3 November 2006
Publish & Prosper: Blogging for your Business
We were lucky enough to snag a copy of Publish & Prosper: Blogging for your Business from the folks behind the Blog Business Summit.
Graphically, the book’s lovely: slick and well organized, the type is easy on the eye and the images are crisp and informative. This can be hard to do with screenshots, especially in grayscale, so kudos to the design team. The title page is a clever graphical representation of a browser window, complete with stylized scrollbar. It gets its point across perfectly while not succumbing to gimmicks.
Content-wise, this is definitely aimed at the entry-level blogger. The concept of blogging is explained, and the authors give an overview of popular blogging platforms and the pros and cons of hosted blogging vs. a root install. Useful for the blogging novice, but old hat to many of us.
The chapters on design and getting started are full of good ideas, as well as some questionable ones (“Remember that blogs are meant to be more casual and relaxed,†the authors opine in Chapter 4:Designing for Readers, “and you should use soft, earthy, warm colors like orange and green,†prompting a universal groan from the Web 2.0-saturated blogosphere).
The seasoned blogger will find little useful information in much of this book, which I think is a mistake; lots of us found out about the book from the Blog Business Summit website, which suggests a certain level of blog-related savvy. True, the “Beyond Blogging†chapter has some valuable information on content on demand, microformats and mashups, but that chapter alone probably wouldn’t justify the purchase price.
Verdict: Blogging for Your Business is indispensable for anyone taking the first plunge into the blogosphere; experienced users should wait for the sequel.
