Hands up how many readers of the British blawgs had read BabyBarista’s blog prior to say four to six weeks ago? No? Me neither. But it has been apparently going since October 06.
In a textbook campaign, BabyBarista made himself known though comments to posts on other blawgs and referral links to other blawgs. Never directly promoting his blog and tailored to the post involved, the comments certainly didn’t look like a promotional sweep, but I noticed a lot of them suddenly appearing across my usual blogroll reading. Then there was a link in to this blog showing in WordPress admin.
Bloggers are a vain lot, and blawgers (I still hate the term) are no exception. I clicked back to see the source. So, evidently, did many others. And Lo, BabyBarista appears on blogrolls and is mentioned in dispatches all over the place. (But good heavens hasn’t his blogroll expanded dramatically).
The blog certainly repays a click, being a ‘fictional account’ of a Pupil’s progress – Hogarth reference intended. Think a menage a trois of Donna Tartt, Harry Mount and Anonymous Lawyer with looming Tesco’s Law thrown in. Some bits don’t quite ring true, though. Can anyone who has done Tort, let alone enter a Criminal/Common Law Chambers, genuinely be surprised that accidently killing someone is a lot cheaper than injuring them?
As thoroughly enjoyable as the blog is, I think I was more impressed with the stealth publicity campaign, adroitly using the vanity click-back to build up what passes for a publicity storm in the smallish UK blawg world. To which, of course, I have just contributed. It is a very good example of how to work a blog circuit. Of course, it helps if the blog is actually worth reading…