Blog Mania--How To Do A Really Great Blog.

Sounds like branding to me.
A brand is a promise and brands exist to help people make choices in an ever-cluttered world of infinite variety. Blogs are a relatively new phenomena but i see no reason why the principals of branding cannot apply for them as well. there are so many great blogs that are so poorly branded and quite a few terrible blogs that are wonderfully branded.
Some bloggers, (such as you Bruce), enjoy the marketing power of an already existing strong brand. Other bloggers who do not enjoy this privilege and still wish to take their blog to the next level need to learn how to effectively brand the experience and the promise they wish to deliver.

Michael,
You raise an interesting issue for me. Do people read NussbaumOndesign because it comes from the Business Week brand or from the Nussbaum brand? I suspect that many, if not most, bloggers develop their own community, their own audience based on contact, content and chemistry.
Yes, I do think the BW brand helps me, and certainly helps provide a platform for the blog. But we have many blogs within the BW brand and only a handful do well (measured by traffic, Technorati's "authority" and other linkage measures).
All good insight.
Bruce

Bingo.

Successful blogs = brands.

I'll upload a version of my presentation after the event. I talk quite a bit about having "blog brand".

I also put a stake in the ground that we need to STOP calling ourselves "bloggers".

More to come...

Hi Bruce,
David is one of the best and most-respected bloggers in the world of business blogging. I am so looking forward to hearing him speak on designing blog architecture to enhance and encourage conversation.

Thank you for pointing out what may seem obvious, but what I am constantly working with new bloggers to help them understand.

If you want to influence an audience, you actually have to know how.

I hope you don't mind, if I quote you . . . over, and over, and over, and over again.

Bruce - I think what the BW brand does is give you credibility. People like myself - who didn't know much about you before reading your blog - are more likely to give the blog a read when they stumble upon it than a blog not supported by a well known brand. After that, you need to have great content and pay attention to the 4 C's.

SO, I think the best the BW brand does is get you a few more "first looks" than your typical blogger.