An Overly Critical Review of Beyond Blogging

I know what you’re thinking: “another book about making money blogging?” Well, that’s at least what I thought when Nathan Hangen asked me if I wanted to record a video testimonial for his new product. Written with Mike CJ, the book actually surprised my cynical self as I saw it was not just another cookie cutter how-to guide that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It’s beyond that!

Beyond Blogging examines the story of over a dozen A-List bloggers, thanks to a series of interviews and case studies, to bring you the truth behind what it takes to become a successful blogger. (their awesome copy, not mine.) You’ll see a lot of familiar faces featured inside the 200+ page book coming from many different avenues and perspectives: Chris Brogan, Pete Cashmore, Brian Clark, David Risley, John Chow as well as my own personal favorite influence, Gary Vaynerchuk.

Be aware though, it’s not just biographical profiles of successful bloggers. Who wants to read more boasts about how much so-and-so made last year? I sure don’t. What I do want is to pick the brain of some of the top online “rockstars” and easily extract the concepts and philosophies they’ve used in building a business out of their passion. Beyond Blogging does just that!

Typically, I’m quite harsh at reviewing most things and will nit-pick it to death, but I’m at a loss when it comes to this book. Hmm, maybe I can find something bad to say about it…. Oh, I know!

After every interview/case study, Nathan and Mike provide a traffic analysis graph of the subject’s blogs so you can get a better measurement of their impact and a track record of their success. The by-product is that you’ll likely feel even worse about your own blog in the process. “150,000 visitors a month? I haven’t even had that many in 8 years combined on 24 different blogs! I guess it’s back on the bottle for me to drink away my sorrows!”

Feel free to check out the video where Nathan Hangen and Mike CJ talk about how they co-authored the book, the process in putting it together and why you need to go Beyond Blogging.

Be aware I rarely recommend anything, but Beyond Blogging is definitely something I have no problem in putting my lack of a reputation on the line. Buy a copy when it comes out and let me know what you think!

Bathroom Readability Rating: 98/100 (since I do almost all of my book reading on the toilet)


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  • 2 things:
    1) why is your cat running laps in the vid?
    2) do you use that Scott's crap? that stuff will destroy your lawn.

    thanks for the fluffy book review...looks like you got that aff link after all, hope you make a mint,
    AL
  • Great video, Your 100% right it is worth paying for even thought it's free so you wouldn't pay for it....... anyway, top video, only wanted to say how uninterested your cat looked!

    keep up the great work brother
  • It sounds like a great book.

    I promised myself that if I can make enough money from my blog to buy it, I will do so (ack! poor college student alert!).

    I hope that is sooner rather than later. :P
  • Good to meet you Jordan, I love this review - a very refreshing approach.
    "If you know a Chris...he's in the book!" Brilliant :-)
  • I was encouraged to realise that being called Chris gives me a distinct advantage to being a successful blogger!

    The bathroom is definitely the ideal place to read. I hear Nathan and Mike are considering a laminated version of the book to avoid that soggy-paged look after reading in the bath.
  • I've also read Beyond Blogging. It's a really good read and I think it'll outsell Penthouse and Hustler in 2010.
  • Hi Jordan, This question is kind of off topic but I have to ask. Do you use those weights? How much weight is that anyway? ;)
  • LOL! Does it really look like I lift weights? I'm over with my girlfriend's family for the holidays, so I recorded the video at 3am in the garage... even so, I still can't seem to get cats out of the damn picture! :-)
  • I thought it would only be fair to make "you" laugh for a change.
    I have heard so much about the book and all of it has been positive. But as you know I like video, because it's just so much funner. So your review will rank as the best review of the book so far (for me anyway) especially since you tricked me by saying it was "overly critical". Good one.

    Thanks Jordan!
    @Ileane
  • As a fellow bathroom reader, I can't thank you enough for the 98/100 bathroom readability score.

    Thanks for such an entertaining review!
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