We've made a bunch of changes to the blogging infrastructure over the last year or so that I've been on the development team. What do you think? Is there anything we should do better? Anything we should focus on less? We'd love to get some feedback from the users of the software we're building here.
And I ended up commenting at length, but the comment was more than just a comment, it was like this randomly spaghetti-flinging dissertation on the nature of the Amazon blog, that I thought I should share with y'all. so it follows, in full, whether it be interesting to you or not.
» Is there anything we should do better? Anything we should focus on less? We'd love to get some feedback from the users of the software we're building here.
It would sure be nice if it felt like we had a little more control over the look and feel of the individual Amazon blogs... even if we just had access to some simple widgets that let us add, for instance, links to our favorite people, like in a sidebar, or something. That's pretty standardblog stuff, no? I'm not asking for javascript sidebars and google ads (not even clickriver ads, yo), but a link to my friends' blogs, for instance, like a blogrollwhatsit, so I can link to my friend Pia's blog, since her book is coming out in June. That seems sensible. Cool, though that we can aggregate our RSS feeds straightonto the Amazon blog. That simplifies and coolifies a lot of things I'd been wishing I could do easier. Yep.
* Is there any benefit to having a separate domain name for Amazon's blogs?
For instance. Then it actually seems like a blog instead of just another way for Amazon to sell stuff. Admittedly, it is another way for Amazon to sell stuff, and I'm all for doing that, but let's break it out and make it something that someone might actually read, with its own brand and its own identity and piece of the internets to call its own. (Also, even amazon has discovered the advantage to SEO (and reader-friendly) links, which is the reason, I assume, that book titles are now included in the URL of most books(mazon.com/You-Are-Dog-Through-Friend/dp/1400052424/terrybain/), so I'm guessing y'all would understand the advantage to a url such as"http://terrybain.alphablog.com/a-phony-entry-title/" over something like "http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK1M1ZOJQ3FJ19T" for instance.
* If we do create an Amazon Blogs website, what should its name be?
Blamazon. No wait. Blozon. How about Blogazon. Or just plain Zon. I could do this for hours. Here's a slightly longer list.
BonBon (also French for "candy," which much of what is posted likely is)
A Voice
Amazon AV
Amazon TXT
Jinkies
Author Stripes
* Should the style of the blog website be different than the main site?
If you are going to brand it, then brand it. If the content is going to be re-posted on the 'zon website anyways, or aggregated, or linked, or whatnot, then brand the blogs slightly differently... again, so they are taken more seriously. Even I don't take them as seriously as I should... though I take them more seriously than I did in the beginning. Make them something that agents and publishers seek out for their authors rather than the authors having to tell the agents and publishers that they exist. Make them something that authors and agents and publishers rely upon, that feeds them, that puts their kids in private schools, that pays for lattes and breakfast meetings, that makes the publishing industry put the amblogzonblogwhatzitblogon their list of things to do when they sign and author "set them up with aAmanationBlog immediately, get them blogging, get them saying stuff,writing, connecting with readers before they are even readers."
The amazonblogsite could be a pretty significant seller for individual writers, authors, auteurs, Goofy Goobers, and others. Might as well put it in motion.
One thing I have suggested in the past is that it would be incredibly useful if linked items on the amazon blogswere automagically set up to link to Associate accounts, and if there was a stronger connection between abloggers and associates, so that when you sign up with a blog, you are given the option to either sign up for an associate account, or link a current associate account to your blogging account... especially useful if the blog is given its own url... I know people visiting an amazon blog are already on the amazon site, and therefore it's possible that some upper muckety muck thinks this is a bad idea, but if a purchaser makes a purchase on the advice of a blogger, is that blogger not helping to sell the item suggested by said blogger, and should not said blogger receive some filthy lucre in the process? I say said blogger should. And I also say that this would encourage all amazon bloggers to actually explore the site more thoroughly, and suggest and item more often to their readers, thus creating more sales to folks who might not otherwise be buying.
I will repeat that stuff again some day. I just know I will. Because it is a good idea, even though I was told previously that it wasn't a good idea. In fact, I don't just think it's a good idea. I think it's an amazing idea, and could be where the value is built into theamablogling service altogether... not just to sell one author's books,but to sell anything on the amazon website, because it is worth it for the amazon blogger, etc. If we create and add content to the amazon website, we will be rewarded. Will we not then create and add more useful content for the amazon website? I say we will.
Good lord. This comment has become a post in and of itself.
One final thing. When my RSS feeds fly over to the Amazon site, my apostrophes and quotation marks all become question marks. I'm using feedburner for my feeds. Any way to fix that? It makes me crazy.
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