The New York Times Article on Nick Denton and Gawker has an array of interesting titbits in it that will make a good weekend read for any aspiring ProBloggers. Here are a few tasters that peaked my interest: On Editors and their daily goals: Each editor is under contract to post 12 times a day for a flat fee, Mr. Steele said. (Gawker has two editors and now posts 24 times a day.) It is best to have eight posts up before noon, if possible, to keep readers coming back, he said. 12 posts per day is a pretty high posting rate for a blog. We've had the Nick didn't seem to want some of these stats and figures in the article - and argued that they were misquotes. Its fair enough I guess that they'd want to keep the money side of things private. I had to chuckle however - the article went a little gossipy' at this point - something I'm sure Nick and some of his editors are familiar with. Posting Schedules: Mr. Denton, who says that no one, least of all him, is becoming rich publishing blogs, would seem to agree with that notion. It's not about the money, he said - or about corrupting the art of the blogger. "If someone is saying that we publish according to a routine of at least 12 posts a day and begin in the morning and if someone is sick we replace them, then I plead guilty," he said. "We believe in regular posting schedules." This is interesting - 12 posts a day - and if someone is sick they replace them. Regularity of posting is something I'm also a big believer in. Whilst it can be hard as a sole blogger to keep up this sort of level it really is important and something I constantly argue for. Whilst I understand that it seems to go against the liquid, free and easy ethos of blogging - I think its necessary to have such a structure if you want to make what you do profitable. I know of a number of bloggers who want to make it big as bloggers but who blog in fits and starts - sometimes going weeks without a post and I wonder about their commitment to the core feature of a profitable blog - content. How Many Blogs will They start?: Mr. Denton says two more titles are planned for the short term, although he would not be specific about the particular consumer itches he'll be scratching this time. Having covered everything from BlackBerries to Beltway gossip, it's hard to imagine what else looms, but he said writers had already been lined up. That will bring the number of titles to 14, and Mr. Denton indicated that 17 seemed a good stopping point, if for no other reason than that is the number of titles published by Cond Nast.' Very interesting and a stark difference to the way that many other blog networks are going. Nick is obviously interested in building a smaller group of very profitable blogs than a large stable of many blogs with smaller readership. I really admire Nick's approach in this area (although I differ on other areas of what he does - namely the porn) - he really does aim to live out the motto of niche bloggers of being a big fish in a small pond'. Read the full article at Reader comments ... Darren Rowse is the founder of Digital Photography Blog and Breaking News Blog Collective.
New York Times on Gawker Blogs
0 views
Comments (0)
Please sign in to leave a comment.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!