A blog post is like a miniskirt.
It has to be short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.
courtesy of my friend Henry
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Joe Pulizzi is a leading author, speaker and strategist for content marketing. Joe is founder of the Content Marketing Institute and SocialTract. This blog looks at the trends in content marketing, and how marketers can learn to think and act like publishers.
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38 Comments
Love it!
I do not wish to offend, but a mini-skirt can often be improved upon by being removed altogether.
Would you say the same for a blog post?
Alan…that is priceless
Even more basic… does the “subject” have attractive “legs”? Otherwise, the tendency is to look away.
“legs” are like the title, a quick glance will tell you if further investigation is warranted.
Ahhh the miniskirt… source of great joy the world over for menfolk
Of course, in this “modern” age, they’re often called a belt! 
Thanks its a unique way to better understand “miniskirt” would never have thunk it. You make some good points looking forward to more.
Good point Mike. If the mini skirt is meant to expose a portion of the desired content, just enough to tantalize the taste buds, then it better be good enough to tantalize, or the content would be better suited with pants.
and sexy enough (cool content) to get looked at over and over again.
Intriguing enough to make someone go hmmmm, I want to see more (again cool content).
LOL, I never really thought of it that way. But it’s true because if your blog post looks like a novel I will put it off to read later.
Very good…spent the last 10mins trying to think of a better one…failed!P
This post was not only helpful with the comment issue, but had also great links to other entertaining blogs. Some of them I will most likely keep visiting!
Thanks and greetings from Berlin/Germany!
Wow, that is a good one
Joe, that’s got to be one of the most enlightening ideas I’ve ever seen online. Thanks. Can I repost that?
We also can compare this with other things which like too too miniskirt. It’s save our words.
Really interesting!
It seems as if I’ve heard this before about something else… I’m sure it could applied to several things but blogging is a good one
So catchy, and above all, very true!
Great One, yeah i tried to think of something else too but my one track mind wouldn’t allow me to. Be back with another one sometime.
That is great! Short and to the point. So very true.
I love it – but I wonder if a longer skirt or a pair of pants isn’t a little more intriguing – just ‘cos you can’t see all of the legs does not mean they’re not worth looking at!
For others, a blog post may be more like the fragrance of a great lasagna baking — the scent will draw you into something much meatier. (Yeah, I’m a pushover for great Italian.)
I’m always tempted to make my own blog posts full-length ballgowns! It’s worth bearing in mind that shorter is often better (especially in the case of minis!)
Ha! This is perhaps one of the most brilliant posts I’ve read. And it really embodies the spirit of information with brevity -which comes up a lot for me in copywriting.
it was always said “sex sells” whether it’s out of curiosity, perversion or obsession- it does
I think a mini skirt also has to be worn by a certain type or it’s not interesting at all. It’s just freaky!
haha great love this post, its so true your posts have to be short or the readers going to lose interest, i think i’m gonna go shorten my posts, be sure to check my blog http://makemoneyonlinetheeasyway.net/
The title caught my attention immediately! That’s a good way to get traffic to your Blog! Kudos!
Now this is some of the best Internet Marketing Training Advice I have heard in a long time! LOL! I will have to keep that in mind on all of my blog posts.
Cheers,
Josh
http://internetmarketingtrainingadvice.com
Love it- spot on for describing a blog. The leg comments are a classic too!
Priceless blog post! My blog posts are all pretty long.. Maybe I should throw in a couple of short and funny ones, like these
Cheers,
Chris
http://howtoearnmoney-athome.com/how-to-write-articles
This is like the ultimate haiku of blogs – so little yet so much.
why do you think it’s like a skirt? Love it- spot on for describing a blog. The leg comments are a classic too!
Good point Mike. If the mini skirt is meant to expose a portion of the desired content, just enough to tantalize the taste buds, then it better be good enough to tantalize, or the content would be better suited with pants.
I’d have to agree with you on this one Joe, you should also have a strong “call to action” within that post also.
Haha this post is great! I was expecting to see a huge article about the subject but its short and sweet. Thanks for the laugh. What does a miniskirt look like in the context of the scheme of things? Simple, guys like it shorter, and girls like to show of some leg. A perfect fit for both of us.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Perfect analogy.
Ha! That is funny and so true. I wish I could think of something clever like that!
LOL..excellent thought. I like it.
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[...] One of my favorite posts was on Joe Pulizzi’s blog and it was about 20 words long. 20 words! And some of the best posts are simply a picture with a caption (ever seen one of Joey Strawn’s cartoons on Mark Schaefer’s blogs? Too funny!!). [...]