Outside the Beltway

Link Baiting 101 Taught by Professor Jason Calacanis

James Joyner · Friday, April 27, 2007 · 4 comments

Jason Calacanis (pictured at right looking slim as ever with his trusty bulldog Toro by his side), who has since 1996 alternately been a media titan and a nobody, offers some incredibly insightful tips for link baiting that are frankly much better than anything I’ve seen from the likes of Jay Adelson or Kevin Rose.

Certainly, there is no one more expert in the means of exploiting the Internet than Jason. He was co-founder of Weblogs, Inc., which he sold for a mint to an unsuspecting sap (AOL), and was briefly GM of Netscape, which was, during his short rein, by far the best of the link collection social media. Certainly, far, far better than the easily-gamed Digg.

It was in that capacity that I had the pleasure of corresponding with Jason, who congratulated me on getting the first OTB post I pushed there (this classic primer on gasoline prices by Richard Gardner) pushed to the top of the page there way back in September 2006. Several subsequent messages were exchanged during the ensuing days and I truly cherished and treasured each and every one of them. He’s really a cool guy once you get to know him.

The brilliance of Jason Calacanis’ insights about link-baiting defy excerpting, so you’ll just have to read the whole thing. Indeed, although he only wrote it five hours ago, it has already inspired a sequel that is every bit as good as the original. Certainly, John Heilemann has never pulled off anything so sweet.

If you’re wondering what Jason is up to right this minute–and who isn’t, really?–check out his Twitter page.