BlogBurst.com is a blog-promotion service that promises to “increase your reach, visibility, and readership by making your blog visible to our network of leading publishers.” Sounds great, and on a whim, I put myself on the beta-site’s waiting list. Surely, my blog meets the “distinct, intelligent writing style” required to become part of the network. Wrong. Here’s the reply I got back:
Thank you for requesting an invitation to BlogBurst.
At this time your blog is not a good match for the BlogBurst network. A blog can be denied an invitation for many reasons, including quality as compared to other blogs in the network, needs of our current set of publishing partners, and topical focus.
Most often, a blog is not selected to join the network because the content does not meet the needs of our publishing partners, and is unlikely to be distributed by our current publishers.
Our network of publishing customers is quickly growing and we encourage you to check back with us occasionally. We expect for some blogs not invited at this time to be a part of the BlogBurst network in the future.
For more information on what we look for in blogs, we invite you to visit our blog guidelines at http://www.blogburst.com/blogger/guidelines.html.
Thank you for your interest in BlogBurst, and best wishes.
Best Regards,
The BlogBurst Team
If that isn’t a blow to my ego and online-cred, I’m not sure what is. I suppose I could take this defeat and pack it in, turn the whole site down and quietly drift off into online obscurity.
I don’t think so. My feedburner subscription tells me that there’s at least 2 people who regularly read this blog, not counting me or my mom. (Actually, my mom doesn’t read my blog). Take care, I would never abandon those 2 people to a life without my poignant thoughts on internet marketing!
On a more serious note, I think BlogBurst is doing something about the Cult of the Amateur that Andrew Keen discussed. They’re focusing on “real” bloggers and pairing them up with “real” publishers, in an attempt to increase the overall readability of the web. Rejecting my blog is probably a smart move on their part. As Groucho Marx once said, I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.
Don’t sweat it. I’ve rejected your blog on numerous occasions, but eventually I find myself back for another dose of Mamet. Peace.