A brief perusal of my referrer logs tells me an Esmaylanche is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Just sayin'.

I'm sure the Perfesser is a real nice guy (blending of puppies notwithstanding) but last time I checked, the sun did NOT rise and set in his asscrack.

::: dodges lighting bolts :::

I'd rather have a link from THE Margi Lowry any day of the week than any stinky ol' Instaperson.

Dean,

I just read your comment. It's all been said before. And you're right, it's a line of coke! :-)

Well said, Dean, though I'd like to add that an Instalanche (or indeed a link on VodkaPundit or several other blogs of large traffic) often expose one's blog to people who have never seen it before and some of them become regular readers.

I actually didn't write the post to encourage chasing links on Instapundit, though I do email Glenn links when I think I've posted something that will interest him/his readers and represents a worthwhile addition to the debate. The Kerry-plays-defense post was exactly that kind of post - someone needed to point out that Kerry's approach to terrorism was essentially that of a battered wife - waiting to be hit again.

Apparently, the Insta-audience found it interesting - I've had other links on Glenn's blog that have brought in only 2,000 visits but the Kerry post brought about 5,000 and caused numerous blogs to link to me that I've never heard of and have never linked to me before.

I mostly wrote this post because of the BlogRunner ranking.

That said, there are ways to maximize an Instalanche if you get one. One of the key things I've found is, have another good post on a completely different topic, either right before or right after the item that Glenn links to. What happens is, readers come for the first post, and then see the next and realize your blog is not a one-note blog, making them more likely to come back later without being sent there by Instapundit. Also, bloggers who find you via the instapundit link might find two reasons to link to you, increasing the chances that they will do so.

Yesterday, soon after I posted the Kerry post, I posted a piece on the economy. It got a lot of links from new blogs I hadn't heard of before - I can only assume they found me via Glenn's link to the Kerry post.

You know, that Blogrunner listing strikes me as just plain crazy wrong. I'll probably have to post an article about that.

I think your "line of coke" analogy is dead-on. Chasing that rush can make for bad blogging.

FWIW, i've been linked twice and it made little impact on my long-term traffic. My usual topics just don't match up with Instapundit's readership.

Thanks for the reference, Dean. Coming from a blogger like you, such a link means more to me than ... dare I say an Instalanche? :)

The network of bloggers/readers is the key concept. So much the better for blogger X if that network includes Glenn Reynolds, Stephen Green, etc.. Captain Ed, an excellent blogger, gets an Instamention about once a week.

I'm less persuaded of the value of exposure, generating new readers. It might happen to some small degree. But most Instalanche graphs look like the once pictured. Or, today,go check the Sitemeter for the Daily Ablution.

And those two points are related. Repeated mentions of a blog on other large blogs DO bring some meaningful exposure and new readers.

My minor instalanche got me so high, it felt so good, man, like I was flying. Like I was ruler of the WORLD. Like I suddenly had the power to kill a man, just by making that Darth vader strangling motion with my hand.

But then ... then one minute, it was gone. All gone. The traffic left as quickly as it had began. The comments dried up. I started to get the shakes. I craved attention, could not stand the idea of a life without another instalink. I began e-mailing Glenn repeatedly, and he was RUDE and would not answer, even though I had felt that we had established a true frienship, a real bond by virtue of being "link-buddies." Finally I sent this:

"To: pundit@instapundit.com
From: Instapunditfan@indcjournal.com
Re: My undying devotion to your special inner light

Glenny,

Please please PLEASE link me! Did you see my entry about Purple Elephant Sh*t and the State of the Union? Wasn't that a scream? Or my fun take on the Salon.com celebrity cruise? Did you? Well, DID YOU? Much better than your boring s*** blogging!

I'm sorry... that was passive-aggressive. I'm lashing out because you have hurt me with your silence. It's just that i thought that we had something. I even started blending puppies, just to be more like you. Last week I juiced a 6 week-old Doberman. I even named him Andrew Sullivan before I frapped 'em, cuz you soooo kick Sullivan's ass. I would even kill Frank J if you told me to. (would you? Like me to?)

Now please link me! Please! Linkee-linkee-link-link-linkeee-link-link-linkeee-leeeeee!

With eternal love,

Bill

PS - I'll be in Knoxville in a week, why don't we take the Instafamily out for a BBQ, Professor!"

So anyway, the bastard e-mails me back with some legal-sounding letter saying to "cease-and-desist all communication, written, oral, electronic or otherwise." And still no link.

My point is, the instalaunche ruins lives!

Very funny, Bill.

Good enough for a whole entry. Such an entry might even bring ...

The way I see it, Glenn has done 2 things:
1. Introduced me to this blog
2. Introduced me to Day By Day

On the other hand, he hasn't done 2 more things:
1. Linked to my organization.
2. Linked to my political blog

He has answered my emails, though - unlike Andrew Sullivan who is too stuck up for us American libertarians...

I'm posting that as a stand-alone entry if you don't, Bill!

I'll second the Esmaylanche comment.

As a neophyte, I've already given up trying to figure out which of my entries is going to be linked to. So, I've decided to yack on about what interests me, and post "Penis News" items to keep the pervies coming back. Never take your base for granted...

Dean and the Commisar -

You mean like this -

http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/000105.html

Also see on the following link how Instapundit steals my blog posts without credit.

Scott Kirwin,

Andrew Sullivan used to answer my emails occasionally, but not after he got an editorial assistant to take care of his mail. Maybe there's just too danged much of it.

I agree with DE and tC; here's my approach to blog promotion.