A few years ago, Jason Kottke asked readers to become micropatrons of his site in order to attempt full-time blogging for a year. Being a reader, I sent $30 bucks his way, along with a link to my blog (then with Blogger).

Years pass, and I become interested in online identity. I had long since abandoned that old blogspot site, and imported the posts into this Wordpress blog hosted at Dreamhost. I thought little of abandoning the blogspot blog since the URL had nothing to do with my name. Boy, was I wrong about that.

I had since created several blogs in my own name at some of the top services (Vox, Wordpress.com, etc.) As I began testing services for online identity, I began checking Google search results on my name. There, in the top ten, was always Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, the new owner of my abandoned blogspot blog.

I managed to bump him down a couple notches but that’s all I could manage. Something, somewhere, was keeping Mr. Bell steady in those search results. Finally, it dawned on me. I knew there was one important link from my name to that old blog.

I emailed Jason and asked him to change the link. Not expecting an answer in the near future, I got up from the computer to clean around the house. He replied in less than the time it took to sweep the kitchen floor, saying that he had changed the link.

So if you get a chance to gain an important link to your blog from an established, well-read blogger, make sure it’s a blog you’re going to be keeping for a while. And don’t be afraid to send $30 bucks to someone who writes a blog that you read.

Post a Comment | Trackback URI