I spoke about this briefly over at History of Blogging, but I wanted to mention it here as well. Despite disagreeing with the man on a few details, the one thing about Jason Calacanis (Weblogs Inc, Netscape, Mahalo) that I can’t help but respect is his deep understanding of the industry that he operates within.

In this case, I’m talking about the “17 Startups Tips” post that he put out recently. Love it or leave it, it doesn’t really matter. From a branding and personal marketing perspective, it’s classic Calacanis.

Alec Baldwin Was Great In Glengarry Glenrose

He managed to put together a post that was

• Dead simple to write (most of the tips are nothing new)
• Provides value (in the sense that even if they aren’t new, it’s nice that they are in one place)
• Creates controversy (this is the point I wanted to touch on further)

Tip #11, which says in no uncertain terms that if you don’t like working 1000 hours a week, get out of the startup game, is not inherently incorrect. There is an argument to be made that it’s a little harsh, but I am sure Jason is well aware of that.

That was the point.

The best kind of bait in the world, is the kind that doesn’t look like bait.

And there is nothing like a little blood in the water, to bring out the sharks.

Using these principles, he managed to spur traffic, generate a ton of backlinks, introduce Mahalo to a new demographic, and solidify his image as the man who everyone loves to hate. The same image that will allow him to do something like this again next month.

As a bonus, he polarized a large swatch of people.

Whether you think that he’s a slave driver or spot on, you are going to want to put in your two pesos because, “that darn Calacanis needs to be put in his place!”

One of the finest ways to generate buzz is put up a fence, and this one stretches far.

But Al Pacino Was Still Better

Even a meta-post like this one is playing the game. Bloggers like me can’t help but take time to “cleverly” deconstruct his motivations. Whether he admits to, denies or ignores the accusation that this was 70% truth / 30% marketing spin, he still wins.

The lesson here, my friends, is that just like the best link bait doesn’t look like link bait, the best marketing doesn’t look like marketing. Something to help you through your weekend.

(Image) (RSS)