PureBlogging

Originality and creativity are sorely lacking in most blogs. You can try all the blogging tips and tricks you want, but nothing is going to help you with two problems:

• The whole concept of your blog is one of the same old cookie cutter niches everyone else is doing
• Your content is nearly the same as anyone else’s content in your niche

Once you’ve seen enough pathetic internet marketing wanna-be blogs, anything original is like a refreshing splash of cold water to the face!

I have spent the past several months collecting blogs for this article. I was on a mission to find blogs that were startlingly original in concept, content, and design. I didn’t always get all three at once, but I found some fantastic blogs that are superb examples. Observe, study, and learn from them. The bar has been raised pretty high since blogging first started. Rethink your entire approach and concept of blogging. It might be time for a little creative destruction for your blog. Maybe it’s seriously time to kill your blog and start over.

I offer the following three blogs as inspiration…

PingMag MAKE

PingMag MAKE is an offshoot of PingMag, a Japanese culture magazine. The design of this blog is fresh, techno, and clean. There is a Google Maps mashup embedded that shows the locations in Japan of the people whom the articles are about. Each article is about a small company or single person in pursuit of a highly skilled an artistic craft. In some cases, the craft has a technological bent, but often the “technology” is indistinguishable from the “art” of what they’re doing.

This really is an amazing blog. The concept is profoundly original in a world of same-old me-too blogs. Its niche could hardly seem more ultra-specialized, and yet it appeals to anyone who appreciates craft or Japanese culture… and that’s a fairly big audience.

The Worst SEO Blog Ever!

The Worst SEO Blog Ever! is in fact one of the funniest blogs I’ve read in a long time. I have no idea who its author is, but I can tell he or she does know SEO. Now, how many SEO blogs are there out there? Too many of ‘em to ever have the slightest hope of ranking for the term SEO. Not ever. No seriously, not EVER. And maybe this one doesn’t either, but that’s not the point.

The use of the Kubrick theme cracks me up. That’s what a “bad” blog would do, right? What really stands out about this blog, and what really makes it break the mold, is the combination of intentionally bad design with exceptionally witty and sarcastic writing. Basically, it’s freakin’ hilarious. Strangely enough, while your side is splitting from laughter, you may learn a thing or two about SEO in a back-handed fashion. This is an example of how a unique angle on the content and design of a blog produces something remarkable and original.

Knuckle Tattoos

Knuckle Tattoos mostly written by Nathan Black rates high on the originality meter. The blog is about “Collecting pictures of knuckle tattoos and the stories behind them.” At first glance, this would seem to be far too over-speicalized. How could anyone sustain a blog about just knuckle tattoos?

Here’s the beauty part: It’s not really about the tattoos as much as it about the people who bear them and their stories. There’s enough general interest in tattoos to bring an audience, and everyone loves when people tell their stories in their own words. The whole premise of the blog is pretty cool: Nathan goes around collecting the stories of people with knuckle tattoos and taking their pictures. You can submit your own picture/story.

This is only the beginning of the creative destruction

Next week, I’m going to have another three remarkable blogs that will drive you to destroy your blog in the name of excellence! Be sure to subscribe to PureBlogging so you don’t miss it!