All right. It’s early and I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one (I was moving over the weekend, so I’ve been out of the loop…..so if I get the timeline wrong here, I apologize). Kevin O’Keefe from LexBlog and the anonymous editor of BlawgReview are now engaged in a public spat.

July 27th- Kevin O’Keefe asks “What’s ALM paying Elefant and Ambrogi?” In the post, Kevin wonders if ALM (American Lawyer Media) appreciates their star bloggers enough. When newspapers and magazines are taking a revenue hit, they need to explore other outlets to generate new cash. Giving the example of Lisa Stone leaving ALM to work on BlogHer, Kevin asks whether ALM will really follow their bloggers’ lead in reconfiguring their blogging (and new reader acquisition) strategy.

Okay. Now part 2.

Then, on August 3rd, the anonymous editor at Blawg Review posts: “What’s with Kevin O’Keefe: Kevin O’Keefe’s panties are in a knot again.“

Now, I’m skipping a lot of details here and there were emails sent back and forth between the two parties. Then, emails that were intended to be “private” were published…..etc.

I’m not involved with this at all, and this isn’t a post taking sides with one side or the other. My interest here is in the results.

To be completely honest here, this isn’t really a blog FIGHT. It’s more of a gentlemanly discussion, though a little bit of spirited and colorful language is thrown in. So, what are the possible outcomes of having a public blog fight?

1. Increased Readership: Since the two fighting parties are referencing each other’s posts, they link to each other. Readers of one blog will definitely check out the other blog to see where the beef started, and to take sides.

2. Increased Loyalty: There’s nothing that brings a group of people together like an enemy. Look at armies. Look at sports teams. When you’ve got a concrete enemy to be against, you develop an identity.

But at the same time, a blog fight could:

3. Lead to a tarnished image: Getting too personal or too vulgar can make even the most professional blogger seem childish. It can also make someone look like a bully.

4. Take over the agenda: Both the writer and the reader can get so consumed with the fight that they forget the reason the blog exists in the first place. Trust me, this has happened before.

So, with that all said, I’ve got an idea. Since this blog isn’t the biggest, most read blog on the block, I’m going to start something. I’m going to target someone that has a lot of readers, so I can increase my traffic. And I’m going to come up with such a heinous insult that the blogger just has to take notice.

Here goes:

Seth Godin hates blind manatees.

There. I said it.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Bill Sweetman has an article entitled “Blogging with the Whales” that perfectly illustrates, in first-person form, how a blog can (and should) bring in business. For those that won’t read the article, let me sum it up for you.

Mr. Sweetman was on vacation and wanted to go on a whale watch. He picked up some brochures, and it seemed like all the tour companies offered nearly identical services (sound familiar?). So what did he do next (come on, you know the answer)?

He went to the internet.

He looked at the tour companies’ web sites. And, predictably:

“The companies without Websites immediately lost my business.”

So, he looked at the remaining contenders and quickly learned that, like their brochures, the websites had the same information…..but there was an exception:

“Quoddy Link Marine, to my pleasant surprise, also had a “Sightings and Updates” blog. The blog is maintained by Danielle, a marine biology graduate in charge of photographing, identifying and recording the whales and sharing that information with various marine research organizations.

…… The “Sightings and Updates” blog also demonstrated to me that Quoddy Link Marine really cared about whales and the environment, not just selling whale tour tickets. Thanks to their blog, I also felt one degree closer to the people behind this tour company than with those from any of their competitors.”

Now that’s how it’s done!

Popularity: 4% [?]