Poewar’s Drive-By-Shooting of Men with Pens: We Nearly Lost the Battle, Folks!
It was close, folks. Really, really close. For a while, the head-to-head match between Men with Pens and Writing on the Web was looking like it’d be a tie.
John Hewitt raked our blog across the hot coals in his March Madness blog review challenge, and here’s what he had to say about Men with Pens (and our notes as well):
Archives – John found plenty to read, with daily posts going back more than a year. Easy navigation and many viewing options. Yay!
Design – A nice design with attractive visuals, but John feels that it’s cluttered and that he’s not sure what to focus on when landing on the site.
Usability - He prefers a chronological-post blog versus a more trendy magazine style – but our readers say different, with plenty of older posts getting hits on a regular basis. Sorry, John; chronological is passé.
John also loves our RSS button. We do, too 
He felt we had plenty of other features that increased the usability of our site, and our comment section community impressed him. Way to go, gang!
Purpose – Hands down, we pulled a three-pointer on that. We meet the purpose and mission of our site nicely, even expanding a little beyond it as well. Woot!
Personality – In the entertainment section, we shine. (What, did you expect different?) With plenty of personality in our posts and a rich community to help us convey that sense, we came out victorious. John commended our ability to draw comments, calling it an art form, and gave us some very nice compliments on our efforts. Thank you, John. We appreciate the kind words very much.
Last five posts – Well, damn. Announcements count as posts, it seems, and since we made two (one pointing to John’s site!) in the last five, we took a hit in this area. That’s too bad, but as promised to John, James didn’t trick the game by halting announcements or plotting great posts just before the review. We took the high road, and we’ll take the hit with a bow.
So by only one point, with lots of sweat and with heaving chests testament to a hard game, we took the victory. Our sincere thanks to Patsi and Writing on the Web for being our opponent in what John considered the toughest battle yet.
Next up? Hopefully an eventual head-on match against the big chief himself, Brian Clark and Copyblogger. Can we overthrow the King? Stay tuned…
11 Responses to “Poewar’s Drive-By-Shooting of Men with Pens: We Nearly Lost the Battle, Folks!”
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Congratulations! You guys rock! And bravo for taking the high road with the announcements. Sometimes the good guys really do win!
Cindy Dashnaw’s last blog post..Pulitzer Prize for feature writing well deserved
Welcome to the second round, my friends with pens. It was a tough contest to judge, but I had to be fair. I understand your issues with the most recent posts. I will be tweaking that when we get to the next round, but I can’t change things up until then. I wouldn’t be fair to change in the middle of a round.
As for the magazine style, i think there are a lot of benefits for you, it just isn’t very blog-like. I never said that the things that could win the tournament are the things that are best for your site. If that was true, I might as well just hand it to the most popular blog and call it a day.
Good luck in round two!
John Hewitt’s last blog post..Game 14: #4 Seed Writing on the Web Versus #5 Seed Men with Pens
@ John – It was the first time someone objectively gave our blog a review, and we’re thankful for that. It’s cool as hell, and I don’t think you can find a better team to take feedback into consideration.
Good point about the style. I never thought of it that way.
And as for handing Copyblogger the victory, screw that. I want to give Brian a run for his money
Oh, by the way? Don’t think you get out squeaky clean. We’ll be doing a drive-by of your blog once this is all over *beams*
A drive by will be fun! There’s PLENTY wrong with my blog. Thats one of the reasons why I started this tournament. I wanted to look at what all the other blogs were doing (right and wrong) and see how I could improve. My laundry list keeps getting longer.
BTW, does that mean i owe you $25?
John Hewitt’s last blog post..Game 14: #4 Seed Writing on the Web Versus #5 Seed Men with Pens
@ John – Only if you want to hide from the public, my friend. Private consults always come with the privilege of paying cash.
Or… are you brave enough to expose it all to the world in a public hit with no holds barred? (Within reason, John. Really. There are some things best left behind a fig leaf.)
After 14 years on the web, I don’t hide. Heck, I was once nominated for ugliest web site on the Internet.
John Hewitt’s last blog post..Game 14: #4 Seed Writing on the Web Versus #5 Seed Men with Pens
Sniff, sniff..congratulations James and Harry. I’m so proud to be in the ring with you guys, even though that 1 point loss smarts a little. A well deserved victory! This was just the coolest contest to be in. What a win for everybody. I got some great feedback, and John was gracious and generous in sharing his wisdom with us in a way that makes the whole experience fun.
I wish you good luck in the next round..uh-oh, up against big bad Brian, but just look at all you’ve done so far; you’ll give him a good fight for sure. Have fun,
Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad’s last blog post..The Blog Squad Teaching @ Butt Camp
@ Patsi – LOL… Going up against Brian is just my hope, not necessarily the reality. Hell, I might meet my match next round and get taken down!
That was close, though, and only one point separated us. For a while, I was scared – be proud. You gave us a damned good run for our money.
Congrats, boys. Good luck on the next round. I said it there, I’ll say it here. I think you guys are the dark horse in this contest.
Bob Younce at the Writing Journey’s last blog post..How To Write the Best Damn Food Blog on the Internet
Man, John’s contest just gets more and more entertaining. I thought you guys would walk away with a landslide, but rather squeaked out a victory. Shows John is tough. And also tough enough to handle your own drive by
I’ll be watching for that.
Well-deserved win, boys, and looking forward to the big guns fighting it out!
QuietRebelWriter’s last blog post..The Group Scene: Freelancers, Community, and Narcissism
Woot, woot! I celebrate your success! Oh man the next round is going to be really interesting! I love the magazine style and even though I am attracted by bright shiny objects, I am always so caught up the content that I’m still discovering there’s other stuff on the page! Will there be a new sheriff in town? Ooh, can’t wait to see!