblogger.

Frankly, I deal with some pretty disgusting sexism on a not-infrequent basis in the professional world. People (ok, men) who don’t take women’s ideas seriously, who value work less because it’s produced by women, and who simply can’t get beyond their own definition of a woman as about 65% of a man.

I get so tired of this I could put a fork in somebody’s eye. It pisses me off in a very major way. If I’m going to go to the barricades, it’s going to be over that.

I’ve never had the slightest inkling of that kind of BS in my professional dealings with Brian or Jon. They respect me, they respect my work, my biology doesn’t particularly seem to interest them. It’s really quite refreshing.

I understand that other women (and sometimes men) have a different reaction. Just speaking for myself, naked ladies don’t bother me. People like to look at pictures of naked people. *I* like to look at pictures of naked people. Naked people are inherently interesting. I just see it as a fascinating bit of monkey-wiring.

And yeah, I do think it would work with a naked guy as well. It’s a different dynamic, but it’s still interesting.

That’s how I see it. You may see it differently.
#41 Sonia Simone → 07.18.08 at 6:11 pm

oh, p.s., I forgot the most important thing–Jon, I loved this post! Bookmarking it for when I am desperate to come up with decent post ideas.
#42 Kelly → 07.18.08 at 6:16 pm

Janice,

Thank you for saying what I waited until reading all the comments to say. The post is about opening out your inner self. This is like panning a book or a movie you refuse to read.

But at least there are commenters who understand Jon’s #1 pretty well. Except it turns out it’s not always interesting.

Jon,

I always enjoy your writing but this one is especially fine.

#20 is what I wish for, of course, don’t we all? But #21 is the money tip.

“The one and only thing of consequence is your reader. You can rail against this fact for as long as you like, but as long you do, you’ll never be interesting.”

Yes, yes. Love it.

Regards,

Kelly
#43 Ronald H. → 07.18.08 at 6:32 pm

I gotta hand it to you Jonathan, great article buddy. I’ll need this one in the future. write more please.
#44 William → 07.18.08 at 6:41 pm

I think the real way to drive a large amount of visitors to your blog and make real money out of it, is run a blog about the art of writing or advertising your blog like Copyblogger…

Am I wrong ?

Still, I enjoy Copyblogger because it helps me run a better blog ; but not one I will ever be able to draw a living from, I am afraid.
#45 Kelly → 07.18.08 at 7:06 pm

William,

Even Copyblogger was a baby once.
#46 William → 07.18.08 at 7:27 pm

Yes of course, but it grew quickly thanks to the topics aimed at bloggers in general.

I am not criticising Copyblogger’s success. It deserves it.

I just want to say that reading some of the topics discussed, any beginner might think that they will reach a similar amount of subscribers if they follow the advices given. This is simply not the case. That’s fine as long as we know it.

In some way what we see claimed in Copyblogger and other blogs of the sort, is like a pyramid sale where only the few at the top make real money.

If you are not blogging about the art of blogging, don’t give up your day job ; you’ll still need it for a very long time, if not, for ever.

I guess I am saying all that because I am envious…
#47 links for 2008-07-19 : mdq → 07.18.08 at 7:37 pm

[…] 2.025 Free Stock Photo Sites :: Digital Image MagazineCurbly | DIY Design CommunityHow to Be Interesting | CopybloggerTangent Graphic :: brand consultants, graphic design, print, web, photography and creative […]
#48 Jon Morrow → 07.18.08 at 9:07 pm

Sonia: Comments like the one above make me feel like a tongue-tied fool. Thank you. :-)

William: It looks that way sometimes, doesn’t it? Some of the biggest blogs out there are about marketing topics. It’s easy to believe that they’re successful because of their subject matter.

But really, that’s not the case. Look at all of the successful blogs in niches like personal finance and tech. Many of them are even bigger and more profitable than Copyblogger (not that we’re a lightweight by any means).

Your niche does influence how big your blog can become, but it’s not nearly as important as you might think. All of the techniques here on Copyblogger have worked in hundreds of niches.

Just keep reading. It took me over two years of reading Copyblogger to really start to understand and apply everything. Stick with it, and it will come together for you.
#49 Sonia Simone → 07.18.08 at 9:48 pm

Oh my goodness, I tongue-tied Jon, didn’t know that was possible. ;)

William, it may surprise you (it surprised me) that Darren Rowse does far better financially with his photography blog than he does with Problogger.

If you want to draw income from a blog, there are a number of ways to do that. Starting a how-to-blog blog or a marketing blog is probably the worst. (Trust me.) Stay open to possibilities & keep studying the craft of blogging, and don’t let yourself get discouraged. Some subjects are more profitable than others, for sure. But you don’t necessarily get a very good idea of what the more profitable subjects are just by looking at the technorati top 100.

Let’s say you had a blog about koi ponds. If you created a loyal following, then created some eBooks and videos or even a full-blown Teaching Sells-style learning environment about koi ponds, you could make a decent amount of money with it. There are people making a living on weirder niches than that, believe me.

It takes a lot of work. It takes a fair bit of knowledge. It takes focused effort. Sometimes it takes some creativity & trial and error. But it’s not magic.
#50 links for 2008-07-19 « Talkabout → 07.18.08 at 10:57 pm

[…] How to Be Interesting | Copyblogger “1) Be wrong 2) Be right 3) Communicate what others can’t 4) Do something 5) Surprise people 6) Make people laugh 7) Offer them an aspirin Show a (half) naked woman 9) Tell them who they are 10) Predict the future 11) Unleash your” (tags: writing interesting howto viapopular) […]
#51 Jack Kuperman → 07.18.08 at 11:12 pm

Sonia, I would like to put some more nails into the pseudo-puritan coffin that you prepared with your first answer about nudity.
I am very interested to see all those who are that shy as to read your blog, come to Louvre. There are hundreds of rooms with naked women. What would they say there? Improper? How? Nobody said anything about nudity in times of Rubin. Are we going back?
To speak about undressing it’s so logic just to show the end result of it -nudity.

This reminds me a joke:
One sales person had to reach a large city. But on way there he stopped in a little town with inly one main street. The man decided to stay for the night in the town. Suddenly he saw that his watch stopped. After checking into the hotel, he went out to look for a watch repairman.
Towards the end of the street he saw a shop with a large watch in it’s window.
Glad that he found what he was looking for, the man entered in.
An old man stayed there near the wall and sharpened scissors.
Our man took down the watch from his hand and showed it to the old man.
-Young man! Do you want to give me your watch?
-Yes
-But why?
-So that you will repair it.
-But I don’t repair watches!
-Not? Then what do you do?
-I am circumsciser.
-Ah! That’s why scissors?
-Oh no. Scissors are for my nails.
-Well. You are circumsciser. But why did you put a watch in shop window?
-And what did you want me to put there?

And Jonathan, It’s a great post as it is. The all of it. Even comments (but this last)
#52 Ricardo Bueno → 07.18.08 at 11:41 pm

Now here’s a list of solid advice that I can put to good use right away! Being consistently interesting is a tough thing to achieve in our blogging efforts. But I would imagine that a good combination of the advice listed here is a good way to stay on top of it…
#53 William → 07.19.08 at 3:06 am

Sonia, Jon thanks for your comments. It is true that I am targetting a fairly small market. I feel today less like a victim and more like exploring new avenues to increase my reader base.
#54 Barbara Ling → 07.19.08 at 5:01 am

Did someone mention ‘band camp’? :)

I’d love to preach the way things SHOULD be (okay, that’s a blatant lie - preaching is ‘way boring to me) but the fact remains, people will gyrate to what THEY find fascinating and NOT what I adorn with whatever moralities I might uncover.

Half-clad women certainly don’t do it for me, but if you put up a sexy Macgyver, you’ve got my (admittedly brief) attention…your quality has to compel me to continue to read.

And if you put up some ‘here’s how NOT to be pounded into a pancake when the 5th degree black belt spars you into oblivion’… my gosh, instant fervor on my part!

But I’ll bet I’m kinda sorta unique that way. :)

Data points, Barbara
#55 Peter Knight → 07.19.08 at 9:06 am

This is a good post - alas, I tend to be a bore: I’ve book marked this post as a “spice rack” and will come back to these items from time to time … thank you!
#56 Marisa → 07.19.08 at 9:35 am

Be wrong. Then laugh at yourself.

(Half) naked women?
Why not kittens and puppies?

Great post. Grazie!
#57 Does YOUR Wordpress blog evoke lust like a Chippendales Macgyver? From Personal Edge Insights - Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach → 07.19.08 at 10:44 am

[…] morning, I read the superb post How to Be Interesting over at CopyBlogger. One of the extremely truthful points he brought up was how showing a […]
#58 Austin(Cowsgonemadd3) → 07.19.08 at 11:16 am

I think I do this on my blog. Nice list.
#59 Link Medley blogging : fortyplustwo → 07.19.08 at 12:11 pm

[…] Copyblogger has a great post about How to Be Interesting. […]
#60 Как стать интересным для читателя. Часть первая. • Записки Жука → 07.19.08 at 12:20 pm

[…] блога Copyblogger Джонатан Морроу в своей статье «How to be interesting» приводит 21 совет для привлечения внимания […]
#61 Sonia Simone → 07.19.08 at 2:04 pm

@William, that makes me so happy. I clicked through to your site–though I don’t read French well (in English I would rather write; in French I would rather talk), I think you may well find some avenues worth pursuing. I am very glad we could help you re-find your optimism.
#62 Sonia Simone → 07.19.08 at 2:06 pm

@Marisa, I’m quite partial to pictures of adorable toddlers. Seems to work for my crowd, anyway.

Really if I had my way I’d illustrate every post with a LOLCat, but I think I’d have a mutiny on my hands.
#63 Vakaras su StumbleUpon « Adomo Pranevičiaus blogas → 07.19.08 at 2:59 pm

[…] Kaip būti įdomiam? ;]] […]
#64 Wayne Tully → 07.19.08 at 3:14 pm

All these tips between copyblogger and problogger are making me more and more inspired to become a full time blogger, just got to get rid of the day job first, but not yet as I am only learning, then I will!
#65 Tage → 07.19.08 at 4:16 pm

Being startlingly honest can often back fire, especially in the political arena. Often times, people don’t even know what they actually need, and politicians just tell them but we “want” to hear. When one honest person comes along and spits the truth, they are often berated with hateful comments.
#66 Jon Morrow → 07.19.08 at 7:38 pm

Tage: That’s a good observation. If you really think about it, all of these strategies can backfire. It works though, even in politics. Look at how much attention Ron Paul was able to gain. Did it win him the nomination? No. But his honesty still caught the attention of LOTS of people.
#67 Angel Cuala → 07.19.08 at 8:20 pm

Very true! Pictures of half naked women are very interesting to see. However, I think it will only distract your readers unless your post is about the picture.

But I like the last part. All of us are blogging for our readers so we really must prioritized them.
#68 Mike → 07.19.08 at 10:44 pm

Hey Jon,

Sorry I’m late to this party. I’d have loved to been a fly on this wall ;-)

I’m gonna skip the silly parts of this one and just say that Tip #20 is the lead dog for my sled.

I kinda said the same thing in a post about Meat Loaf-

“Meat Loaf never just sang a song. He held musical events. Each and every song seemed to be an over-the-top, way over-done extravaganza.”

Damn fine work.
#69 Dave Burke - Everyman Links for July 20, 2008 → 07.20.08 at 12:02 am

[…] a hot woman. My August issue of Wired arrived yesterday. Influenced by the advice of Copyblogger’s “How to be Interesting” post I perused the cover story on Julia Allison. Copyblogger’s tip #8 on being interesting […]
#70 links for 2008-07-20 | Niche Marketing and Social Media → 07.20.08 at 2:33 am

[…] How to Be Interesting | Copyblogger How do we get attention and interest ? How do we differentiate and provide value ? This guest post on Copyblogger shows how to do it in 21 steps. (tags: branding blogging) […]
#71 ricardo penachi de camargo → 07.20.08 at 5:58 am

Excellent tips. To be wrong is needed courage. Or perhaps be very out of things …
Creating the new and different is to few. This article is hardly an example of suggested. Hugs from Brazil!
#72 links for 2008-07-20 | JeremiahTolbert.com → 07.20.08 at 11:37 am

[…] How to Be Interesting | Copyblogger (tags: writing blogging socialnetworking content self-improvement) […]
#73 Jesse Hines → 07.20.08 at 12:59 pm

My favorite idea here:

“Bloggers are far too serious. We’re so busy trying to teach that we forget to entertain.”

In fact, if our writing isn’t entertaining, we’re probably not writing that well in the first place.
#74 Dean Saliba → 07.20.08 at 1:32 pm

Great post. Certainly gives me a lot to think about. :)
#75 21 Ways to be Interesting « Inept Writer → 07.20.08 at 2:30 pm

[…] that the secret to success is, “Be interesting.” Duh, no kidding. How does one do that? Here are 21 ways that Copyblogger says you can make your writing […]
#76 forest → 07.20.08 at 4:51 pm

Great post.
Thanks
#77 How to Be Interesting | Copyblogger | Internet Marketing Junkie → 07.20.08 at 5:13 pm

[…] recent post on Copyblogger titled How to Be Interesting suggests several ways to make your blog posts more […]
#78 Free List of 195 Keyword Suggestions → 07.20.08 at 6:42 pm

Great post, I think the put your readers first is the most relevant to me, I go out of my way to provide helpful content and it pays off.
#79 Links for 21-07-2008 | Velcro City Tourist Board → 07.20.08 at 10:31 pm

[…] - How to Be Interesting Not that I need the help, you understand. Ahem. (tags: writing sociology psychology marketing […]
#80 Be Interesting by Being Offensive? | MindValley Labs Internet Marketing Blog → 07.21.08 at 1:37 am

[…] I came across a cool list of 21 awesome tips over at Copyblogger on how to be interesting. I’d classify many of those useful tips as conventional wisdom, but a few ones stood out by […]
#81 07/21/2008 Writing Jobs and Links : PoeWar.com Writer’s Resource Center → 07.21.08 at 2:21 am

[…] How to Be Interesting by Jonathan Morrow: Be wrong, Be right, Communicate what others can’t, Do something, Surprise people, Make people laugh Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
#82 Shane Greenhough → 07.21.08 at 2:39 am

Great post… and Tammy’s response proves several points made in the article itself, be courageous, have the balls to say something that not everyone will appreciate, of course, Copyblogger is established enough that your readers know what to expect and making statements that not everyone will like is sort of what we want from you..
#83 John Hoff - eVentureBiz → 07.22.08 at 9:15 am

Excellent list, Jon. It’s challenging keeping the ball rolling and not become lazy which leads to boring. I like lists like these because it summarizes a bunch of ideas and blog articles into one quick powerful post.
#84 Rodrigo Ghedin » Como ser interessante? → 07.22.08 at 11:25 am

[…] você espera ler algum tipo de manual, ou mesmo dicas rápidas, esqueça. Ou melhor, leia-as aqui (em inglês). O texto abaixo é, na realidade, uma crítica à indústria do “seja legal, […]
#85 Eamon → 07.22.08 at 12:28 pm

Mmm.

Great article from Copyblogger (once again) and one of my favourite.

I liked the first point the best. Firstly, because it caught my attention. Secondly, because it is original. Thirdly, because it is good advice. And, fourthly, because if you are a person offering, say, marketing advice, then being provocative can, in many cases, be just as valuable as being correct.

And, lastly, just like to add that ‘being interesting’ is, also, bound up, closely, with telling an interesting brand story overall.
#86 Как стать интересным для читателя. Часть вторая. • Записки Жука → 07.23.08 at 6:39 am

[…] ссылку на оригинал. А вот кстати и она: How to be interesting. Итак, продолжим, способы привлечения интереса […]
#87 For Anyone Serious about Blogging « The Undead Rat’s Guide to Good Blogging → 07.23.08 at 12:00 pm

[…] “How to Be Interesting” by Jonathan Morrow Comments from “How to Be Interesting” “Feel Great Naked: Confidence Boosters for Getting Personal” by Sonia Simone […]
#88 21 Tecniche Su Come Rendere Un Blog Interessante | explogger → 07.23.08 at 12:14 pm

[…] quindi di differenziarmi e ti segnalo questo elenco ( tratto direttamente da questo post di Copyblogger) delle 21 tecniche che funzionano davvero, non sarà l’elenco completo per ipnotizzare i […]
#89 Bright Side Lover → 07.23.08 at 6:58 pm

[…] the bloggers out there should read How to Be Interesting from Copyblogger! Insightful […]
#90 Donna - Mortgage loans → 07.24.08 at 4:49 am

One of the best articles on being different and get noticed. Being nice and easy comes naturally to most, which is common, Being wrong,funny or dorky is takes some conscious effort.
#91 Let weirdly-clad HE-wenches help you to….Make money WITH your blog tutorial » Personal Edge Insights - Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach → 07.24.08 at 6:11 am

[…] still can’t get over the brou-haha that Copyblogger’s How to Be Interesting generated, including such gems like: Half-naked women? Sure, it works. But do you endorse things […]
#92 The Public Speaking Blog » Blog Archive » How To Be An INTERESTING Speaker → 07.24.08 at 1:01 pm

[…] recently came across an article on how to be interesting in a blog. Click here“> A great deal of it is also applicable to public […]
#93 Been warned: "Mostly" is mostly ... boring! | Mostly by Knight → 07.24.08 at 5:44 pm

[…] “How to be Interesting” - Copyblogger […]
#94 Attirare traffico nel sito offrendo una aspirina | Zero Blog → 07.25.08 at 3:29 am

[…] un recente articolo elenca una serie di attività (o di modi di presentarsi) per attirare o fidelizzare i lettori. Uno […]
#95 wholetech blog | My del.icio.us bookmarks for July 21st through July 25th → 07.25.08 at 8:41 pm

[…] How to Be Interesting | Copyblogger - Be wrong: The world is full of people trying to do the right things. It?s become so common that many of us are bored by it. We long for someone that is willing to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, be the wrong thing Thank you for reading this post. You can now Leave A Comment (0) or Leave A Trackback. […]
#96 Whats Going On In The Blogesphere — Iron Blogger → 07.27.08 at 8:21 am

[…] Morrow makes an interesting post on CopyBlogger. The post is entitled ” How To Be Interesting.” It’s a good read and has many helpful hints and tips on how to well…be […]
#97 Are You a Wannabe? | Copyblogger → 07.28.08 at 9:46 am

[…] danger of trying to be interesting is that, when you fail, people can tell. Your writing sounds… dishonest. It’s not only […]
#98 Susan Raab → 07.28.08 at 4:55 pm

Of all the copyblogger posts I’ve seen so far, I like this one best because it pushes me to create something completely new and unique. Many of your articles invite me to stand on the shoulders of giants and leverage their writing techniques. This one stands out because it calls me to dig into my own subjective personal experience, to take risks and push the edge.

Thanks for the great post. I’ll refer back to it often.
#99 The Zig-Zag Method for Catching Attention and Building Credibility | Copyblogger → 07.30.08 at 12:47 pm

[…] How to Be Interesting […]
#100 Thoughts On Being YOU In Business | Webpreneurially Driven → 07.31.08 at 7:59 am

[…] Lately, I’ve been thinking about the importance of being yourself in business. Letting yourself be yourself is scary especially online where you can have a global audience. However, it is the only way to be. Just by being yourself in business you can be remarkable, original, and interesting. […]
#101 charles → 07.31.08 at 9:18 am

Nice!

I was so shocked when you said: “Be wrong”. You get attention but do you really get the trust and value from your readers? There might be a great decrease in the number of readers and wouldn’t believe you anymore. I can say that it is good at the first place but in the long run it might be bad to your image.
#102 Links - 4th August 2008 « Curiously Persistent → 08.04.08 at 8:02 am

[…] The Copyblogger guide to being interesting - on the same note, those that missed the original link should check out Russell Davies’ “How to be interesting” […]
#103 Mike → 08.07.08 at 3:00 am

If there is one killer article I would recommend to any novice blogger like me then this is gotta be it. Man, I learned a lot from this and believe me you’ll see some of these principles applied in my succeding blogs. Thanks guys. I actually linked you up in my blog so my blogger friends can also benefit from this site. More power!
#104 Steve - Eightyone Design → 08.11.08 at 5:08 am

Wow, what a great article - it’s great to have something to keep referring back too when you lose your blogging way.
#105 The Steven Wright Guide to Content Marketing | Copyblogger → 08.11.08 at 12:18 pm

[…] when you’ve got something interesting to say. Post when you have content that forwards the aims of your business. Post when you’ve […]
#106 The 3 Secrets to Massive Online Marketing Success | Copyblogger → 08.14.08 at 1:57 pm

[…] a content marketer, you’re going to need to create interesting, useful and compelling content pretty much every day you’re in this business. Your blog posts, […]
#107 One Post Per Day: When The Going Gets Tough - Geek Building The Bridge Part 2 → 08.20.08 at 6:16 am

[…] are more you can read in copyblogger site. I think they haven’t include “rewrite other […]
#108 Why No One Links to Your Best Posts (And What to Do About It) | Copyblogger → 08.21.08 at 11:28 am

[…] dying to know more about. You can write about the topic with authority. You’ve even chosen an interesting angle. In short, you’ve got a killer post that should bring your blog thousands of new […]
#109 Mission Creep | Neil Williams » Blog Archive » How to be an interesting civil service blogger (and not get fired) → 08.31.08 at 3:32 am

[…] How to be interesting: Copyblogger […]