Customer Reviews

Blogwild!: A Guide for Small Business Blogging

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Pros:
1. Clearly written in an engaging style.
2. Easy to read and not overly technical. He does a good job of explaining fairly complex things like RSS feeds so beginners can understand.
3. A few very good pieces of blogging advice and some interesting blog citations.

Cons:
1. The bulk of the text is a "how-to" manual for TypePad. If you don't use that platform, well over half the book will be barely relevant.
2. No screen shots. When you're explaining, for instance, step-by-step posting mechanics, screen shots clear up a lot of confusion.
3. Although the book sings the praises of business blogging, I don't think it provides enough depth to get company leadership behind it. More detailed case studies might have helped.

***
This was a great book for newbies to blogging who don't know which blogging platform to select (and who would follow the author's recommendation to use TypePad) or who already use TypePad. So if you have a small business, or you're thinking of having just your own personal blog but have no idea where to start, this is the book for you.

For people with some blogging experience, this book is a little too introductory. I've had my own blog for a year, and I picked up a few somewhat useful ideas, but not enough to justify the price of the book. The book is very small (5" X 7") with a larger font, lots of white space, and is only 174 pages. This 174 pages includes the index, several brief success stories of small business people who have blogs, and over 50 pages just devoted to doing specific things in TypePad. I read the whole thing in under an hour, but I skimmed over the "how-to's" for TypePad since I use another platform and I'm not interested in learning about TypePad.

There also is not very much information here specific to small businesses. The book touches on small businesses as it covers various "how-to"s of blogging, but not nearly enough to call itself "A Guide for Small Business Blogging".

So if you're a beginner to the blogosphere, get this book and take off. I think it would be an easy way to quickly get up and going. If you have much experience at all, though, you may feel like me---disappointed and let down.
***

I picked up Blogwild in the bookstore where it is very lonely with few alternatives for books on blogging for business. I bought it because I intend to learn how to make money with blogs and the book has a short chapter called How to Make Money Blogging. It turned out that a recent Wallstreet Journal Article I had read already told me everything in this chapter. "Oh well," I thought, "I might get some more information for the website resource that Andy Wibbels lists." But, when I checked out the website, I found it was an enrollment only course that Mr. Wibbel wrote himself and that costs $280.00. Well, sorry, but I didn't get enough for my $20.00 investment in this book to fork over another $280.00!!

I wasn't going to write this review because the other reviewers have covered what this book really is, an extremely basic and short book for those who really haven't yet got a blogging clue. But, when I found the one resource I checked out on the web belonged to the author and costs even more money, I had to write about it.

A more appropriate title for this book would be, "Typepad for Dummies," or "Typepad for Beginners."

I bought this book because I thought it would help me in using a blog for my business. But alas, it was a waste of money. I was offered bonuses by an Internet Marketing person if I bought this book. I never received the bonuses, even after sending in my order number to the Internet Marketer. Also, the book focuses on the TypePad blogging platform, one which I wasn't planning on using.

As far as being a "guide," well save your money. The only benefit this book has is if you are planning on using the TypePad blogging platform, which will cost you money to use. Andy should have done more research into the other blogging platforms, but he didn't. As a matter of fact, he even tells you in the book that he knows nothing about these other blogging platforms and tells you step-by-step on how to set up a blog on TypePad and how to use their platform.

I was very disappointed in this book and consider it a waste of money. Better books on using blogs for your business are "Blog Marketing" by Jeremy Wright, or "Blogging for Business" by Shel Holtz. Andy's book is a waste of time and money for anyone not using TypePad as their blogging platform. In my opinion, TypePad should buy the rights to this book and offer it as a downloadable guide on how to use their software.

For me, the book had no value, and I wish I hadn't wasted my money on it. As far as I'm concerned, Andy Wibbels is only an expert on the TypePad blogging platform and should not be considered as an expert on blogging in general.

Don't waste your money on this book.

This book gives a nice summary of the financial opportunities with blogging, but spends most of its time promoting one particular company. As a result, it's not a particularly objective source of information.

Very slim on actual info. Only good as a step by step intro to Typepad, and if you have never heard of a blog before. I was highly disappointed

This short book is a very clear and easy read; just about right for blogging novices seeking a quick introduction to the basics. The pages are written in "sound bites" for the busy non-tech professional, in lucid language, with no padding. You get just the facts needed to get your business blog set up, from idea to reality, in a reading that should not take more than one afternoon.

My major beef with the book: the author's single-minded focus on Typepad as a blogging platform. What about Blogger and Word Press? Exactly *half* of this book reads like a how-to manual for TypePad.

Although I understand this is the author's choice and probably the blogging platform he is most comfortable with, nowhere on the jacket blurb is TypePad mentioned. I would like to have known this if I was buying the book! What if I already had the start of a WordPress blog and wanted to know how to develop it? Half this book, short enough already, would be wasted cash for me. I find this a bit disingenuous on the part of the publisher.

I would recommend this book only if the blogger-to-be wanted a step-by-step description of starting a blog from *scratch* on Typepad.

For people already owning a blog, the book is just a bit too remedial. For the price, there are other books for the beginning blogger that should prove more useful and take one beyond the baby steps offered here.

Having just started my own small business, I was very interested in reading Wibbels book Blog Wild! In anticipation of the book arriving, I looked into blogs the night before my copy arrived. I downloaded the latest version of WordPress. They have their famous "five minute setup." Sure enough, I had it up and running in no time.

Unfortunately I didn't get to use a majority of Wibbels' book because he dedicates the entire work to one blog platform, the pay-for-use service TypePad.

On page 66 Wibbels discusses other blogging platforms including "the very popular WordPress" which is free, unlike TypePad. If it's so great (and free to use) then why didn't you write an entire book about WordPress instead of TypePad?

That's a rhetorical question of course because TypePad is a for-profit company. And companies only care about one thing: making money. Just like Trump does for The Apprentice, Wibbels probably shopped around ad space in his book to the highest blogging platform and TypePad gave him a check. If he really wanted to use the best solution he would have gone with his self-described "very popular" WordPress. Why would he? As an open source project, (and unlike TypePad) they have no money to give him.

Wibbels then describes setting up an account with TypePad. Guess what the first step is? Enter your credit card number. Is there no shame left in the corporate world today?

Heck, even Google's own Blogger, which Wibbels mentions in the book, is another free service that he could have used for this book instead of TypePad.

What's more you can even go to the book's Web site for a demonstration on how to setup your TypePad account! I wonder how much Wibbels banked off that deal.

I can't believe I paid for a book on blogging and then have to pony up my credit card number to follow along. There should be a disclaimer on the cover "After you use your credit card to buy this book just keep it out and give your credit card number to TypePad after you checkout."

Of the book's 161 pages (excluding the glossary) only 77 of it isn't an advertorial for TypePad. Of that material I give Wibbels an F. It's weak. "Google loves blogs." Really? You mind offering up more than a four-paragraph discussion on that one, or is that all you had to copy and paste from your own blog?

Fortunately for me I found WordPress, which is a free and used by many more people than TypePad. Unfortunately after page 67 (and up until the final 11 pages) Wibbels forces you to use TypePad. He doesn't describe any other platform; you're forced to use that software.

Seems like Wibbels has read Bill Gates' book. Now I know why he has a chapter titled "The Legend of Microsoft."

If you want to learn about blogs, skip this giant advertorial and Google "blogs" - it's free and you won't feel so...cheated.

Andy's book is fresh and a crisp read. There are some good marketing and blog promotion tips buried in the book.

In favor of the cookbook approach, this book recommends a paid Typepad account as the only option. This might be great for business folks challenged for time and preferring a professional, hosted blog. I think there should have been more discusion of free WordPress and Blogger blogs. These are great options for folks just getting started with blogging.

Lastly, there was shameless promotion of three paid services offered by Andy: sixfigureblogging, rssessentials, and podcastingbootcamp. How about more material on these topics and listing a few other options for further reading?

If you are willing to put more effort into learning about blogs, I believe that better information is available online at andywibbel or problogger.

When I first heard of this book and the ability to create not just blogs but professional websites, it caught my attention.

I had been struggling with putting together websites for various business and community endeavours. Also, traditional websites, could be boring and static. At least, mine were.

Enter dynamic websites!

Now, after reading Blogwild, I went blogwild just for the fun of it. I quickly revamped old sites, and trusting that this would work for me based on sample sites that I saw, I began.

A month and a half later, I am very pleased with the sites that I created without technical support. I am also finding that it is fun to be able to go from thought to concept to implementation in a short time.

Great business book!

Rocky Romero

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