Deep Jive Interests

So there is an article I want you to print out, possibly laminate and posterize, and then tape it to your refrigerator door. Its the newest article over at Business 2.0 on Blogging — and it does a fabulous job at validating what we do as more than just a hobby … but something that’s real, tangible, and having a role in creating real value.

Its a great piece that focuses on

1) how some of the A-Listers got started in the first place, in particular Boing Boing, TechCrunch, Fark, and Gizmodo.

2) a documentation of real numbers that they hit when they first started out — both in terms of visitors, profits, and costs.

3) what sort of cash money these players are making now

4) a ‘historical’ account of the past few years, especially on what has happened and why

5) why advertisers are shifting major dollars to adspends on blogs

6) the diversification beyond tech topics into celebrity buzz

7) the ‘long tail’ effect on how it promotes blogs as a viable business model for “micro” business.

Here is one quote I want to throw out at you:

Arrington, a 36-year-old entrepreneur behind a long list of unrecognizable startups, has suddenly become one of the rising stars of Silicon Valley. Why? The answer lies in TechCrunch, Arrington’s blog about new technologies and companies. In the year since he launched the site, he has amassed such a strong following that he’s become a go-to person for VCs and tech execs looking to leak corporate tidbits or announce news. More than 1.5 million readers regularly check out his site. But here’s what gives Arrington real distinction: He’s pulling in $60,000 in ad revenue every month. That’s 10 times what the site was making earlier this year, which was when Arrington, convinced of the potentially monstrous riches ahead, quit his day job as president of a startup to blog full-time.

Well, I am sure still sitting at a pagerank of 0, so I obviously still have a ways to go ;)

But I think this article is an absolute must for ANY blogger to read … to understand where the nascent industry has come from, how its biggest players are doing and where its all going.