Competition

A few readers have pinged me, asking how I can post to other blogs that write stuff similar to mine. "Aren’t you promoting the competition?"

Two part answer. First, I don’t think most authors have competition (except television). The more you read, the better we do. That’s why bookstores are great places to sell books… even though all the competition is right there.

More relevant to you, the web works when you link out. Hoarding attention (like CNET did for a long time and about.com does like crazy) is a no-win strategy. Shared attention doesn’t dissipate, it grows.

Here’s some more competition to contemplate:

Bill Taylor on Zappos’ amazing buyout offer.

Kevin Kelly on FAQs and NAQs.

Andrew Chen on Metcalfe’s Law.

Jeff Widman on wallable.

and, competing with myself, a long Q&A session I did at the Chronicle of Philanthropy today.