The Art of Contrarian Blogging
Buzz it
How to Make Enemies and Increase your Blog Traffic:
In my opinion contrarian blogging is one of the few legitimate methods of link baiting. There are many a blogger who have made a nice career for themselves by being contrarian, and one of the most well known bloggers out there is Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine.
Contrarian blogging is a terrific way to break out from the pack and rise to the top of an already overcrowded blogosphere. Or like my friend Darren Rowse said, putting a “fresh” spin on a story can pay big dividends and bring in more traffic to your blog.
Some prudish types will tell us that to be contrarian as akin to being “snarky”. Although it is true that some contrarians can be (snarky), it is only just one method of being a contrarian. It is really just about offering a different point of view than the rest of the sheep crowd to attract visitors to your blog. How you go about doing that is strictly up to you and a matter of personal style. Or as my other friend Wayne Hurlbert also says:
Think about this idea for a moment. When following the crowd, you are always behind, by definition. It’s impossible to become an industry leader when travelling in the competition’s dust. Fad followers are already several steps behind.Think about it this way. When everyone is competing for the same market, and very often with virtually identical products and services, entire market segments are left almost untouched. A contrarian would happily find and fill those profitable business niches.
This Should Not be Attempted by the Faint of Heart:
One method of getting noticed is by critiquing the a-listers, which is something the Bloke is well known for. (Some might try to put the Bloke into the snarky category but apparently they don’t understand my tongue-in-cheek sense of humor … i.e. swoosh, it went right over their pointy little heads). 
Of course by doing so you always run the risk of being flamed and called a cynic like I was the other day by an anonymous commenter who didn’t happen to get it, dubbing me the “Blog Cop” (now who is being snarky).
Side Note: (Er… that’s spelled Blog Bloke btw, but I like “Blog Cop” and since it was written by an anonymous writer I’m claiming the trademark. A-listers are also notorious for their huge egos and lacking in a sense of humor). Oh well.
Writing Contrarian Titles:
Take for example my post “Why I don’t like your blog“. It perks your natural tendency to want to read more don’t you think. Nobody wants to just read the same old same old. They are looking for a different opinion so contrarian titles are just the thing to outsmart the competition and bring in more traffic.
Blog Tip: A lot of bloggers make the mistake of copying and pasting the same title of a post that they want to comment on. That’s a big mistake and the perfect way to make your post disappear amongst the rest of the crowd.
By the way, did you notice the contrarian tongue-in-cheek irony in the header of this post? That should bring in some curiosity readers.
Writer Beware:
But just make sure that you write something intelligent and on topic. There is nothing more aggravating than being sucked into clicking on a link that wastes my time and doesn’t deliver what it promised.
A lot of spammers do that hoping you will click on their ads. I won’t be returning to that blog again so don’t be doing that or risk getting on the Bloke’s bad side.
On Being Anti-Social:
Of course you also run the risk of being shunned as anti-social which on the face of it appears to run against the grain of social networks. But are social networks really all that social? Mike Sanders quotes Nicholas Carr who makes a good point:
The blogosphere’s a seductive place - it’s easy to get caught up in it - and there’s lots of interesting thoughts and opinions bouncing around amid the general clatter. But does it really provide a good way of becoming informed? Experiencing the blogosphere feels a lot like intellectual hydroplaning - skimming along the surface of many ideas, rarely going deep. It’s impressionistic, not contemplative. Fun? Sure. Invigorating? Absolutely. Socratic? I’m not convinced. Preferable to the old world? It’s nice to think so.For all the self-important talk about social networks, couldn’t a case be made that the blogosphere, and the internet in general, is basically an anti-social place, a fantasy of community crowded with isolated egos pretending to connect?
Well said.
So contrarian blogging can be an effective way to increase your blog traffic and pagerank. But it doesn’t come without its risks either, so if that doesn’t suit your fancy there is always grovelling. I call it the “Art of Sucking-Up”, but I’ll save that for another post.
Filed under: *Best Articles, Blog Tips
What Next? Read More Tips From BLOGBloke:
Subscribe here to the Better Tips Newsfeed!
Follow @BLOGBloke on Twitter for Social Media Tips & News!
Opinions? (click here to jump to the comments form)
Video
.gif){kind=small}
I am in total SHOCK !!
Snarky? (sarcastic, impertinent, or irreverent in tone or manner)
You, the Bloke, Snarky, I got to go sit down for a little while….
[
Reply..]
Correct me if I’m wrong, but do I notice a tone of sarcasm in your voice? Just wondering.
(Must be that tongue-in-cheek thing again).
[
Reply..]
Bloke, you need a new slogan. How about this one:
Contrarian with just a hint of snark. We’ll work on that one.
Thanks for quoting me, and your insights into the wild and whacky world of blogging are always a breath of fresh air. Stay contrarian.
[
Reply..]
Thanks Wayne. I need all the help I can get. It’ll be the Bloke’s New Year’s resolution to work on that snark thing.
…Blog Cop.
[
Reply..]
I stumbled here by accident but will stick around!
[
Reply..]
Hi - just wanted to say good design and blog - cu Frank
[
Reply..]
Thanks Mary and Max.
[
Reply..]
[…] case the fake blog author “Snowy” has copied my article word for word entitled “The Art of Contrarian Blogging” that I wrote last year.So here is the post that I just discovered today. Smile — […]
awesome site brotha http://bit.ly/1jshln
@Gaia Herbs, some look like downtown Las Vegas in the evening. http://bit.ly/2ub7iQ
@Gaia Herbs, some look like downtown Las Vegas in the evening. http://bit.ly/2ub7iQ
@CFI, @hospitalera … my head was spinning when I wrote it
http://bit.ly/1CQix9
RT @BLOGBloke: 10 Reasons Why I Don’t Like Your Blog http://bit.ly/2TRLSx
10 Reasons Why I Don’t Like Your Blog http://bit.ly/2TRLSx
@Humayon, if you are just a blogspot user then you don't need to bother with dns settings. But I still recommend ge… http://bit.ly/1fDYre
@hari saryono, I wrote an article about why we should not play into terrorists hands by linking to these horrific v… http://bit.ly/2aTKBw
@InternetMarketingMentor, here's another analogy for you. Your blog is your permanent home and social networks are … http://bit.ly/4hZtE
Optimize Your Blog - Making Your Blog Search Engine Friendly http://bit.ly/4A9Go5
@Mike, glad you liked it. If you're serious about blogging then Wordpress is the way to go. http://bit.ly/33GQUp
via @BLOGBloke: Hi There! Thanks for following. Why not ask me a question or for more blog tips visit http://tinyurl.com/5zjajb. Cheers!
@Michelle, you do not need a subdomain for it to work. A subdomain is also a bad idea for SEO. You need to go over … http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@Justin Gill .. thanks for saying so Justin. It always feels great to hear from another happy customer.
Cheers! http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
blog hating at http://www.blogbloke.com/10-reasons-why-i-dont-like-your-blog was just pinged to 91 Services!
@Kay, I never thought of it that way http://bit.ly/1CQix9
@humglum http://www.blogbloke.com/moving-wordpress-blogger/ basically… no. doesnt look like it'll happen.
@BLOGBloke,
I decided to get rid of the Blogger redirect as the redirect via modification to .htaccess works, t… http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@Michelle, redirect speeds will depend on the blog host's servers and your internet connection. You only need to pa… http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@drugi, you mean "you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you… http://bit.ly/4CvJh7
Finding Your Blog Voice http://bit.ly/5LD5kQ
@zarazek, don't get your domains through Wordpress. Use GoDaddy or something similar. http://bit.ly/1fDYre
Saw an advertisement for Moving Blogger to Wordpress Service. Why not save your money and read my free guide? http://bit.ly/6rFYFE They do
hmm.. informative )) http://bit.ly/6krJX6
I should notify my girlfriend about your post. http://bit.ly/6iqFfC
hello everybody, how are you all doing.i am liking this web sight i might start staying on it more. me i stay sick … http://bit.ly/6krJX6
@Cdathy Tibbles, I host images on my wordpress.com account. Let me know it goes. I always like to hear from happy c… http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@BLOGBloke, Yeh, I had a domain from a different comapny but Wordpress said I still had pay them to be able to link… http://bit.ly/1fDYre
@zarazek, so if I understand you correctly your blog was being hosted by Wordpress and then they insisted on chargi… http://bit.ly/1fDYre
I'm very happy with the refinements I made to the blog. What do you think? http://www.blogbloke.com/
How to Produce Your Own Podcast http://ff.im/-dm32o
"10 Reasons Why Twitter Is So Popular" ( http://bit.ly/8CM5gX )
Updated my Blokester Buttons for 2010. Grab yours now .. http://www.blogbloke.com/introducing-new-blokester-buttons/
How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/7EHvN8
RT @projournalist: How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/7EHvN8
RT @journtoolbox RT @projournalist: How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/7EHvN8
@BLOGBloke - really ok - am trying to pull off this from your blog http://bit.ly/5Zv5kW (thank you so much for documenting this - it rocks)
@BLOGBloke - do you think I could use this service to redirect or park my domain like you mentioned in http://bit.ly/5Zv5kW
Great tutorial on migrating your blog from #blogger to #wordpress. http://bit.ly/Nlr2k
@10timesone .. have you read this http://www.blogbloke.com/migrating-redirecting-blogger-wordpress-htaccess-apache-best-method/
@FijiLomalagi my email is at the bottom of my blog http://www.blogbloke.com/
@Kwame, you will have to play around with the Apache code .. http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@Ankit_A see if this helps.. http://bit.ly/Nlr2k
@drewmillikin My technical skills are limited, but I found this post to be very helpful: http://bit.ly/7LY764. My advice: pull the trigger.
@Adam Johnson .. it was my pleasure and glad it worked for you .. http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@gopmommy Your domain name redirection is done on your hosting service. Check this tutorial http://is.gd/8TXkI
@stepfanieb Check #6. http://bit.ly/Nlr2k
RT @BLOGBlokeTips How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/2JgxLd