Blog Home: Blog Ham, Spam and Makin’ Bac’n

You know what blog spam is, yes? Those annoying posts filled with links to things I shall not mention for fear of attracting those people by speaking their language. Akismet takes care of blog spam for us.

Blog ham is the opposite of blog spam. Blog ham refers to posts that are legitimate, but are mistakenly marked as spam. Usually because they contain links or filtered words.

And bac’n?

Bacn (pronounced bacon) is the term given to electronic messages which have been subscribed to and are therefore not unsolicited but are often unread by the recipient for a long period of time, if at all. [wikipedia]

Now, why wouldn’t people read what they subscribed to?

Usually because it’s too long, too boring, too hyped, yet another natty sales pitch… or all the above.

There’s a theory, out there, that people will read long copy if it they’re interested in what it offers. I beg to differ.

I can think of lots of times I *was* interested, but lost interest about the same time I got the urge to stick a fork in my head or scoop my eyeballs out with a sharp stick.

I can count on one hand the number of people that write long copy well enough to keep eyeballs riveted to the page. Too often, long copy is filled with hype and repetition, and turns people off.

Marketers, say what you need to… and no more. Stop makin’ bacn.

It works like this… give me the meat…. sell the sizzle… bring HOME the bacon.
Not send it out. Okay? Thanks.

January 30, 2009 | Filed Under (it's all) marketing 

4 Responses to “Blog Ham, Spam and Makin’ Bac’n”

  1. Gary Simpson on February 2nd, 2009

    I found this rather amusing…

    “I can think of lots of times I *was* interested, but lost interest about the same time I got the urge to stick a fork in my head or scoop my eyeballs out with a sharp stick.”

    It made me laugh, still smirking…

    Also, doubly funny in that it comes from me – the worst person, by far, of LONG blog posts and, sometimes, even longer blog comments. So, I’m keeping this short so the fork’n stick don’t come out. Say fork’n stick out loud really quick. LOL!

    Gary

  2. lindac on February 2nd, 2009

    Ever read some of those sales letters? Oy. They make me lose the desire I had when I started reading. lol

  3. Mrs Renee Olson on February 6th, 2009

    Hi Linda,

    Scooping with a stick? That’d be ME! Double fisted… and worst of all – if I actually decide I want to buy, I have go back to the beginning to make sure I didn’t miss some stupid detail that would cause me not to buy.

    Now, here’s my question. Is this just your opinion?

    “Marketers, say what you need to… and no more. Stop makin’ bacn.”

    Because it sure seems to be the norm to have long drawn out copy. I also find the “powerful” people of the internet preach and use it.

    Should we dare to go against the expected?

    Renee

  4. Linda on February 6th, 2009

    Renee… is there another way besides against the expected? lol.
    I like to give information, but without the side of hype. Hype is my pet peeve. :)

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