Denver Post's Jim Spencer Needs Your Help

Posted on January 7, 2007

Denver Post columnist Jim Spencer needs help with blog ideas for his new blog including link suggestions. He also wants to attract the elusive 18-34 demographic.

This opportunity comes with a challenge. This year, aside from the usual self-deluded promises to eat better and exercise more, my New Year's resolution includes a pledge to be more in touch, especially with the elusive 18-34 age group.
I have no illusions that members of this coveted demographic will suddenly take to a guy as old as their fathers. But I want to understand them.
So I'm asking for their help in building a blog. The technical staff at The Post will handle the nuts and bolts. What I'm looking for are ways to encourage participation from people who aren't already regular correspondents. I am especially interested in Internet links that will let people go from my blog to other blogs or to websites that may decide to link back.

The best way to get links in is to link out to other blogs. Other bloggers will probably notice the links in blog search engines like Google BlogSearch and Technorati. By linking to a variety of blogs and commenting on the different subjects they are discussing Spencer's new blog will be read by bloggers and probably linked to as well.

Now, I need some other ideas. I'm thinking the usual political suspects - ColoradoPols.com, ToTheRight.org, Colorado Confidential, the Drudge Report, that sort of thing. But I'm looking for some range here, say a link to Dan Savage, whose Savage Love sex column entertains my 20-something colleague Chris Frates.
The blog can only be so blue. But I wouldn't mind hearing from folks who are over-pierced and under 30 about what's on their minds. My hope for the blog is to expose myself - in a strictly intellectual sense, of course - to new ideas.
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More than anything, though, I need participation and ideas outside the collection of usual suspects battling over Iraq, immigration, gun control and abortion. Those things will, of course, be fair game on the blog. But people certainly have lives outside of ideological flashpoints.

There are political issues that young people are concerned about and there are plenty of young people that talk about important issues. But much better subjects to draw in 20-somethings are the always reliable subjects of music and gossip. Some of these topics can be found on websites like WeSmirch. Many in the 30+ crowd have moved beyond celebrity gossip so talking about important celebrity issues is much more likely to draw in young readers -- although it could bore some of your over 30 readers.

Local links are a smart move for a newspaper blog. Spencer already mentioned ManiaTV and a couple other local links. Finding and linking to local Denver blogs could help build inbound links and a readership as well.

Another strategy would be to reach the geek demographic by writing about tech, Web 2.0 and gadgets -- stuff that appeals to many bloggers. That's one of Seth Godin's blog raffic boosting tips. His post here includes 55 more.